The reorientation and professional reconversion of Romanian migrants Cover Image

Reorientarea și reconversia profesională a emigranților români
The reorientation and professional reconversion of Romanian migrants

Author(s): Alina-Andreia Ailincăi
Subject(s): Labor relations, Sociology of Culture, Sociology of the arts, business, education, Migration Studies, Ethnic Minorities Studies, Globalization
Published by: Editura Institutul European
Keywords: habitus;labour force;migration;globalization;work mobility;human resources;

Summary/Abstract: In a globalized world economy we can focus on so many theories to discuss the labor force migration, from push and pull theory, macro/structural theories, dual labor market theory, to economic or demographic theories. But the primary key variable, researching this phenomenon, is the human resource, the people involved in the migratory process. Every single person, that starts a “working journey” from the sending to the receiving country, has his own, specific, symbolic, cultural, educational, economic, political capital and background. That’s why our focus, in the following article, is to develop an empirical study on labor force migration, starting from the habitus theory of Pierre Bourdieu. Habitus, one of the most important concepts described by Bourdieu, implied especially in cultural and educational studies, explains the social reproduction process, as a product of socialisation, an unconscious internalization of the social structure (generating embodied dispositions and behaviors). Despite that some critics say habitus is an rigid and limited concept, social mobility empirical studies and the globalization process demonstrates that habitus can be transformed, can be modified, depending on the social environment changes. Individuals must adapt the way they act according to the social circumstances they find themselves in. That is why we may assume that immigrant and emmigrant population is forced to adapt to new fields, changing and recreating, to a certain degree, their original habitus, in order to access the social resources of the destination country. Our primary interest is to find out the strategies developed by people to keep or transform their own habitus and forms of capital in the migratory process. What role do they play in the host countries, how do they interact and internalize the other culture, especially the policies and rules made by the autochthon habitus.

  • Issue Year: IV/2016
  • Issue No: 11
  • Page Range: 195-207
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: Romanian