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REMITTING DEMOCRACY? THE ROLE OF MIGRANT REMITTANCES IN PROMOTING SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGE IN GUANAJUATO, MEXICO

Author(s): Benjamin James WADDELL / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2014

Keywords: remittance-led development; democracy; migration and social remittances

Remittance-led development in Mexico reveals the potential for state-migrant cooperation to channel remittances towards public works projects in migrant hometown communities. In some cases, such as the one presented in this article, the transfer of ideas and knowhow-i.e., social remittances-incites constructive interaction between migrants, government officials, and hometown citizens. Moreover, under the right conditions, the multiplier effects of migrant remittances (both social and economic) can act as a catalyst for democratic growth. Building on observations from the field, this study argues that the promotion of migrant investments in entrepreneurial projects has the potential to foster the growth of democratic norms in migrant hometowns.

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MIGRATION AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION. THE CASE OF ALBANIA AND GREECE

Author(s): Rifat Demalija / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2014

Keywords: Social transformation; migration; development; brain circulation.

Migration has become a very sensitive issue for the society not in Albania, but in Europe and beyond it last twenty years. The development through migration seems to be a political issue, therefore it’s still regarded a social problem which needs to be controlled. Migration has played a big role within the social order, bounding societies with high cultural differences and beliefs.The case of Albania and Greece, after 1991, helps me to claim that migration has not only influenced the development of both countries, but it has also transformed the social life. This paper aims to take into account two important issue; social transformation and human mobility and its relationship with migration and development, observing the case of Albania and Greece 1991 -2013. The paper will answer the question about the social integration and benefits of both social groups involved; migrants and hosting communities. Globalization (especially after the collapse of the communistregime in Albania), represents an important development in social, economical and political life in both countries, Albania and Greece. The migration of Albanians denied for more than forty years by the communist regime, was reflected with the wave of migration after 1991 initially in Italy and Greece. Within two years, more than 300,000 Albanians emigrated, seeking for a better life, while after 20 years more than 1 million Albanians are living abroad.Albanians are by far the largest groups of foreign workers in Greece, estimated at 650,000 to 800,000. With the economical crises in Greece the situation has changed and many of migrants have decided to return home. What they bring home is not only their money and experience, but they bring most the social transformation. Focusing on the social transformation and human mobility, this research brings into the attention not only benefits of economical developments,but also the social transformation, through exchanging skills and attitude, brain circulation from which benefits both countries..

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FROM EUROPEAN MIGRANTS TO EUROPEAN CITIZENS: AN UNFINISHED PROCESS

Author(s): Alina DINU / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2014

Keywords: European Union; free movement of persons; economic migration; right of residence; European citizenship

The present article explores the Europeans’ change of status, from economic migrants to European citizens. In the beginning, Europeans were mainly seen as economic migrants empowered by law to freely move and reside within the territory of the European Community. The subsequent advancements within the European project and the European political context have consolidated the status of European migrants and have acknowledged them as members of a political community. Whereas this process can be seen as a sign of constitutionalism emerging within the European system (Simon, 2000), we can still wonder if the European citizenship is a real issue or merely a tool used by the adepts of the political union to build their arguments (Labayle, 1992). Whatever the answer, the European citizenship has been chosen as the appropriate argument to strengthen the sense of belonging to the European Union and, at the same time, to reinforce its legitimacy. The European citizenship replaces the political dimension associated with the notion of citizenship (as stated by the classical theory) with an economic dimension; this breaks the foundation of our identity, as defined by the Nation State (Deloye, 2004). If the European perspective goes beyond the traditional approach which states that identities are organized around the State, the question is what type of new identification the European Union puts in place and how could the European citizenship become a status that allows for the separation between civil belonging and other forms of social affiliation (Leca, 1996). This article describes the gradual conversion of a heterogeneous community of European economic migrants into a more-or-less homogeneous community of European citizens. It claims that, despite the consecration of the concept of European citizenship, the social ties that should underpin it and transform it into a reality are slow to emerge. The paper also presents some possible approaches that could push forward the debate and, why not, lead to a bottom-up transformation carried by those European migrants who need or want to see themselves first and foremost as European citizens.

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ROMANIA – EMIGRATION’S IMPACT ON FAMILIES AND CHILDREN

Author(s): Monica Elisabeta Păduraru / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2014

Keywords: international migration; family; economic difficulties; children left behind

After 1989, Romania was confronted with international migration, which resulted in a diminishment of the stable resident population. Between 1989 and 2012 the stable population of Romania decreased by more than 3.1 million. More than 77 % of the negative growth of the resident population (stable) during this period was due to migration. The migration phenomenon has stirred controversy not only in political circles, but also at societal level, at interpersonal level, causing physical and emotional fractures between communities, friends and families. The effects on the families were, among others, an imbalance between the importance given to some its fundamental functions: the economic function is valued above the social and educational function. Parents going abroad (in most cases due to economic factors) may have negative influences on children. Children left in the care of a guardian or worse, left home alone by parents who went to work, to seek a better life in another country will face social problems caused by joining entourages that will have a negative effect on their school results, sometimes culminating in dropping out of school. Based on these issues, in this paper we propose an analysis of works and studies on migration and its effects on families and the children left behind. From the methodological point of view, we chose to analyze reports of public or private institutions, studies and articles, so that we can better grasp the phenomenon and potentially lay down some conclusions and recommendations.

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THE EFFECTS OF DUTCH LINGUISTIC INTEGRATION POLICY ON MIGRANTS’ FEELINGS OF BELONGING, AS MEDIATED BY DUTCH SOCIETY

Author(s): Daniela Trifu / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2014

Keywords: language integration; belonging; misrecognition; frame analysis; critical discourse analysis; migrants; identity; the Netherlands; Dutch

The linguistic integration policy in the Netherlands is following a trend of toughening immigration stances along economic - neo-liberal and cultural dimensions. The paper tries to identify and track its discursive effects on migrants’ subjective feeling of belonging, as it is mediated and further propagated by the Dutch society. In doing so, it follows the framing and problemsetting of the policy focusing on language, the media through critical discourse analysis, and migrants’ insights through semi-structured interviews. Following this triangulation of methods, the paper will show how the immigration discourse gives rise to power issues and what migrants’ coping strategies are.

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BRAIN DRAIN IN ROMANIA: FACTORS INFLUENCING PHYSICIANS’ EMIGRATION

Author(s): Irina Janina Boncea / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2014

Keywords: brain drain; Romania; push factors; pull factors; medical sector

Brain drain in the medical sector is not a new phenomenon, Romania facing this issue since the fall of the communism. Before the integration in the European Union, the warning of an acceleration of the phenomenon was raised, but, until today, no measures were adopted in order to diminish the exodus. Between 2007 and 2010, 8131 medical doctors leaved the country. With some of the poorest health indicators among EU countries, Romania cannot afford to lose more physicians. The first step in the attempt of stemming the emigration of medical doctors is the identification of the reasons behind it. This study aims to identify the main determinants of the decision to emigrate. The research design includes literature review and a questionnaire which was distributed among Romanian physicians with an international work experience. The conclusions confirm one more time that the gap in levels of payment between Romania and destination countries is not the most important cause of migration. Although this gap is significant, a policy measure proposing the increase of the physicians’ salaries would not solve the emigration issue. The main reasons behind the decision to emigrate are the working conditions and the availability of facilities. Opportunities for career development and continuing education instigate Romanian physicians to emigrate. Economic and political stability or personal factors have a lesser influence. The major preoccupation among policy makers in the health system should gravitate around the implementation of a set of adequate measures to stem the emigration

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UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIAL EXCLUSION OF ZIMBABWEAN MIGRANTS IN JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

Author(s): Chipo Hungwe,Derik GELDERBLOM / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2014

Keywords: Banks; Hospitals; Migrants; Police; Social exclusion

This paper applies the social exclusion concept to understanding the experiences of Zimbabwean migrants in Johannesburg, South Africa. It argues that the experiences of Zimbabwean migrants are shaped by certain institutional, individual and social mechanisms of exclusion. The main institutions responsible for migrant exclusion are: the police; hospitals, banks and employers. The paper further argues that migrant social networks mainly used to deal with exclusion have unwittingly made it difficult for migrants to be integrated properly within the South African society. This is because migrant networks emphasise values of exclusivity and difference. The paper proffers a pragmatic view of understanding migrants as citizens of a global world. It maintains that the social exclusion of migrants must be understood from a cosmopolitan and global perspective.

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ASSISTANCE OF THE CHILDREN TRAFFIC VICTIMS – INTERVENTIONS AND MULTIDISCIPLINARY EVALUATIONS

Author(s): Daniela Nicolăescu / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2014

Keywords: hild trafficking; recovery; multidisciplinarity; victims

Child trafficking is a crime with very serious consequences on the side of the victims. The instruments developed in order to recover the victims of child trafficking developed much during the past decade, but the essence of the multidisciplinary interventions performed by the teams of specialists remains. This paper shows the evidence collected during the case studies performed from 2004 to 2006 within the regional Transit Centres for the unaccompanied children who were victims of human trafficking, operating in Romania. Given the complexity and particularities arising from the approach of each individual situation, the recovery of the children who were victims of human trafficking needs the development and operation of a distinct approach, specific to these social groups, within the multidisciplinary interventions.

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IMMIGRATION AND INTEGRATION REGIMES IN EU COUNTRIES

Author(s): Ana-Maria Zamfir,Cristina Mocanu,Monica Mihaela Maer-Matei,Eliza-Olivia Lungu / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2014

Keywords: Immigration; integration regimes; latent class analysis

This paper aims to explore immigration related policies implemented by the European Union countries in order to identify common patterns which can be interpreted as integration regimes. We build our analysis on data from 2010 Migration Integration Policy Index. Latent class analysis is used for obtaining number and structure of European integration regimes. Profiles of the regimes are given by the combination of scores obtained by countries with respect to seven different policy areas: labour market mobility, family reunion, education, political participation, long term residence, access to nationality and anti-discrimination. Our results point to the existence of three immigration integration regimes at the level of EU countries.

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REMITTING DEMOCRACY? THE ROLE OF MIGRANT REMITTANCES IN PROMOTING SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGE IN GUANAJUATO, MEXICO

Author(s): Benjamin James WADDELL / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2014

Keywords: remittance-led development; democracy; migration and social remittances

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MINIMUM STANDARD OF LIVING, A CONSTANT OF RESEARCH AND SOCIAL POLICY WORK OPTION

Author(s): Adina Mihăilescu / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2014

Keywords: normative method; incomes; consumption; decent and subsistence minimum living standard

The article gives us a true picture of the purchasing power of goods and services from the market. The incomes of many types of customers such as: persons, families, households are a good indicator to measure the poverty in our country, in dynamics, between 1990 and 2013. In the Research Institute for the Quality of Life we used to measure the poverty, using the normative method, which is based on consumption. We calculated two consumer baskets: the consumer basket related to the decent minimum standard of living and the subsistence level consumer basket. We monitored the different types of families in urban and rural areas: active persons and the pensioners. We used equivalence scales in order to calculate the expenditure per household member. The consumer basket is a tool to measure the wealth of poverty of the people from urban and rural areas. Many households have resources below the minimum requirement for a decent living standard as well as below the minimum subsistence standard established by the normative method.

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POVERTY IN ROMANIA: DIMENSIONS OF POVERTY AND LANDMARKS OF POVERTY RESEARCH

Author(s): Cosmin Briciu / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2014

Keywords: poverty profile; methodology; research; overview

The first objective of the paper is to offer a synthetic account of the main research coordinates of scientific literature on poverty in Romania. In this respect, three main stages are distinguished: (i) accumulation of expertise at the national level with a divergence of methodologies and approaches being developed (ii) the temporary consensual adoption of the absolute poverty line; and (iii) the official alignment to the European relative poverty lines in parallel with a new mix of approaches: a social development-oriented approach, concurrently with the study of poverty and extreme poverty at the territorial and community level. The second main objective is to look at the level and dynamic of poverty in Romania using the most important measurement methodologies in order to establish linkages between poverty research and the actual situation and to stress research needs in the following period.

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HUMAN RESOURCE’S ROLE WITH BUSINESS RECOVERY DURING AND AFTER A RECESSION TO ENGAGE EMPLOYEES AND RETAIN TALENT

Author(s): Andries J. Du Plessis / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2014

Keywords: Recession; business recovery; leaders; development; talent retention

A comprehensive literature review in the area of leadership development, employee engagement and talent retention to determine what does HR need to do to create people advantage in this new era of business recovery; HR’s role in leadership development; if there is a shift in HR’s focus from human capital to social capital; and how could organisations engage employees in decision making using their talents to help recover from the recession. While countries such as South Africa, New Zealand and Australia continue to experience leadership talent shortages, and the recession forces organisations to review the effectiveness of their leadership development programmes, meaningful change seems essential. Developing countries have similar problems. How do these developing countries prepare (crouch), develop (touch) implement (pause) and engage (involve) their employees to develop leaders for the future? Some findings are that today’s business leaders need to get personally involved in mentoring future leaders and in guiding their development; leaders need to be values-centred leaders focused on building sustainable organisations that serve society; it is challenging for most organisations to make leadership development a priority while leaders face an ever growing list of challenges such as cost cutting and customer demands, strategic planning and successful innovation, and fewer resources available to achieve their goals. Human resource managers have a huge role to play in these issues and they have enormous challenges but also opportunities to put strategies in place to help to recover from the recession.

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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS REGARDING THE LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF COLLECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS IN ROMANIA

Author(s): Claudia Petrescu / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2014

Keywords: Collective organizations; social economy; cooperatives; mutual aid associations; nonprofit organizations

The aim of this article is to provide structured information on the level of development and spatial distribution of collective organizations in Romania. Collective organizations are analyzed based on social economy theory. Building on the empirical research, the article identifies and highlights some regional disparities in the development of social economy entities. The comparative analysis regarding the level of development and spatial distribution of collective organisations in Romania draws on the secondary fiscal data analysis. The analysis of the regional profiles of Romanian social economy entities reveals that their socioeconomic power is bigger in the developed regions of the country.

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DEINDUSTRIALIZATION AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT. CASE STUDY: VALEA JIULUI

Author(s): Mihnea Preotesi / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2014

Keywords: deindustrialization; social development; social change; the modernization theories; underdevelopment

The paper is based on the preliminary results of the research project “Deindustrialization and under-development in the Romanian Transition. Individual/Collective Strategies and Reply Policies. Case study: Valea Jiului”, that will be done within the POSDRU project “Plural and interdisciplinary in doctoral and post-doctoral programs”. This paper intends to analyze the complex relation between economic development, social development and modernization. The basic hypothesis of the proposed analysis is that the economic development is not an irreversible process not even when it leads to social development as part of a modernizing program. Valea Jiului represents an example of how the economic and social development built on weak basis, become unsustainable. The collapse of this weak basis initiated after 1989 when the economy and the society changed and after a transition period produced a major negative social impact started with the restructuring of the mining. In less than 10 months, the number of the miners was reduced to half and the reduction continued. Today in Valea Jiului is only 15 % of the number of employees in 1989. The social effects of the mining restructuring were at communitarian level the underdevelopment, return to pre-modern occupations like the subsistence agriculture. A good example that will be deeply analyzed in this paper is the town Aninoasa, the first Romanian town in insolvency since 2013.

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DEFINING MIGRATION POLICIES FROM ORIGIN COUNTRY PERSPECTIVE

Author(s): Monica Şerban / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2014

Keywords: origin state; emigration; diaspora; return migration; migration policies

The role state plays in international migration gathers more and more attention in migration studies, across different disciplines. Policies implemented in order to manage migration are a point of high interest in the space of destination countries. Yet, even though our knowledge from destination perspective has constantly increased, origin state is still under the shadow of a biased research agenda. We have little insights on the way migration policies at origin are built, enforced or on their effects on international movements. This paper addresses the gap, proposing a definition and a subsequent operationalization of migration policies at origin. Building on the few papers approaching the issue (de Haas & Vezzoli, 2011; Weinar, 2014), it advocates for a general definition, encompassing three fields of intervention: emigration, diaspora and return. The endeavour is part of a larger effort directed to evaluate migration policies in the case of origin liberal democratic states, origin of international migration, using policy on paper approach.

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COMMUNITY PERCEPTIONS AND ACTIVISMS REGARDING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: PERSPECTIVES FROM RURAL BANGLADESH

Author(s): Anisur Rahman Khan / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2014

Keywords: Bangladesh; community; domestic violence; Bengali community; Garo community; patriarchy; matriarchy; women; shalish

Community is a basic unit of social organisation, which influences many aspects in our lives and patterns of actions. The aspect of community is seldom addressed in the realm of domestic violence initiatives, although community’s perception and role, who are within women’s close network, is important in curbing domestic violence since members of the community easily see and hear what is happening against women. My research aimed at exploring community’s perceptions and activisms with regard to domestic violence against women at different rural settings of two Bangladeshi districts namely Netrokona and Mymensingh. Using interpretative qualitative approach, I excavated the perceptions and activism of the majority Bengali community as well as indigenous matriarchal Garo community. Living in strict patriarch rule, Bengali women usually are the easy victims of different forms of violence, but matriarchal structure also does not preclude Garo men to condone violence against women. Both the communities have some intervention mechanisms. Shalish or local arbitration is the most widely used community intervention in rural area although it has some in-built shortcomings. This study has significant implication in generating new knowledge and providing guidelines for future course of actions in redressing domestic violence.

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FAMILY POLICIES IN ROMANIA WITHIN THE EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK

Author(s): Raluca Popescu / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2014

Keywords: models of social policies; family policies; leave entitlements; childcare

Despite attempts to harmonize social policies, EU countries differ greatly in the support they provide. Social policies have different traditions that emerged and developed in different social and historical contexts, so there are considerable differences in terms of resources, organization and coverage. As a result, family policies are even more heterogeneous than is suggested by the standard welfare state regimes. Despite the fact that it was one of the few expansionary welfare areas from the European Union in the last years, family policy is characterized by a small degree of institutionalization. This paper studies the cross-country differences of state family support, using secondary data analysis on statistical indicators and legislative or formal documents information. The accounted types of support are financial transfers, leave entitlements, and provision of services. The study analyzes the specific features of these instruments and how they merge to form a more or less comprehensive policy package, with a special focus on Romania. The results reveal a scarcity model of family policy, with a familialisation trend doubled by the passive and rather reactive support.

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IS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH GENERALIZABLE?

Author(s): Alexandra Gheondea-Eladi / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2014

Keywords: qualitative research; generalization; external validity; non-probabilistic sampling; coding; grounded theory

Many qualitative researchers are faced with the everlasting question of generalizability of their findings, especially when trying to support their research in front of quantitative researchers. Despite this state of affairs qualitative researchers rarely discuss generalizability of their data and argue that a deeper understanding of the phenomena is the goal of their endeavour and not statistical generalization. Furthermore, quantitative researchers usually dismiss the results of qualitative research based on the lack of generalizability. I argue that this state of affairs is a crude simplification of reality based on either a misconception about what qualitative data is or on a misconception of the aspects of qualitative data analysis that lead to generalizability like: the purpose of the research, the sampling method, the data analysis method and the coding strategy. The paper suggests that discussions on generalizability should become the standard for reporting qualitative report if the research question is phrased to demand a general answer.

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MARIEA IONESCU, SIMONA MARIA STĂNESCU, PUBLIC POLICIES FOR THE ROMA, 2014, BUCHAREST: PRO UNIVERSITARIA

Author(s): Victor Nicolăescu / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2014

Keywords: MARIEA IONESCU ; SIMONA MARIA STĂNESCU ; PUBLIC POLICIES FOR THE ROMA ; 2014 ;BUCHAREST ;PRO UNIVERSITARIA

MARIEA IONESCU, SIMONA MARIA STĂNESCU, PUBLIC POLICIES FOR THE ROMA, 2014, BUCHAREST: PRO UNIVERSITARIA

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