Chinese immigrate

Day #10 of 20:

SOC150: SOCIAL PROBLEMS

June 12th, 2018

UIBE SUMMER SESSION

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Effects of Deindustrialization •Severe unemployment for working class people, especially African Americans and other minorities. •The public care crisis – the privatization of public goods •A new system of “expulsions” from conventional economic activities for some workers who now only can reproduce “labor power” with the money they earn

An Economic System of Expulsion Involves:

Precarity and Neoliberalism

The current system of inequality

The new form is precarity

Precarity is a general term used to describe how large parts of the population are being subjected to flexible exploitation or “flexploitation”

Conceptually, precarity involves

1.Outsourcing through international strategies

2.Vulnerability in Everyday Life, with uncertainties from government and the labor market

Neoliberalism:

• A political and economic ideology that advocates for the withdrawal of government interventions in the economy (such as tariff and quotas, but also government services); it strives for the free movement of goods, services, people, and money; it promotes deregulation to intensify market forces.

The Origins of Neoliberalism

How were neoliberal policies spread to the developing world?

•

As economic problems increase, immigrants are often seen as a

major social problem, while at the same time, the country needs

their labor

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% of foreign born first generation (F.B. F.G) and U.S.- born second generation in major cities

F.B F.G U.S.-born SG Total

U.S children < 18 10.1 15.2 25.3

Los Angeles 36.9 25 61.9 NYC 32.9 21.4 54.3 Chicago 13.9 15.3 29.2 Miami 48.6 22.9 71.5 Orange County 33.4 20.3 53.7 San Diego 24.3 18.7 43.0 Houston 16.6 12.1 28.7 Washington D.C. 14.1 8.5 22.6

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The Old and New Immigration

n Two major periods of migration to the United States, 1890-1920 and the post-1965 periods, with three major differences

n Unlike the early 1900s, today’s immigrants are much more diverse in national origins.

n Unlike the early 1900s, today’s immigrants are much more diverse in social standing.

n Unlike the early 1900s, today’s immigrants are more likely to concentrate in urban areas, especially poor inner cities

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Size of the Foreign Born

n 1960-2010—foreign born population quadrupled from 10 to 40 million (population of the USA is currently 320 million).

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Major trends in post-1965 immigration in relations to the labor market and life chances

n The instability of working class jobs n The changing dynamics of work into a split labor market

n The rise of the professional class and an intense credentialing system

n The dense concentration of poverty

Theories of Immigration

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Robert E. Park (1920s Chicago School of Sociology)

n Chicago School of Assimilation (Robert E. Park)

n Negative sentiments about immigrants/immigration

n Economic self-sufficiency

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What explains why people leave their countries of origin to become immigrants?

n Three Theories: 1. Equilibrium Theory 2. Structural Historical Theory 3. Social Networks Theory

The world is divided into three zones of a “system” of economic exchange

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Geographies of Zones

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Equilibrium Theory (a.k.a Push/Pull Theory or Modernization Theory)

n Stages of Development n“differences” in development “pushes”people out of traditional societies

n Pull factors of life abroad

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Proponents n Migration is a good thing

nOpponents n Poverty & migration are not causally linked. n Push/Pull Theories overemphasizes people’s individual choices

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“Structural-Historical” Theory

n The context of a global economic system n Connects inequality between sending & receiving countries

n Migration is a direct consequence of US economic, political, and military influence overseas historically and presently.

n Occupational downgrading

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Social Networks Theory

n Mostly concern with explaining migration after periods of stabilization

n Social networks provide tangible resources for people to migrate

n Main critique of social network theorists

All began with a guy named Christopher

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Europeanization of the World

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