World System Theory and Migration

Introduction:

World System Theory was propounded by Immanuel Wallerstein in 1974 AD. According to him, world system is a social system which has boundaries, structures, member groups, rules of legitimating and coherence. After the publication of world system theory, various sociological theories has linked the origin of international migration not to the wage difference but due to the dynamics of the global economy. According to World System Theory, migration is a natural outgrowth of disruptions and dislocations that occurs in

the process of capitalist expansion.

Explanation:

The capitalist expansion has consequences for migration issues not only due to the capitalist mode of production but also the culture and strong transportation, communication and military links that penetrate peripheries. Land, raw material and labor within peripheral regions come under the influence and control of market as a result it has created a socially uprooted population which have less attachments to their land and are more interested in migration.

1. Land

For the greatest profit from existing agrarian resources and to compete within global commodity markets, capitalist farmers see to consolidate land, introduce cash crops, mechanize agriculture as a result it destroys the traditional system of land tenure, social and economic relations based on subsistence crops. All these factors contribute to the creation of mobile labor force displaced from the land with less attachment to the agrarian communities.

2. Raw Materials

The extraction of raw materials for sale on global markets requires industrial methods that rely on paid labor. The offer of wages to former farmers affect traditional forms of social and economic organization based on system of mutual exchange and fixed role relation. As a result there will be creation of labor market  based on new conceptions of individualism, private gain and social change which promote the geographical mobility of labor in peripheral nations.

3. Labor

Firms from core capitalist countries enter developing countries to establish factories that take advantage of low wage rates often within special export processing zones. The demand for factory workers creates labor market by weakening the traditional productive relation. Much of the labor demanded is female causing feminsation of the workforce limiting the opportunities for men as women can be poorly paid. The introduction of foreign owned factories into peripheral regions affect subsistence economy by producing goods that compete with local goods, feminizing the workforce and socializing women for industrial work. This result in the creation of workforce that are mobile.

4. Material Link

In order to ship goods, deliver machinery, extract and export raw materials, coordinate and manage business operations and machinery plants, core nations build and expand transportation and communication link to the peripheral countries where they have invested. These links not only transport the goods and information, they also promote the movement of people by reducing the cost of transportation from periphery to core.

5. Ideological Link

International migration is especially likely between past colonial powers and their former colonies because cultural, linguistic, administrative, investment, transportation and communication linkes were established earlier.

6. Global Cities

The world economy is managed from a relatively small number of urban centers in which banking, administration, professional and high tech production tend to be concentrated. Within these societies a great deal of wealth and highly educated concentrated in skillfull and luxurious jobs creating a string demand for services from unskilled workers like gardeners, waiters, etc.