Social Capital and International Migration

Introduction

Human migration is defined as the movement of people from one geographical location to another with the primary goal of settling permanently in their new location. Human movement is not only dramatic from one country to the next, but also over great distances. Yet, in the case of Latin America, the South American continent is so enormous in land mass that even internal migrations, which is a prominent structure of movement around the planet, have been documented historically (Aide & Grau, 2004). Migration trends in Latin America took the shape of big groups, families, and even single individuals (worldatlas.com, 2016). Even though movements out of and into Latin America began a long time ago, there was a phenomenal increase in migrations witnessed in the late nineties, whereby migratory movements led from Latin Americas to Spain, an era that was characterized by mass expansions and diversification by the origins. Nevertheless, in the recent history, within the last decade, there has been witnessed a reduction in the flows outside of Latin America, as opposed to the escalated return migrations (Massey & Aysa-Lastra, 2011). Indeed, there is a lot of information which has been justified in scholarly evidence-based literature confirming the reasons as to why the expansions and the emergence in the migration systems are very phenomenal in the region, a research background that gives more insight in this assignment, other than the factors that influenced the movements.

Factors that Influenced Migration into Latin America

Factors that influenced people to migrate into the Latin American geographical region are several. Normally, a multifaceted approach is very critical when it comes to human migration pull factors, and it ranges from the social, political, economic, as well as cultural aspects (Aide & Grau, 2004). The Spanish economic growth had stagnated for years, an occurrence that significantly influenced the movement of people out of Spain to Latin America, and this created an environment that there were many Spanish citizens of young adult ages and the upward movement of the Spanish female cohorts that escalated the migrations. Furthermore, the migration policy of Latin America then was favorable for those who wished to establish their settlements therein, and it as well acted as a major pull factor. On the contrary, the push factors in the region accentuated the movements of the populations outside of Latin America in a diversified manner (Massey & Aysa-Lastra, 2011). The relative shocks and the differentials in the economy of the region of Latin America. Furthermore, the nature of the population was characterized by young adults, people who were active, energetic, and highly productive, hence most were explorative and willing to generate wealth, a factor that enabled their migration objectives. Following the unstable economy, the job and employment opportunities were inadequate, hence compelling migration outside of the Latin American region to other parts. Moreover, the development of mobility was accentuated by the educational expansion and the research frameworks in science (Dorigo & Tobler, 1983). Indeed, these factors give an evidence-based projection of the bilateral determinants that influenced the push and pull elements in Latina America and other parts of the world, notably Spain.

Influence of Location and Geography

The location of Latin America was a central factor that influenced both partly and in absolute the migrations phenomenal in the region. The traveling of people mostly by water, the expiration of goods, the importation of goods, as well as the aspects of climate, family, jobs and political stability were very significant. Furthermore, the five themes of geography including place, location, regions, human environmental factors as well as movement majorly influenced the Latin American migrations. Latin America is a symbolic mirror of the globalized parts of the world (worldatlas.com, 2016). The dynamic connections between places, people, environments, rather than notions that were predefined in this region. Therefore, the movement as a theme of geography in Latin America shaped the elements of transnationalism, urbanization, migration, globalization, physical and human environment interactions, economic connections and landscapes of cities, as well as the context of the global economy. Furthermore, the push and pull factors intrinsically linked to tourism, trade and illegal drugs as well as the social movements of people in the young adult and middle adulthood brackets (Massey & Aysa-Lastra, 2011). Therefore, the migration pull and push factors in Latin America was characterized by the nature of the economy, society, and the politics of the region, as was founded on the physical environment.

References

Aide, T. M., & Grau, H. R. (2004). Ecology. Globalization, migration, and Latin American ecosystems. Science, 305(September), 1915–1916. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1103179

Dorigo, G., & Tobler, W. (1983). Push-Pull Migration Laws. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 73(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8306.1983.tb01392.x

Massey, D. S., & Aysa-Lastra, M. (2011). Social Capital and International Migration from Latin America. International Journal of Population Research, 2011(834145), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/834145

worldatlas.com. (2016). The Five Themes In Geography - WorldAtlas. Retrieved from http://www.worldatlas.com/the-five-themes-in-geography.html

Aide, T. M., & Grau, H. R. (2004). Ecology. Globalization, migration, and Latin American ecosystems. Science, 305(September), 1915–1916. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1103179

Dorigo, G., & Tobler, W. (1983). Push-Pull Migration Laws. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 73(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8306.1983.tb01392.x

Massey, D. S., & Aysa-Lastra, M. (2011). Social Capital and International Migration from Latin America. International Journal of Population Research, 2011(834145), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/834145

worldatlas.com. (2016). The Five Themes In Geography - WorldAtlas. Retrieved from http://www.worldatlas.com/the-five-themes-in-geography.html