Migration To Australia In The 1900's

Migration is a process, not an event. It refers to the form of spatial mobility of change in one geographical area to another. The process of migration is complex, as every experience is different, and there are several sociological theories to try and understand migration. Migration makes a vast part of Australian history, with large amounts of migration flowing into Australia in the 1900’s. Specifically in this essay I will draw upon experiences from John, who migrated to Australia from England in 1977 at the age of 20. John’s experiences will help understand the process of migration to Australia, lifestyle migration and economic migration, and the policies in place such as the White Australia policy. In addition, I will explore the concept
The White Australia Policy comprised of various historical policies that intentionally favoured immigration to Australia from certain European countries, especially from Britain. The period after the Second World War saw the Australian government actively seek out people to migrate to Australia, to the point that the Government wanted “desirable” immigrants so much they began to give them money to come here. This was known as the Assisted Passages Scheme and it meant that the Australian Government paid either all or part of the costs of migrating to Australia. Between 1958 and 1972 assistance was given to 77.6 per cent of United Kingdom and 75.7 per cent of Irish migrants. However, these policies were progressively dismantled between 1949 and 1973. These policies heavily reflect the migrations systems theory. In the migration systems theory, the focus is on the ‘migration system’ which link two or more countries exchanging migrants. Migratory movements are influenced by prior links between the sending and the receiving countries, such as political influence, trade, investment and cultural ties. By 1971 the Australian economy slipped into much more difficult times and 1974-1975 crisis in the world economy was the worst since the 1930’s. Australia, therefore, entered a new age of uncertainty and began to cut and adjust its immigration programs as the pulse of the economy weakened
The use of social capital in John’s migration experience allowed for the migration chain to broaden from his immediate family, to his current girlfriend at the time. In the context of migration, social capital refers to relationships, forms of knowledge and skills that advance one’s potential migration. Social capital refers to particular kinds of relationships among persons, relationships of shared obligation, shared norms or mutual trust. Such relationships bind people together. (Cornell & Hartmann 2007, p. 228). “I had to go see an immigration officer before we migrated with Elise (my girlfriend at the time, now current wife). Essentially, I had to be responsible for her for the first 2 years of being in Australia because she was migrating to Australia as part of a de facto relationship. I had my immediate family migrating to Australia whereas she was leaving all her family behind in Germany” (Geare, 2015). Social capital is often pivotal in chain migration, especially so that John’s girlfriend was migrating with John and his family while leaving her family in Germany. Chain migrations are composed largely of persons who are linked to one another by kinship ties or other networks of social relations. As obvious with John’s migration process, the decision to migrate is often a family or group decision, and migrants are more likely to move