Immigration to the Western world

The Statue of Liberty, which has come to embody the American ideals surrounding immigration.

Immigration has had a major influence on the demographics and culture of the Western world. Immigration to the West started happening in significant numbers during the 1960s and afterward,[1] as Europe made its post-war economic recovery and the United States passed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 allowing non-European immigration.[2][3][4][5]

Immigration to the West has often been related to the West's colonial history; for example, immigration to Britain historically has come largely from former British colonies (generally as part of the broader Commonwealth migration.)[6][7] Wars that Western countries have recently been involved in, and the fallout or flows of refugees associated with them, have also been tied to the inflow of immigration.[8]

Significant debate has taken place around the economic and other benefits associated with immigration (particularly for low-skilled workers),[9][10] with Western governments often more in favor of immigration than their constituents.[11] Debate has also taken place around both the theory and current state of integration of the immigrants, with some favoring multiculturalism as a solution.[12]

  1. ^ Meer, Tom van der; Tolsma, Jochem (2014-07-30). "Ethnic Diversity and Its Effects on Social Cohesion". Annual Review of Sociology. 40 (1): 459–478. doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-071913-043309. hdl:2066/133583. ISSN 0360-0572.
  2. ^ Delanty, Gerard, ed. (2006-10-03). Europe and Asia beyond East and West. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203963104. ISBN 978-1-134-18141-4.
  3. ^ Therborn, Göran (1987). "Migration and Western Europe: the Old World Turning New". Science. 237 (4819): 1183–1188. Bibcode:1987Sci...237.1183T. doi:10.1126/science.237.4819.1183. ISSN 0036-8075. JSTOR 1699515. PMID 17801641.
  4. ^ "How the Immigration Act of 1965 Changed the Face of America". HISTORY. 2019-08-12. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  5. ^ Chow, Emily; Keating, Dan (2013-05-20). "The state of U.S. immigration". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  6. ^ Tarumoto, Hideki (2023-03-27), "Considering Super-diversity in Immigration: Post-Western Sociology and the Japanese Case", Handbook of Post-Western Sociology: From East Asia to Europe, Brill, pp. 664–676, ISBN 978-90-04-52932-8, retrieved 2023-11-19
  7. ^ Caldwell, Christopher (2009-07-28). Reflections on the Revolution In Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-385-52924-2.
  8. ^ Meyers, Eytan (2002). "The causes of convergence in Western immigration control". Review of International Studies. 28 (1): 123–141. doi:10.1017/S0260210502001237. ISSN 1469-9044.
  9. ^ Azarnert, Leonid V. (2010-12-01). "Immigration, fertility, and human capital: A model of economic decline of the West". European Journal of Political Economy. 26 (4): 431–440. doi:10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2010.03.006. hdl:10419/38999. ISSN 0176-2680.
  10. ^ Venturi, Richard. "Immigration in the West and Its Discontents". www.strategie.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  11. ^ Hochschild, Jennifer; Mollenkopf, John (2009). Delivering Citizenship. Berlin, Germany: Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung.
  12. ^ Joppke, Christian (1998-02-12). Challenge to the Nation-State: Immigration in Western Europe and the United States. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-152193-5.