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
of transnationalism and Disaporas using John’s experiences and his use of social capital.
Theories of migration do not necessarily relate to all migration experiences, as migration is shaped individually through historical and social contexts. John’s migration incorporates a blend of lifestyle migration and economic migration. John’s father was migrating to Australia for work purposes; however John chose to migrate with his family to be close to them and also to explore a different lifestyle to that in England. “I didn’t have much interest in life in England, the lifestyle didn’t appeal to me and I hated how society was very class based” (Geare, 2015). Lifestyle migration is often described as an individual’s search for a better life abroad and lifestyle migrants often present themselves as active agents who have improved their lives by way of their own unmediated choice; they have taken their destiny into their own hands by escaping unsatisfactory circumstances and do not expect others (or societies) to act on their behalf (Benson & Osbaldiston 2014, p. 27). Economic and lifestyle migration can interrelate and influence each other dramatically. Overtime, countries that used to attract economic migrants have gradually become countries attracting lifestyle migration. Australia attracted many economic migrants, especially post World War II and during the gold rush. Like Australia, Turkey, which has long been a country of origin for economic migrants and asylum-seekers within traditional European migration systems, has quite recently emerged as a destination for those people, particularly German and British citizens whose more individualised migration is inspired by considerations for their future quality of life (O'Reilly & Benson, 2009). Whether economic or lifestyle migration, the process of migrating to another country is often influenced by policies and processes in place to attract or repel migrants.
The period of time John migrated to Australia saw the unravelling of the White Policy Australia.
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
(Richards 2008, p. 251). The post-war immigration programme originally had conservative intentions: the aim was to keep Australia white and British. By the 1970s, multiculturalism was the new recipe for managing diversity. Since then, this approach has been regularly endorsed (Castles, Hugo & Vasta, 2013). “I can’t stay I experienced any racism or discrimination after migrating to Australia, people were very neutral. It was very multicultural and people were very accepting of difficult cultures. I didn’t have any problems settling into Australian society” (Geare, 2015).
With all the changes to immigration policies in Australia over the last 100 years, Australia has as a result become a multicultural society, with the emergence of transnational communities. Transnational communities are sometimes referred to as Diasporas: globally dispersed populations whose origins lie in a single homeland or set of linked homelands. Diasporas have become a common feature of the common world. One of the effects of the growing salience of such identities in some people’s lives is to reduce the sense of affiliation to the states in which those diasporic populations reside, although this effect is not prevalent for John. In John’s case, the majority of his family migrated to Australia, leaving him with only small familial links in his home country of England. “I’ve been able to keep in contact regularly through writing letters, and I’ve been back to England about 2-3 times since migrating to Australia to visit the extended family, and they’ve been here to see us too. I don’t consider England my home and I haven’t for a very long time” (Geare, 2015). Throughout migration having a sense of nationalism can be seen as important, however it is evident that John
Had John’s father and John himself not utilised their social capital John might be telling a different story regarding his migration.
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
together. It began as John’s father migrating for economic purposes, to broadening the migration chain to John and to his girlfriend.
Migration has played an important in Australian history. With the introduction and changes to immigration policies throughout the 1900’s, it has drastically shaped the type of migrants coming to Australia and for what purposes. British migrations have ultimately been favoured and seen as the ideal migrants, with the White Policy Australia and Ten Pound Pom schemes demonstrating this. However for John, he narrowly avoided these policies in his migration process, but still describes being from England something that made migrating to Australia easier.