The Different Perspective of Immigration

In the last year over a million refugees have been displaced from the Middle East
and have wondered into Europe. This is has bee one the largest cases of forced migration
and international response to the matter has varied greatly. The question of how strictly
or loosely governments should restrict immigrates has many different viewpoints and
levels. Both the nation and the individual either benefit or are negatively affected by the
policies regarding immigration. Immigration has drastic effects on everyone within a
nation and immigration is not only an economic issue but, a moral problem asking us if
we have the natural right to exclude people from our own community.
When researching the topic of immigration, one will find that different academic
disciplines bring different viewpoints to the discussion that morph the discussion itself.
One of the main questions regarding immigration is the fiscal effects immigration has on
a nation and the study of economics best attempts to answer this question. Another
prominent issue in regards to immigration is the question of how far nations can go in
excluding citizenship versus the natural rights of human beings. The field of global
studies will discuss immigration in terms of the well being of the nation and in terms of
individuals rights to freedom. These two discourses work together along with many
other academic fields to describe the issue of immigration.
The discourses of Global Studies and Economics shape immigration into an issue
that involves people of all levels of society. The immigrants, the natives, and the entities
of both the economy and nation are affected by immigration. Therefore, in their
respective discourses these are the topics that the academic articles and texts of the
subject center around. Immigration becomes a problem that deals with people and how

each of these individuals affect society as a whole. The conventions and literary devices
of these practices contribute to efficient and effective communication within each
discourse community.
Economic rhetoric regarding immigration centers around the monetary aspects of
immigration. For instance, Freeman (1975) discusses how strict immigration policy based
on racial discrimination affected the labor force of France in the 1970s. Economics
discourse will only focus on the fiscal effects of immigration policy and makes
conclusions based off the benefits and disadvantages certain policies have on a nations
economy. While reading an Economics article the reader must be aware that at all times
the goal of an economist is to increase efficiency and lower the amount of lost capital in
an economy. For example economists created a measurement called The Production
Possibility Frontier which represents the point at which an economy is most efficiently
producing its goods and services and, therefore, allocating its resources in the best way
possible (Heekal, Investopedia). The want for efficiency means that when writing policy to
set the rules for an economy, an economist wishes for no resources to go unused and for all

people to be working. Economists than use their knowledge to ultimately try to predict
the future of economies and business. For example, Borjas book (2006), Economics of
Immigration tries to answer such questions as, What effects do immigrants have on the
employment opportunities of natives? Readers of the Economic discourse community
must also be aware that the economics is not only a field that values mathematics as
evidence, but economists are always operating under logic based assumptions that act as
universal laws. In his article Heakal writes, economics makes the assumption that human
beings will aim to fulfill their self-interests. It also assumes that individuals are rational in
their efforts to fulfill their unlimited wants and needs. No claim is made within this field

that is not based upon statistical evidence or assumed logic of the discipline. Economics
is thus a social science that attempts to make predictions about the affects of phenomenon
such as immigration.
The human element to immigration can be found in the discourses of global
studies. Global Studies uses knowledge of global trends and history to understand
contemporary processes that are affecting us today. The introduction of a Global Studies
class syllabus explains the goals of the discourse by stating, : This interdisciplinary
course is designed to introduce students to the study of global socioeconomic and
political processes, interactions, and changes that affect the contemporary world. In the
global studies discourse a reader can find multiple perspectives of a single problem
within one essay. Any particular rhetoric may speak of the economic, political, and social
issues regarding immigration. Global studies discourse will often speak of the people
involved in an issue and how they are affected. Habermas (2008) personifies immigration
in his article, Citizenship and National Identity, by stating, With immigration, new
forms of life are imported which expand and multiply the perspective of all. Rather than
talk about gross domestic product or unemployment, the rhetoric of global studies
focuses on the people affected. Immigration is also spoken in terms of the transnational
and international effects to cultures, local governments, and the populous. For example,
the Global 2 syllabus reads, Roughly half of the lectures and readings will focus on
global issues as manifest in particular regions of the world. The other half will look at
these issues transnationally. A reader of global studies should also be aware that the
study of globalization is to uncover the tendencies and characteristics of the present and
past while at the same time attempting to put into words what we should strive for in the

future and why these goals should be the goals we focus on. For instance, writers often
challenge social models and ask the reader Why do we believe what we believe. This
view of the individual comes to fruition when debating immigration in Global Studies.
Wellman references individual liberties in his article, Immigration and Freedom of
Association when he writes, Freedom of association is widely seen as one of those
basic freedoms which is fundamental to a genuinely free society. With the freedom to
associate, however, there comes the freedom to refuse association. In conclusion, the
argument of immigration in the field of Global Studies is centered around the natural
rights of people to live freely in any way they see fit, even if that way of life includes
excluding those culturally different.
Authority in global studies is gained through popular opinion of theories, just like
in most academic disciplines. The more widely accepted a theory is the more other works
will build on the work of the accepted theory. These theories than assimilate into the
canon of the discourse and become near fact. All proceeding arguments will than assume
these theories are true and either build on them with more analysis or challenge the
theory and give other reason for explanation. Another common practice of global studies
discourse is to end each article with a conclusion that clearly presents the main argument
and than to offer up further questions that need to be answered. Articles will go into
detail on many specific phenomena, which can skew what the reader views as the main
argument. By explicitly including a section labeled Conclusion the discourse
community as a whole can easily identify and categorize where the text fits within the
entire field of Global Studies. The addition of definitive conclusions also facilitates the
discussion of the discourse to always be moving forward. Writers do not waste time

summarizing an issue but instead only write when there is a new argument or idea to be
explained. This is essential when talking about a political issue such as immigration
because debate is key to resolution of such an issue.
Different discourses exist to discuss the varying aspects of a problem. Without
separate academic communities existing on their own, the information highway would
become a jumbled, traffic-ridden mess with no map to guide our way. We thank the
customs of each discourse community for laying out for us the road map to knowledge.
These communities such as Global Studies and Economics have built networks and
customs that allow for efficient and effective communication throughout. The ideologies
and general principles of each discourse work together to formulate the relevant issues of
each genre. The Economics discipline adequately provides debate on the fiscal effects of
immigration while Global Studies views immigration through the eyes of the people and
how our separate ideologies and morals shape the issue that we call immigration.

Bibliography
Borjas, George J. "The Economics of Immigration." Journal of Economic Literature 32,
no. 4 (1994): 1667-717.
FREEMAN, GARY P. Immigrant Labor and Racial Conflict in Industrial Societies: The
French and British Experience, 1945-1975. Princeton University Press, 1979.
Habermas, Jurgen. Citizenship and National Identity. Thinking Globally: A Global
Studies Reader. Berkeley: U of California, 2014. N. pag. Print.
Heakal, Reem. "Economics Basics." Investopedia. N.p., 20 Jan. 2014. Web. 04 Dec. 2016.

Jeurgensmeyer, Mark GLOBAL 2: Introduction to Global Studies Fall 2016

Wellman, Christopher Heath. "Immigration and Freedom of Association." Ethics 119, no.
1 (2008): 109-41. doi:10.1086/592311.