Conflicts between Family Strategies and State Policy in a Global Society

• Published in: Journal of comparative family studies 2001-04, Vol.32 (2), p.147-166
• Main Author: SETTLES, BARBARA H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Citizenship; Commercial regulation; Coping strategies; Economic conditions; Economic regulation; Families; Families & family life; Family law; Globalization; Government; Government Policy; Government Regulation; Homes; Immigration; Immigration Policy; Labor mobility; Nation states; Public policy; Social aspects; Social impact; Society; State Society Relationship; States; Travel
• ISSN: 0047-2328; 1929-9850
• DOI: 10.3138/jcfs.32.2.147

The mismatch in scale between the coping strategies and resources of family units and their kinship connections and the scope of state policy, international economic and political institutions and access to mobility has often led to seeing the individual and family as a dependent variable in scientific studies of ethnicity and migration. The relationships between families and nationstates in the issue of immigration is one in which it would seem that the dominant influence would flow from the state to the family. The nationstate is challenged not only by those who would immigrate, but also by the larger world systems of economic and social change. While globalization is recognized widely in economic and technological arenas now the global issues are found at the local level and are felt by individuals and their families. Four areas of legal regulations are reviewed and discussed in terms of how families deal with them: Travel, Domicile, Economic, and Political Policies. In this paper the perspective is turned to look at the individual and his or her families' interactions with the nation-state to advance their own goals within the context of globalization. Il existe un décalage entre les stratégies de la migration et les ressources dont disposent les familles, et celles des institutions nationales et internationales. La politique de l'état vise de préférence à borner l'accès à la mobilité géographique, créant ainsi une inégalité de fait qui, d'après des études scientifiques de l'éthnicité et de la migration, finit par faire traiter l'individu et la famille de variable dépendante. Pourtant, on constate que la migration réelle reste bien audessus de l'attente de la politique de l'état. Normalement, c'est l'état qui veut imposer des limites à la migration d'individus et de families; mais les systèmes mondiaux de transformation sociale et économique se joignent qui cherchent ã migrer en dépit des contraintes imposées par les états. En effet, dans les sphères économique et technique, on reconnaît le puissant attrait de la globalisation. Même au niveau de la commune c'est la poussée globale qui influe le plus sur les individus et les families. Dans cet article sont analysés quatre champs de règlements: la migration, le foyer, l'économie, et la politique. On met l'accent sur la façon dont les families font face aux règlements. La perspective est celle de l'individu et sa famille, comment ils utilisent les rapports avec l'état pour avancer leurs buts particuliers