Abstract
In the past few years, cultural and social conflicts broke out in different places of Northern countries. As it generally occurs in periods of economic and social crisis, the migrants were generally marginalized: either they were excluded by the society because of their differences (it was one of the claims supporting the revolts in France in 2005) or they did not succeed to integrate (and even assimilate) in the society. At the same time, we can observe, as Joppke argues it, a retreat of multicultural policies in many countries (2004). Both these observations may be related to each other in order to understand the central issue of migration in our societies.
For example, a country such as the Netherlands is characterized by both cultural conflicts and a retreat of multiculturalism. These are one of the challenges which characterized globalization, a process of multiplication of economic or financial exchanges and human fluxes, because of liberalization and deregulation (especially over the past thirty years). This conception of the world as a ‘global village' (McLuhan) is largely criticized by nationalists which consider that this process undermines the authority of the States and blurs frontiers which define Nations. In particular, the extreme right is opposed to the process of migration: in addition to the critics of an increasing ethnic diversity, they reproach migrants for taking the jobs of the natives (a critic easily contradicted by features)… Population movements reflect many challenges of globalization, especially in terms of division between Northern and Southern countries at a global level.
Hence, we may wonder how migration is contributing to globalization and how it is reflecting its challenges. We will demonstrate that migration, through different forms, and in the light of recent tendencies, is a cause and (also a result) of globalization. Then, we will see that the challenges of international migration reflect the challenges of globalization (although migration remains an exception) in different fields (economy, politics, culture…) and at different levels (local, national, global). Finally, we will argue that politics can be led at both domestic and international levels to face these challenges of global migration.
