CIRCULATORY MIGRATION AS LIFE STRATEGY Dumitru Sandu ... · Dumitru Sandu University of Bucharest The study aims at listing the significant characteristics of the Romanians' provisional

Sociologie Românească / Romanian Sociology Annual English Electronic Edition Issue 2 (2000), pp. 65-92 Original (Romanian) version: Dumitru Sandu: Migraţia circulatorie ca strategie de viaţă Sociologie Românească, 2000, 2, 5-29. English translation by DELCOM Group & Sociologie Românească, with the financial support of the Open Society Institute - the Open Access Journals Program. Sociologie Românească is published by the Romanian Association of Sociology. The issues from the new series (starting 1999) are available on the journal website: www.sociologieromaneasca.ro, as well as the English translations from the Annual English Electronic Edition.

CIRCULATORY MIGRATION AS LIFE STRATEGY

Dumitru Sandu

University of Bucharest

The study aims at listing the significant characteristics of the Romanians' provisional migration abroad within 2000. The theoretical environment of the herein approach has been set up by means of a reference to the life strategy concepts, to the human capital, to the social capital, to the material capital, to the community related capital and innovation spreading means. The strategies with respect to the international circulatory migration are more and more relied upon, within the framework of the pauperization, globalization and of the structuring of the international circulatory networks. The provisional external migration is strongly marked by a positive selectivity, by the differentiation between rural-urban concepts and by the alteration of the characteristics in compliance with the 'waves' of the social innovation spreading process which consists of the fulfillment of the life objectives by means of the international circulatory migration. The community oriented social capital, with ethnic and religious origins, plays a significant role within the first stages of the emigration from the community abroad. For the purpose of the analysis, it was a good idea to use the national survey data, community focused studies, multilevel approaches.

Why should we call it 'LIFE STRATEGY'? (LS)

After 1989, the field of the migration related phenomena on the Romanian territory or

originated in Romania has been the subject of significant changes, such as:

The internal migration dominated by the village-town flow changed into a prevailing reverse migration, from town to village;

Commuting from the rural domicile to the urban work place has drastically decreased, almost three times, during the time period 1989/2000;

Although the definite external migration keeps on having low ratings, the circulatory migration, of the 'come and go' type, from Romania to other countries, for different reasons such as tourism, work or business purposes enjoys a permanent social extent.

66 Dumitru Sandu

Sociologie Românească / Romanian Sociology - Annual English Electronic Edition - Issue 2 (2000)

Such structural changes within the Romanian migration can be relatively easy to explain by

development delays, the cities/ regions/ countries development dynamics. Unfortunately, the

phenomenon related to the massive return from town to village cannot be interpreted as the village's

coming closer to the town's development level. It is more of a social-economic crisis in which the

country fumbles. 'The fall' of the rural commuting clearly points at the increase of the industrial-

urban decline.

The explanations that rely on development differences or on communication

facilities/obstacles focus on rather mechanistic hypothesis: the migrants seem to be more the

particles of a magnetic field whose force lines are laid out by the development discrepancies and by

the communication channels. that is why explicitly or implicitly promotes approaches of the 'push-

pull' or neo-economic type. The mechanistic trend in explaining the migration has though more

subtle shapes than the ones that have been associated to the gravitational patterns. It is the trend that

sees the migrant as being the same in his origin and at his final destination, with stable reasons and

objectives before and after his departure.

The mechanistic simplifications are frequently doubled by the distortions due to the

migrant's relative isolation, to his separation from the context of his departure site or to the

approaches' over-focusing on the aspects related to the migration issues on the arrival or departure

sites.

Of course, the constraints and the economic and communication opportunities are

significantly important in the migration phenomena structuring processes. The issues with respect

to the poverty within the departure site and to the integration difficulties within the arrival site

enjoy a high relevance and visibility. The understanding of the social reasons that ground the

migration process and the refusal to interpret in a mechanistic way the herein phenomenon may be

reached by means of approaches that focus on the intentionality of these migrating actions, on the

joining of the tendencies and behaviors towards the spatial mobility's understanding. Within the

range of concepts that favour comprehensive migration approaches, an important position is held by

the 'life strategy'. The strictly demographic oriented researches, or the ones based on social

morphological patterns such as the Durkheim pattern mainly interpret the 'migration' as an event, as

a simple transit between two places. By summing up some other similar events, one comes to the

definition of a migration phenomenon with specific structures and dynamics.

Besides, as a reaction to the mechanistic-morphological approaches, the question 'could

migration be understood as a life strategy?' seems to be perfectly legitimate. If the answer is 'yes',

then by means of which concepts or which hypothesis? The herein study mainly aims at testing the

effectiveness of the migration being treated as a life strategy. I will hereinafter try to provide a

Circulatory migration as life strategy 67


starting point of an answer, by referring to a specific migration type - the Romanians' international

circulatory migration within 2000-2001. The concepts of human, material and social capital, that

are frequently used within the different approaches on migration are to be subjected to the life

strategy concept. Before starting to see the migration through the conceptual lens of the life

strategy, we ought to re-define the contours of this lens, as well as the way in which it may be

polished so that it allow a clearer overview on the designed phenomena.

Migration within the framework of life strategies

A life strategy is not only an action, but also a kind of perspective on the action itself. It is

the perspective of the long term relationship between the assumed ends and the required means. As

for sociology, it is about 'ordered pairs' of purposes-means sets that can be identified at the level of

social segments or groups. Otherwise, for disparate cases, one may talk about individual strategies,

that are interesting from the psychological, historical or event oriented point of view. The LS

represent rational action structure, relatively solid from the point of view of the agent who

adopts them. Their reasonable aspect is provided by the means’ adjustment to the ends, by the

choices made and by coherence. We could talk about a choice related to the means according to the

ends, or the other way round or both1. The strategies outstand the wide family of the human actions

by the presence of such elements as:

A major choice2 within the area outlined by purposes and means (with multiple/long

term consequences);

an algorithm like and coherent ordering of the operations that lead to the objective's

fulfillment;

1 'Action is rationally oriented to a system of discrete individual ends (zweckrational) when the end, the means, and the secondary results are all rationally taken into account and weighed. This involves rational consideration of alternative means to the end, of the relations of the end to other prospective results of employment of any given means, and finally of the relative importance of different possible ends. Determination of action, either in affection or in traditional terms, is thus incompatible with this type. Choice between alternative and conflicting ends and results may well be determined by considerations of absolute value. In that case, action is rationally oriented to a system of discrete individual ends only in respect to the choice of means. On the other hand, the actor may, instead of deciding between alternative and conflicting ends in terms of a rational orientation to a system of values, simply take them as given subjective wants and arrange them in a scale of consciously assessed relative urgency.' (Weber, 1964: 117) 2 ' Classiquement oppose au terme tactique, celui de stratégie suppose une situation plus vaste, une anticipation, une globalité et un niveau de décision majeur, en principe absents d'une action qualifiée de tactique. Le terme stratégie fait son entrée dans la théorie économique à travers l'ouvrage de J. Von Neumann et O. Morgenstein, Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. Depuis, les travaux d'économétrie, ceux de J.M. Keynes ont œuvre à la promotion et à la banalisation de la notion. Ce sont les exigences d'un monde en industrialisation rapide qui ont favorise l'épanouissement de modèles a multiples choix, et multiples moyens d'optimisation, le fait que l'action politique, pour être efficace, demande plus qu'aux époques précédentes une rationalisation des choix. La stratégie ainsi entendue, au niveau des sociétés entières, est alors la conduite et la réalisation d'une politique par les moyens les meilleurs. L'idée de stratégie sous-entend que les sociétés humaines peuvent conduire et maîtriser leur histoire.' (Anne Gotman, 1990:24).

68 Dumitru Sandu


the effort to accumulate and distribute the resources in order to get to the objective's

fulfillment;

a conflict or competition oriented situation that imposes the choice as a way of

solving an issue3.

Thus, the LS are fundamental choices, under competition like pressure, that are dealt with in

a sequence-/ algorithm-like manner by resource mobilization and by capital conversion.

The LS may be approached in different ways; one can focus on the objectives, the means or

the functions associated to the concept of strategic actions (Table 1). From the instruments point of

view, the LS can be classified as mobility oriented strategies or stability centered strategies,

diversity/ qualitative reduction focused strategies or accumulation/ quantitative reduction centered

strategies. Actually, and fundamentally, people can choose among:

MOBILITY RELATED STRATEGIES

Mobility/stability 'here' vs 'somewhere else'

DIVERSITY RELATED STRATEGIES

Diversity/qualitative reduction

'more' vs 'less'

ACCUMULATION RELATED STRATEGIES

Diversity/quantitative reduction

'more' vs 'less'

The phenomenological perspective focuses on the field where the strategic action prevails.

The aspect of maximum visibility that is specific to the field of the strategic actions is represented

by the status dimension that supports the change. Thus, we can identify strategies connected to

occupation, residence, family, health care, network communication/integration etc, but, since for

almost all the cases the status indicators are significant for some capital types, the phenomenology

of the life strategies may be interpreted in terms of human, economic, social or vital capital.

From the functional point of view, one can differentiate among development/survival

strategies, strategies with respect to the different capital types conversion/keeping and

challenge/answer oriented strategies. The so-called defense strategies or coping strategies, for

example, aim at diminishing the internal or external conflicts4. Within the same range of the

functional classifications of the life strategies one can identify the approaches in respect of capital

3 'Le terme stratégie s'emploie en règle générale dans les contextes et les situations compétitives' (Anne Gotman, 1990:23) 4 'Coping consists of efforts, both action oriented and intra psychic, to manage (i.e. master, tolerate, reduce, minimize) environmental and internal demands and conflicts.' (Lazarus and Launier, 1978:311)



conversion or re-conversion5. The perspective of the capitals' re-conversion is actually centered on

identifying the routing followed by the agents who carry out the strategic actions.

The highly diverse LS are due to the diversity of the life conditions and of the 'habitus' type

tendencies (Bourdieu, 1996). From the point of view of the migration phenomena within the herein

context, the three-dimensional classification that we suggest might lead to a better localization of

the migration inside the area of the Ls attributes. The strategic migration centered actions are

ranged within the large category of the mobility phenomena engendered by the residence changes.

From the functional point of view, they can refer to any of the six types above mentioned within the

classification in table 1: development or survival, conflict or challenge, capital stock conversion or

preservation. As for the Romanian migration, i.e., there is hypothesis stating that the international

circulatory migration from the 90's is characterized more by a development perspective, as

compared to the migration from town to village, where the survival tendencies prevail (Sandu,

2001). Most of the LS may be located and interpreted from the sociological point of view within

this space of the 4x3x3 = 36 type attributes (four capital types, three instrument related perspective

types and three functional perspective types).

The residence-related strategies are frequently the specific way in which the tendencies to

change the status coordinates - occupation, family, marital status, health - become obvious.

The characteristic of this aspect consists of the spatial conditioning of the status related

change. The circulatory migration, as compared to the definite migration, supposes a both-sided

evaluation of the process, both positive and negative, for the same departure or arrival location,

regardless of its being a permanent or provisional residence. With respect to the prevailing

circulatory migration from Romania, the permanent domicile is valued in a positive way, from the

social-cultural point of view and in a negative way from the economic point of view and that is the

case for the commuting between rural and urban areas and for a good part of the international

migration.

5 Bourdieu focuses on the group strategies regarding the capitals' re-conversion, which are, a great deal of them, a summing up of the individual strategies engendered by situation or habitus related tendencies. 'Re-conversion strategies are nothing other than an aspect of the permanent actions and reactions whereby each group strives to maintain or change its position in the social structure, or, more precisely - at a stage in the evolution of class societies in which one can conserve only by hanging to change so as to conserve. Frequently the actions whereby each class (or class function) works to win new advantages, i.e., to gain an advantage over the other classes and so, objectively, to reshape the structure of objective relations between the classes (the relations revealed by the statistic distributions of properties), are compensated for (and so cancelled out) by the reactions of the other classes, directed toward the same objective. In this particular (though very common) case, the outcome of these opposing actions, which cancel each other out by the very counter movements which they generate, is an overall displacement of the structure of the distribution, between the classes or class fractions, of the assets at stake in the competition.' (Bourdieu, 1984:157).

70 Dumitru Sandu


Table 1. The LS from the instruments, phenomenological and functional point of view B. instrument related perspective (means) A. the phenomenological

perspective (the field for the strategic actions, the nature of the pursued objectives)

Capital types Status coordinates

B1. Mobility/stability (mobility centered strategies

B2. Diversity/qualitative reduction (diversity focused strategies)

B3. Diversity/ quantitative reduction (accumulation centered strategies)

Occupation Work place change

Economy Multiple income sources

Professional promotion Maintaining the same work place Entrepreneurial activities

A1. economic

Residence Internal migration External migration Mobility, tourism

House fittings

Family Marriage Divorce

A2. human cultural Professional training

Child oriented investments Professional improvement

A3. social relationships 'migration' to new networks

Extension of the communication area

Relationship preservation

A4. vital Health status Recovery Sports

C. The functional perspective (consequences of the strategic actions) or the description of the routing engendered by the strategic changes

C1. Development vs survival (extension vs. preservation of the opportunity providing area) C2. Challenge vs answer/defense/coping. C3. Conversion vs preservation of the different capital types.

The extent of the provisional international migration and the macro-social context thereof

More than 20% of the adult population in Romania has traveled abroad within the last 10

years (by referring to may 2001 as a starting point)6. The social and cultural parameters pendant to

6 The data source for the national statistics regarding the circulatory migration is represented by ' The public opinion barometer of the Foundation for an Open Society', may 2001. The total sample, that is representative for the non-institutionalized adult population has included 1817 subjects. In order to test the experience related to international migration, the survey consisted of 6 questions: STRANGER 1: ' have you traveled abroad within the last 10 years?', STRANGER 2: ' Has anyone else from your household traveled abroad during the last 10 years?', STRANGER 3: 'Do you have friends or children who have settled abroad?', STRANGER 4: ' Do you have friends or children who work



the herein phenomenon may be even more obviously set forth by taking into account the

households: in almost 35% of the households that have not been institutionalized there is at least

one member that has traveled abroad during the above mentioned period.

Under the circumstances where the country

Does not have a tradition concerning the external migration during the communist era Has a high current poverty level (almost 40%) Has serious legal barriers Shows a drastic decline of the internal circulatory migration

the extent of the herein phenomenon might sound astonishing.

The above mentioned factors themselves have a double connotation. On one hand they led

to a conditioning of the migration's decrease in intensity, but on the other hand they facilitated or

even engendered the circulatory migration. The communist isolation, the transition's poverty, as

well as the western hesitation to encourage emigration (regardless of its reasons) have acted as

factors that stimulated the international circulatory migration. When for years on the row one has

been forbidden to leave the country as it was the will of the totalitarian-communist regime and since

the work places and well-fare level become more and more an issue of the hesitant transition to the

market economy and the visa for the west are, no one knows why, harder and harder to get, the

tendency to emigration and to circulatory transition normally increased. In the same way, the

diminishing of the commuting between the rural and urban areas by almost three times during the

time period 1989-2001 strongly and negatively influenced the circulatory migration of the

countryside young people (Sandu, 2001).

The causes thereof are not only the negative above mentioned conditioning but also the

positive factors that have been associated to the changes of the post-communist transitions. While

from the economic point of view the Romanian transition has to cope with a really winding road,

full of failures and re-trials, the media industry was rapidly organized so that it engendered a media

shock as compared to the previous isolation from the 90s. The effects of the globalization became

obvious at the level of the phenomena related to the international migration: the multi-national

abroad on a limited term?', AB 1: 'What country did you visit last?', AB2: 'When did you last travel abroad?'. The question STRANGER 1 on which one can interpret the individual experience related to the international migration has been formulated in order to set the coordinates of the provisional international migration. The usage of the verb 'to travel', associated more to the idea of tourism or visits and less interpreted as related to work and education led to a sub-registering of the number of those who went abroad out of work or education purposes. It is true that one speaks about traveling not only when referring to tourism, but also when talking business. Besides, short term stays, regardless of their reasons, may be better rendered linguistically by 'traveling' rather than long term stays. If the question was focused on the verb 'to be', such as 'During the last 10 years, you have been….' One may have come to a larger number of emigrants listed by means of the respective survey. From the methodological point of view as well, the answers to the questions STRANGER1, STRANGER2, STRANGER3 and STRANGER4 refer to the provisional migration, as an undetermined stay abroad. We do not know how much circulatory that migration may be; such an evaluation could have been carried out if it could also have listed the number of trips abroad.

72 Dumitru Sandu


companies, the NGO's, influenced or originated in the West , the new western educational

opportunities, the economic partnerships, the numerous evaluation and negotiation activities

developed by the international financial institutions as well as the internet implementation were as

many factors that favoured the human relationships.

Although the available data are really poor and they do not provide the means for an

accurate comparison, they significantly back up the hypothesis that the tendency of the circulatory

migration seems to be more powerful at the social level than it used to be during the previous years:

almost 30% of the subjects from may 2001 declared that they would like to go abroad for work,

tourism or education purposes within the following year. Of course, the mere intention cannot equal

a structured plan for going abroad. 30% of the total number of potential migrants declare that they

have already carried out some actions in order to succeed in their project.

The circulatory migration tendency at the moment of the survey doubled in terms of its

extent the intention of definitely leaving the country. This type of project was though assumed by

only 14% of the subject of the survey.

Table 2. The tendencies related to the circulatory migration according to residential environments People intend (+) or they don't (-

) intend to leave the country, within the next year, for the

following reasons

The current residential environment

Work tourism education

The type of reason for the circulatory migration

rural urban

Total

- - + Only education 2 5 4 - + + Tourism and education 4 9 8 + - + Work and education 12 8 9 + + - Work and tourism 13 14 14 + + + Work, tourism, education 14 14 14 - + - Only tourism 14 30 25 + - - Only work 41 20 26

Total % 100 100 100 N 152 377 529

The data source: The public opinion barometer of the Foundation for an Open Society, may 2001. The total sample consists of 1817 subjects, the ones who intend to take up a type of circulatory migration represent 29% of the total amount of subjects.

Although the migration oriented tendencies are not accurately measured or identified, they

prove to be helpful as far as the social factors and the migration strategies are concerned.

The intension of working abroad and of travelling for tourism represents the main reasons of

the projects concerning the circulatory migration (Table 2). In a decreasing order with respect to

intensity, the hierarchy presents the reasons work+toursim, work+tourism+education. The last



places within this hierarchy are held by the educational reasons, combined with working and

tourism reasons. The differences between village and town, in terms of circulatory migration, are

obvious even at this first level of separation and empirical analysis of the phenomenon. The

tendency related to the provisional international migration is by almost three times stronger within

the urban environment than in villages (Table 2), if we take into account the connection between

the existing population and the one who wants to go abroad, according to the two residential

environment. As for the amount, the potential urban migrants represent almost 70% of the total

amount of persons who want to go abroad within the near future.

It is not only the amount and the intensity of the potential migration differs significantly for

the two residential environments, but also the structure of this phenomenon. The village strongly

encourages the migration's economic motivation, as well as the wish to go and work abroad (almost

40% of the total number of potential rural migrants). Within towns, tourism is a more stimulating

reason for migration: 30% of the town inhabitants who would like to go abroad justify their

intention by tourism reasons, while 20% of them justify their wish by working reasons. The

intension to live abroad for a while in order to benefit from educational opportunities is again

stronger within the urban environment than in the rural one.

In order to understand the social meaning of the provisional/circulatory international

migration, it is necessary to give up the simple registering of its intensity and take up to the details

of the selection processes. Otherwise said, we should seize the way in which the probability of the

provisional international migration takes different aspects according to the resources of the various

social classes, to their position within the social hierarchy.

The selectivity of the actual international emigration

The migrant of the 'come-and-go' type who commutes from his village or town in Romania

and a foreign country, has reached within the last 10 years a well determined social-demographic

profile. From the basic status characteristic's point of view, he is identified by being, generally, a

young, relatively well educated man, raised in a religion that differs from the Christian-orthodox

one (Table 3, Table A 2). That social capital he may make use of abroad is significantly structured

by having parents or children who have already settled there. The probabilities pendant to the

provisional migration is differentiated according to the territorial characteristics, to the residential

site. The circulatory migration is encouraged by the people's rural status within well developed

counties. The ethnic profile of the community seems to be as well important: in those areas where

the Hungarian population is significantly represented, the tendencies towards provisional

74 Dumitru Sandu


international migration were a lot stronger than in the areas that are homogenous from the ethnic

point of view (Table 3). We should emphasize on the fact that the ethnic coordinate seems to be less

important than the community's ethnic profile. For the regression sample we have worked on, being

Hungarian does not increase the migration ratio. On the contrary, as we have already mentioned,

living inside a community where the Hungarian minority is well represented, significantly increases

the probability of provisional migrations. This conclusion favors the hypothesis that there is a social

capital that acts at the community's level in combination with the ethnic structure. The hypothesis of

an enhanced relationship centered capital within the multiethnic communities (current or recent

situation) is supported by the results of the research that has been carried out within the rural Saxon

communities from Transilvania (Berevoescu, Stanculescu, 1999; Sandu, Mihailescu, 1999; Sandu

2001).

Table 3. Parameters that predict the actual provisional migration* Prediction parameters Exponential coefficients Significantly positive (+) or

negative (-) relationships or non-significant relationships (0) **

Rural Urban Total Rural Urban Total Male (1 yes, 0 no) 2,677 2,121 2,243 + + + Age 0,961 0,987 0,981 - - -

Education 1,238 1,358 1,356 + + +

Christian orthodox (1 yes, 0 no) 0,290 0,582 0,484 - - - Has parents or children who have settled abroad (1 yes, 0 no)

4,841 3,585 3,826 + + +

Is Hungarian (1 yes, 0 no) 2,425 1,379 1,453 0 0 0 The Hungarian population percentage within the area in 1992

1,007 1,017 1,15 0 + +

The Romany population percentage within the area in 1992

1,059 0,941 1,038 + 0 0

The county's development level in 1998 0,999 1,013 1,012 0 + + Lives within the urban area (1 yes, 0 no) 2,560 + Constant 0,232 0,101 0,056 Nagelkerke R2 0,30 0,21 0,29 N 803 998 1801

Data source: The Public Opinion Barometer of the Foundation for an Open Society, May 2001. For each residential environment and for the total value one has set up specific logistic regress patterns. * Dependant variable: ' within the last 10 years have you traveled abroad?' (1 yes, 0 no) ** It is not significant from the Statistics point of view for p = 0.05.\

The differences within the selectivity of the provisional international migration are set

according to the residential environment. The characteristics pendant to the community/ region and

concerning the migration are more significantly pointed out when the analysis are carried out

separately fro the rural and urban areas. The rural communities show a greater tendency than the



urban ones in respect of the selectivity according to the ratio of the Romany population out of the

total amount of the commune's population. The probability of the provisional international

migration was certainly higher within the areas where the Romany community was significantly

represented (Table 3). The high percentage of Hungarians within the communes seems to encourage

only the provisional migration to urban areas.

The selectivity of potential migration

The inferences on the migrants' LS are to be hereinafter drawn up by comparing the profiles

of different categories of potential migrants - on internal or external routes- ; within the large range

of those who have an external tendency, the comparison will focus on the motivations in respect of

working, tourism, education and living factors. (Table 4).

Migrating abroad out of working purposes represents almost a quarter of the total intentions

of the external circulatory migration. From the residential point of view, we have already mentioned

that the migration out of working purposes is more intense within the rural areas than in the urban

ones, from the point of view of total of the potential external migration. The phenomenon' s

intensity, interpreted in terms of the probability to express a certain tendency, is higher within the

urban areas than within the rural ones: 20% of the urban adults would like to go abroad and work

there as compared to only 14% of the corresponding rural population. It is not only the

phenomenon's intensity that it is being differentiated from the residential point of view, but also is

its selectivity. There are a few common characteristics to both types of communities: the tendency

to emigrate abroad for working purposes is higher among the single young people, who are already

experienced as far as the international migration is concerned. Besides this aspect, the profile

oriented differences are though significant. The relational capital of a person within his country

favors the migration out of working reasons more within the towns than in the villages.

Relationships seem to be a compensation capital for the young people in the urban areas, who have

a relatively poor educational level, when they plan their migration. If those who actually make it

abroad are usually people whose educational level is rather high, the tendency to go abroad for

working purposes among the people in the urban areas seems to have motivated as well the

categories of people with an average educational level. The structure of the empirical evaluations

(Table 4) suggests this possible phenomenon concerning the compensation of the average level

educational capital by a high social capital for the young people in the urban areas who want to go

abroad and work.

76 Dumitru Sandu


The strategy of the migration out of working purposes is taken up out of reasons that differ

within the countryside from the equivalent tendencies within the urban areas. The unemployment

rate seems to encourage the international migration for working purposes within the rural areas,

while the town's inhabitants favor more the occupational mobility projects.

It is not the income that a person disposes of that determines her migration abroad out of

working purposes, but mainly the experience related to the working place and occupation. Within

the rural areas, the project concerning the external mobility for working purposes is associated not

only to the trauma due to unemployment but also to the experience of looking for a secondary/

additional income source.From the community-region oriented conditioning point of view, as well

as from the actual migration point of view, one may identify the positive conditioning that the

development level of the county imposes to the emigration tendencies, especially when the urban

population is concerned. It is the same urban population who favors the tendency to go abroad for

working purposes when there is a higher social-economic level within the area. As for the rural

population, the region centered conditioning for the potential migration is poorly structured. One

has registered only a stronger tendency concerning the definite external emigration within the poor

rural places.

Migration as a strategy rated from the community's point of view

The data within the national surveys we have been using up to now, have already indicated

that there is strong evolution of the migrational behaviour in terms of community and region

factors. The native local community plays a more complex role in the process of determining the

migration than the analysis based on the national surveys could foresee.

The native community is extremely important when providing the relational capital and the

mobility patterns that the possible migrants can interpret in a positive or in a negative way, by

complying with then or by innovating them. It is a fact that there are community centered patters in

respect of the international migration. These patterns seem to be a type of strategic 'ready-made'

patterns the local population can refer to. Questions such as ' What country should you go to? , How

can one get there?, Where can one live and work once one gets there?, How much can one earn?,

What resources does one need in order to carry out the project already adopted by the community?

– most of the times they find an answer within the community oriented migrating patterns.



Table 4: Parameters that predict the migrational tendency, by to motivation and residence Lives at the moment in the

countryside and intends to leaveLives at the moment in the urban

area and intends to leave to another country for To another country for

Regression models predictors

Tour

ism

wor

k

educ

atio

n

Livi

ng

ther

e H

as li

ved

in

som

e ot

her

plac

e,

in

the

coun

try

Tour

ism

wor

k

educ

atio

n

Livi

ng

ther

e

Has

live

d in

so

me

othe

r pl

ace

in th

e co

untry

Male (1 yes, 0 no) + Age - - - - - - Not married (1 yes, 0 no) + + + + + + + + + Educational level + - Relational capital + + Media + Christian orthodox(1 yes, 0 no) + + Hungarian (1 yes, 0 no) - - He has at least 3 persons under his command (1 yes, 0 no)

+ +

Have you lived abroad within the last 10 years (1 yes, 0 no)

+ + + + + + +

Has anyone else from your family been abroad within the last 10 years (1yes, 0 no)

+ +

Do you have parents or children who have permanently settled abroad? (1 yes, 0 no)

+ + -

Income level on the latest month (logarithm) - Entrepreneurial orientation + + + + + + Has changed profession at least once after 1989 (1 yes, 0 no)

+

Has taken up a secondary job or activity (1 yes, 0 no) + + - Has lost his job at least once after 1989 (1 yes, 0 no) + + Thinks that ' it is better to have a poorly paid but sure work place than a well paid but insecure job' (1 yes, 0 no)

How satisfied are you of your life style? ( on a four points scale)

+ +

Do you think that things have turned a good way or a bad way in our country? (1 yes, 0 no)

- - -

How satisfied are you with the money you own? (4 -very satisfied, 1- at all)

-

The development level of the county he resides in + The development level of the place he resides in - + + Number of inhabitants of the place he resides in Hungarian population percentage in 1992 + Rroma population percentage in 1992 + + + R2 0,18 0,25 0,17 0,15 0,13 0,22 0,20 0,16 0,13 0,06

Data source: BOP- FOS, May 2001. Each column of the table shows, in a simplified manner, the results of a multiple regress pattern. The dependant variable is given by the type of motivation corresponding to the reference residential environment. The signs (+), (-) indicate the existence of a relationship statistically significant (p= 0.05) – positive or negative- between the prediction parameter on the line and the dependant variable in the column. Each dependant variable has values rated as 2 – for declared migrating intentions, doubled by preparing actions, 1 – for migrating intentions that are not supported by preparing actions and 0 – for stability tendencies. Reading instructions: being unmarried favors the probability of expressing this tendency of international migration with respect to all kinds of intentions, except for the permanent migration pendant to the urban population. The positive effect of the respective factor becomes obvious when there is, on a constant level, a prevalence of that factor over all the other factors within the pattern. Attitude toward risks and the demographic dimensions of the residential environment does not significantly influence the migrating tendencies, from the point of view of the other predictive factors within the patterns.

78 Dumitru Sandu


The international circulatory migration in Romania has, at present, the status of a social

innovation. A series of relatively new behavior patterns within community based and region

oriented pre-defined contexts, end by being communicated as any other social innovation. As in any

other communication process regarding social innovations, there are innovators or pioneers, the

ones who adopt the reality rather early, with an average delay, or even ‘late’.

The networks that encourage migration are in the same time information networks. Within

the series of information networks that facilitate migration for working purposes – the nucleus of

the entire phenomenon regarding the external provisional migration, what prevails appears to be the

ethnic, religious, relative centered networks, or the neighborhood/ inter-community communication,

friendship, homophileness (value centered identity) or just interest oriented networks. Initially, at

least as far as the rural migration is concerned, the ethnic, religious and relative oriented networks

were the more powerful ones. Subsequently, as the migrating community patterns became

structured, there were new types of networks that came up, so that from the ethnic, religious or

relative oriented networks one gets to the new networks based on neighborhood, inter-community

communication, friendship, interests and so on .

The characteristics of a social innovation that are subject to the standard rules of a

communication process, as well as the different ways of living and evaluating the migration could

be highlighted by means of the data that render the community based context of the phenomenon.

That is the idea of what we are going to present hereinafter by referring ourselves to the partial

results of a research study that has been carried out in the village of Crangeni, commune Crangeni,

Teleorman county.

The context is represented by the environment of a poor plain village, counting

approximately 1800 inhabitants, from the western area of the Teleorman county and located at 35

km far from the city of Rosiori.

Elements of the strategic action

Migrants and non-migrants’ opinions towards the migrating strategy in Spain

‘Pioneering’7 The community’s

migrating pioneers are, as any other pioneers, focused on looking for

When did you leave? Tell me the story of an inhabitant from Crangeni who left for Spain.

EA: In 1994. I was the first one to leave. There was also some other boy, but he left for Canada, not for Spain.

And how did you do that? I was decided to go away from the very beginning. You could hear

7 EA: an Adventist young man, the first local representative who has emigrated in Spain and who has come to visit his parents in Crângeni. He lives on a temporary basis in Coslada, Madris. July, 2001. Interview by D. Sandu (DS).



opportunities, by coping with the risk and by benefiting from a human and social capital that may make them successful.

The first destination of the ‘pioneer-migrant’ from Crangeni wasn’t actually a randomly chosen destination, especially after having failed in his attempt to Canada. In Madrid, where he finally settles, the pioneer meets an uncle, a religious community - Adventist and a tolerant society.

The Spanish migrant community is spontaneously defined in terms of regional Romanian identity and ‘arrival waves’.

At present, the migration phenomenon seems to be fully consolidated, since almost 10% of the interviewed subjects

all the time people saying that: ‘you should go abroad…it is better that way’. I wanted to do something, to change the situation, to see whether that was better or it was just a rumor.

Did you already know the boy over there? Yes, he came from Crangeni as well. He had left not very long ago,

maybe half an year ago. He has first left for Belgium on the occasion of a football match, then for Canada, inside a container, like everybody else at that time…I have been through that as well. We have arrived in Portugal, but we couldn’t go that far; we only got to the Azore Islands, because the ship that was supposed to take us to Canada din not stop in all the places. The containers, or whatever they are called, were left in Azore, from were another ship was to overtake them. That is why I did not have the chance to get to Canada. This happened after five month of my being in Spain.

I had in mind Canada, but it did not come out this way. How did you manage to leave the country?

First, I left on a trip to France, where I stayed for two or three days, then I went to the Spanish border where someone was waiting for me, a friend, and he drove me from there to Madrid.

The friend was from Crangeni… No, he was from Pitesti.

So, when you arrived in Spain, there was this friend and the Adventist community that helped you. What did you in the first year after you got there?

I also had an uncle, my mother’s brother, who was already there. I started to work with him… he helped me….but it was really rough at the beginning ..I was working for the black market at the beginning. It is still the same now for the other people.

You said that there are 3000 Romanians in Madrid. How many of them are from the Teleorman county?

There are a lot of people from Teleorman and also from Moldova, Prahova, Slatina. The first ones who left were from Slatina. When I got there, almost everybody was from Slatina.

They had left immediately after 1990? No. they had left one or two years before I got there.

So, the first wave was from Slatina. What about the second wave?

8 There was also a survey that was carried out in Crangeni in order to get more information, based on a probability sample of 51 households. The research that has been carried out in the area of Crangeni, Dobrotesti and Rosiori, from July, 2001 can join the projects within the research contract C/CNCSIS called ‘ The importance of the social and human capital to the regional development in Romania’ (Project coordinator: D. Sandu). The corresponding percentage for the richer village, Dobrotesti, was 12%. The number of those who have permanently or temporarily left abroad is as follows: 16% in Crangeni, 42 % in Dobrotesti (a 51 subject sample) and 21 % in Rosiori (on a 197 subject sample). The tendency for provisional emigration within the following year is a lot lower in the poor village of Crangeni (4%) as compared to the rich village of Dobrotesti (41%). The explanation is simple: the inhabitants form Crangeni are poorer, while the inhabitants from Dobrotesti have a larger social-relational capital that could facilitate their access to different destinations abroad. What could justify the difference between the material level of the households from the two villages is the fact that 16% of the inhabitants from Crangeni own a car, as compared to 30% in Dobrotesti. The corresponding percentage for the households in the survey from Rosiori de Vede was 25%.

80 Dumitru Sandu


have either parents or children who work on a temporary basis in Spain8.

They were from Teleorman. (Interview with EA, from Crangeni).

Plans, efforts, accumulation of starting capital Adventists are

generally great constructors, manufacturers, specialized in handmade marchidizes (ready-mades etc). Many of them still work as constructors after they arrived in Spain.

The people from the village already know that if we want to leave for Spain, you need almost 40 million lei, a sum which is extremely large under the circumstances of the poor conditions in Crangeni, but you also need a visa and some relationships in Spain.

Some people, but only a new, prepare their project by starting to learn Spanish before leaving. Most of them though, do not give a second thought to that and say that it is more

When you left the country, what was the level of your education? PA9: I had graduated 10 forms. EA: I had graduated 8.

Did you know any trade? PA: I had learn to become a tailor, I knew that work very well. EA: I had taken courses in ready-mades.

What about your parents? Did they have any qualification? PA: Under communism they used to manufacture ready-mades, or to

tailor different clothes. Where did they sell that merchandise?

EA: At the marketplace, in Rosiori de Vede, anywhere. Did you get any advantage there in Spain from what you knew – the tailoring, the craftsmanship?

EA: No, it was not an useful. Did you start learning Spanish before leaving the country?

EA: No, I didn’t know anything; I thought that I will learn the language anyway, once I got there. I tried to listen to some tapes that my cousin gave me..

Let’s pretend that I am not a teacher at the University form Bucharest, that I am one of your acquaintances from Crangeni and that I want to come to Spain. What should I do? How much will it actually cost me to come to Spain?

EA: The visa is the most important thing to get. How can I obtain it?

EA: By going on a trip or by buying it from the black market (1200-1300$).

Let’s suppose I have already got the visa. How do I get to Spain? EA: By plane or by bus.

How much is a plane ticket from Bucharest to Madrid? EA: 400$.

So, I have the visa, I also have the plane ticket...what else do I need? EA: You need a connection in Spain.

So I need almost 1700-2000$ to get to Spain. EA: Yes. It’s better to come by bus…but it is very difficult. ………………………………………………………………..

What did you teach the boy? DP10: He learned a little bit in this construction field. I built a house

for him, two years ago, I finished the house which was located in a

9 PA: EA’s brother; they both came to Crangeni, from Spain, to visit their parents. Interview realized by DS. 10 DP – is one of the leaders of the Adventist community from the village of Crangeni (Presbiterian). As most Adventists, he is a constructor and specialist in ready-mades. He owns a firm and he is entitle to perform these



important to get there, and then they ‘will manage’, and learn the language on the spot.

special area, so he got a lot to learn from there.. We also fitted the house with floors and stoves …we hope he will stay.

The topic of the international migration is a controversial one, that brings conflict in the relationship between children and their parents. The economic advantages are very persuasive only for the young people; the old generation is still reluctant.

Is he married, your son? DP: No, he is 21 years old.

To many more! How did he decide to go to Spain? DP: It was very easy. He had been insisting on leaving for Spain for three

years and we had found all kinds of reasons to prevent him from doing that. The car that we have today is a new one, actually we bought it three years ago. We bought the car on his name and I told him’ Look, i bought this car for you (we already had one), I will build a house for you, but stay here, do not leave the country’ – he could find his way with our help, he could succeed. But that is the tendency of all young people today. And we never tried to interfere with his plans. We showed him how things were going, what our position was, but he was the one to take the final decision, always. Since he insisted on this leaving abroad, we didn’t want to help him with money until the last moment. He decided to borrow some money, with interest, from some Gypsies from Draganestii de Olt, but on the very last day, the Gypsies phoned him and told him that they cannot lend him the money – as we expected, because we have our faith, and we have been through some experiences when we saw God’s work. He was supposed to take from those Gypsies 15 million lei, with a 5 million lei per month interest. I saw him laying in bed and tossing, because he already had the papers and he was supposed to go to the embassy. He left by means of our family association, and that cost him some 16 million lei, which is not much as compared to what other people had to pay – some 30 million lei. That was the price at the time, now it a way over 40 million lei.

What do you get for these 40 million lei? DP: There are some people who deal with this transaction. They have

their connections there. So only the visa costs 40 million lei. I have a nephew who left after my son, who had to pay 35 million lei last autumn. You just find somebody who has some connections there.. They say ‘ Look, you give this money and in one week I get you the visa’. But he went there in person; he obtained all the necessary documents from Alexandria, then he went to the embassy himself, he paid for the legal documents only and he got the visa. He didn’t have to pay any other …… I told him: ‘ You get dressed and we go to Rosiori and I will give you the money you need’ and then he said ‘ Where do you have that money from ?’. I went to the bank in Rosiori, I took the money out of my account, I give it to him, and in one week he left.

……………………………………………………………………………….. The declaration of an unmarried young woman from Stejaru – a village

that belongs to the commune of Crangeni, who helps the post man in

activities. Many of the concrete fences in the village have been executed by him ,before 1989. the ready-mades that he manufactures are sold at the fairs. The entire family – when the children were at home as well - takes part in the process of manufacturing and selling of the products. His boy has left for Spain for an year. The other two daughters are married and live ‘at their house’ . The interview was realized by DS, in July 2001.

82 Dumitru Sandu


distributing the mail. She is unmarried and ‘plans’ to leave for Spain, together with her boyfriend, who is a taxi driver11. Another alternative could be Italy, where there are already six girls from the village, working as baby-sitters. She also has a good friend there, from her village. She is though more tempted by Spain.

She knows that she needs 30 million lei for the trip. She doesn’t know Spanish, but she understands Italian. There are people in the village who started to learn Spanish before leaving the country. They will leave after she graduates high school. First, her friend will leave for Spain, and she will follow him. With the money they earn in Spain they want to built a house in Rosiori and one in Bucuresti. Her dream is to have her own business when she comes back. Her friend dreams at an agricultural machine, the Gloria Type. He would like to take up agriculture there in Crangeni, and live in Rosiori and Bucharest. Their parents do not know about this plan and she will never tell them about it, because they have already tried to prevent her from living to Italy.

The Adventist network has been in action especially at the beginning of the process, and it helped mainly the ones who didn’t have relatives or friends at their destination. Although both types of networks – Adventist and religious- play an important part within the process, this part is different for each of them. Initially, both of them seem to be support and communication oriented networks; within the next

How can you explain the fact that the inhabitants of the Teleorman county, although they are poor people and, you know,…..

EA: Everything goes on due to the Adventist relationships. You know an Adventist and he will take you to a friend. Everything goes like this, by means of Adventist friendships.

This means that there have been Adventist communities from Slatina and Teleorman that had connections with similar communities from Spain.

EA: Yes, the friends mean everything. It is difficult to leave without having a connection, just like that.

Let’s suppose you get there. What does the Adventist community for new comer?

EA: Now, it doesn’t do anything, because there are too many people. You go to somebody.. if he cannot help you go to somebody else. If I cannot help him, for example, I will send him to somebody else.

In 1994, when you got there, what did the Adventist community for helping you?

EP: At the beginning, they helped us with food, clothes. How many of the 3000 Romanians from Coslada are Orthodox and how many are Adventists?

EA: The Orthodox people who came to Coslada were helped by the Adventist. I helped Orthodox people to come here, and so did the others. The Orthodox brought their friends and so on.

……………………………………………………………………………

Where is the head office of the Adventist community in Oltenia? DP: It is in Craiova.

The connection to Spain is made by means of the Oltenia community. DP: Yes, that is true. There is an Adventist …… of the Oltenia community,

TG, and we send recommendation letters for the members who go to Spain.

11 Taxi driver is a job that is paradoxically running in Crangeni, a poor and isolated village. The ones who perform this activity are the former taxi drivers or just drivers from Rosiori. After they lost their job in the town, they earn their living by working an the same time as farmers, in the village and as taxi drivers on the route village-town. They are solicited, because the buses are rare and the roads are a wreck.



stages of the process, the Adventist network seems to have kept only the communication support. The support of the network is not strictly religious, or Adventist; it consists of ‘Adventist friendship’.

For example, my son is no longer a member of the church form Crangeni, but he became a member of the church from Coslada. Once he got there, he asked for a recommendation letter, and once they received him there, they sent us a letter of consent and we erased him from our registers.

So, the Oltenia community is strongly related to the community led by TG. Is there any other way in which the Community from Madrid helps the people?

DP: They help each other. But there are no conditions for inter-communication at the church’s level

The kinship oriented network The kinship oriented networks seem to have been more important than the religious ones, at least at the beginning of the migrating process.

Your son finally got there. Where did he stay? DP: I have a cousin who is on his way home. He has been there for three

years, and he let my son stay at his place for one month. He even provided him with a work place, until he was able to manage on his own. Then he stayed at another cousin from Rosiori for another one month. He also worked with PA and EA for a month, and he started to speak the language. Now he speaks Spanish not perfectly, but much better than other people who have been in Spain for three years. We works for state institutions, and he has applied for residence for a month and a half.

Who was the first one to leave the village? DP: EA was the first one in our village, eight years ago. He had an uncle

from Radoiesti who was there, so he followed him. Then his brother left the village, then another two boys. After one year there were some other people who left, and so on.

Efforts, choices at the provisional destination, accumulation of capital for the success of the migration focused project.

Once you got to Spain, you have to learn the language or some of it in order to succeed in finding a house and a work place.

What is your Spanish speaking level at present? EA: very good indeed. I had a girl friend there and that helped me a lot. It

happened the same with PA.. Is it easier for a man or for a woman when getting there and starting to work?

EA: Three or four years ago, it was easier for women to find a job, but now it is the same.

Where do the women and where do the men work? EA: The women work as maids, or baby-sitters, while the men work in the

construction field. Who earns more: the men working in the construction field or the women working as baby-sitters?

EA: Men earn more. If he works as a ‘peon’ – unqualified worker – then, a woman could earn more. A ‘peon’ gains 5000 pesetas, while a baby-sitter gains 1000 pesetas per hour..

Is it easier or more difficult now to leave for Spain than it was in 1994, when you left?

EA: It is easier, a lot easier and there are other conditions now. Why is it easier?

84 Dumitru Sandu


EA: It is easier to find a work place. Now there are more people there, more connections, you have more chances to find someone to help you. Before, when we used to hire apartments, there were many of us who lived in them together. Now, the average is six persons in one apartment.

Choosing a destination that is friendly to immigrants

How much does the semi-legalization process cost, since full legalization is a long way to go..

EA: Initially it was more difficult to have your papers put right. Now, they have passed some really advantageous laws for foreigners. Since January the 1st 1999, they gave work permits to everybody, no matter whether they had contracts.. It didn’t matter. Since January 23rd 2001, a foreigner needs a Spanish identity card and a pre-contract.

Where do the inhabitants of Teleorman preferably go: to Madrid or to the south?

EA: There are a lot of people in Andaluzia, but only a few in Barcelona. There are more racists, there are inhabitants from Catalonia, it's another region, they speak a different language. It is even more difficult with the official papers. As for Barcelona, they even had troubles in the government. They issued only a few papers, even if the law was the same.

'Connections home' How do the people in the village feel this connection with Spain? Do they receive money or parcels?

DP: We received three times 7 million lei. We told him that he shouldn't have done that because we can manage. Then he sent us parcels with sweets, chocolate.

How do these parcels arrive here? By the post office? DP: There are a lot of trafficants, like the taxi drivers on the route

Rosiori -Crangeni. They do the same things on the route Madrid- Crangeni. They load their car with parcels from all over the country. They came a month and a half ago, and they have a list of the numbers on the parcels. Mister DP… your parcel number..

And how comes that they do not have any troubles at the customs? They have the status of a company or something…

DP: I don't know how they manage to get away, but the parcels are sealed when they arrive here, and the money and the things are safe. The money arrive by Moneygram

Is this system , Moneygram, working here in Rosiori? DP: It is working in Alexandria. He called me and he said: 'I sent you the

money, make sure you go to Alexandria and pick it up. Two and a half months ago he sent wo parcels with electronic devices: a sports color TV set, a video player.

…………………………………………………………………………………...

Consequences back home

Let's go back to Crangeni. In your opinion, what are the effects of that community in Spain, made out of Romanians originated in Crangeni on the people over here?

EA: My parents didn't actually need the parcels that I sent, they could manage, on their own. I helped them to carry out the agricultural work, two springs in a row. It is more difficult during spring.

You have a nice house. Did you help them build it?



EA: NO, I didn't. What about the other Romanians from Crangeni. Do they send more home from Spain than you did?

EA: Yes. There is a boy, Viorel, who sent his father money to buy a Gloria - a tractor.

So, there are tractors and houses that were bought and built by means of money from Spain?

EA: Yes. That's true. What about the other people that do not have a houselhold like yours with everything you need….do their children send more? Do they send money to help them build their houses or to buy tractors?

DP: They help them. For example, there are two families who have the boys there, and they sent them money. Thus, the family could buy a car, to fix their households. It is obvious that what somebody can achieve with the money from Spain, one could never get here in years. Within the first three months he insisted on my coming there, but he knew where I stood in this respect. I told him that ' It's no use spending your money on these phone calls, trying to persuade me'. Maybe, if he succeeds in obtaining the residence rights, I will visit him next year (!).

…………………….

What about the Adventists? Are they working more as carpenters or joiners? TR12: yes, they do both works. They bought their own cars, if they could.

One of them spent two years in Spain. I also have a nephew in Spain. He has been there for one year, together with his wife. They want to achieve something, to earn money, to work, not to suffer from anything.

What was your nephew's qualification? TR: He was a house painter. His father in law has been living there for

ten years. His entire family is there, together with all the children. When he comes here, he comes as if he visits his relatives. His fortune is there, though, his work as well. He got really far with the money they pay you there. This nephew sent money home, so that we managed with the field works: the seeding and the ploughing.

How much money does your nephew send back home? TR: he sent 10 million lei, even 20 million lei, for furniture, so that they

could furnish the house. He also helped another brother, who is a preacher with the Adventists. He has another brother who is an engineer in Brasov, who has a nice life over there.

The future seen from 'there' and from 'here'. When somebody leaves the country, he thinks: 'I go there, I make some money, and then I come

What about your future plans? How do you see life for the future? EA: It is really hard here. When we arrived home - it has been eight years

since we last came- we were in a car… I don't remember the towns…but until we got to Sibiu…all the children run after you if they see you own a foreign car. They show you their stomach, implying that they are dying of hunger…It makes you cry…you don't cry because you missed your country, but because of what you see. The blocks of flats are not painted…it feels as if there was a war.

DP: It is all in ruins. Everything is black, nothing is painted or clean, to

12 TR: an old man, a widower, from the village of Crangeni. He lives at the borders of the village, together with one of his children, who is handicapped. The other two children live in Bucharest (his daughter) and in Rosiori, respectively (his son). The interview was realized by DS, in July 2001.

86 Dumitru Sandu


home soon'. But things change on the way, depending on how they get to manage there, to integrate themselves at the destination. The parents claim that the ones who left 'must come back', while the children answer 'we'll see'.

please your eyes. EA: I was in Bucharest a few days ago. Everybody there is stressed, they

drive like crazy on the streets. There it is different, the driving is different, more calm...it is different. We want to stay there for the moment.

What about old people? EA: They want us to stay home.

What does the village look like, after eight years? EA: The same. No change…it looks even worse. …………………………………………………………………………………….

That means that your son thinks about coming back. DP: Actually, he has to come back. When he left, his plan was to come

back to Romania after one year (he laughs). He changed his plan, he said that it is too soon now. Now, since this opportunity with the residence came up, he said: 'I obtain the residence rights, I come home, I stay one or two months and then I can go back'. We kind of fought against this idea.

The migration centered ideology Leaving the village, especially for Spain, is seen by the young people as a 'solution'.

How many of the young people you have talked to want to come to Spain, regardless of their being Adventist or Orthodox?

EA: There are people who want to come and who say that straight in your face: take me with you.

……………………………………………………………………………………. Are there young people who still want to leave?

DP: Many of them want to leave, but they have to face the issue with the visa. They lack those 30-40 million lei that they need, they do not have a family association or connections over there.

……………………….

Almost 40% of the inhabitants of Crangeni think that in order to succeed in life it is a good idea to work abroad for some time. Although this percentage is high, it is considerably low as compared to the one from a rich community, with a tradition in migration, such as the Dobrotesti village. Honesty and hard working are the basic values of the success oriented ideology in both rural communities

Percents of the people considering that it is

important or very important from total sample in

'In order to succeed in life here in Romania, how important are

each of the following … Dobrotesti Crangeni Rosiori de Vede

Hard working 94 88 82 Being honest 90 86 77 Having connections 78 80 92 High education level 82 76 76 Having rich relatives 60 75 68 Starting a business 58 47 60 Working abroad for a while 60 41 61 Being ambitious 62 35 81



that have been investigated. On the contrary, the inhabitants of Rosiori consider that the key of success consists of connections and ambition.

Crangeni is though a strongly traditional community, where making business and working abroad is low rated. It is true that he have spoken to those who still lived in the village. The ones with a more modern mentality, with more mobility seem to have already left Crangeni. The village of Dobrotesti, due to its modernism and rich community, provides an increased mobility and favors more the ideology of external migration.

What of the following is the most important for

being successful in Romania?

Dobrotesti Crangeni Rosiori de Vede

Being honest 24 45 15 Hard working 22 20 17 Having rich relatives 8 8 5 Having connections 8 4 26 Being ambitious 2 4 21 High education level 12 4 6 Working abroad for a while 8 2 5 Opening a business 2 0 3 No answer/ I don't know 14 14 2 Total % 100 100 100 N 50 51 197

The number of persons who would like to emigrate, out of a total community sample

from

'Within the next year, do you intend to leave Romania for a foreign

country? Dobrotesti Crangeni Rosiori de Vede

For tourism 8 2 8 For provisional working abroad 12 4 11

To improve your education or qualification 4 0 6

I would emigrate and live there 6 0 7

A favorable circumstance concerning the migration to Spain: the Adventist religion, the decline of the construction filed in Romania, the demand of constructors in Spain and the Spanish tolerance.

ID13: The phenomenon has a different connotation than people usually think. During communism, the Adventist persons had a really hard life to live. But why? Because they rested on Saturdays, while all the other people rested on Sundays.

ID: And especially because Saturdays were working days at that time, so they had to adjust their work.. they needed jobs that could allow them not to actually work on Saturdays...how can I put this…For example, the intellectuals. There were a few engineers, it was more difficult...but the doctors could manage to schedule their duty, their shifts as they wanted. So they could manage this way. I am talking on behalf of the community now, the community's life turned around this rest day and they had to find those jobs that could allow them a proper living. So they became tailors, furriers, brick layers, they went on the site, they worked on Sundays, but they didn't work on Saturdays. You see, they never joined CFR - The Romanian rail

13 ID: He is an engineer, a counselor at the mayor's office in the city of Rosiori and he is also an Adventist. The interview was realized by Manuela Stanculescu, in July 2001

88 Dumitru Sandu


ways, they didn't become sailors or soldiers… That's how it was at the beginning for a group in Buzescu, who were Adventists. What is it that attracted them to Spain and made them stay there. What did they do for a living?

ID: They were constructors. So they worked in the constructions field.

ID: Yes, that's what I meant. After the Revolution, the construction field failed in Romania.

Yes, that is true. ID: They had to find a job, and they first tried their luck in France, but

they couldn' t stay there. Why?

ID: They were not allowed to work. They tried once, twice, until they got to Spain…how can I put this...they were a little bit thrown away. In Spain they found special human conditions, special quality people.. who allowed them to live there in normal conditions, to practice their religion. They adjusted to that , they were integrated.

Did they find a Spanish Adventist community there? ID: There are Spanish Adventist communities. Imagine yourself, an

Orthodox, going to an Orthodox community from the States where you represent a minority. You will asked who you are, where you are form, how did you get there and the people over there try to find you something to work, to integrate you. So that was the community's support.

So there was a support!! ID: Of course there was. But it could have been the same in France, since

the situation was the same. Yes, but in France nobody understood them.

ID: no, they were not. They helped them to find a job, they started to work and to make money. Since they were Adventists and they had large families, they started to bring their brothers, sisters, nephews, brothers - in -law and so on. The rumor went on, and the Adventists came one after another and they helped each other. It had nothing to do with the church, the church was not implied in that story. The only implication of the church within the last two years is that it sent to the communities over there some pastors from Romania. The freedom from Spain allowed them to have Adventist communities there, and that is what attracted many of the people who went there. You could speak Romanian; nobody would bother you, there was no license needed, then tey had a school in Romanian, and so on.

Conclusions

The provisional migration abroad is obviously a mobility centered phenomenon, based on

mainly positive selectivity. Those who have traveled beyond this country's boundaries - out of

unspecified reasons- own an increased human and social-relational capital. It is not only the

personal- family focused capital that encourages them, but also the different forms of community -

regional based capital: the counties with a high level of social-economical development favor the



provisional migration, more than the poor counties do. A special form of social- community based

capital associated to the ethnic structure also favors the external provisional migration.

The social-community based capital that influences the circulatory international migration is

also based on an ethnic structure. The regularity of the phenomenon varies from rural areas to urban

ones. In the former case, the Rroma population seems to be more influent as a migration

encouraging factor, while in the latter case, the Hungarian minority seems to be the reason. The

differences in regional development levels, at the county's level, represent selectivity factors that

stimulate more the migration within the urban areas than in the rural ones.

The material capital may be significantly important on the way of success within the

migration process. , but the project in itself does not depend too much on the material capital. The

hypothesis is supported by adequate data only for the case of the potential external migration. As

for the potential internal migration, things are different. It is the poverty, the low income level that

favor the structuring of the migrating tendencies.

The migration process itself depends not only on the material resources, willingness and

strategies but also on a series of unpredictable constraints (De Jong, Fawcett, 1981). If we refer

directly to the migrating tendencies, we can avoid the 'noise' due to the accidental constraints. It is

thus easier to make the connection with the action centered strategies of the migrants.

The migration oriented projects are significantly associated to the occupation focused

projects, contracting projects as well as to the projects based on the coping with unemployment and

lack of incomes. The nature of the migration focused project, be it internal, external, based on

tourism, work, education or permanent domicile change, is due to the relationship between the

available capitals, the life cycle (Individual - family centered), to the migrating experience as well

as to the opportunities offered by the community - regional oriented context.

Since all the other terms are equal, the more structured the entrepreneurial tendency is, the

stronger the migration tendency is for the rural population, as far as working abroad is implied.

Within the urban areas, the entrepreneurial tendencies are significantly associated to the migration

out of tourism and educational reasons. Regardless of the residential environment, the internal

migration focused projects, within the country, are positively associated to the entrepreneurial

projects.

The main immediate objective of the provisional migrant abroad is represented by the work

place and the money. The main instrumental values that lead to the achievement of the respective

objective are as follows: finding a dwelling place, learning the language and getting the stay permit.

90 Dumitru Sandu


The pioneers of the community focus, as any other pioneers, on looking for opportunities,

by coping with the risk and by benefiting from a human and social capital that should allow them to

succeed.

The conversion between the different migration types occurs due to the changing of the

utility based values, that the migrant assigns to the places on his route. As far as the provisional

destination is seen in a positive light from the economic, social and cultural point of view, there

may be a conversion of the provisional migration into a permanent one, under the circumstances of

the absence of a family based constraint at the origin. In the same way, the migration from urban

back to rural areas, after one has lived in town for a significant number of years, tends to signify,

within the actual context from Romania, a re-evaluation of the original location, when the town - in

its capacity of so-called permanent emigration destination- can no longer provide a work place or

an acceptable life status.

By considering the provisional international migration as a life strategy that spreads as a

social innovation, one may seize the micro - and macro-social conditioning of the phenomenon.

Annexes

Table A1. The structure of the internal migration according to residential flows

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Urban-rural 6.4 3.5 10.1 13.7 14.6 18.4 20.8 23.4 26.8 28.5 30.7 33.8

Urban-urban 19.2 18.2 20.2 24.3 25.4 25.6 26.1 27.4 25.0 26.0 26.5 23.7

Rural-rural 18.9 8.5 19.4 22.8 25.0 25.5 28.0 24.5 25.6 23.6 21.7 23.0

Rural-urban 55.4 69.8 50.3 39.2 35.0 30.5 25.1 24.7 22.6 22.0 21.0 19.5

Total migration 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

related events N 192900 786461 262903 293182 240231 266745 289491 292879 302579 276154 275699 244507

Data source: The National Statistics Institute



Table A 2: The number of persons who traveled abroad within the last 10 years, according to different social levels (%) Rural sub-

sample Urban sub-

sample Total

sample Gender Male 6 21 14 Female 13 35 25 Age Under 25 years 15 24 21 25-29 years 14 31 24 60 years and more 2 19 9 Educational level Primary school 4 5 4 Secondary school 8 18 12 Professional 14 17 16 High school 18 31 28 Post – high school 16 35 31 University degree 26 50 47 Modern fittings within the household Low level 5 8 6 Average 12 19 17 High level 20 46 40

No 9 26 18 Do you have parents or children who have permanently settled abroad? Yes 27 56 47 Ethnic origin other ethnic group 33 49 40 Romanian 6 25 17 Religion Not Orthodox 30 44 37 Orthodox 6 25 16 Goods consumption per capita Below the average level 8 16 11 Above the average level 13 27 23

Low 6 12 8 Average 10 25 19

Media consumption level MEDIA

High 17 35 30 Low 10 10 10 Average 11 25 20

The development level of the native location QLIFLEUR

High 6 30 29 Historical region Moldova 7 22 14 Muntenia Dobrogea Or Oltenia 6 18 11 Bucharest 26 28 27 Transilvania 16 37 29 Satisfaction due to incomes level Low 9 19 13 Average 7 17 12 High 16 38 33 "it is better to have a poorly paid but sure job than a well paid but unsecure job"

Yes 8 22 15

No 17 42 34 Total 10 27 19 Data source: The Public Opinion Barometer of the Foundation for an Open Society, BOP - FSD, May 2001.

Data reading guide: 6% of the total number of adult women originated in the rural areas have traveled abroad within the last 10 years. The corresponding percentage for the adult urban male population is 35%.

92 Dumitru Sandu


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CIRCULATORY MIGRATION AS LIFE STRATEGY Dumitru Sandu ... · Dumitru Sandu University of Bucharest The study aims at listing the significant characteristics of the Romanians' provisional