Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

When the World Goes Rural: Transnational Potentials of International Migration in Rural Swedish Labour Markets

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Translocal Ruralism

Part of the book series: GeoJournal Library ((GEJL,volume 103))

Abstract

International migration processes are of increasing importance to changing ruralities in high-income countries. They offer the chance to connect rural areas to the world through direct links of transnational networks, and they have the potential for dynamic change. Through migration, important fields of social, economic and institutional transnational networks directly intersect with local areas. Accordingly, not only the demographic structure but also qualitative aspects of the countryside can be influenced by international migration. This chapter investigates the transnational effects of international migration on local labour markets in rural Sweden, analysing the transnational networks and transnational potential of international migrants in the labour market, based on interviews with three different groups of actors: local authorities, local firms and migrant entrepreneurs. Accordingly, the chapter analyses rural areas as connected by transnational linkages of international labour, which ties rural areas to other international localities in a process of global upscaling of rural space.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Rural areas are here defined as localities with up to 3000 inhabitants.

  2. 2.

    The research project was The countryside of Mälardalen in transformation (Sw. ‘Mälardalens landbygd i förändring’), which focused on the reformation of the countryside and its population (see, for instance, Forsberg & Carlbrand, 1993; Forsberg, 1998).

  3. 3.

    All localities in the text have been given pseudonyms.

  4. 4.

    This figure is according to the MD of a firm that works with infrastructure and the clustering of firms in Laxby.

References

  • Amcoff, J., Forsberg, G., & Stenbacka, S. (1995). Inflyttning och nybyggnation i Mälardalens landsbygd, Delrapport inom projektet Mälardalens landsbygd i förändring. Arbetsrapport nr 155. Uppsala: Kulturgeografiska Inst., Uppsala Universitet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aslund, O. (2005). Now and forever? Initial and subsequent location choices of immigrants. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 35(2), 141–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker, M., & Benjamin, D. (1996). Trade links and immigration in Asia Pacific region. In R. Harris (Ed.), The Asia Pacific region in the global economy: A Canadian perspective (pp. 303–348). Calgary: University of Calgary Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Camarero, L., Cruz, F., González, M., del Pino, J. A., Oliva, J., & Sampedro, R. (2009). The rural population in Spain. From disequilibrium to social sustainability. Barcelona: Fundación “la Caixa”.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Haas, H. (2005). International migration, remittances and development: Myths and facts. Third World Quarterly, 26(8), 1269–1284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drori, I., Honig, B., & Wright, M. (2009). Transnational entrepreneurship: An emergent field of study. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 33(5), 1001–1022.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faist, T. (2000). Transnationalization in international migration: Implications for the study of citizenship and culture. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 23(2), 189–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faist, T. (2007). Transnationalisation and development(s): Towards a north-south perspective. Migration Letters, 4(2), 183–199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fonseca, M. L. (2008). New waves of immigration to small towns and rural areas in Portugal. Population Space and Place, 14(6), 525–535.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forsberg, G. (1994). Befolkningsomflyttningar på landsbygden. Kunskapsöversikt och statistisk analys. Delrapport inom projektet Mälardalens landsbygd i förändring Arbetsrapport nr 55. Uppsala: Kulturgeografiska Inst., Uppsala Universitet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forsberg, G. (1998). The differentiation of the countrysides. In L. Andersson & T. Blom (Eds.), Sustainability and development. On the future of small society in a dynamic economy. Karlstad: Regional Science Research Unit, University of Karlstad.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forsberg, G., & Carlbrand, E. (1993). Mälarbygden – en kreativ region? En studie av Mälardalens landsbygd i förändring. Forskningsrapporter från Kulturgeografiska institutionen nr 107. Uppsala: Kulturgeografiska Inst., Uppsala universitet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glesbygdsverket (2008). Sveriges gles- och landsbygder. Östersund: Glesbygdsverket.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halfacree, K. (2008). To revitalise counterurbanisation research? Recognising an international and fuller picture. Population Space and Place, 14(6), 479–495.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hatzigeorgiou, A. (2009). Migration och handel – uppmuntrar invandring utrikeshandel? Ekonomisk debatt, 37, 23–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedberg, C. (2007). Direction Sweden: Migration fields and cognitive distances of Finland Swedes. Population Space and Place, 13(6), 455–470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hedberg, C. (2010). ‘Every soul is needed’. Processes of immigration and demographic consequences to Swedish rural areas. Stockholm Research Reports in Demography, Stockholm: Stockholm University Demography Unit.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hojem, P. (2010). Svenska kommuners behov av invandring. En studie om demografisk utmaning och invandringens möjligheter. Stockholm: FORES Policy Paper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hugo, G., & Morén-Alegret, R. (2008). International migration to non-metropolitan areas of high income countries: Editorial introduction. Population, Space and Place, 14(6), 473–477.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kasimis, C., & Papadopoulos, A. G. (2005). The multifunctional role of migrants in the Greek countryside: Implications for the rural economy and society. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 31(1), 99–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kasimis, C., Papadopoulos, A. G., & Pappas, C. (2010). Gaining from rural migrants: Migrant employment strategies and socioeconomic implications for rural labour markets. Sociologia Ruralis, 50(3), 258–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levitt, P., & Jaworsky, N. (2007). Transnational migration studies: Past developments and future trends. Annual Review of Sociology, 33, 129–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, J. (2008). Rural geography: Globalizing the countryside. Progress in Human Geography, 32(1), 129–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Najib, A. (1986). Migration of labour and the transformation of the economy of the Wedinoon region in Morocco. Uppsala: Department of Human Geography, Uppsala University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niedomysl, T., Osth, J., & van Ham, M. (2010). The globalisation of marriage fields: The Swedish case. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 36(7), 1119–1138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2007). International migration outlook. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Page, J., & Plaza, S. (2006). Migration remittances and development: A review of global evidence. Journal of African Economies, 15, 245–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., Guarnizo, L. E., & Haller, W. J. (2002). Transnational entrepreneurs: An alternative form of immigrant economic adaptation. American Sociological Review, 67(2), 278–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanderson, M. R., & Kentor, J. (2008). Foreign direct investment and international migration: A cross-national analysis of less-developed countries, 1985–2000. International Sociology, 23(4), 514–539.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Sweden. (2008). Invandrares flyttmönster. Stockholm: Demografiska rapporter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swyngedouw, E. (2000). Authoritarian governance, power, and the politics of rescaling. Environment and Planning D, 18(1), 63–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vertovec, S. (2003). Migration and other modes of transnationalism: Towards conceptual cross-fertilization. International Migration Review, 37(3), 641–665.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woods, M. (2007). Engaging the global countryside: Globalization, hybridity and the reconstitution of rural place. Progress in Human Geography, 31(4), 485–507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young, N. (2010). Globalization from the edge: A framework for understanding how small and medium-sized firms in the periphery ‘go global’. Environment and Planning A, 42(4), 838–855.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, Y., & Tseng, Y. F. (2001). Regrounding the ‘Ungrounded Empires’: Localization as the geographical catalyst for transnationalism. Global Networks, 1(2), 131–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Geography, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Charlotta Hedberg & Gunnel Forsberg

  2. Department of Social and Economic Geography, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Ali Najib

Authors
  1. Charlotta Hedberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gunnel Forsberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ali Najib
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charlotta Hedberg .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Human Geography, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 106 91, Sweden

    Charlotta Hedberg

  2. , Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Av. Dos Bombeiros Voluntarioas de Alges 44, 7 dto., Lisbon, 1495-021, Portugal

    Renato Miguel do Carmo

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Hedberg, C., Forsberg, G., Najib, A. (2012). When the World Goes Rural: Transnational Potentials of International Migration in Rural Swedish Labour Markets. In: Hedberg, C., do Carmo, R. (eds) Translocal Ruralism. GeoJournal Library, vol 103. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2315-3_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation