Crossing Borders in the Context of Globalization

Author:

• Kathryn Sorrells (California State Univ, Northridge)

Abstract:

Our world, at the beginning of the new millennium, is a world in motion. More people are on the move today crossing cultural boundaries and national borders than ever before in the history of humankind (International Organization for Migration, 2006). As the forces of globalization converge, unprecedented numbers of people have been displaced, dramatically impacting those who are uprooted, those who remain and those in places where people resettle. Advances in communication and transportation technologies have created the conditions for migration networks to form that enable transmigrants to maintain, hybridize and change the "host" cultures and "home" cultures through global migration flows. What are the dynamics of displacement, diaspora, re-location, and community building today? What role does intercultural communication play in the adaptation of migrants and in the social, political and cultural transformations that result from the unprecedented flows of people crossing borders? This paper situates contemporary border crossings within the broader context of world migration to highlight both the colonial legacy of globalization and the unique conditions of contemporary migration. Macro, meso and micro-levels theories are introduced and applied to three case studies to understand and analyze the dynamic and multifaceted nature of migration and cultural adaptation today.