Preliminary Programme

The immigration of over 30 million people during the Age of Mass Migration (1850-1913) greatly expanded the cultural and economic diversity of the United States. Immigrants left their origin countries for different reasons – some were refugees, others moved voluntarily – and these immigrants varied in their linguistic, cultural, and occupational backgrounds. While these background factors are believed to influence opportunities after arrival, measuring these effects are severely constrained by administrative data typically used to analyze immigrant adaptation.
This paper uses data from oral history transcripts to study the assimilation of immigrants that passed through Ellis Island in the early twentieth century. The Ellis Island Oral History Project has preserved over a thousand transcripts and audio recordings of the personal accounts of immigrants arriving to the United States. We develop new measures of linguistic ability by quantifying the complexity of words used by individuals in their interviews. Then we extract variables from the oral histories such as the immigrant’s reason for migration, their source country background, their social networks at arrival, and their father’s occupation in the source country. We use the previously hard-to-measure variables to determine what factors helped or hindered immigrants’ command of the English language.
Our main finding is that refugees develop a greater command of the English language than other immigrants. Using measures of linguistic ability derived from the words used by immigrants in their interviews, individuals that described their migration decision as a response to push factors scored higher on a variety of linguistic metrics. We observe this tendency in the accounts of the migration itself and when the topic related to other aspects of life. This finding provides strong support for the claim that refugees tend to invest more heavily in skills. We verify that linguistic proficiency has implications in the labor market outcomes by linking a sample of our cases to the 1940 decennial census (Abramitzky et al. 2014; Catron 2019; Connor 2019). We find a strong positive association between linguistic metrics and the schooling and occupational reports from the census (Jasso and Rosenzwig 1989; Ward 2019).
Our approach could be extended to many other sources of qualitative immigration data and has broad applicability to applied social sciences. Many qualitative data sources contain valuable levels of personal detail that far surpass what is typically collected in surveys. Further, by observing the words which individuals use to describe particular events, interview data can be used to retrospectively measure linguistic ability and sentiment. Such information can provide vast new insight on both human capital and decision making. (Show less)

8 years passed since the eruption of the conflict in Syria and more than half of the population either became refugees or internally displaced persons. Syrians are scattered in the neighboring Arab states or European countries and survive their lives in diaspora.
While being challenged by the Rebels, Assad regime stayed in power in early 2019. The result requires national reunification of the Syrians under the sustained control of the regime. This paper investigates possibility of the reunification focusing on probability of return migration of the Syrian refugees. Based on the original poll survey and field research in Turkey, circumstances and challenges for voluntary return to Syria will be investigated in this study. To what extent do they think it is possible to go back to their homeland? What is the most significant factor in their decision whether to go back to Syria or not? What is their most probable prospect of nation building in near future? These questions will be analyzed in this paper. There have been many surveys conducted concerning trans-border migration of Syrians. Adaptation of the refugees in the host countries and their socio-economic conditions have been indicated in former studies.
However, few studies focused on their subjective perception and choice of migration. After the decline of the forces of ISIS- Islamic State, several surrounding states including Jordan and Lebanon began promoting repatriation of the Syrian refugees. In Turkey, special security zone is planned to be held in the border area so as to transport and resettle Syrian refugees. These processes proceed without taking into consideration of the willingness of the refugees.
This paper focuses on this point and tries to clarify perception of the Syrians about migration. Combination of both quantitative and qualitative data will contribute empirical analysis of the pattern of migration which derives from the prolonged conflict
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The paper discuss the role that migration and migrants play in the making of a local identity, in a historical setting. Through collections of letters, diaries, photo albums and items, the history of emigration plays an important part in the formation of the local heritage of many places. In Sweden of today, the emigrants towards America have taken a heroic position in monuments, movies, museum and events of rememberance; in America, the same process has taken place, for Swedes mainly in more rural states like Kansas, Minnesota and Washington, where the Swedish immigrants have been many. The Swedish-American experience has been highlighted - once more - in a popular Swedish TV production, where Americans with Swedish roots are the main characters. They trace their personal roots as well as meets Sweden, Swedes, and “Swedishness” of today.
In the paper, examples of the phenomena of historical migration as part of the forming of a local identity will be taken mainly from collections of migration history in western and southern part of Sweden, as well as from equivalents from parts of the United States. The making of migration history is a part of the "golden legend" of transforming Sweden into the age of modernity. Migration is an important element in the national history telling but also in forming local identity, through the links between small societies in the periphery to other, and often more “developed” parts of the world.
This use of history will be discussed in the paper, not least in perspective of the major influx of refugees and people looking for a better future in Sweden and Europe, and the US, of today. Will they, too, some day turn to “migrant heroes”, in the land they left as well as within the countries they have come to? What are the factors of fame in the migration history setting? What kind of stories in letters, diaries and in oral family traditions are the ones that live on and form the positive myths of migration, once upon a time - which are the "heroic" stories about migrating women, men and children of today? (Show less)