Castles, pages 17-29

     Stephen Castles provides us with an interesting analysis of how the ongoing globalization of the world is redefining traditional views on citizenship and undermining certain pillars of the 20th century "Nation-State". No longer do states have full control over the exchange of people, things, and ideas across their borders, and the increased contact between distant peoples is blurring ethnic and cultural boundaries. Certain regulations can now be handled from a supranational level, taking the power out of the hands of the governments of these Nation-States. Castles goes on to outline the differing attitudes toward migration from the point of view of the receiving country, mentioning first "assimilation" and "differential exclusion", approaches that attempt to protect the receiving country from influences that immigrants may bring with them, and later mentioning "multiculturalism" and "social equality", approaches that focus on understanding and appreciating everyone's background. I think that even within my lifetime in the USA I have seen a marked transition from valuing assimilation and protecting the status quo to appreciation for the more understanding ideas of multiculturalism and social equality, and that this change is a reflection of growing understanding and acceptance resulting from increased contact between different peoples.