Two Sides of the Same Coin: Synergy between Colonial History and Migration Studies and the Promise of International History

Population movements to and from colonies and the metropole, or across international borders, shaped the economic development of much of the modern world, north and south, east and west. Although imperial studies and emigration studies have developed as separate specialties, they are inextricably linked. This paper will examine how modern population movement combined the challenges and controversies of domestic and foreign policy, and how a syncretic, multidisciplinary approach drawing upon the work of many different scholars can illuminate the history of international exchange.

Rather than national gain or loss, emigration and immigration should be viewed as international migration. Americans have long viewed immigration in terms of assimilation and the melting pot, but sending states such as Italy, Mexico, or Russia have viewed emigrants as still part of the nation, living abroad. The movement of individuals and families becomes relevant and important in European, global, and world history, in comparative studies and for understanding both sides of the migration exchange.

By looking at origin and destination as an exchange, the cultural history of nationalism and national memory abroad can be developed into a statistical history of trade, remittances, return migration. The Imagined Community, as described by Benedict Anderson to denote nationalism abroad, did not remain in the realm of pure imagination, but has concrete and quantifiable aspects. Past migrations thus bear much relevance to contemporary migration: transnationalism is not unique to the late twentieth century. As Nancy Foner, Donna Gabaccia, and others have demonstrated transnational loyalties have a precedent. While the supposed novelty of transnationalism is exciting for scholars, it is terrifying to nearly everyone else: politicians, government agencies, populist groups, etc., who fear the new and unprecedented. As historians document past examples, present migrations may be viewed as beneficial and non-threatening.