Alejandro Portes

The relationship between migration and economic and social progress in both places of origin and destination has been a highly contested subject in the scholarly and political literatures. I review these alternative positions for both low-skilled labour migrants and high-skilled professionals. The concept of ‘transnationalism’ has provided useful leverage in the study of the highly dynamic relationships between localities and countries of origin and of destination. The case of refugees is given special attention given the paradox of militant opposition to such flows in countries of reception and the contributions—economic and cultural—that these flows have made to the countries. A series of diagrams summarize the principal relationships discussed in the text. Overall, international movements of population can have positive effects for both places of origin and of destination, provided that they are allowed to proceed with relative freedom by sending and host states.

This paper presents some statistical data on the Hispanic population in the United States and its growth, caused by a sustained immigrant influx. The paper develops the following points:1) the importance and relevance of the Hispanic population in the United States; 2) the role of Mexican and Central American migration as the main sources of manual labor for the American economy; 3) the importance of migrants in the regional and national development in the countries of origin; 4) the situation and perspectives of the second generation; 5) the long-term integration of the Latin American immigrant population in the United States. The supporting arguments of recent essays criticizing the presence of the Hispanic population in the United States are examined as being a threat to English dominance and a factor for cultural disintegration. Se presentan datos numéricos sobre la población hispana de Estados Unidos y su crecimiento causado por un flujo inmigrante sostenido. Se desarrollan los siguientes puntos: 1)la importancia y relieve nacional de la población hispana de Estados Unidos; 2) el papel de la migración mexicana y centroamericana como principales fuentes de fuerza de trabajo manual para la economía norteamericana; 3)la importancia de los migrantes para el desarrollo regional y nacional de los países de origen; 4)la situación y perspectivas de la swgunda generación; 5) la integración a largo plazo de lapoblación inmigrante latinoamericana a estados Unidos. Se examinan los fundamentos de ensayos recientes que critican la presencia inmigrante hispana en Estados Unidos como amenaza a la hegemonía del inglés y factor de desintegración cultural

Este artículo analiza determinantes de las aspiraciones y expectativasentre los hijos de inmigrantes basándose en una muestra representativade jóvenes de la segunda generacion entrevistados en colegios desecundaria del área metropolitana de Madrid. Sobre la consecución deestatus en general y de las aspiraciones y expectativas en particular, seformula un conjunto de siete hipótesis. Presentamos desagregacionesde las aspiraciones y expectativas educacionales y ocupacionales porgénero, educación parental y escuela. El análisis fi naliza con modelosde ecuaciones estructurales que ofrecen una perspectiva teórica integradade la estructura causal de la ambición en el contexto español. Seexaminan las consecuencias de nuestras conclusiones para la teoría ylas políticas.

Based on Robert Merton’s typology of social deviance and his distinction between manifest and latent functions, this article explores the nature and consequences of deliberately-engineered innovation in the modern world. The substitution of spontaneous scientific and technological innovations by engineered ones through institutions created for that purpose represents itself a major innovation of the XX century. However, celebratory accounts of this innovation neglect the process of reverse causality created by it, impacting deeper levels of the culture and social structure of affected societies throughout the world. This process can have both positive and negative consequences, including the substitution of real innovations for apparent ones and the mass displacement of communities and workers linked to earlier technologies and practices. These often unintended consequences of deliberately-engineered innovation are discussed and their implications for individuals and for the social order identified.

We summarize the history of Latin American urbanization with a focus on the evolution of cities from the colonial and post-colonial eras to the adoption of the import-substitution model of development and its subsequent replacement by a neoliberal adjustment model. Consequences for the urban system of both import-substitution and neoliberal policies are examined, with a focus on the evolution of the urban population and trends in several strategic areas. We examine indicators of unemployment and informal employment; poverty and inequality; and urban crime and victimization rates as they evolved from the import-substitution era to the implosion of the neoliberal model that replaced it in the early twenty-first century. The consequences for cities of the disastrous application of this model are summarized as a prelude to the analysis of more recent trends. Based on the latest statistical indicators available, we document a significant decline in unemployment and economic inequality in six Latin American nations that jointly comprise 80 percent of the population of the region. Employment in the informal sector also declined steadily, although it still comprises a large proportion of Latin American labor markets. Consequences of this situation for the citizenry and alternative government policies to address it are discussed.

Alejandro Portes ocupa la cátedra Howard Garrison y Grabiel S. Beck de la Universidad de Princeton (emérito) y es profesor distinguido de la Universidad de Miami. Sus investigaciones más recientes se ocupan de la integración de los inmigrantes de segunda generación, las organizaciones transnacionales de inmigrantes, la urbanización y el desarrollo en perspectiva comparada. En el año 2019 recibió el Premio Princesa de Asturias de Ciencias Sociales. Esta entrevista refleja el punto de vista del autor en asuntos fundamentales de la investigación y la práctica sociológicas. La primera parte comienza con una descripción de la trayectoria biográfica y profesional. La segunda parte realiza un análisis de la perspectiva utilizada en sus trabajos de investigación. La tercera parte se dedica a discutir aspectos centrales en la sociología, entre ellos, el papel de los conceptos y la teoría, la interdisciplinariedad, la sociología aplicada y el propósito general de la sociología como disciplina.