The New Untouchables - Softcover

Harris, Nigel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 014014689X ISBN 13: 9780140146899

Publisher: Penguin Books, 1997

Synopsis

Immigration is seen as a serious problem by the vast majority of people. A Professor of Development Studies at London University, Nigel Harris argues that if the West is to advance as its people age, and if the poor of the world are ever to gain, governments will have to ensure the freedom of people to come and go as they choose. Harris concludes that migration is a necessary response to changes in the world economy.

About this title

From Library Journal

Harris (development planning, Univ. Coll., London) is no stranger to controversy. In earlier works, such as National Liberation (Taurus, 1991), Harris developed debatable conclusions on the diminishing nature of the global social order and world economics. In this new well-written study, Harris tackles global immigration. He contends that as the world economic order changes, international migration patterns respond in the form of immigration of unskilled laborers. Harris concludes that this immigration isn't necessarily negative. Indeed, he says, Western leaders should appreciate this new immigration, and he argues that border crossings should be simplified for workers. Harris also looks beyond the West and considers immigration patterns in Asian nations. As immigrants grow in number, so do jobs and incomes. Although many people, among them California's Proposition 187 proponents and numerous Sunbelt politicians, would take serious issue with Harris's conclusions, his latest work deserves the attention of social scientists and economists. For academic libraries.
Boyd Childress, Auburn Univ. Lib., Ala.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Harris (National Liberation, 1990) contends that we live in a time when the demands of the market are in essential conflict with the state's power to regulate immigration. The world's fluid and interconnected economies require a steady source of unskilled labor, usually from Third World nations, especially since the citizens of such developed countries as America and Japan consistently refuse to preform such work. These immigrants (usually illegal) are often viewed as a threat to the regulatory powers of their host state and its economic well-being and as such become easy political scapegoats. And Harris convincingly argues that this flow of unskilled labor is not only needed but also tends to "expand the overall economy" of a nation. He calls for changes in the immigration system, including the creation of work visas to allow these people to enter the country legally. A commonsense exploration of a reality that our political system has preferred to ignore. Brian McCombie

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 014014689X
• ISBN 13: 9780140146899
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 272