Dumitru Sandu: Circulatory Migration As Life Strategy

CIRCULATORY MIGRATION AS LIFE STRATEGY
Dumitru Sandu
University of Bucharest
The study aims at listing the significant characteristics of the Romanians' provisional
migration abroad within 2000. The theoretical environment of the herein approach has
been set up by means of a reference to the life strategy concepts, to the human capital,
to the social capital, to the material capital, to the community related capital and
innovation spreading means. The strategies with respect to the international circulatory
migration are more and more relied upon, within the framework of the pauperization,
globalization and of the structuring of the international circulatory networks. The
provisional external migration is strongly marked by a positive selectivity, by the
differentiation between rural-urban concepts and by the alteration of the characteristics
in compliance with the 'waves' of the social innovation spreading process which
consists of the fulfillment of the life objectives by means of the international circulatory
migration. The community oriented social capital, with ethnic and religious origins,
plays a significant role within the first stages of the emigration from the community
abroad. For the purpose of the analysis, it was a good idea to use the national survey
data, community focused studies, multilevel approaches.
Why should we call it 'LIFE STRATEGY'? (LS)

After 1989, the field of the migration related phenomena on the Romanian territory or
originated in Romania has been the subject of significant changes, such as:
The internal migration dominated by the village-town flow changed into a prevailing reverse
migration, from town to village;
Commuting from the rural domicile to the urban work place has drastically decreased, almost
three times, during the time period 1989/2000;
Although the definite external migration keeps on having low ratings, the circulatory migration,
of the 'come and go' type, from Romania to other countries, for different reasons such as
tourism, work or business purposes enjoys a permanent social extent.
Sociologie Romneasc / Romanian Sociology

Annual English Electronic Edition
Issue 2 (2000), pp. 65-92
Original (Romanian) version:
Dumitru Sandu:
Migraia circulatorie ca strategie de via
Sociologie Romneasc, 2000, 2, 5-29.
English translation by DELCOM Group & Sociologie Romneasc,
with the financial support of the Open Society Institute - the Open Access Journals Program.
Sociologie Romneasc is published by the Romanian Association of Sociology. The issues from the new series
(starting 1999) are available on the journal website: www.sociologieromaneasca.ro, as well as the English
translations from the Annual English Electronic Edition.
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Dumitru Sandu
Such structural changes within the Romanian migration can be relatively easy to explain by
development delays, the cities/ regions/ countries development dynamics. Unfortunately, the
phenomenon related to the massive return from town to village cannot be interpreted as the village's
coming closer to the town's development level. It is more of a social-economic crisis in which the
country fumbles. 'The fall' of the rural commuting clearly points at the increase of the industrialurban decline.
The explanations that rely on development differences or on communication
facilities/obstacles focus on rather mechanistic hypothesis: the migrants seem to be more the
particles of a magnetic field whose force lines are laid out by the development discrepancies and by
the communication channels. that is why explicitly or implicitly promotes approaches of the 'pushpull' or neo-economic type. The mechanistic trend in explaining the migration has though more
subtle shapes than the ones that have been associated to the gravitational patterns. It is the trend that
sees the migrant as being the same in his origin and at his final destination, with stable reasons and
objectives before and after his departure.
The mechanistic simplifications are frequently doubled by the distortions due to the
migrant's relative isolation, to his separation from the context of his departure site or to the
approaches' over-focusing on the aspects related to the migration issues on the arrival or departure
sites.
Of course, the constraints and the economic and communication opportunities are
significantly important in the migration phenomena structuring processes. The issues with respect
to the poverty within the departure site and to the integration difficulties within the arrival site
enjoy a high relevance and visibility. The understanding of the social reasons that ground the
migration process and the refusal to interpret in a mechanistic way the herein phenomenon may be
reached by means of approaches that focus on the intentionality of these migrating actions, on the
joining of the tendencies and behaviors towards the spatial mobility's understanding. Within the
range of concepts that favour comprehensive migration approaches, an important position is held by
the 'life strategy'. The strictly demographic oriented researches, or the ones based on social
morphological patterns such as the Durkheim pattern mainly interpret the 'migration' as an event, as
a simple transit between two places. By summing up some other similar events, one comes to the
definition of a migration phenomenon with specific structures and dynamics.
Besides, as a reaction to the mechanistic-morphological approaches, the question 'could
migration be understood as a life strategy?' seems to be perfectly legitimate. If the answer is 'yes',
then by means of which concepts or which hypothesis? The herein study mainly aims at testing the
effectiveness of the migration being treated as a life strategy. I will hereinafter try to provide a
Sociologie Romneasc / Romanian Sociology - Annual English Electronic Edition - Issue 2 (2000)
Circulatory migration as life strategy
67
starting point of an answer, by referring to a specific migration type - the Romanians' international
circulatory migration within 2000-2001. The concepts of human, material and social capital, that
are frequently used within the different approaches on migration are to be subjected to the life
strategy concept. Before starting to see the migration through the conceptual lens of the life
strategy, we ought to re-define the contours of this lens, as well as the way in which it may be
polished so that it allow a clearer overview on the designed phenomena.
Migration within the framework of life strategies

A life strategy is not only an action, but also a kind of perspective on the action itself. It is
the perspective of the long term relationship between the assumed ends and the required means. As
for sociology, it is about 'ordered pairs' of purposes-means sets that can be identified at the level of
social segments or groups. Otherwise, for disparate cases, one may talk about individual strategies,
that are interesting from the psychological, historical or event oriented point of view. The LS
represent rational action structure, relatively solid from the point of view of the agent who
adopts them. Their reasonable aspect is provided by the means adjustment to the ends, by the
choices made and by coherence. We could talk about a choice related to the means according to the
ends, or the other way round or both1. The strategies outstand the wide family of the human actions
by the presence of such elements as:
A major choice2 within the area outlined by purposes and means (with multiple/long
term consequences);
an algorithm like and coherent ordering of the operations that lead to the objective's
fulfillment;
1
'Action is rationally oriented to a system of discrete individual ends (zweckrational) when the end, the means, and the
secondary results are all rationally taken into account and weighed. This involves rational consideration of alternative
means to the end, of the relations of the end to other prospective results of employment of any given means, and finally
of the relative importance of different possible ends. Determination of action, either in affection or in traditional terms,
is thus incompatible with this type. Choice between alternative and conflicting ends and results may well be determined
by considerations of absolute value. In that case, action is rationally oriented to a system of discrete individual ends
only in respect to the choice of means. On the other hand, the actor may, instead of deciding between alternative and
conflicting ends in terms of a rational orientation to a system of values, simply take them as given subjective wants and
arrange them in a scale of consciously assessed relative urgency.' (Weber, 1964: 117)
2
' Classiquement oppose au terme tactique, celui de stratgie suppose une situation plus vaste, une anticipation, une
globalit et un niveau de dcision majeur, en principe absents d'une action qualifie de tactique. Le terme stratgie fait
son entre dans la thorie conomique travers l'ouvrage de J. Von Neumann et O. Morgenstein, Theory of Games and
Economic Behavior. Depuis, les travaux d'conomtrie, ceux de J.M. Keynes ont uvre la promotion et la
banalisation de la notion. Ce sont les exigences d'un monde en industrialisation rapide qui ont favorise l'panouissement
de modles a multiples choix, et multiples moyens d'optimisation, le fait que l'action politique, pour tre efficace,
demande plus qu'aux poques prcdentes une rationalisation des choix. La stratgie ainsi entendue, au niveau des
socits entires, est alors la conduite et la ralisation d'une politique par les moyens les meilleurs. L'ide de stratgie
sous-entend que les socits humaines peuvent conduire et matriser leur histoire.' (Anne Gotman, 1990:24).
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Dumitru Sandu
the effort to accumulate and distribute the resources in order to get to the objective's
fulfillment;
a conflict or competition oriented situation that imposes the choice as a way of
solving an issue3.
Thus, the LS are fundamental choices, under competition like pressure, that are dealt with in
a sequence-/ algorithm-like manner by resource mobilization and by capital conversion.
The LS may be approached in different ways; one can focus on the objectives, the means or
the functions associated to the concept of strategic actions (Table 1). From the instruments point of
view, the LS can be classified as mobility oriented strategies or stability centered strategies,
diversity/ qualitative reduction focused strategies or accumulation/ quantitative reduction centered
strategies. Actually, and fundamentally, people can choose among:
MOBILITY RELATED
STRATEGIES
Mobility/stability
'here' vs 'somewhere else'
DIVERSITY RELATED
STRATEGIES
Diversity/qualitative
reduction
'more' vs 'less'
ACCUMULATION RELATED
STRATEGIES
Diversity/quantitative
reduction
'more' vs 'less'
The phenomenological perspective focuses on the field where the strategic action prevails.
The aspect of maximum visibility that is specific to the field of the strategic actions is represented
by the status dimension that supports the change. Thus, we can identify strategies connected to
occupation, residence, family, health care, network communication/integration etc, but, since for
almost all the cases the status indicators are significant for some capital types, the phenomenology
of the life strategies may be interpreted in terms of human, economic, social or vital capital.
From the functional point of view, one can differentiate among development/survival
strategies, strategies with respect to the different capital types conversion/keeping and
challenge/answer oriented strategies. The so-called defense strategies or coping strategies, for
example, aim at diminishing the internal or external conflicts4. Within the same range of the
functional classifications of the life strategies one can identify the approaches in respect of capital
'Le terme stratgie s'emploie en rgle gnrale dans les contextes et les situations comptitives' (Anne Gotman,
1990:23)
4
'Coping consists of efforts, both action oriented and intra psychic, to manage (i.e. master, tolerate, reduce, minimize)
environmental and internal demands and conflicts.' (Lazarus and Launier, 1978:311)
69
conversion or re-conversion5. The perspective of the capitals' re-conversion is actually centered on

identifying the routing followed by the agents who carry out the strategic actions.
The highly diverse LS are due to the diversity of the life conditions and of the 'habitus' type
tendencies (Bourdieu, 1996). From the point of view of the migration phenomena within the herein
context, the three-dimensional classification that we suggest might lead to a better localization of
the migration inside the area of the Ls attributes. The strategic migration centered actions are
ranged within the large category of the mobility phenomena engendered by the residence changes.
From the functional point of view, they can refer to any of the six types above mentioned within the
classification in table 1: development or survival, conflict or challenge, capital stock conversion or
preservation. As for the Romanian migration, i.e., there is hypothesis stating that the international
circulatory migration from the 90's is characterized more by a development perspective, as
compared to the migration from town to village, where the survival tendencies prevail (Sandu,
2001). Most of the LS may be located and interpreted from the sociological point of view within
this space of the 4x3x3 = 36 type attributes (four capital types, three instrument related perspective
types and three functional perspective types).
The residence-related strategies are frequently the specific way in which the tendencies to
change the status coordinates - occupation, family, marital status, health - become obvious.
The characteristic of this aspect consists of the spatial conditioning of the status related
change. The circulatory migration, as compared to the definite migration, supposes a both-sided
evaluation of the process, both positive and negative, for the same departure or arrival location,
regardless of its being a permanent or provisional residence. With respect to the prevailing
circulatory migration from Romania, the permanent domicile is valued in a positive way, from the
social-cultural point of view and in a negative way from the economic point of view and that is the
case for the commuting between rural and urban areas and for a good part of the international
migration.
Bourdieu focuses on the group strategies regarding the capitals' re-conversion, which are, a great deal of them, a
summing up of the individual strategies engendered by situation or habitus related tendencies. 'Re-conversion strategies
are nothing other than an aspect of the permanent actions and reactions whereby each group strives to maintain or
change its position in the social structure, or, more precisely - at a stage in the evolution of class societies in which one
can conserve only by hanging to change so as to conserve. Frequently the actions whereby each class (or class function)
works to win new advantages, i.e., to gain an advantage over the other classes and so, objectively, to reshape the
structure of objective relations between the classes (the relations revealed by the statistic distributions of properties),
are compensated for (and so cancelled out) by the reactions of the other classes, directed toward the same objective. In
this particular (though very common) case, the outcome of these opposing actions, which cancel each other out by the
very counter movements which they generate, is an overall displacement of the structure of the distribution, between
the classes or class fractions, of the assets at stake in the competition.' (Bourdieu, 1984:157).
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Dumitru Sandu
Table 1. The LS from the instruments, phenomenological and functional point of view
A.
the
phenomenological B. instrument related perspective (means)
perspective (the field for the
B2.
B3.
Diversity/
strategic actions, the nature of B1.
Mobility/stabilit
Diversity/qualitati
quantitative
the pursued objectives)
y
(mobility ve
reduction reduction
centered
(diversity focused (accumulation
Capital types
Status
strategies
strategies)
centered
coordinates
strategies)
A1. economic
Occupation
Work
place
Professional
promotion
change
Maintaining the
Economy
Multiple income same work place
sources
Entrepreneurial
activities
Residence
Internal
House fittings
migration
External
migration
Mobility,
tourism
Family
Marriage
Divorce
A2. human
cultural
Professional
Child
oriented
training
investments
Professional
improvement
A3. social
relationships
'migration'
to Extension of the Relationship
new networks
communication
preservation
area
A4. vital
Health status
Recovery
Sports
C. The functional perspective C1. Development vs survival (extension vs. preservation of
(consequences of the strategic the opportunity providing area)
actions) or the description of the C2. Challenge vs answer/defense/coping.
routing engendered by the C3. Conversion vs preservation of the different capital
strategic changes
types.
The extent of the provisional international migration and the macro-social context thereof
More than 20% of the adult population in Romania has traveled abroad within the last 10
years (by referring to may 2001 as a starting point)6. The social and cultural parameters pendant to
6
The data source for the national statistics regarding the circulatory migration is represented by ' The public opinion
barometer of the Foundation for an Open Society', may 2001. The total sample, that is representative for the noninstitutionalized adult population has included 1817 subjects. In order to test the experience related to international
migration, the survey consisted of 6 questions: STRANGER 1: ' have you traveled abroad within the last 10 years?',
STRANGER 2: ' Has anyone else from your household traveled abroad during the last 10 years?', STRANGER 3: 'Do
you have friends or children who have settled abroad?', STRANGER 4: ' Do you have friends or children who work
71
the herein phenomenon may be even more obviously set forth by taking into account the
households: in almost 35% of the households that have not been institutionalized there is at least
one member that has traveled abroad during the above mentioned period.
Under the circumstances where the country
Does not have a tradition concerning the external migration during the communist era
Has a high current poverty level (almost 40%)
Has serious legal barriers
Shows a drastic decline of the internal circulatory migration
the extent of the herein phenomenon might sound astonishing.

The above mentioned factors themselves have a double connotation. On one hand they led
to a conditioning of the migration's decrease in intensity, but on the other hand they facilitated or
even engendered the circulatory migration. The communist isolation, the transition's poverty, as
well as the western hesitation to encourage emigration (regardless of its reasons) have acted as
factors that stimulated the international circulatory migration. When for years on the row one has
been forbidden to leave the country as it was the will of the totalitarian-communist regime and since
the work places and well-fare level become more and more an issue of the hesitant transition to the
market economy and the visa for the west are, no one knows why, harder and harder to get, the
tendency to emigration and to circulatory transition normally increased. In the same way, the
diminishing of the commuting between the rural and urban areas by almost three times during the
time period 1989-2001 strongly and negatively influenced the circulatory migration of the
countryside young people (Sandu, 2001).
The causes thereof are not only the negative above mentioned conditioning but also the
positive factors that have been associated to the changes of the post-communist transitions. While
from the economic point of view the Romanian transition has to cope with a really winding road,
full of failures and re-trials, the media industry was rapidly organized so that it engendered a media
shock as compared to the previous isolation from the 90s. The effects of the globalization became
obvious at the level of the phenomena related to the international migration: the multi-national
abroad on a limited term?', AB 1: 'What country did you visit last?', AB2: 'When did you last travel abroad?'. The
question STRANGER 1 on which one can interpret the individual experience related to the international migration has
been formulated in order to set the coordinates of the provisional international migration. The usage of the verb 'to
travel', associated more to the idea of tourism or visits and less interpreted as related to work and education led to a subregistering of the number of those who went abroad out of work or education purposes. It is true that one speaks about
traveling not only when referring to tourism, but also when talking business. Besides, short term stays, regardless of
their reasons, may be better rendered linguistically by 'traveling' rather than long term stays. If the question was focused
on the verb 'to be', such as 'During the last 10 years, you have been.' One may have come to a larger number of
emigrants listed by means of the respective survey. From the methodological point of view as well, the answers to the
questions STRANGER1, STRANGER2, STRANGER3 and STRANGER4 refer to the provisional migration, as an
undetermined stay abroad. We do not know how much circulatory that migration may be; such an evaluation could
have been carried out if it could also have listed the number of trips abroad.
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Dumitru Sandu
companies, the NGO's, influenced or originated in the West , the new western educational
opportunities, the economic partnerships, the numerous evaluation and negotiation activities
developed by the international financial institutions as well as the internet implementation were as
many factors that favoured the human relationships.
Although the available data are really poor and they do not provide the means for an
accurate comparison, they significantly back up the hypothesis that the tendency of the circulatory
migration seems to be more powerful at the social level than it used to be during the previous years:
almost 30% of the subjects from may 2001 declared that they would like to go abroad for work,
tourism or education purposes within the following year. Of course, the mere intention cannot equal
a structured plan for going abroad. 30% of the total number of potential migrants declare that they
have already carried out some actions in order to succeed in their project.
The circulatory migration tendency at the moment of the survey doubled in terms of its
extent the intention of definitely leaving the country. This type of project was though assumed by
only 14% of the subject of the survey.
Table 2. The tendencies related to the circulatory migration according to residential
environments
People intend (+) or they don't () intend to leave the country,
The current residential
The
type
of
reason
for
the
within the next year, for the
environment
Total
circulatory migration
following reasons
Work
tourism
education
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
+
+
+
+
%
N
Total
Only education
Tourism and education
Work and education
Work and tourism
Work, tourism, education
Only tourism
Only work
rural
urban
2
4
12
13
14
14
41
100
152
5
9
8
14
14
30
20
100
377
4
8
9
14
14
25
26
100
529
The data source: The public opinion barometer of the Foundation for an Open Society, may 2001. The total sample
consists of 1817 subjects, the ones who intend to take up a type of circulatory migration represent 29% of the total
amount of subjects.
Although the migration oriented tendencies are not accurately measured or identified, they
prove to be helpful as far as the social factors and the migration strategies are concerned.
The intension of working abroad and of travelling for tourism represents the main reasons of
the projects concerning the circulatory migration (Table 2). In a decreasing order with respect to
intensity, the hierarchy presents the reasons work+toursim, work+tourism+education. The last
73
places within this hierarchy are held by the educational reasons, combined with working and
tourism reasons. The differences between village and town, in terms of circulatory migration, are
obvious even at this first level of separation and empirical analysis of the phenomenon. The
tendency related to the provisional international migration is by almost three times stronger within
the urban environment than in villages (Table 2), if we take into account the connection between
the existing population and the one who wants to go abroad, according to the two residential
environment. As for the amount, the potential urban migrants represent almost 70% of the total
amount of persons who want to go abroad within the near future.
It is not only the amount and the intensity of the potential migration differs significantly for
the two residential environments, but also the structure of this phenomenon. The village strongly
encourages the migration's economic motivation, as well as the wish to go and work abroad (almost
40% of the total number of potential rural migrants). Within towns, tourism is a more stimulating
reason for migration: 30% of the town inhabitants who would like to go abroad justify their
intention by tourism reasons, while 20% of them justify their wish by working reasons. The
intension to live abroad for a while in order to benefit from educational opportunities is again
stronger within the urban environment than in the rural one.
In order to understand the social meaning of the provisional/circulatory international
migration, it is necessary to give up the simple registering of its intensity and take up to the details
of the selection processes. Otherwise said, we should seize the way in which the probability of the
provisional international migration takes different aspects according to the resources of the various
social classes, to their position within the social hierarchy.
The selectivity of the actual international emigration

The migrant of the 'come-and-go' type who commutes from his village or town in Romania
and a foreign country, has reached within the last 10 years a well determined social-demographic
profile. From the basic status characteristic's point of view, he is identified by being, generally, a
young, relatively well educated man, raised in a religion that differs from the Christian-orthodox
one (Table 3, Table A 2). That social capital he may make use of abroad is significantly structured
by having parents or children who have already settled there. The probabilities pendant to the
provisional migration is differentiated according to the territorial characteristics, to the residential
site. The circulatory migration is encouraged by the people's rural status within well developed
counties. The ethnic profile of the community seems to be as well important: in those areas where
the Hungarian population is significantly represented, the tendencies towards provisional
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Dumitru Sandu
international migration were a lot stronger than in the areas that are homogenous from the ethnic
point of view (Table 3). We should emphasize on the fact that the ethnic coordinate seems to be less
important than the community's ethnic profile. For the regression sample we have worked on, being
Hungarian does not increase the migration ratio. On the contrary, as we have already mentioned,
living inside a community where the Hungarian minority is well represented, significantly increases
the probability of provisional migrations. This conclusion favors the hypothesis that there is a social
capital that acts at the community's level in combination with the ethnic structure. The hypothesis of
an enhanced relationship centered capital within the multiethnic communities (current or recent
situation) is supported by the results of the research that has been carried out within the rural Saxon
communities from Transilvania (Berevoescu, Stanculescu, 1999; Sandu, Mihailescu, 1999; Sandu
2001).
Table 3. Parameters that predict the actual provisional migration*
Prediction parameters
Male (1 yes, 0 no)

Age
Education
Christian orthodox (1 yes, 0 no)
Has parents or children who have settled
abroad (1 yes, 0 no)
Is Hungarian (1 yes, 0 no)
The Hungarian population percentage
within the area in 1992
The Romany population percentage within
the area in 1992
The county's development level in 1998
Lives within the urban area (1 yes, 0 no)
Constant
Nagelkerke R2
N
Exponential coefficients
Significantly positive (+) or

negative (-) relationships or nonsignificant relationships (0) **
Rural
Urban
Total
Rural
Urban
Total
2,677
2,121
2,243
0,961
0,987
0,981
1,238
1,358
1,356
0,290
4,841
0,582
3,585
0,484
3,826
2,425
1,007
1,379
1,017
1,453
1,15
0
0
0
+
0
+
1,059
0,941
1,038
0,999
1,013
+
+
0,232
0,30
803
0,101
0,21
998
1,012
2,560
0,056
0,29
1801
Data source: The Public Opinion Barometer of the Foundation for an Open Society, May 2001. For each residential
environment and for the total value one has set up specific logistic regress patterns.
* Dependant variable: ' within the last 10 years have you traveled abroad?' (1 yes, 0 no)
** It is not significant from the Statistics point of view for p = 0.05.\
The differences within the selectivity of the provisional international migration are set
according to the residential environment. The characteristics pendant to the community/ region and
concerning the migration are more significantly pointed out when the analysis are carried out
separately fro the rural and urban areas. The rural communities show a greater tendency than the
75
urban ones in respect of the selectivity according to the ratio of the Romany population out of the
total amount of the commune's population. The probability of the provisional international
migration was certainly higher within the areas where the Romany community was significantly
represented (Table 3). The high percentage of Hungarians within the communes seems to encourage
only the provisional migration to urban areas.
The selectivity of potential migration

The inferences on the migrants' LS are to be hereinafter drawn up by comparing the profiles
of different categories of potential migrants - on internal or external routes- ; within the large range
of those who have an external tendency, the comparison will focus on the motivations in respect of
working, tourism, education and living factors. (Table 4).
Migrating abroad out of working purposes represents almost a quarter of the total intentions
of the external circulatory migration. From the residential point of view, we have already mentioned
that the migration out of working purposes is more intense within the rural areas than in the urban
ones, from the point of view of total of the potential external migration. The phenomenon' s
intensity, interpreted in terms of the probability to express a certain tendency, is higher within the
urban areas than within the rural ones: 20% of the urban adults would like to go abroad and work
there as compared to only 14% of the corresponding rural population. It is not only the
phenomenon's intensity that it is being differentiated from the residential point of view, but also is
its selectivity. There are a few common characteristics to both types of communities: the tendency
to emigrate abroad for working purposes is higher among the single young people, who are already
experienced as far as the international migration is concerned. Besides this aspect, the profile
oriented differences are though significant. The relational capital of a person within his country
favors the migration out of working reasons more within the towns than in the villages.
Relationships seem to be a compensation capital for the young people in the urban areas, who have
a relatively poor educational level, when they plan their migration. If those who actually make it
abroad are usually people whose educational level is rather high, the tendency to go abroad for
working purposes among the people in the urban areas seems to have motivated as well the
categories of people with an average educational level. The structure of the empirical evaluations
(Table 4) suggests this possible phenomenon concerning the compensation of the average level
educational capital by a high social capital for the young people in the urban areas who want to go
abroad and work.
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Dumitru Sandu
The strategy of the migration out of working purposes is taken up out of reasons that differ
within the countryside from the equivalent tendencies within the urban areas. The unemployment
rate seems to encourage the international migration for working purposes within the rural areas,
while the town's inhabitants favor more the occupational mobility projects.
It is not the income that a person disposes of that determines her migration abroad out of
working purposes, but mainly the experience related to the working place and occupation. Within
the rural areas, the project concerning the external mobility for working purposes is associated not
only to the trauma due to unemployment but also to the experience of looking for a secondary/
additional income source.From the community-region oriented conditioning point of view, as well
as from the actual migration point of view, one may identify the positive conditioning that the
development level of the county imposes to the emigration tendencies, especially when the urban
population is concerned. It is the same urban population who favors the tendency to go abroad for
working purposes when there is a higher social-economic level within the area. As for the rural
population, the region centered conditioning for the potential migration is poorly structured. One
has registered only a stronger tendency concerning the definite external emigration within the poor
rural places.
Migration as a strategy rated from the community's point of view

The data within the national surveys we have been using up to now, have already indicated
that there is strong evolution of the migrational behaviour in terms of community and region
factors. The native local community plays a more complex role in the process of determining the
migration than the analysis based on the national surveys could foresee.
The native community is extremely important when providing the relational capital and the
mobility patterns that the possible migrants can interpret in a positive or in a negative way, by
complying with then or by innovating them. It is a fact that there are community centered patters in
respect of the international migration. These patterns seem to be a type of strategic 'ready-made'
patterns the local population can refer to. Questions such as ' What country should you go to? , How
can one get there?, Where can one live and work once one gets there?, How much can one earn?,
What resources does one need in order to carry out the project already adopted by the community?
most of the times they find an answer within the community oriented migrating patterns.
77
Table 4: Parameters that predict the migrational tendency, by to motivation and residence
Male (1 yes, 0 no)

Age
Not married (1 yes, 0 no)
+
Educational level
Relational capital
Media
Christian orthodox(1 yes, 0 no)
Hungarian (1 yes, 0 no)
He has at least 3 persons under his command (1 yes, 0 +
no)
Have you lived abroad within the last 10 years (1 yes, +
0 no)
Has anyone else from your family been abroad within +
the last 10 years (1yes, 0 no)
Do you have parents or children who have +
permanently settled abroad? (1 yes, 0 no)
Income level on the latest month (logarithm)
Entrepreneurial orientation
Has changed profession at least once after 1989 (1
yes, 0 no)
Has taken up a secondary job or activity (1 yes, 0 no)
Has lost his job at least once after 1989 (1 yes, 0 no)
Thinks that ' it is better to have a poorly paid but sure
work place than a well paid but insecure job' (1 yes,
0 no)
How satisfied are you of your life style? ( on a four
points scale)
Do you think that things have turned a good way or a
bad way in our country? (1 yes, 0 no)
How satisfied are you with the money you own? (4 very satisfied, 1- at all)
The development level of the county he resides in
The development level of the place he resides in
Number of inhabitants of the place he resides in
Hungarian population percentage in 1992
+
Rroma population percentage in 1992
R2
0,18
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
Has lived in
some other
place in the
country
Living
there
education
work
Tourism
education
work
Tourism
Regression models predictors
Living
there
Has lived in
some other
place,
in
the country
Lives at the moment in the

Lives at the moment in the urban
countryside and intends to leave
area and intends to leave
to another country for
To another country for
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
+
+
0,25 0,17
+
0,15
0,13
0,22 0,20
0,16
0,13
0,06
Data source: BOP- FOS, May 2001. Each column of the table shows, in a simplified manner, the results of a multiple
regress pattern. The dependant variable is given by the type of motivation corresponding to the reference residential
environment. The signs (+), (-) indicate the existence of a relationship statistically significant (p= 0.05) positive or
negative- between the prediction parameter on the line and the dependant variable in the column. Each dependant
variable has values rated as 2 for declared migrating intentions, doubled by preparing actions, 1 for migrating
intentions that are not supported by preparing actions and 0 for stability tendencies.
Reading instructions: being unmarried favors the probability of expressing this tendency of international migration with
respect to all kinds of intentions, except for the permanent migration pendant to the urban population. The positive
effect of the respective factor becomes obvious when there is, on a constant level, a prevalence of that factor over all
the other factors within the pattern. Attitude toward risks and the demographic dimensions of the residential
environment does not significantly influence the migrating tendencies, from the point of view of the other predictive
factors within the patterns.
78
Dumitru Sandu
The international circulatory migration in Romania has, at present, the status of a social
innovation. A series of relatively new behavior patterns within community based and region
oriented pre-defined contexts, end by being communicated as any other social innovation. As in any
other communication process regarding social innovations, there are innovators or pioneers, the
ones who adopt the reality rather early, with an average delay, or even late.
The networks that encourage migration are in the same time information networks. Within
the series of information networks that facilitate migration for working purposes the nucleus of
the entire phenomenon regarding the external provisional migration, what prevails appears to be the
ethnic, religious, relative centered networks, or the neighborhood/ inter-community communication,
friendship, homophileness (value centered identity) or just interest oriented networks. Initially, at
least as far as the rural migration is concerned, the ethnic, religious and relative oriented networks
were the more powerful ones. Subsequently, as the migrating community patterns became
structured, there were new types of networks that came up, so that from the ethnic, religious or
relative oriented networks one gets to the new networks based on neighborhood, inter-community
communication, friendship, interests and so on .
The characteristics of a social innovation that are subject to the standard rules of a
communication process, as well as the different ways of living and evaluating the migration could
be highlighted by means of the data that render the community based context of the phenomenon.
That is the idea of what we are going to present hereinafter by referring ourselves to the partial
results of a research study that has been carried out in the village of Crangeni, commune Crangeni,
Teleorman county.
The context is represented by the environment of a poor plain village, counting
approximately 1800 inhabitants, from the western area of the Teleorman county and located at 35
km far from the city of Rosiori.
Elements of the Migrants and non-migrants opinions towards the migrating strategy
strategic action
in Spain
Pioneering7
When did you leave? Tell me the story of an inhabitant from Crangeni
The communitys who left for Spain.
migrating pioneers
EA: In 1994. I was the first one to leave. There was also some other
are, as any other
boy, but he left for Canada, not for Spain.
pioneers, focused on And how did you do that?
looking
for
I was decided to go away from the very beginning. You could hear
EA: an Adventist young man, the first local representative who has emigrated in Spain and who has come to visit his
parents in Crngeni. He lives on a temporary basis in Coslada, Madris. July, 2001. Interview by D. Sandu (DS).
opportunities,
by
coping with the risk
and by benefiting
from a human and
social capital that
may make them
successful.
The
first
destination of the
pioneer-migrant
from
Crangeni
wasnt actually a
randomly
chosen
destination,
especially
after
having failed in his
attempt to Canada.
In Madrid, where he
finally settles, the
pioneer meets an
uncle, a religious
community
Adventist and a
tolerant society.
The
Spanish
migrant community
is
spontaneously
defined in terms of
regional Romanian
identity and arrival
waves.
At present, the
migration
phenomenon seems
to
be
fully
consolidated, since
almost 10% of the
interviewed subjects
79
all the time people saying that: you should go abroadit is better that
way. I wanted to do something, to change the situation, to see whether
that was better or it was just a rumor.
Did you already know the boy over there?
Yes, he came from Crangeni as well. He had left not very long ago,
maybe half an year ago. He has first left for Belgium on the occasion of
a football match, then for Canada, inside a container, like everybody
else at that timeI have been through that as well. We have arrived in
Portugal, but we couldnt go that far; we only got to the Azore Islands,
because the ship that was supposed to take us to Canada din not stop in
all the places. The containers, or whatever they are called, were left in
Azore, from were another ship was to overtake them. That is why I did
not have the chance to get to Canada. This happened after five month
of my being in Spain.
I had in mind Canada, but it did not come out this way.
How did you manage to leave the country?
First, I left on a trip to France, where I stayed for two or three days,
then I went to the Spanish border where someone was waiting for me, a
friend, and he drove me from there to Madrid.
The friend was from Crangeni
No, he was from Pitesti.

So, when you arrived in Spain, there was this friend and the Adventist
community that helped you. What did you in the first year after you got
there?
I also had an uncle, my mothers brother, who was already there. I

started to work with him he helped me.but it was really rough at
the beginning ..I was working for the black market at the beginning. It
is still the same now for the other people.
You said that there are 3000 Romanians in Madrid. How many of them are
from the Teleorman county?
There are a lot of people from Teleorman and also from Moldova,
Prahova, Slatina. The first ones who left were from Slatina. When I got
there, almost everybody was from Slatina.
They had left immediately after 1990?
No. they had left one or two years before I got there.
So, the first wave was from Slatina. What about the second wave?
There was also a survey that was carried out in Crangeni in order to get more information, based on a probability
sample of 51 households. The research that has been carried out in the area of Crangeni, Dobrotesti and Rosiori, from
July, 2001 can join the projects within the research contract C/CNCSIS called The importance of the social and
human capital to the regional development in Romania (Project coordinator: D. Sandu). The corresponding percentage
for the richer village, Dobrotesti, was 12%. The number of those who have permanently or temporarily left abroad is as
follows: 16% in Crangeni, 42 % in Dobrotesti (a 51 subject sample) and 21 % in Rosiori (on a 197 subject sample). The
tendency for provisional emigration within the following year is a lot lower in the poor village of Crangeni (4%) as
compared to the rich village of Dobrotesti (41%). The explanation is simple: the inhabitants form Crangeni are poorer,
while the inhabitants from Dobrotesti have a larger social-relational capital that could facilitate their access to different
destinations abroad. What could justify the difference between the material level of the households from the two
villages is the fact that 16% of the inhabitants from Crangeni own a car, as compared to 30% in Dobrotesti. The
corresponding percentage for the households in the survey from Rosiori de Vede was 25%.
80
Dumitru Sandu
have either parents

or children who
work on a temporary
basis in Spain8.
Plans, efforts,
accumulation of
starting capital
Adventists
are
generally
great
constructors,
manufacturers,
specialized
in
handmade
marchidizes (readymades etc). Many of
them still work as
constructors
after
they
arrived
in
Spain.
The people from
the village already
know that if we want
to leave for Spain,
you need almost 40
million lei, a sum
which is extremely
large
under
the
circumstances of the
poor conditions in
Crangeni, but you
also need a visa and
some relationships in
Spain.
Some people, but
only a new, prepare
their project by
starting to learn
Spanish
before
leaving. Most of
them though, do not
give
a
second
thought to that and
say that it is more
They were from Teleorman.

(Interview with EA, from Crangeni).
When you left the country, what was the level of your education?
PA9: I had graduated 10 forms.

EA: I had graduated 8.
Did you know any trade?
PA: I had learn to become a tailor, I knew that work very well.
EA: I had taken courses in ready-mades.
What about your parents? Did they have any qualification?
PA: Under communism they used to manufacture ready-mades, or to

tailor different clothes.
Where did they sell that merchandise?
EA: At the marketplace, in Rosiori de Vede, anywhere.

Did you get any advantage there in Spain from what you knew the tailoring,
the craftsmanship?
EA: No, it was not an useful.

Did you start learning Spanish before leaving the country?
EA: No, I didnt know anything; I thought that I will learn the
language anyway, once I got there. I tried to listen to some tapes that
my cousin gave me..
Lets pretend that I am not a teacher at the University form Bucharest, that I
am one of your acquaintances from Crangeni and that I want to come to
Spain. What should I do? How much will it actually cost me to come to
Spain?
EA: The visa is the most important thing to get.

How can I obtain it?
EA: By going on a trip or by buying it from the black market (12001300$).

Lets suppose I have already got the visa. How do I get to Spain?
EA: By plane or by bus.

How much is a plane ticket from Bucharest to Madrid?
EA: 400$.
So, I have the visa, I also have the plane ticket...what else do I need?
EA: You need a connection in Spain.

So I need almost 1700-2000$ to get to Spain.
EA: Yes. Its better to come by busbut it is very difficult.

..
What did you teach the boy?
DP10: He learned a little bit in this construction field. I built a house

for him, two years ago, I finished the house which was located in a
PA: EAs brother; they both came to Crangeni, from Spain, to visit their parents. Interview realized by DS.
DP is one of the leaders of the Adventist community from the village of Crangeni (Presbiterian). As most
Adventists, he is a constructor and specialist in ready-mades. He owns a firm and he is entitle to perform these
10
important to get
there, and then they
will manage, and
learn the language
on the spot.
81
special area, so he got a lot to learn from there.. We also fitted the
house with floors and stoves we hope he will stay.
The topic of the Is he married, your son?

DP: No, he is 21 years old.
international
To many more! How did he decide to go to Spain?
migration
is
a
DP: It was very easy. He had been insisting on leaving for Spain for three
controversial
one,
years and we had found all kinds of reasons to prevent him from doing that.
The car that we have today is a new one, actually we bought it three years
that brings conflict
ago. We bought the car on his name and I told him Look, i bought this car
in the relationship
for you (we already had one), I will build a house for you, but stay here, do
between
children
not leave the country he could find his way with our help, he could
succeed. But that is the tendency of all young people today. And we never
and their parents.
tried to interfere with his plans. We showed him how things were going, what
The
economic
our position was, but he was the one to take the final decision, always. Since
advantages are very
he insisted on this leaving abroad, we didnt want to help him with money
until the last moment. He decided to borrow some money, with interest, from
persuasive only for
some Gypsies from Draganestii de Olt, but on the very last day, the Gypsies
the young people;
phoned him and told him that they cannot lend him the money as we
expected, because we have our faith, and we have been through some
the old generation is
experiences when we saw Gods work. He was supposed to take from those
still reluctant.
Gypsies 15 million lei, with a 5 million lei per month interest. I saw him
laying in bed and tossing, because he already had the papers and he was
supposed to go to the embassy. He left by means of our family association,
and that cost him some 16 million lei, which is not much as compared to
what other people had to pay some 30 million lei. That was the price at the
time, now it a way over 40 million lei.
What do you get for these 40 million lei?
DP: There are some people who deal with this transaction. They have
their connections there. So only the visa costs 40 million lei. I have a nephew
who left after my son, who had to pay 35 million lei last autumn. You just
find somebody who has some connections there.. They say Look, you give
this money and in one week I get you the visa. But he went there in person;
he obtained all the necessary documents from Alexandria, then he went to
the embassy himself, he paid for the legal documents only and he got the
visa. He didnt have to pay any other I told him: You get dressed and
we go to Rosiori and I will give you the money you need and then he said
Where do you have that money from ?. I went to the bank in Rosiori, I took
the money out of my account, I give it to him, and in one week he left.
..
The declaration of an unmarried young woman from Stejaru a village
that belongs to the commune of Crangeni, who helps the post man in
activities. Many of the concrete fences in the village have been executed by him ,before 1989. the ready-mades that he
manufactures are sold at the fairs. The entire family when the children were at home as well - takes part in the process
of manufacturing and selling of the products. His boy has left for Spain for an year. The other two daughters are
married and live at their house . The interview was realized by DS, in July 2001.
82
Dumitru Sandu
distributing the mail. She is unmarried and plans to leave for Spain,
together with her boyfriend, who is a taxi driver11. Another alternative could
be Italy, where there are already six girls from the village, working as babysitters. She also has a good friend there, from her village. She is though more
tempted by Spain.
She knows that she needs 30 million lei for the trip. She doesnt know
Spanish, but she understands Italian. There are people in the village who
started to learn Spanish before leaving the country. They will leave after she
graduates high school. First, her friend will leave for Spain, and she will
follow him. With the money they earn in Spain they want to built a house in
Rosiori and one in Bucuresti. Her dream is to have her own business when
she comes back. Her friend dreams at an agricultural machine, the Gloria
Type. He would like to take up agriculture there in Crangeni, and live in
Rosiori and Bucharest. Their parents do not know about this plan and she
will never tell them about it, because they have already tried to prevent her
from living to Italy.
The
Adventist
network has been in
action especially at
the beginning of the
process,
and
it
helped mainly the
ones who didnt
have relatives or
friends
at
their
destination.
Although both types
of
networks
Adventist
and
religious- play an
important part within
the process, this part
is different for each
of them. Initially,
both of them seem to
be
support
and
communication
oriented networks;
within
the
next
How can you explain the fact that the inhabitants of the Teleorman county,
although they are poor people and, you know,..
EA: Everything goes on due to the Adventist relationships. You know an
Adventist and he will take you to a friend. Everything goes like this, by means
of Adventist friendships.
This means that there have been Adventist communities from Slatina and
Teleorman that had connections with similar communities from Spain.
EA: Yes, the friends mean everything. It is difficult to leave without
having a connection, just like that.
Lets suppose you get there. What does the Adventist community for new
comer?
EA: Now, it doesnt do anything, because there are too many people. You
go to somebody.. if he cannot help you go to somebody else. If I cannot help
him, for example, I will send him to somebody else.
In 1994, when you got there, what did the Adventist community for helping
you?
EP: At the beginning, they helped us with food, clothes.
How many of the 3000 Romanians from Coslada are Orthodox and how
many are Adventists?
EA: The Orthodox people who came to Coslada were helped by the
Adventist. I helped Orthodox people to come here, and so did the others. The
Orthodox brought their friends and so on.
Where is the head office of the Adventist community in Oltenia?

DP: It is in Craiova.
The connection to Spain is made by means of the Oltenia community.
DP: Yes, that is true. There is an Adventist of the Oltenia community,
TG, and we send recommendation letters for the members who go to Spain.
11
Taxi driver is a job that is paradoxically running in Crangeni, a poor and isolated village. The ones who perform this
activity are the former taxi drivers or just drivers from Rosiori. After they lost their job in the town, they earn their
living by working an the same time as farmers, in the village and as taxi drivers on the route village-town. They are
solicited, because the buses are rare and the roads are a wreck.
83
For example, my son is no longer a member of the church form Crangeni,

stages of the process,
but he became a member of the church from Coslada. Once he got there, he
the
Adventist
asked for a recommendation letter, and once they received him there, they
network seems to
sent us a letter of consent and we erased him from our registers.
have kept only the So, the Oltenia community is strongly related to the community led by TG. Is
there any other way in which the Community from Madrid helps the people?
communication
DP: They help each other. But there are no conditions for intersupport.
communication at the churchs level
The support of the
network
is
not
strictly religious, or
Adventist; it consists
of
Adventist
friendship.
Your son finally got there. Where did he stay?
The kinship
DP: I have a cousin who is on his way home. He has been there for three
oriented network
years, and he let my son stay at his place for one month. He even provided
The kinship oriented
him with a work place, until he was able to manage on his own. Then he
networks seem to
stayed at another cousin from Rosiori for another one month. He also
worked with PA and EA for a month, and he started to speak the language.
have been more
Now he speaks Spanish not perfectly, but much better than other people who
important than the
have been in Spain for three years. We works for state institutions, and he
has applied for residence for a month and a half.
religious ones, at
Who was the first one to leave the village?
least at the beginning
DP: EA was the first one in our village, eight years ago. He had an uncle
of the migrating
from Radoiesti who was there, so he followed him. Then his brother left the
process.
village, then another two boys. After one year there were some other people
who left, and so on.
Efforts, choices at
the provisional
destination,
accumulation of
capital for the
success of the
migration focused
project.
Once you got to
Spain, you have to
learn the language or
some of it in order to
succeed in finding a
house and a work
place.
What is your Spanish speaking level at present?

EA: very good indeed. I had a girl friend there and that helped me a lot. It
happened the same with PA..
Is it easier for a man or for a woman when getting there and starting to
work?
EA: Three or four years ago, it was easier for women to find a job, but
now it is the same.
Where do the women and where do the men work?
EA: The women work as maids, or baby-sitters, while the men work in the
construction field.
Who earns more: the men working in the construction field or the women
working as baby-sitters?
EA: Men earn more. If he works as a peon unqualified worker then,
a woman could earn more. A peon gains 5000 pesetas, while a baby-sitter
gains 1000 pesetas per hour..
Is it easier or more difficult now to leave for Spain than it was in 1994, when
you left?
EA: It is easier, a lot easier and there are other conditions now.
Why is it easier?
84
Dumitru Sandu
EA: It is easier to find a work place. Now there are more people there,
more connections, you have more chances to find someone to help you.
Before, when we used to hire apartments, there were many of us who lived in
them together. Now, the average is six persons in one apartment.
Choosing a
destination that is
friendly to
immigrants
How much does the semi-legalization process cost, since full legalization is a
long way to go..
EA: Initially it was more difficult to have your papers put right. Now, they
have passed some really advantageous laws for foreigners. Since January
the 1st 1999, they gave work permits to everybody, no matter whether they
rd
had contracts.. It didnt matter. Since January 23 2001, a foreigner
needs a Spanish identity card and a pre-contract.

Where do the inhabitants of Teleorman preferably go: to Madrid or to
the south?
EA: There are a lot of people in Andaluzia, but only a few in Barcelona.
There are more racists, there are inhabitants from Catalonia, it's another
region, they speak a different language. It is even more difficult with the
official papers. As for Barcelona, they even had troubles in the government.
They issued only a few papers, even if the law was the same.
'Connections home'
Consequences
home
How do the people in the village feel this connection with Spain? Do they
receive money or parcels?
DP: We received three times 7 million lei. We told him that he shouldn't
have done that because we can manage. Then he sent us parcels with sweets,
chocolate.
How do these parcels arrive here? By the post office?
DP: There are a lot of trafficants, like the taxi drivers on the route
Rosiori -Crangeni. They do the same things on the route Madrid- Crangeni.
They load their car with parcels from all over the country. They came a
month and a half ago, and they have a list of the numbers on the parcels.
Mister DP your parcel number..
And how comes that they do not have any troubles at the customs? They have
the status of a company or something
DP: I don't know how they manage to get away, but the parcels are
sealed when they arrive here, and the money and the things are safe. The
money arrive by Moneygram
Is this system , Moneygram, working here in Rosiori?
DP: It is working in Alexandria. He called me and he said: 'I sent you the
money, make sure you go to Alexandria and pick it up. Two and a half
months ago he sent wo parcels with electronic devices: a sports color TV set,
a video player.
...
back Let's go back to Crangeni. In your opinion, what are the effects of that
community in Spain, made out of Romanians originated in Crangeni on the
people over here?
EA: My parents didn't actually need the parcels that I sent, they could
manage, on their own. I helped them to carry out the agricultural work, two
springs in a row. It is more difficult during spring.
You have a nice house. Did you help them build it?
85
EA: NO, I didn't.

What about the other Romanians from Crangeni. Do they send more home
from Spain than you did?
EA: Yes. There is a boy, Viorel, who sent his father money to buy a Gloria
- a tractor.
So, there are tractors and houses that were bought and built by means of
money from Spain?
EA: Yes. That's true.
What about the other people that do not have a houselhold like yours with
everything you need.do their children send more? Do they send money to
help them build their houses or to buy tractors?
DP: They help them. For example, there are two families who have the
boys there, and they sent them money. Thus, the family could buy a car, to fix
their households. It is obvious that what somebody can achieve with the
money from Spain, one could never get here in years. Within the first three
months he insisted on my coming there, but he knew where I stood in this
respect. I told him that ' It's no use spending your money on these phone
calls, trying to persuade me'. Maybe, if he succeeds in obtaining the
residence rights, I will visit him next year (!).
.
What about the Adventists? Are they working more as carpenters or joiners?
TR12: yes, they do both works. They bought their own cars, if they could.
One of them spent two years in Spain. I also have a nephew in Spain. He has
been there for one year, together with his wife. They want to achieve
something, to earn money, to work, not to suffer from anything.
What was your nephew's qualification?
TR: He was a house painter. His father in law has been living there for
ten years. His entire family is there, together with all the children. When he
comes here, he comes as if he visits his relatives. His fortune is there, though,
his work as well. He got really far with the money they pay you there. This
nephew sent money home, so that we managed with the field works: the
seeding and the ploughing.
How much money does your nephew send back home?
TR: he sent 10 million lei, even 20 million lei, for furniture, so that they
could furnish the house. He also helped another brother, who is a preacher
with the Adventists. He has another brother who is an engineer in Brasov,
who has a nice life over there.
The future seen from What about your future plans? How do you see life for the future?
EA: It is really hard here. When we arrived home - it has been eight years
'there' and from
since
we last came- we were in a car I don't remember the townsbut until
'here'.
we got to Sibiuall the children run after you if they see you own a foreign
When
somebody
car. They show you their stomach, implying that they are dying of hungerIt
leaves the country,
makes you cryyou don't cry because you missed your country, but because
he thinks: 'I go there,
of what you see. The blocks of flats are not paintedit feels as if there was a
I make some money,
war.
DP: It is all in ruins. Everything is black, nothing is painted or clean, to
and then I come
12
TR: an old man, a widower, from the village of Crangeni. He lives at the borders of the village, together with one of
his children, who is handicapped. The other two children live in Bucharest (his daughter) and in Rosiori, respectively
(his son). The interview was realized by DS, in July 2001.
86
Dumitru Sandu
please your eyes.

home soon'. But
EA: I was in Bucharest a few days ago. Everybody there is stressed, they
things change on the
drive
like crazy on the streets. There it is different, the driving is different,
way, depending on
more
calm...it
is different. We want to stay there for the moment.
how they get to
What about old people?
manage there, to
EA: They want us to stay home.
integrate themselves
at the destination. What does the village look like, after eight years?
EA: The same. No changeit looks even worse.
The parents claim
.
that the ones who
That means that your son thinks about coming back.
left 'must come
DP: Actually, he has to come back. When he left, his plan was to come
back', while the
back
to Romania after one year (he laughs). He changed his plan, he said
children
answer
that it is too soon now. Now, since this opportunity with the residence came
'we'll see'.
up, he said: 'I obtain the residence rights, I come home, I stay one or two
months and then I can go back'. We kind of fought against this idea.
The
migration How many of the young people you have talked to want to come to Spain,
regardless of their being Adventist or Orthodox?
centered ideology
EA: There are people who want to come and who say that straight in your
Leaving the village,
face: take me with you.
especially for Spain,
.
is seen by the young Are there young people who still want to leave?
DP: Many of them want to leave, but they have to face the issue with the
people as a 'solution'.
visa. They lack those 30-40 million lei that they need, they do not have a
family association or connections over there.
.
Almost 40% of the

inhabitants
of
Crangeni think that
in order to succeed
in life it is a good
idea to work abroad
for some time.
Although
this
percentage is high, it
is considerably low
as compared to the
one from a rich
community, with a
tradition
in
migration, such as
the
Dobrotesti
village.
Honesty and hard
working are the
basic values of the
success
oriented
ideology in both
rural communities
'In order to succeed in

life here in Romania,
how important are
each of the following
Hard working
Being honest
Having connections
High education level
Having rich relatives
Starting a business
Working abroad for a while
Being ambitious
Percents of the people considering that it is

important or very important from total
sample in
Rosiori de
Dobrotesti
Crangeni
Vede
94
88
82
90
86
77
78
80
92
82
76
76
60
75
68
58
47
60
60
41
61
62
35
81
that
have
been
investigated. On the
contrary,
the
inhabitants
of
Rosiori consider that
the key of success
consists
of
connections
and
ambition.
Crangeni is
though a strongly
traditional
community, where
making business and
working abroad is
low rated. It is true
that he have spoken
to those who still
lived in the village.
The ones with a
more
modern
mentality, with more
mobility seem to
have already left
Crangeni.
The
village of Dobrotesti,
due to its modernism
and rich community,
provides
an
increased mobility
and favors more the
ideology of external
migration.
A
favorable
circumstance
concerning
the
migration to Spain:
the
Adventist
religion, the decline
of the construction
filed in Romania, the
demand
of
constructors in Spain
and the Spanish
tolerance.
What of the following is

the most important for
being successful in
Romania?
Being honest
Hard working
Having rich relatives
Having connections
Being ambitious
High education level
Working abroad for a while
Opening a business
No answer/ I don't know
Total %
N
'Within the next year,

do you intend to leave
Romania for a foreign
country?
For tourism
For provisional working
abroad
To improve your education
or qualification
I would emigrate and live
there
87
Dobrotesti
Crangeni
Rosiori de
Vede
24
22
8
8
2
12
8
2
14
100
50
45
20
8
4
4
4
2
0
14
100
51
15
17
5
26
21
6
5
3
2
100
197
The number of persons who would like to

emigrate, out of a total community sample
from
Rosiori de
Dobrotesti
Crangeni
Vede
8
2
8
12
11
ID13: The phenomenon has a different connotation than people usually

think. During communism, the Adventist persons had a really hard life to
live. But why? Because they rested on Saturdays, while all the other people
rested on Sundays.
ID: And especially because Saturdays were working days at that time, so
they had to adjust their work.. they needed jobs that could allow them not to
actually work on Saturdays...how can I put thisFor example, the
intellectuals. There were a few engineers, it was more difficult...but the
doctors could manage to schedule their duty, their shifts as they wanted. So
they could manage this way. I am talking on behalf of the community now,
the community's life turned around this rest day and they had to find those
jobs that could allow them a proper living. So they became tailors, furriers,
brick layers, they went on the site, they worked on Sundays, but they didn't
work on Saturdays. You see, they never joined CFR - The Romanian rail
13
ID: He is an engineer, a counselor at the mayor's office in the city of Rosiori and he is also an Adventist. The
interview was realized by Manuela Stanculescu, in July 2001
88
Dumitru Sandu
ways, they didn't become sailors or soldiers

That's how it was at the beginning for a group in Buzescu, who were
Adventists. What is it that attracted them to Spain and made them stay there.
What did they do for a living?
ID: They were constructors.
So they worked in the constructions field.
ID: Yes, that's what I meant. After the Revolution, the construction field
failed in Romania.
Yes, that is true.
ID: They had to find a job, and they first tried their luck in France, but
they couldn' t stay there.
Why?
ID: They were not allowed to work. They tried once, twice, until they got
to Spainhow can I put this...they were a little bit thrown away. In Spain
they found special human conditions, special quality people.. who allowed
them to live there in normal conditions, to practice their religion. They
adjusted to that , they were integrated.
Did they find a Spanish Adventist community there?
ID: There are Spanish Adventist communities. Imagine yourself, an
Orthodox, going to an Orthodox community from the States where you
represent a minority. You will asked who you are, where you are form, how
did you get there and the people over there try to find you something to work,
to integrate you. So that was the community's support.
So there was a support!!
ID: Of course there was. But it could have been the same in France, since
the situation was the same.
Yes, but in France nobody understood them.
ID: no, they were not. They helped them to find a job, they started to work
and to make money. Since they were Adventists and they had large families,
they started to bring their brothers, sisters, nephews, brothers - in -law and
so on. The rumor went on, and the Adventists came one after another and
they helped each other. It had nothing to do with the church, the church was
not implied in that story. The only implication of the church within the last
two years is that it sent to the communities over there some pastors from
Romania. The freedom from Spain allowed them to have Adventist
communities there, and that is what attracted many of the people who went
there. You could speak Romanian; nobody would bother you, there was no
license needed, then tey had a school in Romanian, and so on.
Conclusions
The provisional migration abroad is obviously a mobility centered phenomenon, based on
mainly positive selectivity. Those who have traveled beyond this country's boundaries - out of
unspecified reasons- own an increased human and social-relational capital. It is not only the
personal- family focused capital that encourages them, but also the different forms of community regional based capital: the counties with a high level of social-economical development favor the
89
provisional migration, more than the poor counties do. A special form of social- community based
capital associated to the ethnic structure also favors the external provisional migration.
The social-community based capital that influences the circulatory international migration is
also based on an ethnic structure. The regularity of the phenomenon varies from rural areas to urban
ones. In the former case, the Rroma population seems to be more influent as a migration
encouraging factor, while in the latter case, the Hungarian minority seems to be the reason. The
differences in regional development levels, at the county's level, represent selectivity factors that
stimulate more the migration within the urban areas than in the rural ones.
The material capital may be significantly important on the way of success within the
migration process. , but the project in itself does not depend too much on the material capital. The
hypothesis is supported by adequate data only for the case of the potential external migration. As
for the potential internal migration, things are different. It is the poverty, the low income level that
favor the structuring of the migrating tendencies.
The migration process itself depends not only on the material resources, willingness and
strategies but also on a series of unpredictable constraints (De Jong, Fawcett, 1981). If we refer
directly to the migrating tendencies, we can avoid the 'noise' due to the accidental constraints. It is
thus easier to make the connection with the action centered strategies of the migrants.
The migration oriented projects are significantly associated to the occupation focused
projects, contracting projects as well as to the projects based on the coping with unemployment and
lack of incomes. The nature of the migration focused project, be it internal, external, based on
tourism, work, education or permanent domicile change, is due to the relationship between the
available capitals, the life cycle (Individual - family centered), to the migrating experience as well
as to the opportunities offered by the community - regional oriented context.
Since all the other terms are equal, the more structured the entrepreneurial tendency is, the
stronger the migration tendency is for the rural population, as far as working abroad is implied.
Within the urban areas, the entrepreneurial tendencies are significantly associated to the migration
out of tourism and educational reasons. Regardless of the residential environment, the internal
migration focused projects, within the country, are positively associated to the entrepreneurial
projects.
The main immediate objective of the provisional migrant abroad is represented by the work
place and the money. The main instrumental values that lead to the achievement of the respective
objective are as follows: finding a dwelling place, learning the language and getting the stay permit.
90
Dumitru Sandu
The pioneers of the community focus, as any other pioneers, on looking for opportunities,
by coping with the risk and by benefiting from a human and social capital that should allow them to
succeed.
The conversion between the different migration types occurs due to the changing of the
utility based values, that the migrant assigns to the places on his route. As far as the provisional
destination is seen in a positive light from the economic, social and cultural point of view, there
may be a conversion of the provisional migration into a permanent one, under the circumstances of
the absence of a family based constraint at the origin. In the same way, the migration from urban
back to rural areas, after one has lived in town for a significant number of years, tends to signify,
within the actual context from Romania, a re-evaluation of the original location, when the town - in
its capacity of so-called permanent emigration destination- can no longer provide a work place or
an acceptable life status.
By considering the provisional international migration as a life strategy that spreads as a
social innovation, one may seize the micro - and macro-social conditioning of the phenomenon.
Annexes
Table A1. The structure of the internal migration according to residential flows
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Urban-rural
6.4
3.5
10.1
13.7
14.6
18.4
20.8
23.4
26.8
28.5
30.7
33.8
Urban-urban
19.2
18.2
20.2
24.3
25.4
25.6
26.1
27.4
25.0
26.0
26.5
23.7
Rural-rural
18.9
8.5
19.4
22.8
25.0
25.5
28.0
24.5
25.6
23.6
21.7
23.0
Rural-urban
55.4
69.8
50.3
39.2
35.0
30.5
25.1
24.7
22.6
22.0
21.0
19.5
Total
migration
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
related
events
192900
786461
262903
293182
240231
266745
289491
292879
302579
276154
275699
244507
Data source: The National Statistics Institute
91
Table A 2: The number of persons who traveled abroad within the last 10 years, according to
different social levels (%)
Rural subUrban subTotal
sample
sample
sample
Gender
Male
6
21
14
Female
13
35
25
Age
Under 25 years
15
24
21
25-29 years
14
31
24
60 years and more
2
19
9
Educational level
Primary school
4
5
4
Secondary school
8
18
12
Professional
14
17
16
High school
18
31
28
Post high school
16
35
31
University degree
26
50
47
Modern fittings within the household
Low level
5
8
6
Average
12
19
17
High level
20
46
40
Do you have parents or children who have No
9
26
18
permanently settled abroad?
Yes
27
56
47
Ethnic origin
other ethnic group
33
49
40
Romanian
6
25
17
Religion
Not Orthodox
30
44
37
Orthodox
6
25
16
Goods consumption per capita
Below the average level
8
16
11
Above the average level
13
27
23
Media consumption level
Low
6
12
8
MEDIA
Average
10
25
19
High
17
35
30
The development level of the Low
10
10
10
native location QLIFLEUR
Average
11
25
20
High
6
30
29
Historical region
Moldova
7
22
14
Muntenia
Dobrogea
Or Oltenia
6
18
11
Bucharest
26
28
27
Transilvania
16
37
29
Satisfaction due to incomes level Low
9
19
13
Average
7
17
12
High
16
38
33
"it is better to have a poorly paid but Yes
sure job than a well paid but unsecure
8
22
15
job"
Total
No
10
17
27
42
19
34
Data source: The Public Opinion Barometer of the Foundation for an Open Society, BOP - FSD, May 2001.
Data reading guide: 6% of the total number of adult women originated in the rural areas have traveled abroad within the
last 10 years. The corresponding percentage for the adult urban male population is 35%.
92
Dumitru Sandu
References
Berevoescu, Ionica, Stanculescu, Manuela (1999). Mosna, un sat care se inventeaza, in
Sociologie Romaneasca, 1.
Bourdieu, Pierre. (1979) (1996). Distinction. A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste.
Translated by Pierre Bourdieu. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
De Jong, Gordon and J.fawcett. (1981). Motivations for migration: an assessment and a
value expectancy research model, in G. de Jong and R. Gardner (eds), Migration decision making.
New York: Pergamon Press.
Gotman, Anne. (1990). Strategies residentielles, strategies de la recherche, in Catherine
Bonvalet et Anne Marie Fribourg (1990), in Strategie residentielle..1990.
Lazarus, Richard and R. Launier. (1978). Stress related transactions between person and
environment in Pervin, A., and M. Lewis (Eds). Perspectives in International Psychology. New
York: Plenum.
Sandu, Dumitru, Mihailescu, Vintila (coord.), (1999). Reconstructia spatiului comunitar.
Mosna si Viscri- doua foste sate sasesti din Romania. Bucuresti: Banca Mondiala (research).
Sandu, Dumitru. (2001). Les enjeux des reseaux migratoires dans l'espace social de la
transition - le cas roumain. Communication soutenue a la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme. Paris,
le 4 avril.
Schutz, Alfred. (1975). On Phenomenology and Social Relations. Edited with an
introduction by Helmut R. Wagner. Chicago: The University Chicago Press.
Strategie residentielles. Actes du seminaire organise par Catherine Bonvalet et Anne Marie
Fribourg (Paris, 1988). 1990. Paris: INED.
Weber, Max. (1964). The Theory of Social and Economic Organization. Edited with an
introduction by Talcott Parsons. Translated by A.M. Henderson and Talcott Parsons. New York:
The Free Press.

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CIRCULATORY MIGRATION AS LIFE STRATEGY

Why should we call it 'LIFE STRATEGY'? (LS)

Sociologie Romneasc / Romanian Sociology

Circulatory migration as life strategy

Migration within the framework of life strategies

'here' vs 'somewhere else'

Circulatory migration as life strategy

conversion or re-conversion5. The perspective of the capitals' re-conversion is actually centered on

Circulatory migration as life strategy

the extent of the herein phenomenon might sound astonishing.

Circulatory migration as life strategy

The selectivity of the actual international emigration

Male (1 yes, 0 no)

Significantly positive (+) or

Circulatory migration as life strategy

The selectivity of potential migration

Migration as a strategy rated from the community's point of view

Circulatory migration as life strategy

Male (1 yes, 0 no)

Regression models predictors

Lives at the moment in the

Circulatory migration as life strategy

No, he was from Pitesti.

I also had an uncle, my mothers brother, who was already there. I

have either parents

They were from Teleorman.

PA9: I had graduated 10 forms.

PA: Under communism they used to manufacture ready-mades, or to

EA: At the marketplace, in Rosiori de Vede, anywhere.

EA: No, it was not an useful.

EA: The visa is the most important thing to get.

EA: By going on a trip or by buying it from the black market (12001300$).

EA: By plane or by bus.

EA: You need a connection in Spain.

EA: Yes. Its better to come by busbut it is very difficult.

DP10: He learned a little bit in this construction field. I built a house

Circulatory migration as life strategy

The topic of the Is he married, your son?

Where is the head office of the Adventist community in Oltenia?

Circulatory migration as life strategy

For example, my son is no longer a member of the church form Crangeni,

What is your Spanish speaking level at present?

needs a Spanish identity card and a pre-contract.

Circulatory migration as life strategy

EA: NO, I didn't.

please your eyes.

Almost 40% of the

'In order to succeed in

Percents of the people considering that it is

Circulatory migration as life strategy

What of the following is

'Within the next year,

The number of persons who would like to

ID13: The phenomenon has a different connotation than people usually

ways, they didn't become sailors or soldiers

Circulatory migration as life strategy

Data source: The National Statistics Institute

Circulatory migration as life strategy

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