The virtues and challenges of comparative analyses of immigration, migrant settlement and transnationalism

In this chapter we examine some of the insights that can be gained from comparative analyses of immigration, migrant settlement and transnationalism. There has been a series of calls for comparative approaches to migration research across the social sciences and humanities (for example, Campbell, 1995; Green, 1994; Vertovec, 1999). Drawing upon this literature, in the first section of this chapter we outline the primary benefits of comparative analyses. These include insights into the structural conditions of immigrant experiences and subjectivities, and the culturally varied responses to, and legacies of, international migration. In this way we highlight how comparative analyses can offer a bulwark against generalizations regarding the modes, frequency and pressures of migratory movement as well as the communications between migrant groups and their 'home'. In the second section of this chapter, we utilize data obtained in two Australian research projects" the Transnationalism and Citizenship Project and the Challenging Racism Project" to compare immigrant groups across two Australian cities (Brisbane and Sydney) with their Canadian counterparts. Comparative approaches to migration research eschew both erroneous generalization and naïve particularism. In order to present a balanced appraisal of comparative analyses of immigration and transnationalism, we also chart some of the challenges of this approach. These include issues such as finding appropriate analogues and securing matching indicators.