Migration and Social Structure

Autor polazi od stava da se o socijalnoj (klasnoj) strukturi suvremenoga jugoslavenskog društva ne može cjelovito raspravljati a da se u raspravu ne uključi faktor migracija, osobito vanjskih. Kako na ovom području nema temeljitih istraživanja, to je rad zamišljen kao skica za istraživanje. Kritički se raspravlja o različitim tezama o pripadnosti migranata, osobito teze o (trajnoj) pripadnosti (e)migranata zemlji porijekla, kao i njen klasni (ideološki) dodatak o (e)migrantima kao konstitutivnom dijelu (jedinstvene) radničke klase. Autor utvrđuje da su vanjske radne migracije ne samo kvantitativno nego i kvalitativno djelovale na socijalnu strukturu jugoslavenskog društva, posebno na (ne)konstituiranje jugoslavenske radničke klase. Zaključuje da je potrebno kritičko preispitivanje jugoslavenske migracijske politike, i to ne samo sa stanovišta interesa zemlje porijekla nego ponajprije migranata samih, i ističe da je to pozicija s koje se i sama znanost o migracijama na multidisciplinarnim osnovama tek treba konstituirati.The author proceeds from the standpoint that one cannot fully treat the social (class) structure of contemporary Yugoslav society without discussing the factor of migration, especially external migration. As there are no fundamental studies in this field, the paper is conceived as an outline for research. It is a critical discussion of various theses on the entity of migrants, especially of the theory that they are a (permanent) part of the society of emigration and its class (ideological) sequel that (e)migrants are a constitutive part of (one and the same) working class. The author claims that external labour migration has influenced the social structure of Yugoslav society not only in a quantitative but in a qualitative sense as well, particularly with regard to the (non) establishment of the Yugoslav working class. In conclusion, the author states that the Yugoslav migration policy should be critically re-examined, not only from the position of the sending country\u27s interests, but above all with regard to the interests of migrants themselves. It is emphasized that migration science remains to be formulated on a multidisciplinary basis from this position