A Dialectical Simplicity approach to migration
1. Introduction: Migration Is the Human Story
Long before passports, fences, or visas, people moved.
They moved to trade, to explore, to escape war or drought. They moved for love, for family, for freedom. Migration is not an anomaly. It is one of the oldest expressions of human agency. But in recent decades, it has become a site of fear, manipulation, and division.
In both Europe and the United States, the movement of people is often framed as crisis. Migrants are portrayed as threats to jobs, culture, or security. Borders are hardened. Camps expand. Boats sink. But what if we started from a different premise—not fear, but connection?
Dialectical Simplicity asks us to see migration not as a problem to be managed, but as a reality to be understood—and as an opportunity to reimagine community, economy, and belonging.
2. The Myth of the Fortress
In 2023, the European Union spent over €3.5 billion on border security, much of it funnelled into Frontex, its controversial border and coast guard agency【1】. This has included surveillance drones, detention centres, and deals with authoritarian regimes to block migration at source. In the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security continues to receive over $50 billion annually, with large portions allocated to border militarisation【2】.
Despite this, people continue to move. War, inequality, ecological collapse, and family reunification do not stop at border walls.
The idea that a wealthy nation can fully seal itself off is a fantasy—and a harmful one. It justifies cruelty in the name of “security” and treats people not as neighbours but as threats.
3. Labour Without Rights
Modern economies depend on migration. From the agricultural fields of California to the care homes of Germany, migrant workers keep entire industries afloat. And yet many of these same workers are denied basic protections.
In the U.S., undocumented workers—around 10.5 million people—often face unsafe conditions, wage theft, and the constant threat of deportation【3】. In the UK, the post-Brexit immigration regime has created a two-tier labour market where care workers, cleaners, and hospitality staff are recruited from overseas, but granted only temporary or restricted visas【4】.
This is not accidental. It’s a design that maximises flexibility and minimises cost—at the expense of human dignity. As Marx warned, capitalism often thrives on division: “A reserve army of labour” drives down wages and blunts resistance.
To truly value work, we must value workers—all workers, regardless of origin.
4. The False Scarcity of Solidarity
A common narrative in right-wing populism is that migration threatens the native working class—that “they” are taking “our” jobs, housing, or health services. But this turns workers against each other rather than toward the systems that exploit them both.
The reality is that wage suppression, housing shortages, and underfunded services are the result of deliberate political choices, not immigration. Studies across Europe consistently show that migration has neutral or slightly positive effects on public finances, especially when migrants are allowed to work and settle【5】.
Dialectical Simplicity rejects false scarcity. It recognises that solidarity is not a pie to be divided, but a force to be multiplied. When workers of different origins unite—through unions, co-operatives, or shared campaigns—they become harder to divide and easier to organise.
5. Belonging, Not Assimilation
Migration is not just about movement—it is about meaning. Who gets to belong? On what terms?
In many Western countries, migrants are expected to assimilate: to abandon languages, customs, and beliefs in order to “fit in.” But Dialectical Simplicity recognises that identity is dialectical—it evolves through encounter, not erasure.
The United States often describes itself as a “nation of immigrants,” but this ideal is frequently betrayed in practice—from the Muslim Ban of 2017 to the family separations at the southern border. In France, debates around laïcité (secularism) have often targeted Muslim communities in the name of universal values, while ignoring structural racism.
By contrast, initiatives like Barcelona’s “Anti-Rumour” Strategy have created public campaigns and local conversations to counter xenophobia through storytelling and facts, showing how cities can foster intercultural belonging without forced assimilation【6】.
6. The Politics of Welcome
While national policies are often hostile, communities on the ground have responded with generosity. In Germany, the 2015 arrival of over a million refugees sparked both a far-right backlash and a grassroots mobilisation—volunteers, language tutors, housing co-ops, and more.
In the U.S., sanctuary cities have refused to co-operate with federal immigration enforcement, offering some protection and dignity to undocumented people. In Aotearoa, the Refugee Resettlement Strategy has focused on integration support, while Māori organisations like Te Ataarangi and E Tū Whānau have extended care and cultural welcome to new arrivals【7】.
This work is not about charity—it is about the political project of manaakitanga: honouring the dignity of others as a reflection of one’s own.
7. Movement and the Climate Crisis
As the climate crisis deepens, so will migration. Rising seas, failed crops, and water scarcity are already forcing people to move. The World Bank estimates over 200 million climate-displaced people by 2050【8】.
We need to prepare not with more walls, but more imagination. How can we build cities, towns, and rural communities that welcome newcomers as partners in resilience, not burdens to be managed?
This will require a shift in housing, transport, labour rights, and social narratives. Migration is not a side issue—it is central to climate adaptation, economic renewal, and human dignity.
8. Conclusion: A Broader We
In the end, migration tests the boundaries of “we.” Who do we include? Who do we exclude? What kind of society do we want to become?
Dialectical Simplicity teaches that true community is not built through exclusion, but through encounter. That solidarity grows not from sameness, but from shared struggle. That the world we need will be shaped by many hands—and many voices.
To walk toward that world, we must begin with a simple truth:
No one is illegal.
Everyone belongs.
References
- European Commission Budget Documents (2023). Frontex Spending and Border Externalisation.
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security Budget (2023).
- Migration Policy Institute (2022). Profile of the Unauthorized Population.
- Migration Observatory, Oxford (2024). The UK’s Post-Brexit Labour Market and Immigration.
- OECD (2021). The Fiscal Impact of Immigration in High-Income Countries.
- Barcelona Interculturality Plan – https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat
- Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (2023). New Zealand Refugee Resettlement Strategy.
- World Bank (2021). Groundswell: Preparing for Internal Climate Migration.