34.2, 2009
www.msvu.ca/atlantis
BOOK REVIEW
Emigration: Economic Implications. T. Ramachandra Shastri. Hyderabad, India: Icfai University Press, 2007; xiii+267 pages; ISBN 81-314-0830-2; $ 18.00 US (paper).
Emigration: Economic Implications is a collection of essays discussing the broad theme of “economic emigration.” The editor, T. Ramachandra Shastri, has divided the book into two sections. In the first, the book gives an overview of economic migration, discussing many topics including some of the reasons behind people's decision to migrate, global employment trends, the role of diasporic groups in sending remittances, and the relationship between gender, immigration and employment. In the second, it looks at case studies of various sending and receiving states in order to illuminate the types of issues facing these states as a result of emigration. Although the book intends to provide the general reader with an all-encompassing look at “emigration,” the breadth of articles included becomes a weakness.
One gets the impression that the articles were chosen haphazardly because of vacillations in topic and style. This is especially evident in the first section. Whereas articles by Jeffrey Williamson, Jan Rath, the ILO, and UNISON supply statistical evidence on labour migration patterns, larger migratio n trends, and the impact of immigrant entrepreneurs on receiving states, PJ Lakare's account of Indian academics' circular migration between India and the United States is anecdotal and completely devoid of academic analysis. The second section, while being more even in tone and content, is chaotically organized. No justification is given as to why these cases merit attention, leading the reader to ask whether the “trends” identified in these articles are specific to the countries being examined or whether they are illustrative of larger global dilemmas. For instance, Karen Agutter's article on immigrant Italians' national belonging in Australia and Anglo-Canada was compelling because it assessed how Italian immigrants in these countries have more than one national affiliation; yet one wonders afterwards whether other immigrants residing in these countries also identify with more than one country. Similarly, while Dharam Ghai succinctly explicates how Kenyans living in diaspora contribute to economic development in Kenya, an explanation of how development is in part facilitated by diasporic groups as a whole would have been appreciated. In the absence of a concluding essay making these connections, the book feels like an inchoate mass of ideas and concepts.
Moreover, the majority of the articles in the volume do not assess issues of gender and migration. The ILO and UNISON mention the feminization of migration and the need for “gender-sensitive'” policies but fail to explain why a gender approach to migration is important. Evangelia Tastsoglou and Valerie Preston's article on the labour market,

gender, and immigration is an important first step towards understanding social, cultural, and political factors influencing immigrant women's labour mobility in Canada, yet it is only one out of fifteen articles that systematically advances a gender-based approach to migration studies. This omission is especially startling in light of the pioneering work of feminist migration scholars such as Monica Boyd and Nicola Piper, both of whom have widely disseminated the idea that migration processes are gendered.
Emigration: Economic Implications would benefit from better organization and a more thorough assessment of gender and migration.
Ethel Tungohan University of Toronto