How do migration and globalisation reshape national identity and sovereignty?
The causes and patterns of international migration, how globalisation and migration affect national identity, the changing meaning of nation states, borders and sovereignty, and the tensions between supranational governance and national independence.
An Edexcel A-Level Geography answer to migration, identity and sovereignty, covering the causes and patterns of international migration, how globalisation and migration reshape national identity and culture, the changing meaning of nation states, borders and sovereignty, and the tensions between supranational governance and national independence.
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What this dot point is asking
Edexcel wants you to explain the causes and patterns of international migration, explain how globalisation and migration affect national identity, analyse the changing meaning of nation states, borders and sovereignty, and evaluate the tensions between supranational governance and national independence.
Causes and patterns of international migration
Migration produces source, transit and host regions and reshapes population structure in each. The 2015 European migration crisis is the defining recent case: over a million people, many fleeing the Syrian civil war, crossed into the EU via Mediterranean and Balkan routes. Germany accepted around asylum seekers in 2015 under Chancellor Merkel's policy, reshaping its population and politics, while other states tightened borders, exposing deep disagreement over shared sovereignty within the EU.
Migration, globalisation and national identity
The changing nation state, borders and sovereignty
The European Union is the deepest case of pooled sovereignty: member states accepted the free movement of people, a single market, a shared court and (for most) a single currency. Brexit, after the June 2016 referendum in which around per cent voted to leave, was an explicit attempt to "take back control" of borders, laws and money, and the UK formally left in 2020. It shows sovereignty being reasserted, although the UK then found its economy still deeply entangled with EU trade rules, illustrating that economic sovereignty is harder to reclaim than legal sovereignty.
Tensions between global governance and independence
Supranational governance (the EU, UN, WTO, NATO) requires states to pool or cede powers in return for cooperation and security. This creates tension with national independence: separatist movements (Catalonia, Scotland), rising nationalism, disputes over migration policy and movements such as Brexit show electorates seeking to reassert control. Sovereignty is therefore contested and reshaped, not simply abolished. The synoptic frame is explicit: players (governments, electorates, supranational bodies, TNCs) hold divergent attitudes to pooling versus reclaiming power, and the futures of the nation state turn on that contest.
Examples in context
Example 1: Brexit and UK sovereignty. The UK's 2016 vote to leave the EU and its 2020 departure is the clearest contemporary case of a state reasserting political sovereignty over borders and law. Yet the Northern Ireland Protocol, continued regulatory alignment for trade and labour shortages in agriculture and care show that globalisation continues to constrain economic sovereignty, so control was partly reclaimed and partly constrained.
Example 2: Catalonia and separatism within Spain. The 2017 Catalan independence referendum, declared illegal by Madrid, shows sub-national identity challenging the nation state from within. A region with a distinct language and strong identity sought sovereignty, illustrating that the nation state is contested not only from above (supranational bodies) but also from below (separatist regions), and that identity is socially constructed and politically powerful.
Try this
Q1. Distinguish between a refugee and an economic migrant. [2 marks]
- Cue. A refugee flees persecution or conflict and has protected status; an economic migrant moves mainly for work or a better living standard.
Q2. Explain one way joining a supranational organisation can reduce a state's sovereignty. [4 marks]
- Cue. Members accept common rules and rulings (trade, law, free movement) that override some national policy choices.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Edexcel Paper 2 (style)12 marksAssess the extent to which globalisation has weakened the sovereignty of nation states.Show worked answer →
Globalisation can weaken sovereignty: TNCs and global finance constrain national economic policy, supranational bodies (the EU, WTO, UN) require states to pool or cede powers, and global flows of people, money and information cross borders that states struggle to control. Migration and global culture can also dilute a sense of national identity.
However, sovereignty also persists and can reassert itself: states still control borders, laws, currency and armed forces, and movements such as Brexit and rising nationalism show electorates reclaiming control. A balanced judgement might argue globalisation has constrained but not abolished sovereignty, with the effect varying by state and policy area, and with a backlash now reasserting national control. The strongest answer distinguishes economic, political and cultural sovereignty with located examples. AO1 supplies the concept of sovereignty; AO2 weighs constraint against persistence across policy areas to reach a judgement.
Edexcel 20218 marksSuggest why international migration can create tensions over national identity in host countries.Show worked answer →
Suggest invites reasoned argument, led by AO2. Explain that rapid in-migration changes the ethnic, linguistic and religious composition of a host society, so some long-standing residents perceive a threat to a shared national identity built on language, history and culture. Pressures on housing, services and wages can be blamed on migrants, and media and political framing can amplify this.
Develop the analysis: identity is socially constructed and contested, so reactions vary. Some groups embrace multiculturalism while others demand assimilation, fuelling debates over integration and rising nationalism, as seen in the UK around the 2016 EU referendum or in parts of the EU over asylum. Reward a located example and recognition that tension depends on pace, scale, economy and how change is managed, not migration alone.
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Sources & how we know this
- Pearson Edexcel A-Level Geography (9GE0) specification — Pearson Edexcel (2016)