Minority nationalism and immigrant integration in Canada

Immigrant integration is currently a prominent issue in virtually all contemporary democracies, but countries in which the historic population itself is deeply divided – particularly those with substate nations and multiple political identities – present some interesting questions where integration is concerned. The existence of multiple and potentially competing political identities may complicate the integration process, particularly if the central government and the substate nation promote different conceptions of citizenship and different nation‐building projects. What, then, are the implications of minority nationalism for immigrant integration? Are the added complexities a barrier to integration? Or do overlapping identities generate more points of contact between immigrants and their new home? This article addresses this question by probing immigrant and non‐immigrant ‘sense of belonging’ in Canada, both inside and outside Quebec. Data come from Statistics Canada's Ethnic Diversity Study. Our results suggest that competing nation‐building projects make the integration of newcomers more, rather than less, challenging.     

Immigrant "Illegality" as Neoliberal Governmentality in Leadville, Colorado

Abstract:  In this paper, I frame immigrant "illegality" as a local-scale technique of neoliberal governmentality. Drawing on recent work of anthropologists, I present illegality as a racialized, spatialized social condition which operates as governmentality by marginalizing and criminalizing immigrants, loosening the US border and forcing it into local spaces, and impacting immigrants' everyday lives and mobility. The paper then draws on a case study of Leadville, Colorado, to illustrate the utility of this framework. In Leadville, we see how through illegality neoliberalism seeps through scales. Illegality disciplines immigrant labor in service of the neoliberal order, turns all residents into surveillers of immigrants' subordinate sociospatial position, and masks contradictions within neoliberalism that arise particularly at the local scale. I argue that conceptualizing illegality as a governmentality technique provides a powerful tool for understanding changing state spatiality, especially ways in which neoliberalism is diffused and embedded into local economic, political, and social processes.     

A few “big players”: Systems approach to immigrant employment in a mid-sized city

Canada's immigration policy is regarded globally as a best practice model for selecting highly skilled migrants. Yet, upon arrival many immigrants face challenges integrating into employment. Where immigrants settle is one factor that has been shown to impact on employment integration. In Canada, regionalization policies have resulted in more immigrants settling in small to mid-sized cities. It is important to understand how these local systems are organized to promote immigrant integration into employment. Using a systems approach, this paper presents a case study of immigrant employment in a mid-sized city in Ontario, Canada. Through a document review and stakeholder interviews, a systems map was developed, and local perspectives were analyzed. Results demonstrate that in a mid-sized city, few organizations play a large role in immigrant employment. The connections between these core organizations and the local labour market are complex. Any potential challenges to the system that interfere with these connections can cause a delay for newcomers seeking employment. As cities begin to experience growth driven by immigration, there is a need to ensure local services are not only available but also working effectively within the larger employment system.     

Contexts of interpretation: assessing immigrant reception in Richmond, Canada

This article examines the responses of established residents to contemporary physical and social changes in Richmond, British Columbia, a Vancouver suburb that has received a considerable number of ethnic-Chinese immigrants over the past decade. In the metropolitan Vancouver context, recent considerations of immigrant reception at the neighbourhood level have focused on the critical reactions of 'white', European-origin residents in upper-middle class areas to local immigrant settlement and housing stock transformations. These studies have given rise to conflicting interpretations of the relationship between immigration and neighbourhood landscape change, the motivations behind resident protest and, in particular, the definition of their responses as racist. Drawing from extended interviews with fifty-four long-term Richmond residents, I attempt to provide a broader account of immigrant reception as a supplement to works that have revolved around housing issues and 'white' resistance. I also critique the way that the term racism has been used to describe resident reactions to immigration-related changes, calling for researchers to be more reflexive and explicit in their application of the concept.     

Transnational identities and immigrant spaces of Polish professionals in London,UK

It has been estimated that about 700,000 Poles moved to the UK after Poland joined the European Union in 2004, with London receiving a large portion of Polish immigrants. In agreement with the British perception of migrants from Eastern Europe, the majority of Polish immigrants can be generally classified as labor migrants with close cultural and national ties to Poland. However, Polish migration to the UK also includes a growing group of professionals and social and financial elites who are often overlooked by academic research. This paper analyzes the migrant experiences of Polish professionals and elites in London, and the relationships between their transnational identities and immigrant spaces such as ethnic enclaves, private and social spaces. Furthermore, this paper uses Polish elites in London as a foundation to explore concepts of cosmopolitanism and transnationalism, suggesting that global elites can maintain strong national affiliations, and their global ambitions can be fueled by local contexts and standards.     

Inequality and attitudes toward immigration: the native-immigrant gap in Australia

ABSTRACT

How does local economic inequality affect the native-immigrant gap in immigration attitudes? Existing studies do not distinguish between native and immigrant citizens, which is problematic because immigrants represent an increasing share of the population and voting public. Immigrant citizens, as legal residents, receive the same legal and social protections as native citizens. However, as an out-group, they are less likely to be attached to the national and cultural identity of a host country. This paper uses the Australian Election Study to show that immigrant citizens prioritise cultural or psychological considerations in forming immigration attitudes. As local economic inequality rises, immigrant citizens’ support for immigration strengthens regardless of their country of origin, reason for migration and length of stay in Australia.     

跨越地理边界的地方性食物——以广州流动群体的饮食消费为例

地方性食物原本被定义成在清晰的地理边界内生产的食物，是“本地人”抵抗极端商品化食物系统的有力武器，但以地理边界为中心的视角压抑了消费者身体的积极作用，也忽视了作为“外来者”的流动群体的在地饮食体验。基于对广州流动群体的日常饮食消费的深入考察，本研究发现：流动群体对跨越地理边界的故乡食物和广州本地食物主动赋予丰富的地方性意涵，构筑日常饮食“流动的地方性”。基于身体与食物的关系视角，本研究认为身体接触食物的契合感受以及与食物提供者的信任关系奠定了流动群体建构地方性食物的基本途径。区别于反抗式的地方性食物运动，流动群体把地方性食物嵌入在地生活，凸显多重的日常意义，主要表现在突破食物知识困境，缓解饮食焦虑，以及增进身体和地方的亲密关系。     

Immigrant Policy Developing in Copenhagen and Ishøj in the 1970s

This article analyses the development of municipal immigrant policies in Denmark in the 1970s through a case study of two municipalities, Copenhagen and Ishøj. The two municipalities encountered immigration in the earliest phase of Danish integration policy. In this period, national policies were limited and immigrants’ integration was primarily a municipal responsibility. As a result, the two municipalities had the opportunity and obligation to develop their own local solutions to the problems caused by migration during this period. The cases illustrate two trajectories in municipal policy-making. Copenhagen followed the national tendency to include guest workers and immigrants in the existing administrative body of the municipality and the welfare system, whereas Ishøj chose a different path with a coherent municipal immigrant policy. Through this case study of city-level policy-making in Denmark, this article contributes to research on municipal policy-making as well as research on the development of immigrant and integration policy.     

The Politics of Welfare Exclusion: Immigration and Disparity in Medicaid Coverage

The rapid growth of the immigrant population in the United States, along with changes in the demographics and the political landscape, has often raised questions for understanding trends of inequality. Important issues that have received little scholarly attention thus far are excluding immigrants’ social rights through decisive policy choices and the distributive consequences of such exclusive policies. In this article, we examine how immigration and state policies on immigrants’ access to safety net programs together influence social inequality in the context of health care. We analyze the combined effect of immigration population density and state immigrant Medicaid eligibility rules on the gap of Medicaid coverage rates between native‐ and foreign‐born populations. When tracking inequality in Medicaid coverage and critical policy changes in the post‐PRWORA era, we find that exclusive state policies widen the native‐foreign Medicaid coverage gap. Moreover, the effect of state policies is conditional on the size of the immigrant population in that state. Our findings suggest immigrants’ formal integration into the welfare system is crucial for understanding social inequality in the U.S. states.     

城市公共空间与移民跨群体融合研究——时空间行为视角的研究综述

大规模人口流动背景下的社会极化和社会排斥是全球城市普遍面临的挑战,移民的跨群体社会融合已成为中国城市研究关注的新议题。城市规划和地理学者长期重视公共空间的社会融合效应,强调通过公共空间的营造改善群体间的包容态度、促进群体间融合。然而,持续增强的移动性使得本就存在争议的公共空间跨群体融合效应更加复杂。本文从时空间行为的视角出发,从时间、空间、行为三个维度,构建围绕公共空间的移民—本地居民跨群体融合效应综合分析框架。此框架整合空间、行为和时间三个维度,考虑个体活动与移动的连续性,构建多重空间情境下的活动—移动链,揭示公共空间在不同时间尺度上的跨群体融合效应。在移动性增强的背景下,时空间行为视角的研究框架有助于理解人—地交互的社会融合效应,为包容性城市建设提供参考。     

文化地理学视角下跨国移民饮食适应研究进展与启示

全球化进程下,跨国移民成为不同地域间文化交流、冲突和再协商的主要载体,其在地饮食适应问题尤为凸显。本文回顾了国内外跨国移民饮食适应的研究,发现由营养学等范式主导的早期研究偏重对饮食适应水平的直接观测,较少探究饮食适应的身体属性、地方关系以及文化意涵。文化地理学视角下的跨国移民饮食适应的相关研究进展主要包括以下三个方面：身体尺度下的动态饮食适应过程、地方尺度下跨国饮食景观的生产与重构,以及身体与地方交互尺度下饮食适应与身份认同的复杂关系。本文最后针对当前研究的主要不足提出未来跨国移民饮食适应研究的可能议题。     

The immigrant “Other” and artistic expression: (de)bordering via festivals and social activism in Finland

This paper analyses how cultural production and artistic activities can explain the social (de)construction of borders. The study looks at the soft, cultural aspects of bordering, encounters between the immigrants and their host societies, and the conscious and unintentional ways of altering their mental frames. The analysis focuses on the World Village Festival organised annually in Helsinki, and a young literary project titled “Sidelight – is this Finnish literature?” Based on these two case studies, associations between the concepts of bordering, liminality and translation are developed to enable a deeper understanding of the encounters between immigrant cultures and their host societies.     

Jobs,crime, proximity and boats: explaining Australian public attitudes to immigrant numbers

Despite the importance of immigration to Australia, there is little systematic research on the causes of support among Australian citizens for increased, stable or decreased immigration. This paper advances our understanding of Australian public attitudes to immigration levels in the light of the established international literature on public opinion and immigration. Using 2013 Australian Electoral Study (AES) data, we show that, as in other countries, Australian citizens’ attitudes to immigrant numbers are partly driven by a combination of sociotropic economic considerations and perceptions of the socio-cultural impact of immigrants. In addition, we argue that political mobilisation has an impact on attitudes toward immigration that has not received sufficient attention. We demonstrate that citizens who accepted the Coalition's rhetoric on asylum seeker arrivals were more likely to want overall immigrant numbers reduced. Finally, we combine the individual level AES data with electoral district level data to test the impact of contact with immigrants on attitudes to immigrant numbers. Australians living in electoral districts with higher percentages of non-white immigrants are more likely to want lower immigrant numbers than those living in districts with fewer non-white immigrants.     

Integration and the negotiation of ‘here’ and ‘there’: the case of British Arab activists

Immigrant-receiving societies are increasingly emphasizing the need for immigrants to integrate into mainstream life. In Britain, this trend has manifested itself in ‘social cohesion’ discourses and policies. Discussions about social cohesion have often focused on the residential patterns of immigrant and minority groups in British cities, with the assumption that residential patterns are an indication of social integration. Integration, however, is also a socio-political process by which dominant and subordinate groups negotiate the terms of social membership. We explore the ways in which British Arab activists conceptualize their membership in and responsibilities to their places of settlement; we also consider how they reconcile notions of integration with their connections to their places of origin. Our study participants speak of the need for immigrants to participate actively in their society of settlement, but they reject the idea that integration requires cultural conformity or exclusive loyalty to Britain. Their definition of integration as a dialogue between distinctive but equal groups sharing a given place provides a normative alternative to social cohesion discourses.     

西方国家移民聚居区研究进展及启示

西方国家对移民聚居区的研究可以追溯到20世纪初的美国“芝加哥学派”,随后经历了同化主义、多元主义、异质本地化和跨国主义研究思潮,不仅拥有丰富的实证研究成果,而且形成了较为完整的理论体系和研究框架。总体上看,对移民聚居区的研究,区位选择方面经历了中心城区到郊区的演变,空间类型包括族裔飞地、族裔社区和族裔郊区,移民聚居区经济经历了单个案例到不同案例的对比研究,形成机制方面从民族团结理论转向不同作用者和空间生产理论,此外,西方移民聚居区还加强了反作用和空间效应的研究。本文在评述西方移民聚居区研究的基础上,结合国内移民聚居区研究现状,提出中国相关研究在研究视角、研究问题和研究方法的借鉴之处。     

加拿大中国移民创业模式新探

论文在有关加拿大中国移民最新研究成果基础上,从移民经济适应行为的视角,对移民群体特征及其所面临的机会进行了分析阐述,并提出了一个移民自主创业的分析模型。该模型将移民自主创业行为区分为四种模式,即族裔经济、一般企业、海归企业和跨国创业。随着市场环境、母国政策及企业自身发展水平的不断变化,移民企业家的经济活动可能表现为在几种模式之间的过渡或跃迁。对移民经济行为的研究,需要突破传统的族裔经济的视野,把移民的经济参与放在一个社会经济日益开放、国际社区间联系日益紧密的大背景下加以考虑。     

Immigrant Inclusion in the Safety Net: A Framework for Analysis and Effects on Educational Attainment

Across states, there is substantial variation in the degree to which immigrants and their children are offered public assistance. We present a theoretical framework for analyzing the effects of policy decisions about immigrant inclusion. We apply the framework to investigate the effect of the state safety net on educational attainment. We focus on the years following welfare reform in 1996, when states gained considerable autonomy over welfare policy, including decisions about the eligibility of immigrant residents. Leveraging state‐level data from before and after reform, we estimate a difference‐in‐difference model to identify the effect of variation in immigrant inclusivity on educational attainment. We find that when states broaden the inclusivity of the social safety net to immigrants, young Latinos are more likely to graduate from high school. This effect is present beyond the group of Latino residents who receive additional benefits, suggesting that policy decisions about immigrants spill over to broader communities and communicate broader messages about social inclusion to racial and ethnic groups. We find similar patterns among Asian youth, but not among black and non‐Hispanic white youth. We conclude that immigrant inclusion has consequences for the life prospects of the growing population of youth in high‐immigrant ethnic groups.     

Placing immigrant identities

In this afterword to our special issue on immigrant identity and place, we explore the importance of place and context in forming immigrant identity, as well as the various ways in which immigrants make places. Discussions of immigrant adaptations often just consider reception at the national scale, whereas immigrants move into particular cities and towns. This article details some of the different ways that immigrants interact with their places, how the process of immigration introduces hybrid identities, and the differences in the immigrant experience by gender, status, and color.     

‘We want to be there for everyone’: imagined spaces of encounter and the politics of place in a super-diverse neighbourhood

In the context of increasingly diverse urban populations in European cities, neighbourhood organizations are often seen as offering spaces of encounter that can foster a sense of belonging. As a result, they have formed an important element in urban policies on community identity and social cohesion. Yet everyday encounters in such micro-publics may not necessarily be experienced as positive, and these spaces themselves might become sites of contestation and exclusion. Through an ethnographic study in a super-diverse neighbourhood in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, this paper investigates how residents’ sense of belonging to the neighbourhood is informed by competing claims on a neighbourhood centre. Although envisioned as a collective space, contestations between different groups of residents over the centre as a functional and meaningful place illustrate how governing institutions shape informal politics of place through their own vision for the neighbourhood and their selective support of some initiatives over others.