How do Migrant Workers Respond to Labour Abuses in “Local Sweatshops”?

This article aims to provide empirical evidence on understanding how migrant workers’ responses to labour exploitation in low‐wage economies are articulated. Inspired by the low levels of conflict among workers in small urban sweatshops in Italy and Argentina, we ask ourselves what contextual and subjective factors prevent workers from organising collectively. Here we argue that in order to understand the nature of their responses, it is necessary to consider not only the organisation of the labour process, but also the class divisions within migrant communities. We also bring in briefly the role of the state in (mis)regulating migrant labour exploitation. We conclude by showing that workers’ responses are highly individualised and that community leaders with economic interests in sweatshop economies may play a role in securing their continuation by channelling the workers’ responses towards the defence of the “ethnic economy”.     

Two decades of Bosnian place-making in St. Louis,Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri received approximately 11,000 refugees from the Bosnian War (1992–1995) between 1993 and 2001. These newcomers were resettled in a predominantly white, working-class neighborhood on the city's south side known a century earlier for its German population. They were joined by family reunification immigrants, secondary migrants from other US cities, and a newborn generation of Bosnian Americans. With a current population of about 70,000, they constitute the largest population of Bosnians in the USA. They are credited with revitalizing the St. Louis neighborhood of Bevo Mill and stabilizing the city's declining population. Bosnians have created a distinctive ethnic enclave that is visible on the commercial, religious, and residential landscapes, and they have found a place in the wider receiving community. Drawing upon field observations, the local media, and the work of fellow scholars, this article investigates two decades of Bosnian place-making in south St. Louis. Through this case study, the author also seeks to fill a gap in the scholarly literature of this relatively recent diaspora by documenting the Bosnian imprint on the cultural landscape.     

The ethnic democracy debate: how unique is Israel?

ABSTRACT. Sammy Smooha's “ethnic democracy” model challenged the notion of the uniqueness of Israel by setting it as the archetype of a special type of democracy: “ethnic democracy”. But contrary to what Smooha suggests, Israel's national identity is indeed unique. In each of Smooha's East European examples, besides the concept of a core ethnic nation, exists the notion of a civic territorial nation, which makes possible the integration or ‘assimilation’ into the dominant culture of those who are not members of the core ethnic nation. Yet, Israel's national identity does not recognise the existence of a civic territorial nation and makes no provisions for the integration or assimilation of non‐Jews, especially Arabs, into the dominant Hebrew culture. Setting Israel as an archetype for his model prevents Smooha from exploring the possibility that, unlike Israel, East European “ethnic democracy” could be a transitional phase towards a liberal democracy.     

Untangling the different components of Norwegianness*

ABSTRACT. National identity is under scrutiny in Europe. A new non‐ethnic conception of the nation to replace the traditional ethnic one is needed. National identity is therefore undergoing a public reconstruction. This article is based on narratives of “Norwegianness” that emerged in a qualitative interview study of white majority Norwegians who live in multicultural suburbs in Oslo. I respond to an overlooked need to analytically untangle different components of “Norwegianness” as phenomenological knowledge, to decouple its different constituents from each other. In order to analyse qualitative data where notions of “Norwegianness” and “non‐Norwegianness” are at play, their different aspects must be clarified. I identify multiple discursive oppositions that researchers ought to keep apart, and distinguish between civic aspects (citizenship), cultural aspects, and ethnic/racial aspects. I suggest that everyday notions of the national are fruitfully studied as discursive space constituted by a series of overlapping, but sometimes mutually contradicting, oppositions.     

From ethnic cleansing to affirmative action: exploring Poland's struggle with its Ukrainian minority (1944–89)*

ABSTRACT. The ambivalent attitude of Poland's communist leadership towards Poland's minorities – on the one hand violent and severely repressive, while on the other hand allowing for controlled liberties and offering protection – is the main focus of this article. In the mid‐1940s, Poland's new communist leadership proceeded to expel and deport millions of Germans, Lithuanians, Belarusians and Ukrainians from their native territories. A decade later, the communist government adopted a policy that aimed at the reduction of discrimination and the creation of equal social and economic opportunities for the country's residual minority populations. This article explores the background of the wavering communist nationalities policies by focusing on Poland's Ukrainians. It demonstrates how the seemingly contradictory policies of ethnic cleansing and affirmative action were prompted by the same underlying political motivations.     

Investigating perceptions of antisocial behaviour and neighbourhood ethnic heterogeneity in the British Crime Survey

There is much concern in the UK about the effects on community cohesion of antisocial behaviour, but to date relatively little is known about the geography of such behaviour: for what sort of people, and in what sort of places, are high levels of antisocial behaviour a problem? What are the links, if any, between such behaviour and local socio-economic conditions, and how do such perceptions relate to local crime rates? Using data from the British Crime Survey and other secondary datasets, we develop and extend previous work that has investigated links between individual socio-economic characteristics, neighbourhood characteristics and individual perceptions of antisocial behaviour. A multilevel modelling approach is used to ensure that individual- and area-level effects are not conflated. Secondly we extend the substantive knowledge surrounding the relationship between neighbourhood ethnic heterogeneity and individual perceptions of antisocial behaviour. In so doing, we challenge recent contentions that heterogeneity is associated with declining social cohesion and trust. We conclude that at a small-area scale for England, the primary area-level determinants of high levels of antisocial behaviour lie in material circumstances, and that ethnic heterogeneity has no discernible effect on perceptions of antisocial behaviour.     

华侨华人社团的“拟村落化”现象——荷兰华侨华人社团案例调查和研究

通过对荷兰华侨华人生活的实地调查和研究,分析了华人社团的类型、功能、运作方式及其在社会融合中的作用。认为华侨华人社团在华人世界中扮演着一个关键性的角色——拟村落化,提供了一个非常重要的社会生活和活动空间。他们凭借着原有的历史经验和记忆,将社团当作村落来经营和管理,在社团内进行博弈和地位实现,在一定程度上缓解了他们在移入国的边缘化感受,缓解了因失落而对主流社会的抱怨,这在一定程度上降低了华侨华人与主流社会的对抗。由此可见,荷兰的华侨华人社团不同于专业化的行业组织或政党组织,有着多样的、综合性的社会属性,是一个村落式的我群社会。     

印度尼西亚华人与祖籍国关系及其民族融合问题：历史与现实

文章就中国侨民与祖国关系的性质和华裔公民与祖籍国关系的性质区别及其转化过程作了具体分析,对正确理解当今印度尼西亚华人民族主义精神的性质、特点以及对民族融合问题提出四点看法：（一）华裔公民在维护自身文化传统的同时,应促进实现印度尼西亚民族融合和民族建设的进程;（二）华裔公民的利益与印度尼西亚国家的利益是一致的,华人社会不可能出现＂重新中国化＂问题;（三）印度尼西亚国内的华人问题和印度尼西亚与中国的国家关系问题是两个不同性质的问题;（四）严格区分中国对待华侨与华人的政策。中国与印度尼西亚华人的关系基于民族感情和文化传统,不要依据政治意识形态来划分华人社会的不同群体。     

马来西亚华人与马来人就业地位变化的比较与分析

本文将自殖民统治时期到2005年的马来西亚历史分为五个时期,对华人与马来人就业地位的发展变化进行了纵向比较,并对其变化的原因进行了简要分析。作者认为,独立近50年来,马来西亚马来人的就业地位在持续上升,而华人的就业地位则在不断下降,马来人已经逐渐超越华人成为许多领域的就业优势族群。马来西亚政府的政策干预是导致这种变化的一个重要原因。政府一贯执行的“马来人优先”的就业干预政策,使华人和马来人的就业变化失去了公平竞争的平台,政府在积极保护马来人就业增长的同时,对华人及其他非马来人却极力排斥,导致马来人与华人的就业地位发生了上述变化。     

Existential nationalism: Russia's war against Ukraine

‘If Russia stops fighting, there will be no war. If Ukraine stops fighting, there will be no Ukraine’ is the sentiment used by Ukrainian protesters mobilising against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Such a sentiment signifies the stakes of a war where Ukraine is a democratic nation-state fighting for its right to exist against a Russian invasion. Meanwhile, Russia is fighting for a version of Ukraine that is subservient to Russia's idea of what Ukraine should be as a nation-state: under a Russian hegemon geopolitically, where Ukraine's national idea and interpretation of history can be vetted and vetoed by the Russian state. While nationalism scholarship equips us to study Russia's war against Ukraine through the lens of Russian ethnic nationalism and Ukrainian civic nationalism, the ethnic/civic dichotomy falls short of unpacking the more pernicious logics that pervade Russia's intentions and actions towards Ukraine (demilitarisation and de-Nazification). Instead, this article explores the logics of Russia's war and Ukraine's resistance through the concept of existential nationalism where existential nationalism is Russia's motivation to pursue war, whatever the costs, and Ukraine's motivation to fight with everything it has.