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The Borders of Integration
The Borders of Integration: Empowered Bodies and Social Cohesion Edited and Introduced by
Bianca Maria Pirani
The Borders of Integration: Empowered Bodies and Social Cohesion Edited and Introduced by Bianca Maria Pirani This book first published 2018 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2018 by Bianca Maria Pirani and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-5275-1326-2 ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-1326-6
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface ........................................................................................................ ix Luigi M. Solivetti Foreword .................................................................................................. xiii Roberto Cipriani Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Bianca Maria Pirani PART ONE BODY AND POWER: AFFECTING HUMAN FACTORS, SOCIAL ICONS AND CULTURAL BODIES Chapter One ............................................................................................... 19 A Traumatic Social Interaction at Work: When the Body says “Run” but the Ego Orders “Stay”. Veronika Sieglin Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 51 Towards a Geography of Memory: Recitation of Classics among the Chinese Descendants in Germany Kejie Huang Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 75 Migrant Bodies as Social Icons Nicola Maria Coppola Chapter Four .............................................................................................. 97 Nowhere’s Land: Why Immigrants Should Currently Fear Moving to EU Societies Maria João Guia
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Chapter Five ............................................................................................ 121 The Deep Play of Labelling Bodies: Sport, Second Generation and National Identity in Contemporary Italy Francesca Conti Chapter Six .............................................................................................. 137 Memories of Settlement: The Black Press for the Afro-Caribbean Community in the English Context Daria Forlenza PART TWO THE WALL AND THE BOND: MIGRANT BODIES IN SEARCH OF PLACE Chapter Seven.......................................................................................... 155 Bodily Integrity of Migrants and Refugees vis-à-vis Securitization and Biometrics Emanuela Del Re Chapter Eight ........................................................................................... 179 Social Integration of Migrants from China to Russia: Theoretical and Practical Issues Olga Borodkina, Anastasia Amirkhanian Chapter Nine............................................................................................ 203 Iranian Migrant Women’s Shared Experiences in Belgium: Where Gender, Colour and Religion Intersect Ladan Rahbari Chapter Ten ............................................................................................. 219 International Exploitation of Labour: The Case of the Indian Community in the Province of Latina Marco Omizzolo Chapter Eleven ........................................................................................ 249 History of Dual Nationality in Turkish Law: Changing Understanding and Rules Hande Ünsal
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Chapter Twelve ....................................................................................... 267 Brain Drain and Technologies in the Social Justice New Policies of Ecuador Francesco Maniglio Chapter Thirteen ...................................................................................... 293 Migration: Is There Any Solution? Umberto Melotti Post-Script ............................................................................................... 305 Javier Fiz Perez Contributors ............................................................................................. 319
PREFACE ARISTOTLE, FOREIGNERS AND HOST COUNTRY’S COMMUNITY: A LESSON FROM THE PAST LUIGI M. SOLIVETTI
When dealing with immigration and the problems revolving around it, most of us are inclined to think that such issues are part of only the contemporary world, or at least of only the modern epoch. However, this is not true, and some important lessons can be learned from the past. Around 350 B.C., Aristotle was discussing issues very similar to those we are today discussing in Europe. In the third book of his celebrated volume commonly called Politics, Aristotle asked himself a few important questions, i.e., who is a citizen and what distinguishes a citizen from a foreigner; and, even more important, how can a foreigner become a citizen. Aristotle, to start with, posited that some traits are not enough to characterize a citizen. First of all, the fact of living in the country is not enough because this trait characterizes also the country’s visitors. It is not enough to work in the country, either, because working in the country is a state common to a variety of subjects and not a specific trait of citizens. It is also not enough to have some rights, such as the right to having recourse to justice, because it might be the consequence of a covenant with other states. We would like to draw the readers’ attention to the fact that the abovementioned rights can be considered the equivalent of present-day human rights, which are regarded as universal although, ultimately, they really depend upon inter-state agreements. So, if all this is not enough, which trait would really distinguish a citizen from a stranger? According to Aristotle, what distinguishes them is the fact that a citizen is someone contributing to the functioning of the society in which he is living: “functioning” meaning the organization and the administration of the society in its everyday life.
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Having said that, we can now better understand what Aristotle thought about the requirements for a foreigner to become a citizen. Some of us would probably appreciate that Aristotle did not agree with Gorgias from Leontini, who stated that as a pot is made by a pot maker, a citizen is made by a citizen maker, i.e., someone who is already a citizen of the state. This very conservative point of view – to say the least – was definitely rejected by Aristotle, who said that Gorgias’ statement is unsound; it is not tenable in terms of syllogistic logic as it cannot explain who was, at the very beginning, the citizen maker of the first citizen. Aristotle was in favour of granting citizenship to foreigners and therefore, as a matter of principle, he was not hostile to immigration. However, according to him, foreigners could be granted citizenship only when they had contributed to the functioning of the society of which they wanted to become citizens. And making such a contribution implied not only vocational integration but also assimilation of the values of the host society and the practice of those values, because the required integration was a comprehensive one. This is an important difference between the ancient Greek world and the present-time European societies. The democratic society of ancient Greece did not distinguish between community and society, and between community and state. Ancient Greeks could not imagine a separation between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft and even less a separation between community and state. So, to become a citizen of the host society, one was expected to participate actively in the community’s life. One had to be recognized as a member of the community by its other members. One was obliged to demonstrate possession of civil virtues, i.e., a willingness to subordinate one’s interests to the greater public good; the civil virtues Machiavelli was thinking and dreaming of, and we are today laboriously trying to recover by emphasizing the need for social capital to avoid the falling apart of social fabric. On the contrary, modern European societies distinguish between community and state. These societies have handed over to the state the decision about dealing with foreign immigrants. However, state decisions are inevitably based on formal aspects. For instance, foreigners are granted a permit-of-stay and later host country’s citizenship because they are refugees, which is a status in se and does not regard the quality of the relationship between them and the host country’s community. Many immigrants who entered the host country illegally or outstayed their permit, remain there because they have lived there a long time or they need help, or it is difficult to send them back, and so on and so forth.
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None of these reasons have anything to do with the assimilation of a host country’s values, the practice of such values and comprehensive integration in the local community. As a consequence, local communities are increasingly rejecting the formal decisions made by the state about immigrants. All over Europe, from Brexit Britain to Merkel’s Germany, from Holland to Switzerland, from France to Italy, in association with the sexual harassment of women in Cologne or with the soaring number of terrorist attacks, with immigrant crime or with the Muslim burka, a conflict is brewing between local communities and the state over immigration and the public policies managing it. A large, and increasing, number of Europeans are demanding that – as in the ancient, democratic Greek world – greater attention be paid to the problems of immigrant assimilation of host country’s values and the comprehensive integration in the local community. I hope we are not going to ignore this message. To regard it as the message of authoritarian populism is not going to solve the problem. On the contrary, it is probably going to make it worse, widening the gap between community and state. This book represents an attempt to develop the knowledge of these issues in the perspective of finding new and more balanced lines of approach to the problem of immigrant integration. The amount of work that has gone into its organization and publishing has undoubtedly required a great quantity and quality of energies.
FOREWORD ROBERTO CIPRIANI
One need only scan the pages of this book, dwelling on a passage here and there, to realise that we are in the presence not of a simple book but a careful documented analysis of a reality that is plain for all to see: the phenomenon of migration as it continues its often lethal march through many of the earth’s territories – from Africa to Europe, from Iran to Belgium, from India to Italy, from China and Turkey to Germany, from China to Russia, from the Caribbean to England, from Mexico to the United States. The planetary proportions of the phenomenon are accompanied by a series of problems of considerable sociological interest, centred on the body; that is, on what we always and anyhow are, regardless of all ideological positions, of all social, political and religious membership. We are all mentally and physically anchored in our bodies, from infancy to adolescence and from adulthood to old age; in short, from birth to death. In the course of its existence, the body faces a series of ordeals, but at the same time it crosses time and space, changing and adapting, winning and losing challenges, indelible traces of which remain in the psyche and the soma (leaving irremediable wounds the remembering mind cannot cure and permanent scars in the debilitated flesh). In all of this we discern an interacting cluster of concepts that the authors of the articles in the book re-examine from territorial and cultural, economic and legal, attitudinal and behavioural points of view, in contributions that range from the body as such to its different and multiple declensions, which are explicitly emblematic with regard to international migratory movements, giving rise to integrative and/or cohesive consequences, while constantly taking into account the barriers of borders and boundaries and the burden of the memory of our more or less recent past. In other words, departing from the body we arrive at the process of migration, which, in turn, involves encounters/clashes with nationalgeographical limits, with frontiers, therefore, beyond which lie crucial issues of integration and/or cohesion, usually governed by the ebb and flow of the remembrance of a time that was, of a space that is no more.
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The two parts of the volume do not, however, fully cover some of the other transverse issues dealt with in the texts they contain, like a more focused view, for instance, of the implications of the body as such, as in the case of Sieglin’s account of hypertension in a female Mexican university professor, of Conti’s article on second-generation-immigrant athletes in Italy, of Del Re’s report concerning the integrity and control of the bodies of migrants and Maniglio’s on the role of globalising policies in Ecuador. To tell the truth, there are at least two other views that concern the essays collected here: Firstly, the general migration-related discourse veining Coppola's articles on transnationally mobile bodies with particular reference to gay migrants, Guia’s on the criminalisation of flows towards Europe and Umberto Melotti’s on the possibility of resorting to a critical kind of education in order to solve issues of migration in general; and secondly, a specific discussion on concrete situations in arrival and host countries with a view to examining various problems, from the Chinese who arrived and were assimilated in Germany though they failed to integrate (Huang) to the presence of people of Afro-Caribbean origin in England – examined through their newspaper The Voice – (Forlenza), from the Chinese in Russia, in particular in Vladivostok and Nakhodka as well as in Saint Petersburg (Borodkina and Amirkhanian) to the dual nationality now tolerated by the Turkish government (Ünsal), from issues of gender, religion and colour concerning Iranian migrants in Belgium (Rahbari) to the trade and exploitation of human beings, in particular of Punjabi Indians, in the Italian province of Latina (Omizzolo). The methodology upon which the whole book rests is transversal as it associates the bodies of social actors – discussed in each of its different chapters – with the “translation policies” (Clarke, Bainton, Lendvai, Stubbs, 2015: 33-38) that regulate them. The heterogeneity of the contents of the book might be considered a weakness. Yet, it is this very characteristic that empowers it. Each chapter is linked to the next in a sequential order that leads, step by step, to the final outcome: an “order of limit”, according to classic sociology; that is, transition from the collective effervescency of the event that generated it (the International Conference “The Challenge of Global Migrant”, hosted by the RC54 of the ISA on 1920 January 2017 at the Italian Parliament/ Refectory Hall) to its current function within a lacerated social reality.
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References Clarke J., Bainton D., Lendvai N. and Stubbs P. (2015). Making Policy Move: Towards a Politics of Translation and Assemblage. BristolChicago: Policy Press.
INTRODUCTION BIANCA MARIA PIRANI
This book arises from the 14 keynote papers presented at the ISA RC54 International Conference “The Challenge of the Global Migrant: Bodies on the Move and Cultural Differences”, which was held on January 19 and 20, 2017 in Rome, at the Refettorio Hall of the Italian Parliament. Each chapter is authored by an acknowledged author in the field. The book focuses on the body as the vector of social cohesion policies in the awareness that cohesion revolves around the ability of all people – not just migrants – to manage conflict and change. Therefore, the aim of the book is: to introduce sociological knowledge in the social reality, in fields that are especially significant for Southern European societies, such as education, migration, social cohesion and political participation; x to provide the general public with an understanding of the new and radical challenges that Europe has been called on to face, and to complement academic research with new uses of sociology aiming at solving social public problems in specific territorial contexts. x
In today’s world, the question of empowerment crosses borders, not only geographic but also cognitive, linguistic and cultural ones.1 Thus, the empowered body is suggested as a means able to build up the timescales of memory as time-windows open to the ethic boundaries of human life.2
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Cultural and human understandings of borders and border crossings grow from the research of ethnographic particularities on one hand, and of culturally expressed human experiences of borders and border crossings (however culturally expressed), on the other. 2 The American neuroscientists N.V. Kukushkin and T.J. Carew (2017) clearly showed that “the ability to detect and respond to temporally structured information underlies the nervous system’s capacity to encode and store a memory at molecular, cellular, synaptic, and circuit levels”.
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What is an empowered body? An empowered body is a body that is alive and in control because it is able to rule the synchronism between body and social clocks. The body is at the intersection of nature and culture, of the individual and society, of space and time, of corporeality and mind. As such, it is subject to social control but is also the seat of individuality, the material substrate of our physical existence, thoughts and social relations. Postmodern conditions have created a situation where individuality is thought to be maintained by and through the public presentation of the body, and the virtual body has been made possible by the spread of digital technologies. While the natural rhythm of the body – from birth to death – includes a time sequence, the “virtual body” does not. It is, indeed, immortal, but not in the sense of the immortality of the soul, or bodily resurrection, as many religions believe. The virtual body can be rejuvenated, moved around on the time scale, in the best tradition of science fiction. This illusion can, and often does, create confusion about the nature of the real body and its limitations. The body and its embodiment are, indeed, a basic condition of social existence. The classics paid attention to human beings’ bodily existence but considered it rather a prerequisite for, or influenced by, society. The Research Committee 54’s “The Body in the Social Sciences” was developed at the International Sociological Association with the aim of recognizing how the body on the move is a key to memory. We proceeded under the assumption that the sensory-motor body is a core domain for research on social communication in terms of the exploration, location and spatial orientation of the individual as well as in terms of the activities of adjacent social groups.3 This “turn to the body” focuses on corporeal embodiment as a product of the complex interaction between biology and culture. As was observed by Goldberg (2016: X-XI), “The question of how cultural diversity translates into the diversity of neural processes is of paramount importance, and ripe with philosophical, scientific, and practical implications”. The concept of culture covers a much wider diversity, which also includes the cultural diversity that is the result of differences in living conditions, lifestyles, needs and affinities based on variables such as age, gender, socio3
The quoted methodology has been built up as a whole in progress of “recognition patterns” (Goldberg, 2009: 136), up to today constituted by the seven books that the RC54 has published (six collective ones and one by the editor of the present new collection). Because of this “order in sequence”, we allowed ourselves to mention in this venue the most opportune ones for the considered item of migrations and social cohesion.
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economic classes, socio-cultural life, education and profession, sexual orientation, state of health, physical and mental resources, faith and religion, political beliefs etc. A conclusion backed by research in the biological sciences is that a basic characteristic of all living beings is rhythm, and this is true no matter the level of organism, tissue or cell. Biological rhythms are marked by both continuous and periodic variations, and have evolved, enabling the individual to adapt to the environment. The biological clock is involved in many aspects of our complex physiology.4 It regulates critical functions such as behaviour, hormone levels, sleep, body temperature and metabolism. In effect, the entire biological utility of memory relies on the existence of many dimensions of homeostasis, some shorter-term and some longer-term. The many timescales of memory constitute many timescales of past experience and must be simultaneously available to the organism to be useful. Like all living organisms, the human body is organized according to a specific time structure, where all vital functions show a temporal variability which can be described by periodic functions ranging in the length of their cycle from milliseconds to months, years, or even decades. Extensive mapping of the time structure of humans is presently underway as a preliminary step for the detection of the earliest changes associated with health and disease.5 In human bodies, biological clocks keep track of seconds, minutes, days, months and years. In humans, as well as in less cognitively sophisticated organisms, many biological rhythms follow the frequencies of periodical environmental inputs while others are determined by internal “timekeepers” independent of any known environmental counterparts. External influences are always present but they are not simply superimposed on the endogenous rhythms generated by our
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We now know that all multicellular organisms, including humans, utilize a similar mechanism to control circadian rhythms. A large proportion of our genes are regulated by our biological clock and, consequently, a carefully calibrated circadian rhythm adapts our physiology to the different phases of the day. With exquisite precision, our inner clock adapts our physiology to the dramatically different phases of the day (see G. Russell Foster and Leon Kreitzman 2005). 5 In 2017 the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling circadian rhythms. Since their seminal discoveries, circadian biology has developed into a vast and highly dynamic research field, with implications for our health and wellbeing, feeding behaviour, hormone release, blood pressure and body temperature.
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biological “timekeepers”.6 Instead, these influences are modulated by them, a process which is essential to the most sophisticated tasks the brain and body perform. Figure 1: The Circadian Clock anticipates and adapts our physiology to the different phases of the day (https://www.nobelprize.org/)
By empowered body we mean, thus, a body able to locate its experiences in the periodic change, which determines the when, where and how of social space. In harmony with Henry Lefebvre (2007: 422), we observe: on the horizon, then, at the furthest edge of the possible, it is a matter of producing the space of the human species – the collective work of the species – on the model of what used to be called “art”; indeed, it is still so called, but art no longer has any meaning at the level of an “object” isolated by and for the individual.
Since human bodies are the instruments that both discover and make decisions about self, others and the worlds of nature and cultural traditions, the empowered body is concerned with the interface between body and society, the ways in which the physical organism constrains patterns of social interaction and inventions of culture. 6
See Pirani and Smith, 2013: 2. Also see http://tsigeto.info/isa14/isa14 sessioncfps.txt.
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The tourist’s dream Tourism has become a major cultural force in contemporary Western life. It is recognized as such, and is sometimes even seen as an epitome of its displacement and orientation.7 Spending time outdoors is the ultimate way to de-stress. People experience tension, are moulded by biological clocks and encounter multiple competing forms of time that lead them to less sustainable travel choices. Time is an issue that needs to be taken into account in order to bring about more sustainable mobility. The opposition of tourist places and home places (Urry 1990; Cohen 2004) hails from the disease of time governing modern culture, at least from the 19th century. As we will argue, it is a manifestation of the precarious position of the individual both in modern and postmodern societies. In enlightening the metaphorical character of postmodern culture, the contrast “places–non places” (Augier 1995) clearly shows the fracture between rhythms of the bodies and rhythms of the cities, from which the “sociality on the move of tourist travel” (Larsen 2008) emerged as an “extraordinary escape” from the everyday life: the same illusive “earthly paradise” (Eliade, 1972) in which modern and post-modern thought located “the body and the liminal” (Langman 2008: 55). According to Cresswell (2006: 9), Bryson (1997) calls “to open up dance scholarship and consider it as one instance of socially structured human mobility, where movement is made meaningful within the conventions and institutions that authorize meaning”. Yet, “to thoroughly comprehend this transformation between emergent and residual senses of movement, social kinetics requires that we see a form of movement, such as dance, as symptomatic of wider changes in the sense of movement” (Bryson, quoted by Cresswell 2006: 9–10). “One of the principal ways of thinking about mobility, in the modern Western thought, is to see it as a disorder in the system, a thing to control. This lies at the heart of the classic observation that modern states have taken care of ordering and disciplining mobile people” (Bryson 1997: 76–7). Think of the role of the outsider in modern life, a constant source of anxiety with a whiff of “elsewhere” about them. The drifter, the shiftless, the refugee and the asylum seeker have been inscribed with immoral intent. Thus, also the traveling salesman, the gypsy traveler and the socalled wandering Jew have been portrayed as figures of mobile threat in need of straightening out and discipline. 7
The still usual formulation as “a sum of phenomena and relationships” (McIntosh and Goeldner 1995:10) indicates the magnitude and complexity of this economic, social and environmental aspect of contemporary society.
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“Even when it is the centre of geographical attention, mobility has been conceptualized through the lens of fixity as an ideal” (Cresswell 2006: 26). The spatial dimension has been, indeed, taken for granted too many times and has not been recognized as a crucial area in social sciences; in particular, in sociology. The key to understanding this concept lies in Cartesian thought. Being an “object” juxtaposed with a “subject”, and a res extensa juxtaposed with a res cogitans, the Cartesian concept of “space” was the container of all meanings and all bodies.8 According to Renaissance vision, the quintessential human feature is “not having a nature” or, more precisely, the fact that its nature, externalized in technical instruments, has no stability, nothing that can ascribe it to a past or fixed origin. The living and the artificial, the internal and the external, are becoming progressively indistinguishable to the point of being diluted into the temporal lacunae and discontinuities moulding as the “gardens of remembrance” that affect, today, individual and collective memory. The privileged actor of these lacunae is the dream displacement lived by the common citizen as an alternative to the urban life-course. The “tourist body-field” (Wang 2003: 129) has been seen, indeed, as a “permissive” one and the tourist’s body as a potentially natural body compared to the extremely socialized body of the urbanization process. Seas, beaches, dunes, promenades, harbours, polders and attractions; above all, their rhythmic bodies moving in harmony with the context: the “last island” or “earthly paradise” that Sheller researches in Demobilizing and Remobilizing Caribbean Paradise (2004) has punctually enlightened the framework of a perspective of mobility. The beach is a privileged place and in fact, not by chance, attention has been paid to the beach in several studies, having superseded the contempt for the components of the “unholy quartet” of the four Ss. The beach is a scene for holiday life, where the traditional hierarchies in the bodies seem to disappear, in a liminal situation similar to carnival effervescence. The force that drives vacationers to the beaches of their little holiday happiness is immense. It is, indeed, the force of the self that records and pigeonholes the experiences of alterity. These are the heralds of eternity, suggested by Lord Byron upon seeing the ancient ruins of the Greek Parthenon, “heralds of eternity; spirits of the sibyls of the future”.9
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See Pirani B.M. and Varga I. ed. (2010), Acting Bodies and Social Networks: A Bridge between Technology and Working Memory, University Press of America, pp. xxviii-xxxix. 9 We should identify this displacement if we consider the pictorial images that form the well-known poem by Lord George Byron, The Dream: “Heralds of eternity;
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On beaches, the dreaming bodies of tourists meet the necessary bodies of migrants and refugees. Let’s study the following surprising scene that Carlos Sanz filmed while on holiday. This is the moment a boatload of migrants disembarked on a packed Spanish beach and ran up the sand, stunning holiday-makers. Figure 2: Dozens of migrants land on the Spanish beach of Zahara de los Atunes, Aug. 9, 2017 (courtesy of the Washington Post)
Tourists on the beach of Zahara de los Atunes in the south of Spain were shocked when a boat carrying dozens of African migrants landed in front of them.10 The landing took place on August 10, 2017 near Cádiz, 7.7 miles from the coast of north Africa. Footage shows the migrants jumping out of a black inflatable dinghy and running across the beach after crossing the Strait of Gibraltar. By the time the authorities arrived, the group had dispersed and left the beach. “Migrants do not usually disembark on Spanish beaches but it has happened before, especially near the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, close to Morocco.” The main question arising from the “tourist body-fields” – such as the beaches – is about the social construction of Western time, especially if it is referring to the local time of mobilities and settlements, identities and strangeness. Time is a basic element for both individual and social memory. The temporal aspect of memory is a principal regulating factor, both for individuals and societies.
spirits of the sibyls of the future”. According to Byron, a dream is a “slumbering thought, is capable of years, and curdles a long life into one hour.” 10 See www.interalex.net/2017/08/migrants-in-spain-news-aug-09-2017.html
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“Memory takes time” How do the maps of experience influence the capacity to learn and use past events and to modify present behaviour? How do they determine the complex biological structures that make up the human brain? Finally, how do they shape spatial and temporal concepts that support the acquisition of culture and sociality? Goldberg (2004) defines the association between past experience and the acting one as a “recognition pattern”, meaning “the powerful capacity to transmit through culture the repertory of these models from an individual to another, and from generation to generation”. In agreement with this definition, we consider culture as the capacity to synchronize biological rhythms with environmental changes by generating nets of symbols that structure the collective experience through temporal scales which are totally different from one another. According to Lévi-Strauss (1970: 42), it is indeed “the consecration of chance that supports the enactment”. The American neuroscientists Carew and Kukushkin consider memory as an adaptation to particular temporal properties of past events,11 such as the frequency of occurrence of a stimulus or the coincidence of multiple stimuli. These scholars note that the brains of living organisms–as diverse as sea slugs and humans–have the capacity to re-create experience on many timescales, simultaneously recalling events occurring over years, hours and milliseconds. They add in their analysis (2017) that the manner by which short-term memories evolve into long-term memories is akin to how we process sound, and remark: Much like sound is broken down by the auditory system into many discrete bins of frequencies that are perceived simultaneously, an experience as a whole is parsed by the brain into many “time windows” that collectively represent the past.
Most memories last seconds before they are forgotten12 but some last a lifetime, the authors observe, yet at each given moment both kinds of memory coexist with ongoing experiences on the same terms. For example, a familiar musical piece is experienced simultaneously through 11
For basic information, see (in alphabetic order) Bartlett 1932; Baddeley, Eysenck and Fuster 1997; Kandel 2007; Goldberg 2009; Ledoux 2002; Llinas 2002; Schachter 2007. 12 About the complex processes of remembering and forgetting in collective memory, see Halbwachs 1992; Le Goff 1996; Ricoeur 2004, 2008; Zerubavel 2009.
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the short-term memory of the few notes just heard and the long-term memory of listening to the piece in the past. Both retain information about the past, they write, and both shape perception in the present. Less understood among neuroscientists is how, where and when short-term memory becomes long-term. This question raises several considerations: Does the memory move from one brain store to another? Does the shortterm memory transform into the long-term memory over time? Is the longterm memory a modified version of the short-term memory or are they independent? “Each timescale corresponds to specific deviations from homeostasis, each with their own time limits. A disturbance in the state of the organism opens a time window that is eventually closed when the state returns to equilibrium” (Kukushkin and Carew, 2017). Neural memory is, indeed, a whole composed of a vast repertoire of interacting time windows. The authors explain: Changes occurring on the fastest time scales combine with other changes to produce more lasting, emergent changes, creating a “temporal hierarchy” of time windows that collectively alter the state of the brain at each given instant.
“Consequently”, they continue, “memory cannot be restricted to a defined object or state; instead, it is fundamentally structured in the time domain”. In fact, they conclude, “Time is the only physical variable that is “inherited” by the brain from the external world” (DOI: 10.1016/j. neuron.2017.05.029). Thus, memories must be made of time, or, more precisely, of temporal relationships between a given body on the move and the territorial stimuli. In effect, the entire biological utility of memory relies on the existence of many dimensions of homeostasis, some shorter-term and some longerterm. For millennia, architects have been concerned with the skin-bounded body and its immediate sensory environment – they have provided shelter, warmth and safety; cast light on the surfaces surrounding it; created conditions for conversation and music; orchestrated the touch of hard and soft and rough and smooth materials.13 The brain is embodied and the body is embedded. First, the embodiment. All brain activities depend on signals to the brain from the body and from the brain to the body. The brain maps and connections are altered not only by what you sense but also by what you
13
See Bruce 1995; Ekstrom 2004; Doidge 2009.
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move.14 Synchronism between the elementary self-consciousness that regulates somatic processes and the interaction taking place is responsible for the unrepeatable activation producing the state of active consciousness.15 Second, the embeddedness. Your body is embedded and situated in a particular environment that influences it and is influenced by it. This set of interactions defines your econiche as the changeable combination of bodily borders and cultural practices. Bodily space is, indeed, a determining factor in the framing of social interactions and is also reciprocally interconnected in the making of space by those very social interactions that occur in a given context. In the composition of relations or capacities between different bodies, you don’t know beforehand what a body or a mind can do in a given encounter, a given combination. Borrowing terms from the Middle Ages and from geography, timescales define a body by longitude and latitude. According to Deleuze (1988: 112), we call the longitude of a body the set of relations of speed and slowness, of motion and rest: what Spinoza called “the simplest bodies”. We call latitude the set of effects that occupy a body at each moment, i.e., the intensive states of galvanizing force generated by an empowered body in interaction with the territorial, social and geographic context.16 Thus, here we suggest that the longitudes and latitudes together constitute the temporal scales of memories, as demonstrated in 2017 by Carew and Kukushkin. “They are always variable and are constantly being altered, composed and recomposed by individuals and collectivities.” The contribution the body makes to the brain is not limited, indeed, to supporting vital operations, but includes regulating the space and time that organize the contents of a normal mind. There is no bodily existence without or outside the space-time frame. Viewing the body in memory and action makes for a radical change in our approach to the social sciences. This is the crucial question that this book tries to answer, in full awareness that “there is more reason in your body than in your best wisdom” (Nietzsche 1999: 62).
The borders of integration Refuting the longstanding notion that culture alone is responsible for group behaviour, the contributors of the present collection have confronted the “moving up” and “getting on” (Rutter 2015) that characterizes the 14
See Pirani and Smith, 2016:7. See Draganski, Gaser et al. 2004. 16 See Pirani and Varga, ed. (2010): xxxv-xxxvi. 15
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current immigration policies, in the Mediterranean area, Europe and, in general, around the world. Already “Europe is facing new and radical challenges that demand extraordinary resilience from EU members, especially in the southern European countries, because of their outlying position and specific social problems.”17 The authors cogently argue, indeed, that behavioural sciences must first specify what the notion of culture consists of in terms of concrete empirical evidence. The way we interact with our bodies determines our place in society. What the authors focus on, therefore, is the current spread of the borders’ space and time, reversing the traditional assessments of mobility and settlement, identity and otherness, borders and neighbourhoods. By bringing together an international and multidisciplinary team of scholars, The Borders of Integration: Empowered Bodies and Social Cohesion draws on sociology as a useful means of exploring our everyday social and cultural environments and, in doing so, shows the constant need for researchers to be held accountable by the general public. The collection includes research (in order of their place in the book) from Italy, the Mediterranean islands, above all Lampedusa, Macedonia and Turkey, Belgium, the European Union, Iran and Iraq, Mexico, Russia, India, China, Punjab, AfroAmerican communities, Latin America and Ecuador. Together, they provide an overview of what is currently being studied about empowerment and social cohesion policies in disciplines ranging from sociology and anthropology to neurophysiology, experimental psychology and law. With incisive theoretical contributions and empirical works, the first part of the book, “Body and Power: Human Factors, Social Icons and Cultural Bodies”, seeks to shed light on the notion of the “socially constructed body.” By focusing on “social icons of the body”, the contributors suggest a revising or repositioning of the disembodied sense of “vision” that has dominated sociology and much of Western social thought. The disembodied sense of vision may be seen in the relationship between the researcher and the researched, which traditionally has been viewed in term of distance. Accordingly, the second part, “The Wall and the Bond: Migrant Bodies in Search of Place,” attempts to draw a sociological profile of the displaced people, who have one main thing in common: they leave a country ravaged by war, political repression or misery. How and where should a sociology that matters evolve? Original case-studies cross various disciplinary perspectives in order to explain and understand the processes of the making, unmaking and remaking of 17 This sentence already appeared in the call to ESA/RN27, Mid-Term Conference, 2017, Cordoba, Spain, 19-21 April 2017.
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Europe. The chapters question specifically the way these places modify the relationship between the individual and the group, or the citizen and the community. As was rightly observed by Clarke, Bainton, Lendvai and Stubbs, Social scientists, including policy scholars, are particularly prone to identifying the shock of the new. Such claims need to be treated with some caution: there may be a difference between the addition of new elements and the argument that the processes are entirely new. Policy spaces often are more contradictory than this description pretends. (2015: 193-4)
Time and space are mobilized in different ways as policies move. Such understandings appear in narratives that locate policies in relation to failed pasts or promised futures, or identify the icons of “success” that should be followed or imitated in the pursuit of new directions. The present collection attempts to think differently about policy and its movement. Methodologically, all the chapters encompass ideas and observations from an array of social sciences, and pay attention to the powerful connection between individual lives and the historical and socio-economic contexts in which these lives unfold. The brilliant analyses here collected suggest the “borderlands” (Agier 2016: 5) as the agent making the movement of policy. Each different chapter should be defined as a musical place led by its author. If we define leaders as those that create the environment so others can be successful, then a leader is a composer and the whole of the book is a concert. If we look at the musicians, each is highly skilled in their instrument. Leadership is creating an environment where other people can be successful. The environment created by this book has been accomplished according to the basic principle of the Global Awareness Society: A global citizen has the right to be educated for self enhancement and to contribute as a useful citizen, utilizing one’s knowledge, skills, technology and talent.
References Augier, M. (2008). Non-places, London: Verso. —. (2016). Borderlands. Malden, MA: Polity Press. Amit, D.J., Fusi S. and Yacovlev V. (1997). “Paradigmatic working memory (attractor) cell in IT cortex,” Neural Comput, 9: 1071–92. Assman A. (2006). “The printing press and the internet: From a culture of memory to a culture of attention.” In Globalization, Cultural Identities
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and Media Representations, edited by N. Gentz and S. Kramer. Albany: State of New York University Press. Baddeley, A., Eysenck M.V. and Anderson M.C. (2009). Memory. New York: Psychology Press. Bartlett, F.C. (1932). Remembering: A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press. Blustein, J. (2008). The Moral Demands of Memory. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press. Bruce, D. (1985). “The how and why of ecological memory,” Journal of Experimental Psychology General, 114 (1): 78–90. Bryson, N. (1997). “Cultural studies and dance history” in Meaning in Motion: New Cultural Studies of Dance, edited by J. Desmond, 55–80. Durhan: Duke University Press. Byron, G.G. (1816). “The dream” in The Works of Lord Byron (18981905), vol. IV, ed. Coleridge, Prothero. London: J. Murray, and New York: C. Scribner's Sons. Clarke J., Bainton, D., Lendvai, N. and Stubbs, P. (2015). Making Policy Move: Towards a Politics of Translation and Assemblage. Bristol: Policy Press. Cohen E. (2004). Contemporary Tourism, Diversity and Change, Amsterdam: Elsevier. Cohen, G. (2008). “The study of everyday memory”, in Memory in the Real World, pp. 1–20. New York: Psychology Press. Cresswell, T. (2006). On the Move. New York: Routledge. Deleuze, G. (1988), Spinoza: Practical Philosophy. San Francisco: City Light Books. Doidge, N. (2007). The Brain That Changes Itself. New York: Viking Penguin. Draganski, B., Gaser, C., et al. (2004). “Neuroplasticity: Changes in grey matter induced by training”. Nature 427: 311–2. Ekstrom, S. (2004). “The mind beyond our immediate awareness: Freudian, Jungian, and cognitive models of the consciousness.” Journal of Analytic Psychology 49: 657–82. Eliade, M. (1972). The Myth of Eternal Return. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Foster, R.G. and Kreitzman, L. (2005). Rhythms of Life: The Biological Clocks that Control the Daily Lives of Every Living Thing. New York: Kindle.
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Fuster J.M. (1997). The Prefrontal Cortex: Anatomy, Physiology and Neuropsychology of the Frontal Lobe, 3rd ed., Philadelphia: Lippincott–Raven. Goldberg, E. (2009). The Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes in a Complex World. New York: Oxford University Press. Halbwachs, M. (1992). On Collective Memory, edited, translated and introduced by L.A. Coser. Chicago and London: The Chicago University Press. Kandel, E. (2007). In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind. New York: Norton. Klawans, H.L. (1988). Toscanini’s Fumble and Other Tales of Clinical Neurology. Chicago and New York: Contemporary Books. Klingberg, T. (2008). The Overflowing Brain: Information Overload and the Limits of Working Memory. New York: Oxford University Press. Kukushkin, N.V. and Carew, T.J. (2017), “Memory takes time”. Neuron, 2: 259. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.05.029. Langman, L. (2008). The Body and the Liminal: From the Flaneur to the Urban Primitive, in Pirani, BM. and Varga, I., The Boundaries between Bodies and Technologies. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Larsen, J. (2008). De-exoticizing Tourist Travel: Everyday Life and Sociality on the Move, “Leisure Studies”, vol. 27, 1, pp. 21–34. LeDoux, J. (2002). Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are. New York: Viking Penguin. Lefebvre, H. (2007). The Production of Space. Oxford: Blackwell. Le Goff, J. (1996). History and Memory. New York: Columbia University Press. Lévi-Strauss, C. (1970). “Introduction à l’oeuvre de Marcel Mauss”, in M. Mauss. M., Sociologie et Anthropologie, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France. LLinás, R.R. (2002). I of the Vortex. From Neurons to Self. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Lynch, G. and Grange, R. (2008). Big Brain: The Origins and Future of Human Intelligence. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Nietzsche, F. (1883–85). Also sprach Zarathustra (English transl.: Thus Spoke Zarathustra). New York: Dover Thrift, 1999. Oelklaus, N. (2008). Journey from Head to Heart: Living and Working Authentically. Ann Arbor, MI: Loving Healing Press. Pirani, B.M. and Varga I., ed. (2010). Acting Bodies and Social Networks: A Bridge between Technology and Working Memory. New York: Universiy Press of America.
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Pirani B.M. and Smith T.S., ed. (2013). Body and Time: Bodily Rhythms and Social Synchronism in the Digital Media Society. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Pirani, B.M. and Smith, T.S. ed. (2016). Embodiment and Cultural Differences. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Ricoeur, P. (2004). Memory, History, Forgetting. Transl. by K. Blamey and D. Fellauer. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. —. (2008). Time and Narrative, vol. 3. Transl. by K. Blamey and D. Fellauer. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. Rutter, J. (2015). Moving and Getting On, Migration, Integration, and Social Cohesion in the UK. Chicago: City Light Books. Schacter, Daniel L. (2007). Alla ricerca della memoria. Il cervello, la mente e il passato. Torino: Einaudi. Schank, R.C. & Cleary, C. (1995). Engines for Education. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Assoc. Sheller, M. (2004). “Demobilizing and remobilizing Caribbean paradise”, in Sheller, M. and Urry, J., eds., Tourism Mobilities, pp. 13–21. London: Routledge. Taylor, L.M. (2005). Introducing Cognitive Development. Hove: Psychology Press. “The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – Press Release”. Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014. Web. 14 Nov 2017. https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2017/ann ouncement.html Urry, J. (2002). The Tourist Gaze. London and New York: Sage. Wang, N. (2000). Tourism and Modernity: A Sociological Analysis. Oxford, Elsevier. Zerubavel, E. (2003). Time Maps: Collective Memory and the Shape of the Past. Chicago and London: The Chicago University Press.
PART ONE BODY AND POWER: AFFECTING HUMAN FACTORS, SOCIAL ICONS AND CULTURAL BODIES
CHAPTER ONE A TRAUMATIC SOCIAL INTERACTION AT WORK: WHEN THE BODY SAYS “RUN” BUT THE EGO ORDERS “STAY” VERONIKA SIEGLIN
Abstract There has emerged considerable literature on the incidence of essential arterial hypertension (EAHT) in the working population and its relationship to workplace features. Most studies have drawn on quantitative methods and are based on the Effort-Reward-Imbalance-Model (ERI) or the Job-Demand-Control-Model. Although they have generated valuable insight regarding the role of organizational, social and psychological factors linked to EAHT, only a few studies highlight the link between pathology and subjective suffering when exposed to unfavourable social settings. Drawing on the phenomenology of Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty on the one hand, and on the psychoanalysis of Freud and Mitscherlich on the other, this paper explores the exposure of a 33-year-old Mexican female university professor to intense workplace harassment and bullying, her struggles for sensemaking and her ways of coping. Although she did not present previous risk factors, she developed EAHT and a further health crisis. Symptom formation is understood as a substitution for words that could not be found or pronounced in a situation of extreme power imbalance. This paper is part of an ongoing quantitative and qualitative study on health problems and the work environment in Mexican state universities. The study comprises 733 full-time professors, all members of the Mexican Researcher System. Hypertension (EAHT) affected 26% of participants. The actual paper is based on a semi-structured interview. The transcripted interview has been subject to discourse analysis.
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Introduction The concept of the body as nature, widely adjustable to the interests and needs of the steering ego, is deeply inscribed in the imagery of Western cultures and shapes individual self-comprehension. In modern societies, bodies are not only expected to fulfil aesthetic but also functional standards like strength and physical resistance. Within this framework, aching or exhausted bodies are perceived as annoying and as obstacles to the consecution of an individual’s goals and ends. Reluctant bodies are frequently silenced by drugs or other therapeutic interventions. However, as physical manifestations contain a cumulous of information about the individual’s relationship with the environment, in certain circumstances symptom suppression tends to impoverish that individual’s bonds with him/herself and with others. Foucault (1990) and Elias (1994) have shown how culture shapes bodies and our relationship with it. However, they did not question if, when and in what way concrete bodies resist discipline. How do bodies express themselves, and what is the meaning of body language? How do individuals perceive and behave towards their own somatic expressions, and what are the outcomes when these expressions are ignored or suppressed? There are numerous studies about work stress and health problems that have taught us that illness is not the mere mechanical reaction of a body unable to cope with environmental demands but also a means to diminish intolerable levels of tension that have persisted for a certain time (Bryngelsonet al. 2011; Carayonet al. 1999; Danna and Griffin 1999; Gershonet al. 2009; Grossiet al. 1999; Leistad et al. 2006; Mäki et al. 2008; Rief et al. 2010; Schneider et al. 2005; Sieglin 2015; Sieglin et al. 2016a; Sieglin et al. 2016b; Sjösten et al. 2011; Srivastava 2010). Essential arterial hypertension (EAHT) is part of a whole range of bodily reactions to intense work stress (Su et al. 2001; Davydov et al. 2012; de Rooij 2013; Gun et al. 2005; Loerbroks et al. 2015; Molerio et al. 2005; Peter and Siegrist 1997; Rosenthal et al 2012; Routledge and McFetridgeDurdle 2007; Upeshika Gamage and De Alwis Seneviratne 2015). Cardiovascular reactivity is considered a physiological marker of tension when environmental demands surpass an individual’s (actual) possibilities to cope with them (Fritz et al. 2003, Katsarou et al. 2012). This puts the development of EAHT at the intersection of society and biology. High blood pressure is therefore not a matter reducible to merely biological factors (e.g., genetic predisposition), but requires the consideration of psychological (negative affectivity, behaviour and coping styles) and
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sociological elements. Drawing on the phenomenology of Heidegger (2006a, 2006b) and Merleau-Ponty (2000), I will approach EAHT not as a pathology but as a somatic discourse about a persisting conflictive relationship between the body and the social environment. It contains, on the one hand, a bodily comprehension of the environment and of the body itself, and, on the other, an archaic way of conflict resolution. According to the World Health Organization, in 2008 between 25% and 38% of males and 19% to 35% of females over the age of 25 suffered from EAHT (WHO 2012). In Mexico, 27.4% of men and 21.5% of women were diagnosed with EAHT. In a previous quantitative study of a sample of 733 university professors from different Mexican state universities, 10.4% of women and 17.2% of men reported having EAHT, and 5.2% of women and 3.3% of men reported cardiovascular disorders linked to EAHT (Sieglin 2015: 37). Statistical analysis detected a significant relationship between cardiovascular disorders and certain types of workplace bullying and harassment that questioned victims’ psychosocial integrity, minimized their scientific and academic achievement and exposed them to academic piracy and financial damage (Sieglin 2015:38s). As cardiovascular disorders were significantly related to EAHT, and taking into account that EAHT has been linked by other studies to intense workplace stress, I hypothesize that exposure to workplace harassment and bullying favours the onset of EAHT. This case study explores the relationship between EAHT and workplace bullying and harassment in a young Mexican female academic without familiar or other personal risk factors (overweight, sedentarism, hyperglycaemia, dyslipidaemia). Six months after having assumed the position of a full-time university professor, the scholar became the target of intense workplace bullying and harassment by colleagues and superiors. Eight months after the onset of aggression, she suffered an EAHT crisis. In response to intensified bullying and harassment, the woman had a profound desire to change workplace, but did not follow her intuition. Four months after the EAHT crisis, she suffered another physical and emotional breakdown related to a severe muscular contraction in the back, which immobilized her for hours. I will analyse the evolution of the workplace aggression with regard to the victim’s interpretation and coping strategies in order to extrapolate the bodily comprehension of the social environment and of the body itself. The chapter is divided into three sections: first, I approach the link between EAHT and work stress in the existing literature. Drawing on the phenomenology of Heidegger (2006a and 2006b) and Merleau-Ponty (2000) and from the psychoanalysis of Freud (1992a, 1992b, 2009a,
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2009b) and Mitscherlich (1966a, 1966b), I conceptualize a health crisis as somatic discourses that (a) describe the bodily comprehension of the subject’s relationship with the social setting; and (b) offer anarchaical bodily inscripted solution of the conflict. Second, I synthesize changes in the academic work environment related to the neoliberal restructuring of Mexican higher education and science, which put special emphasis on political control mechanisms over academics, and its effects on social interaction. Third, I study the impact of these structural changes and the evolution of workplace bullying and harassment in the life of a young female academic. I will focus on emotional experiences, meaning construction and coping strategies during the different stages of the workplace conflict in order to explain the unfolding of EAHT and a second health crisis.
Somatic discourse and work environment Numerous studies on psychosomatic complaints and social environment have shown that social context is closely linked to the biological functioning of the body as it provides material, symbolic and emotional resources (food, shelter, protection, integration and care) and opens up access to collective knowledge (cognitive models, skills, routines and ways of life) and, particularly, to language, enabling individuals to orientate themselves in time and space, interchange and coordinate themselves with others and explore and reflect on themselves and environment. In sum, social context shapes the body’s basic performance and abilities. Context and body are linked by different biological subsystems (nervous, immune and endocrine systems) which monitor, appraise and react to the environment at every instant. The body tenses and alters when it envisions or anticipates threats like social conflicts, changes in social relations, loss of social status, insecurity or the uncertainty of conserving life in the habitual way. Mostly, individuals become aware of bodily functions when they turn symptomatical: pain, itching, functional disorders, respiratory difficulties and the increase of blood pressure are bodily reactions that point to challenges which exceed their coping and adaptation abilities. In this paper, somatic symptoms are conceptualized as biochemically and physically encoded narratives that contain information about (1) the conflicting event as perceived by the body; (2) the standpoint assumed by the body with regard to the conflict; and (3) the solution projected by the bodily reactions.
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Hypertension is a complex physiological mechanism associated to prolonged stress-coping (Hjortskov et al. 2004; Johnson et al 1996; Su et al. 2001; de Rooig 2013; Minhee et al. 2013; Rosenthal and Alter 2012). External pressure leads to the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which accelerates the heart rate and constricts the main arteries leading to the digestive tract, kidneys and skin. At the same time, the hypothalamus stimulates the kidneys to decrease urine production, allowing the body to retain water and raise the blood volume and, thereby, blood pressure (Guyenet 2006; Katsarou et al. 2012; Molerio et al. 2005). This favours the irrigation of the brain and the musculo-skeletal apparatus and thus cognitive reactivity and body movement. Hence, the raising of the blood pressure serves to prepare the body to distance itself from the source of conflict. The solution consists of running away. Although in certain historical moments escaping may have represented a feasible and relevant manner of conflict solution, it is hardly possible in modern life. Multiple economic, social and symbolic bonds force individuals not only to remain in unfavourable workplace environments but also to suppress their spontaneous feelings and thoughts in order to safeguard their job and maintain their material base. However, in the long run, these strategies turn harmful as they expose the body to long-lasting control or suppression of the emotions, and therefore to psychological and physiological stress. Several studies on EAHT have shown its association with intense emotion control (Gaviria et al. 2009: Johnson et al. 1987; Jorgensen et al. 1996: Lande et al. 2009; Mann and Delon 1995: Mauss and Gross 2004: Molerio et al. 2005; Nyklicek et al. 1997; Peters 2004: Symonides et al. 2014: Vögele and Steptoe 1992). All occupational stressors that persist for a long time may trigger the onset of EAHT; however, certain workplace scenarios seem to be particularly risky. Various studies have established links between EAHT and the extension of the workday and week, shift work, over- or underwork, physical features of work environment (noise, light, dust, pollution), monotonous and repetitive work as well as time pressure (Ekstr et al. 1996: Katsura et al. 2012: Moleria et al. 2005: Nyklicek et al. 1998; Rosenthal and Alter 2012; Tennant 2001; Theorell et al. 1993). Nevertheless, the link between EAHT and workplace factors is neither direct nor linear (Mauss and Gross 2004). Environmental features and bodily reactions are mediated by subjective appraisal. From the stance of the cognitive psychology of emotions, Lazarus (2001) argued that an environmental factor becomes a stressor through an individual’s cognitive assessment contrasting the external event with his/her personal needs, goals, objectives and values
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(primary evaluation) and appraising his/her individual and/or collective coping resources. This thesis has nurtured a variety of job stress models. For example, the effort-reward model (Siegrist 1996) explains job stress and EAHT as functions of the gap between the subjective appraisal of worker’s efforts and the material, symbolic or social rewards obtained from the organization and co-workers (Albus 2014; Loerbroks 2015; Peter and Siegrist 1997; Rosenthal and Alter 2012; Siegrist 1996; Upekshika and De Alwis Seneviratne 2016). With a more structural approach, the demand-control model (Karasek 1979) attributes work stress and related somatic complaints to an imbalance between external demands related to work organization and the worker’s control and decision possibilities. It is clear that demand levels and control possibilities are related to the individual’s appraisal. Various studies on EAHT in the working population have observed that perceived high job demands raise stress and blood pressure only when individuals are unable to establish control over them because of decision latitudes related to job features, hierarchical position or work organization (Johnson et al. 1996; Nyklicek et al. 1998; Theorell et al. 1993). If it persists for a certain time, stress-related blood pressure increase can turn chronic and lead to persistent EAHT (Pieper et al. 1989; Radi 2005; Su et al. 2001; Theorell et al. 1988; Tsutsumi 2001; Uchiyama 2005). Additionally, a pronounced workplace hierarchy, low levels of distributive justice and harsh competitiveness among workers undermine the construction of positive emotional bonds, reliable social relations and social support, and therefore workers are silent about their problems, conflicts and emotions (Sieglin 2014, 2015). The whole set of pathogenic social factors is present in Mexican public higher education (Sieglin, 2014, 2015; Sieglin et al. 2016a).
Mexican higher education reforms and the reconfiguration of power relations in academia The neoliberal reform of public higher education during the 1990s aimed to: (a) transform public universities into market-oriented self-financing institutions where (b) scientific research and academic teaching are closely linked to private and public sectors’ needs. The structural transformation of organizations and changes in individuals’ behaviour were forced by new disciplinary technologies (monitoring and measuring of institutions’ and individuals’ productivity) and by the loss of certainty with regard to state funding within an academic landscape marked by financial and infrastructural shortages (Alvarez 2013; Baena 2000; Figueroa 2013;
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Lemaitre 2004; Levy 1997; Rodríguez 2000; Sieglin 2013; Zorilla 2002). As these politics have been broadly analysed in literature, I will focus on devices aimed to reassess academic and organizational practice and redefine the relationship between organization and staff, administrative and academic sector, and students and teachers. The standardized testing of students’ knowledge, top-down reorganization of curricula and the increasing standardization of teaching methods have swept away academic autonomy and reduced the influence of the academic sector in the educational and scientific policies of universities to a minimum. However, the marginalization of academics from decision taking has not advanced uniformly and without resistance in Mexican universities, so working conditions vary greatly from one state university to another (Galaz 2013; Galazand Viloria 2004; Gómez 2006; Jiménez 2010; Marquez 2010; Pérez 2009; Sieglin 2013, 2014). Nevertheless, two decades after the onset of neoliberal politics, the outcomes are noticeable everywhere: an increase in a part-time academic workforce with precarious labour conditions (contract modes, payment, work-related benefits) and a worsening of the work conditions of the fulltime staff due to a new wage structure (performance-dependent and therefore variable income supplement shave increased, in some cases, to up to 50 percent of the total wage),frequent time-intensive performance measuring and certification, bureaucratization of research and teaching, and diminishing social benefits related to retirement and medical care (Ramos 2013). Furthermore, the reduction of institutional spending on office and laboratory supplies and on research and publication funding have also contributed to increasing personal and professional vulnerability and have incentivized competition and rivalry among workers for everlimited institutional support and benefits (Mayoral 2016). As the distribution of organizational resources is widely influenced by political group pressure and the subjective appreciation of superiors, many academic workers fear the possible material and symbolic loss associated with non-transparent institutional productivity measuring (Ramos et al. 2013) and tend to monitor their colleagues enviously. Fear, rivalry and envy favour a work climate that prevents solidarity, coherence and collegial collaboration and subverts the political organization of academic workers and thus their possibilities to engage in collective resistance. Disunity among staff has also been favoured by a new nomenclature introduced in public universities by the Ministry of Education distinguishing academics with an “ideal academic profile” (a certificate that lasts for three years) from those who lack accreditation. Since the number of certified academics improves institutions’ access to additional
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state funding, certified subjects are recognized by organizations as “institutional values” and are rewarded with certain privileges (access to complementary wage supplements and research and publication funding), while uncertified professionals – the majority – are stigmatized and considered dispensable. Within a climate of increased competition, this administrative vocabulary evokes feelings of supremacy and arrogance among successful subjects; and contempt, inferiority, fear of marginalization and exclusion, envy and rage among the others (Mayoral 2016). Since auto- and heterocomprehension influences the way individuals interact with each other, this language represents a powerful way to enhance the socio-political division of the academic workforce and internal segregation. In sum, neoliberal politics have contributed to the increased irritability and aggressive disposition of individuals by forcing academic changes and labour reforms that have worsened working conditions, increased daily stress, augmented financial, political and professional vulnerability and strengthened subjects’ feelings of impotence with regard to ongoing transformations. Politics have also contributed to new ego injuries that emerge from ever-debatable performance measuring and from new discourse politics that reify and devalue individuals. The collective contest of unfavourable change depends on the availability and effectiveness of defence mechanisms and on grass root politicization. Unfortunately, new wage structures and labour contracts have weakened the role of labour unions in workers’ defence, and have fuelled individualism and scepticism of the role of unions and collective organization. Additionally, some unions favoured neoliberal reforms silencing its human costs, legitimizing new politics and/or offering trivial services like the organization of certain celebrations (Christmas, Mother’s Day) or the distribution of toys and school supplies for workers’ children. Within this context, dissatisfaction and frustration are discharged following the lines of labour segregation: aggressiveness sweeps towards peers, subordinates and/or students. Several studies report that from 29% to 84% of academics in Mexican state universities experienced workplace harassment (Aldrete et al. 2006, Del Pino 2011, Sieglin 2012 and 2014). Outstanding scientists seem to be slightly more susceptible to workplace harassment (Sieglin 2014, 2015 and Sieglin et al. 2016a). After becoming a target, many victims rely on themselves as about 50% of state universities lack the institutional structures and policies necessary to support victims and prevent aggression (Figueroa 2014). In sum, in Mexican universities, career success depends not only on intellectual skills and talent but also on personal strength and the ability to cope with authoritarian policies, bureaucracy, organizational injustice,
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rivalries among peers and aggressiveness by superiors, colleagues and/or students. These environmental features force individuals to control and suppress emotional arousal and feelings, work harder in order to meet ever-changing performance standards, and adjust to shrinking material and symbolic rewards. Several studies have detailed the physical and psychological outcomes of institutional violence and workplace bullying and harassment in Mexican academes. Sieglin (2014 and 2015a) and colleagues (Sieglin et al. 2016b) observed that general health levels were essentially lower in unfavourable work environments, and that victims of bullying and harassment suffered more from somatic disorders (disorders of sight, speech and/or hearing; anaesthesias and psychogenic paralysis) (Sieglin 2015). In these studies, mental and somatic complaints were understood as manifestations of the emotional pain that workers experience when being harassed or bullied, when having to adjust silently to deteriorating work conditions and/or when feeling trapped in authoritarian organizational settings. The present case study analyses cognitive control and emotional containment in a young female academic who was harassed and bullied in an organizational setting deeply shaped by neoliberal politics. Special attention will be given to the body’s reactivity and comprehension of conflict.
A biographical sketch of academic and organizational context This study is part of broader quantitative and qualitative research into working conditions and the psycho-physical health of the academic elite (members of the National Researchers System) in Mexican state universities. The original sample consisted of 733 individuals from 28 state universities and UNAM, who answered a questionnaire for quantitative analysis. Since there was special interest in women’s problems in academia, the 285 females participating in the research were invited by email to semi-structured interviews. Fifty-six (19.6%) accepted the invitation. The interview addressed the same topics as the questionnaire (organizational cultures, exposure to harassment and bullying, social support at work, perceived work stress, coping strategies and self-reported health problems) but allowed the researcher and interviewees to delve deeper. Each interview lasted between two and three hours and was carried out at a place established by the respondents (usually the interviewees’ office; sometimes a library or a restaurant). At the beginning of the
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session, the researcher offered a brief explanation of the aims of the study and confidentiality of data, and asked permission to record the interview. Recorded files were transcribed by a research assistant. Ethnographic field notes completed the data from the interviews. A total of 29 women (10.2%) who had participated in the original sample reported being diagnosed with EAHT, and seven (12.5%) of the 56 women interviewed in the second stage suffered from EAHT. One of them is Maria (fictitious name). Her case clearly exposes the relationship between workplace harassment and bullying in authoritarian organizational settings, coping strategies and emotional containment: factors associated with the onset of EAHT and other psychosomatic complaints. When interviewed, Maria was 33 years old. None of her family members (parents, brothers/sisters) was struggling with EAHT and Maria reported no associated personal risk factors (being overweight, sedentary lifestyle, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia). She maintained a stable relationship with a partner and had no children. During her leisure time, she practised sports and maintained a close link to her family. The daughter of a wealthy family, Maria completed her undergraduate studies in a well-known private Mexican university, continued her master’sin a Mexican state university and her Ph.D. studies in Spain. Having completed the scholastic part of her doctoral studies, she returned to Mexico to complete her thesis and work on a temporary basis as a legal adviser to the rector of the state university she is currently affiliated to. At age 26, she obtained her Ph.D. Supported by a repatriation programme sponsored by the National Council of Science and Technology for young Mexican scholars abroad, Maria joined an interdisciplinary research centre at her actual university. One year later she was offered a job as a full-time professor and researcher in a newly created research centre of her own discipline, which was administered by Faculty Z. Since then, she has been teaching undergraduate and postgraduate levels, is in charge of an interinstitutional Ph.D. programme and carries out research. At age 30, she was recognized by the National Researchers System at the Candidate level, and three years later she obtained recognition as a National Researcher Stage 1. She complemented her academic work with regular participation in regional radio and television programmes. In 2014, the state university hosted more than 70,000 students at three academic levels (senior high school, undergraduate and postgraduate levels) and occupied about 1,350 full-time teachers: 50% of them sustaining a Ph.D. and nearly 27% recognized by the National Researchers System for their contributions to science. The faculty where Maria worked registered 60 full-time professors and more than 200 part-time teachers,
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who together attended to about 8,000 students. The university’s workforce is organized by two unions, with representations in all faculties and senior high schools: one defending the issues of academic staff, the other those of administrative workers. Both trade unions are highly active and frequently declare strikes. However, they have both failed to impede neoliberal reform politics and halt the ever-worsening labour conditions.
Stages of workplace harassment and bullying The experience of workplace harassment and bullying refers to objective facts (negative acts) as well as subjective appraisals. Both influence the way individuals face and cope with aggression. The comprehension of and reaction to conflict are both cognitive and bodily dimensions. When Maria joined the first research centre, she entered into a multicultural setting, with researchers holding different academic trajectories and cultural backgrounds. One year later, she changed to a newly created research centre within her own discipline. It was smaller than the first but addressed research questions closer to Maria’s interests. Four of its five members were men–three Mexicans and one non-Caucasian foreigner–so Maria was the only woman. Her three Mexican colleagues had graduated from the same university they were working for. Additionally, all three held high administrative positions in the state government. Maria and her foreign peer differed from them by their academic career paths and by working exclusively in academia. All five researchers enjoyed privileges not common to the majority of the faculty staff: they were paid comparatively high wages, were granted high wage supplements and research funding and had to teach only six hours a week. Many of their faculty colleagues considered these benefits unjust and unacceptable. The dissatisfaction with their own working conditions coupled with the perceived inability to change the institution’s policies resulted in a few individuals becoming aggressive towards Maria and her foreign co-worker. Many other peers observed and tolerated the bullying. For a better understanding of the harassment and bullying against Maria and her foreign colleague, it is necessary to describe briefly the social environment the university is part of. At the macro level, regional society has been shaped by Catholic conservatism and a hegemonic mestiza culture, which sustain traditional gender values and a sense of superiority over the indigenous population settling in the region. Furthermore, the region has been exposed to high levels of organized criminal violence for many years. Public shootings and murders as well as
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kidnappings and blackmail have been part of daily life in cities, towns and villages, and have contributed to people’s and institutions’ loss of sensitivity with regard to injuries caused by subtler un bloody forms of violence like harassment and bullying. Additionally, the academic community is facing structural changes within universities with regard to state funding, management and labour contracts that have influenced the organization as a whole, working conditions and relations between political groups, between academe and bureaucracy, and between students and staff. As the reform policies met with a certain resistance within the academic community, the university administration offered faculty authorities a broad margin for implementing and rationalizing reforms. In the case of Maria’s faculty, decision taking on academic policies was shared between the dean and a technical council formed by five undergraduate teachers and five student representatives, who had been elected by the academic and student community in order to guarantee a grass root vision in academic policies. This council, which sustained administrative faculties, played a central role in the harassment and bullying of Maria by making abusive use of institutional norms and rules. In order to avoid conflicts with the technical council, the dean decided not to impede the council’s hostilities towards Maria, even though he did not support them. Nevertheless, this case shows that workplace harassment may not necessarily violate institutional norms, and can consist of their discretionary and selective application. According to the strategies adopted by the aggressors and the effects produced in the victim, harassment and bullying moved through different stages. At the beginning, the aggressors used mainly symbolic means: they spread rumours questioning Maria’s academic abilities and the legitimacy of her professional position within the faculty and assigned her degrading nick names. In work meetings, they made her feel an unwelcome intruder who would never be part of the academic community. At this stage, many of Maria’s peers and students participated indirectly in the aggression by spreading stigmatizing discourse. During the second stage, negative acts were planned and executed by some members of the technical council. This institution declared that any academic activity Maria developed as part of her work (like publications, searching for external funding for research, work trips or academic events) would require its prior approval. Once, this institution even tried to prohibit her participation in mass media programmes. The council forced her to offer it insight into her financial situation. She had to prove the sources of her monthly income. The council also opened up an investigation on the funding of any trip she was financing from her
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research projects. Although there was nothing to incriminate her, the administrative hostilities were extremely stressful (Table 1). Table 1 Stages of workplace bullying and harassment Stage 1: Onset (first six months of integration into faculty) 1. Rumours distorting Maria’s academic achievements and prestige 2. Nicknames Stage 2: Intensification 1. Spreading rumoursquestioning the legitimacy of academic events organized by the victim 2. Dissolution of the researchcentre 3. Establishing control devices: (a) Need for permits and recommendationsfrom the technical council for publishing, exploring external research funding,participation in conferences, invitations received from other academic institutions, and career promotion within the university (b) Public auditing of victim’s personal income and the financialsources of her participation in conferences and research projects (c) Denial of room for academic events (lectures, meetings and book presentations) (d) Control of professional activities (prohibition of work-related trips, authorization and modification of travel agenda in authorized trips) 4. Denial of unionization Source: Interview.
Moreover, Maria was subject to a whole range of minor everyday offences, like not being invited to academic events or to social activities in her faculty. Sometimes, she was denied a room for lectures or book presentations she had organized. However, the most important hit
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consisted of the dissolution of the research centre, as ordered by the council, who argued that scientific research should be open to all academics and not only to a small privileged elite. As the system it self could not be fought, anger was focused on two individuals who represented the human face of a new arrangement of exploitation and oppression. Thus, emotional sources for a more politically informed resistance against neoliberal transformation diminished, which explains the dean’s inaction when the harassment and bullying escalated: He (the dean, V.S.) could have avoided that, but he did not. I mean, I understand the dean. It is political… he... preferred... having more teachers satisfied even though five (the five researchers of the Research Centre, V.S.) were not...
Victim’s comprehension of bullying and coping strategies The way an individual interprets negative acts performed by peers and superiors influences his/her response. Maria understood that she had become an object of aggression not because of her personal features but because she was identified as part of an academic elite. She was aware that she and her peers in the research centre enjoyed privileges that were perceived by her colleagues as unjust and illegitimate, and that their discomfort, irritation and annoyance of new and old labour differences between staff was increasing, and this shaped the policies of the technical council. However, despite her awareness of the structural background of harassment, she frequently explained the negative acts of her aggressors with regard to their personal and academic features (table 2). Maria’s description of her aggressors and herself is construed in a dichotomic manner: aggressive undergraduate teachers were portrayed aslow-level academics, lacking external accreditation and recognition; prejudiced and deceitful professionals; resentful, ever-complaining, envious and conflicting personalities hostile to all types of otherness; and embracing authoritarianism and abusive behaviour. She attributed their presence in the university to hegemonic recruitment strategies that favoured loyalty and political closeness over academic achievement. This dismal description contrasts with the self-portrait of herself and her colleagues from there search centre and the postgraduate department as the only true academics in sofar as they had received national and international recognition and prestige, were admired by their students and had obtained academic success.
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Table 2 Description of aggressors and undergraduate teaching staff, and self-description by victim
Academic level
Aggressors and undergraduate teaching staff Low academic level
Self-description of victim
- Low levels of qualification
- Ph.D.
- Lacking external accreditation (e.g., National Researchers System; Ministry of Education) Professionalism
(a) Lack of professionalism /professional ethics; misogynist, xenophobic and homophobic imagery
High academic standards
- External accreditation (National Researchers System; Ministry of Education) - Research projects with external funding - External accreditation of the research group Maria was part of - High levels of student approval for teaching (a) Committed tothe aims and ends of vulnerable social groups; political openness, liberal political thinking (b) Responsible teacher (voluntary participation in academic remedial courses for students) (c) Strong engagement with academic work
Personal attitudes
b) Deceitfulness (inscription into unaccredited Ph.D. programmes to improve academic credentials) (a) Ever-complaining (b) Envious (c) Conflicting
(d) Social recognition for herparticipation in radio and television programmes
(a) Respectful (b) Frank and straight
Culture
Excluding
Including
Politics
Authoritarian and abusive
Democratic and respectful
Source: interview.
On the professional level, Maria defined herself as an academic committed to the causes of marginalized social sectors, a devoted teacher and scientist, and a woman recognized in the regional community because of her regular participation in radio and TV programmes. On the personal level, she presented herself as a friendly, open-minded and straight
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forward person who respected others and was confident of her intellectual and professional qualities. This cognitive segregation of academic staff into two opposite groups shaped the way the young woman coped with the bullying and harassment. While situating herself at a great distance from the world of negative affectivity that she linked with her adversaries, her own actions had to be guided by prudence and wisdom, moderation and discretion. This meant not complaining, not show in gheranger, behaving in an objective and rational way, being strong and even-tempered and never revealing her emotional injuries. To sum up, she had to perform as a member of the intellectual and moral elite, and present herself as being in complete control of her feelings and emotional expressions. But by assuming this position, she continuously occupied the social distance that her opponents wanted to destroy. In conclusion, aware of the structural background underlying the harassment and bullying, Maria acknowledged that her options for changing her situation were extremely limited (“...I recognized that this issue wasn’t going to change; Faculty wasn’t going to change”). She tried to obtain support from the university’s trade union, but unfortunately the union declined, not wanting to get involved in a conflict with the technical council. On the other hand, when Maria tried to make sense of the bullying and harassment by linking them to the academic, cultural and personal inferiority of the victimizers, and when she distanced herself from the bullies, she got trapped in a coping style that forced her to adopt extreme emotional self-control. When conflict solution is presumed to be almost impossible, individuals tend to palliate the emotional impact of adverse experiences (Lazarus 2001). For instance, Maria discussed her situation with her colleagues from the research centre, her peers from other faculties, her partner and her family. All of them made her feel understood and offered advice and emotional support. In addition, occasional business trips were experienced by her as a welcome escape from workplace tensions. But the most important strategy of emotional contention was work itself. When working, she was able to forget her problems. I love a phrase of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind: “Today I won't think about this because it could drive me crazy!” This was a kind of mantra to me. When something happened, I said to myself: I have to complete the request of CONACYT. Today I am not going to think about the technical council... Come what may! Wait, first I’ll finish this and then I will worry about that!
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On the psychological level, she sustained her will to over come conflict by construing herself as part of a family lineage of strong and combative women (“I come from a family with very combative women…”), a heritage she held to be incompatible with a decision to quit. She cared for herself, maintaining a healthy lifestyle by doing sports, eating well and practising concentration and relaxation techniques. Despite her calm and easy-going appearance and the very few references to her feelings and emotions in the interview, Maria’s discourse contains figures of speech that allow us to reconstruct her emotional experiences during this stage in the faculty (table 3). Table 3 Feelings and emotions of victim when exposed to workplace bullying and harassment Ways of bullying and harassment Stage 1: Onset
Affective expressions
Semantic field
Rumours distorting Maria’s academic achievements and prestige
“… wefelt like fivemushrooms that were misunderstood and attacked ...”
Feeling vulnerable, attacked
“For me the first clash I experienced in university was when I entered here...”
Feeling severely attacked
“...for me this first year has meant a very important adjustment...”
Feeling stuck, restrained, controlled
“This is very difficult for me because … sometimes I feel that I am being judged more because of my shoes than by what I say.”
Feeling that something is very exhausting, demanding, painful, difficult
“Well, when I entered here after having left the institute, this meant to me a changethat was really very difficult to assume...” “And then you say to yourself: How is it possible that those who are supposed to defend the rightsadopt this issue of discrimination by race, by gender?”
Feeling surprised, creating adistance
36 Nicknames
Chapter One “.. I took it as a joke...”
Mocking, laughing
“…I felt stressed...”
Feeling pressure, tension, oppression
“This kind of problem.., it is as if it casts a slur on you” “So we decided to hide in graduate school...”
Feelingbroken, worn out, smashed, wounded Hiding is a reaction when a situation seems to be unbearable and out of control
“I don’t fit in there... you can feel it”
Feeling at the wrong place; not belonging
“Those types of things diminish you”
Losing strength, feeling exhausted, demolished, wounded
“I've been on the verge of giving up thislast year … about five times...”
The wish to surrender emerges when a situation is perceived as intolerable, unbearable and uncontrollable and when there is no hope for change
Stage 2: Intensification Rumours–questioning the legitimacy of academic events organized by victim Dissolution of the Research Centre
Control devices: (a) Permissions and guarantees
“… I can’t handle the inertia in this faculty; I can’t change the faculty. The faculty is as it is for good or for bad. Maybe it is me who is wrong...I realized that this question won’t change, the faculty is not going to change and it worriesme that the faculty may change me.”
Feeling surpassed,selfdoubts, hopelessness
Being afraid, anxious
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(b) Financial controls
“Actually, I am considering changing to another faculty...”
The wish to change workplace emerges when workplace problems are perceived as intolerable, unbearable and/or uncontrollable; there is no hope for change
(c) Control of professional activities
“To tell the truth, I felt really angry and I acknowledge that I was probably excessively straight forward”
Angry, feeling rage, being aggressive feeling guilty
Source: Interview
At the onset of the bullying, Maria was surprised when she realized the material, political and symbolic gap between herself and the undergraduate faculty staff. She often felt misunderstood, weird, attacked and vulnerable. However, her negative feelings were buffered by the camaraderie and solidarity she received from her four colleagues at the research centre, and she was hopeful of overcoming her problems in the future. However, when Maria began to face not only symbolic aggression but also administrative punishment (stage 2), her emotional valuation turned grimmer. Sometimes she felt physically and mentally exhausted. In certain moments, when she believed she was being surpassed by negative events, she experienced ever-increasing fear and anxiety. As things did not get better and she felt she was losing control over her workplace environment, she gradually turned more hopeless. She began to doubt her ability to adapt and establish positive links with colleagues and superiors. Occasionally, when events seemed to exceed her tolerance and resilience, she craved the chance to hide in a safe place, and even considered changing her workplace. However, she never followed her desire. During the interview, she admitted to only once experiencing anger and rage and responding rudely to aggressors. Normally she avoided expressing her feelings and emotions at work.
Workplace bullying and harassment and body responses Maria experienced her first health crisis eight months after the onset of bullying and harassment, at a moment when the aggression had intensified and the disciplinary actions of the technical council had increased in severity. She was feeling pressured because a research project had to be
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finished, and she was already envisioning the possible dissolution of the research centre, where she felt she belonged and where she felt protected and supported. For several days, she had been suffering from tachycardia and headache. Her eyes were red and she had difficulty breathing. However, she felt she was too busy to consult a physician. A colleague from the Faculty of Medicine alerted her about the symptoms of arterial hypertension –at first, she denied being sick but finally agreed to a medical exam, which confirmed the initial diagnosis of her colleague: essential arterial hypertension (EAHT). At first, Maria was greatly surprised as she could not remember having been exposed to high levels of chronic stress or having coped with anxiety and physical exhaustion. However, she accepted the medical treatment as it offered her a strategy to regain control of her blood pressure. Indeed, the drugs returned it to normal ranges and allowed her to continue her routine. Several months later, when she faced a second, even more distressing health crisis, she realized that the increase in her blood pressure had been a “...warning sign....” Between the first and the second health crisis, the young woman changed her coping strategy, hoping to gain the acceptance of her colleagues and there by putting an end to the aggression. She wanted to show them that she was a valuable person, engaged with the needs and interests of the faculty and its staff. She offered to search for extra financial resources for the faculty, applying to the special programmes offered by the Ministry of Education, and to prepare the accreditation for the post graduate careers the faculty was offering. She even organized social events, like a Christmas party. In short, she tried to secure the esteem of her peers and superiors, overcome resentments and suspicion and justify her presence in the institution. While exposed to that pressure, I didn’t realize that I was trying to pay for my right of existence in the faculty. I wanted to show that I was doing valuable things for the university, the PIFI (the federal programme for additional resources) ... I did the PIFI... I wanted to elaborate the best PIFI, I wanted it to be well prepared and that all teachers would feel satisfied. Because the point is not only to design it but also to make the faculty shine! I wanted it to be part of the National Programme of Excellent Postgraduate Studies (a programme of the Ministry of Education)! I felt a need to get acceptance, I had to conquer it. (…) How can I explainit to you? I offered to organize the Christmas dinner for four hundred teachers! Tell me when you want me to organize you a party, with music, decorations… as if I didn’t have enough to do! I took charge of those types of things! Because I felt that I had a duty in the faculty and that this would be the way they would accept me.
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However, Maria’s new coping strategy exacerbated the time pressure she was exposed to, and subverted completely her possibility to mitigate the tension from the continuous bullying and harassment through the emotional support from people close to her because she no longer had family, partner or friends. I didn’t realize how much I was working. I didn’t have lunch at home anymore. I rarely had lunch with my partner. Sometimes when he tried to phone me, I forgot to call him back or to answer his message. I was behaving in this way until he told me in the middle of a crisis: “Well, Maria, what role do I play in all this? You don’t see your family; you don’t see your friends. Where are you going so hastefully?”
Four months after the first health crisis, she had a second one: during a business trip, she woke up in her hotel room unable to move because of a severe muscle contracture in the back. She needed immediate medical help. The contracture had not been caused by a fall or an unfortunate movement she had made the day before –it was the out come of extremely high levels of emotional stress that continued even when Maria was resting at night (table 5). Table 5 Harassment, stress and health crisis Diagnosis First health crisis: high arterial blood pressure (eight months after initiation of bullying and harassment; two months since suffering from intense harassment)
Description …by November, I had warning signs that I didn’t attend to. (…) Yes, in November, I had a crisis because it was the moment to present the financial reports and all therelated issues,and I realized that the (Research, V.S.) Centre would be closed. I began to have the sensation of... I had tachycardia, headache, extremely red eyes. I was gasping for air. In those days a colleague from (the Faculty of V.S.) Medicine saw me and asked me,“Well, Maria, what about your blood pressure?” – “Really good, I am eating well, I am doingsports!” – He said:“Would you allow me to measure your blood pressure?” – My blood pressure was very high, thoughnormallyIhave low pressure because of my complexion. He said: “I have been observing you for days … and the redness of your eyes. Haven’t you noticed how you are breathing? You have high blood pressure! I want you to visit me every three days.” As it (the Faculty of Medicine, V.S.) is nearby, they made meundergo a series of studies. My problem is high pressure. – “When you have high (blood) pressure and get into control of it, your body will be able to regulate it.But if you let it become chronic,”he told me, “something will happen to you.It will not hurt. The only thing that can happen is that you are going to die. You will have an infarction and you will die.”I felt … He ordered me to undergo a series of studies. He said: “You have to weigh up.” – ‘Well, but what pressure?” – “It is stress!” – And I told him: “I am eating well, I am doing sports!” – “It is stress! You are not working it out, you are retaining it...”
40 Second health crisis: Severe muscle contracture (the following March; seven months since suffering severe harassment)
Chapter One Next March, I had an event in Cuernavaca. I was invited to evaluate some projects in the State of Morelos. I felt something weird in the neck, something like a jerk when you are practising spinning or Pilates, well, how can I explain it to you? At five o’ clock in the morning, I wanted to get up in order to go to the bathroom, but I couldn’t. It was the worst pain in my whole life. It turned out to be a muscle contracture from here to here and I couldn’t move. Finally, I managed to grab the cell, and who did I call? My gynaecologist! And I told her: “I can’t move!”I was very frightened and I was crying. “According to what you are reporting, it is a muscle contracture! Call the hotel (reception desk, V.S.)”. I was alone. “Get them to find Supradol sublingual, 400mg of Robaxisal! Make a chamber maid enter your room and give it to you! Supradol will make you sleep. When you wake up, you should be able to move. It’ll hurt you but you should be able to move; if not, ask them to call a physician in order to inject you a special substance.”I hadn’t been aware that I had been completely tense when I was sleeping, because it’s curious that it happened in the middle of the night when, for the first time, I couldn’t stand up. By day I’m fine and by night I’m perfect, but in the morning I wake uplike that. They told me: “You’re tense!”
Source: Interview
Merleau-Ponty (2000:158) held that the body “comprehends its world without having to pass through representations, without subordinating to a ‘symbolic or objectifying function.’ The movement of the body is not subordinated to consciousness, nor is it an instrument of Ego nor does it represent ‘dramas of the soul’.” He argued that movement expresses modes of existence (178). In Maria’s case, the elevated blood pressure was a means to move the body from an uninhabitable world to another, better, calmer one. When doing so, the body was presuming the existence of a more inhabitable world with which it would be able to relate. On the other hand, the loss of movement as a result of muscle contracture enacts closure from the world. The body discarded the possibility of an alternative world, assuming that there was no way to escape from reality. This comprehension of the environment and the body’s relationship to it moved the body to lock and bend in towards itself. This solution, emerging from insurmountable and unbearable suffering, could potentially lead to the suspension of the movement of existence itself. Both EAHT and extreme muscle contracture were expressing and trying to resolve on an existential level the relationship between the body and the world. Both are physical actions that aimed at putting an end to the existential crisis. They sustain contrasting views of the world and of the body itself: when the strategy posed by EAHT–moving away–failed, a completely different possibility of conflict solution arose through muscle contraction: freezing the relationship with world. In this sense, both
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actions represent archaic ways of coping with an environment full of conflict by avoiding it (escaping, enclosing). As Maria’s story has shown, these physical actions never represent the first coping options, and they are never set up in a conscious and intentional way. They emerged at a moment when consciously planned conflict solution strategies were visibly failing and levels of external and internal tension were on the rise. Although these physical actions them selves represent a source of stress, they aimed top revent greater harm by cutting off the bonds with the environment. More than 100 years ago, Freud (2010:108) said about somatisation: “Thus, the mechanism which produces hysteria presents on the one hand an act of moral cowardice and on the other a defensive measure which is at the disposal of the ego. Often enough we have to admit that by fending off increasing excitations by the generation of hysteria is, in the circumstances, the most expedient thing to do; more frequently, of course, we shall conclude that a greater amount of moral courage would have been of advantage to the person concerned.”
Conclusions Concrete bodies can adjust to environmental demands only in a limited manner. When the claims of social settings surpass a certain threshold of manageability –which differs from one person to another –extreme stress can sometimes set on archaic biological mechanisms in order to protect the body from further harm (Aceves-Ávila et al. 2004, Bondo et al. 2014a and 2014b, Fink 1996, Karvonen et al. 2006). Emotional tensions discharged to soma where it can reappear in many different configurations. Freud (1992a and 1992b) called this phenomenon “conversion” and “somatic innervation”. Essential hypertension, certain types of muscle contracture and many other somatic disorders are part of this physical defence against extreme stress (Mitscherlich 1969a and 1969b). Even though somatic innervation is a biological mechanism, its onset is closely linked to environmental demands and traits (Aceves-Ávilaet al. 2004, Freud 1992a and 1992b, Hollifield et al. 1999, Mitscherlich 1969a and 1969b). This case study offered insights into the social, cognitive and emotional aspects of the formation of somatic symptoms. Social setting influenced the young woman in two different ways: on the one hand, by its structural characteristics–work conditions in Mexican universities, social relationships at work and, particularly, the aggression of peers and superiors–and, on the other, by hegemonic discourse that guided the young woman’s interpretation of herself and other social actors, and that moulded her way of dealing with bullying and harassment. Her coping strategies
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were shaped by the neoliberal imagery of the self-responsible, self-reliant, pro-active and rational subject. Relying on this epitome, she made great efforts to overcome the blocks and limitations set up by aggressors, to build and sustain professional strengths by achieving important academic certifications and projects, and to appear as an emotionally well-balanced and rational personality. This meant at first not showing her feelings and emotions to others but, from a certain moment on, the control of emotional expression turned into the repression of feelings, emotions and even sensations. It is important to underline that this change did not represent a deliberate and rational planned strategy but an unconscious movement due to unbearable suffering. It allowed her certain gains and it generated certain losses: she turned increasingly insensitive towards her own emotional stress and its physical outcomes. As such, she was losing touch with herself. Although the symptoms related to arterial hypertension are notorious, she refused to acknowledge them. She started treatment of EAHT only because a colleague from the medical faculty insisted. The drugs helped her regain control over EAHT but they did not push her to reconsider her relationship with herself and with others. Once the health crisis was overcome, she introduced changes in her coping strategies. Unfortunately, her new tactic not only worsened her stress levels but also separated her gradually from those people who offered her support: her family, her partner and her friends. A few months later, she suffered a second, even more traumatic health crisis. Only then she was willing to admit that she had been suffering from unbearable stress and anxiety. In sum, the somatic complaints expressed (1) the exposure of the subject to an extremely oppressive and restraining social setting; and (2) a repressive self-relation that reproduces the societal relationship within the self. This body-mind split was traumatically challenged by the two health crises. Somatic complaints can be therefore comprehended as a discourse to wards Maria that offered her the possibility to become aware of selfalienation and of the need to remake her bonds with the social environment. Merleau-Ponty (2000:158) held that the body “comprehends its world without having to pass through representations, without subordinating to a ‘symbolic or objectifying function’. The movement of the body is not subordinated to consciousness, nor is itan instrument of Ego nor does it represent ‘dramas of the soul’.” He argued that movement expresses modes of existence (178). In Maria’s case, the elevated blood pressure was a means to move the body from an uninhabitable world to another, better, calmer one. When doing so, the body was presuming the existence of a
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more inhabitable world with which it would be able to relate. On the other hand, the loss of movement as a result of muscle contracture enacts ve world, assuming that there was no way to escape from reality. This comprehension of the environment and the body’s relationship to it moved the body to lock and bend in towards itself. This solution, emerging from insurmountable and unbearable suffering, could potentially lead to the suspension of the movement of existence itself. They sustain contrasting views of the world and of the body itself: when the strategy posed by EAHT–moving away–failed, a completely different possibility of conflict solution arose through muscle contraction: freezing the relationship with world. In this sense, both actions represent archaic ways of coping with an environment full of conflict by avoiding it (escaping, enclosing). As Maria’s story has shown, these physical actions never represent the first coping options, and they are never set up in a conscious and intentional way. They emerged at a moment when consciously planned conflict solution strategies were visibly failing and levels of external and internal tension were on the rise. Although these physical actions them selves representa source of stress, they aimed top revent greater harm by cutting off the bonds with the environment. More than 100 years ago, Freud (2010:108) said about somatization: “Thus, the mechanism which produces hysteria presents on the one hand an act of moral cowardice and on the other a defensive measure which is at the disposal of the ego. Often enough we have to admit that by fending off increasing excitations by the generation of hysteria is, in the circumstances, the most expedient thing to do; more frequently, of course, we shall conclude that a greater amount of moral courage would have been of advantage to the person concerned.”
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Leistad, R.B., Sand, T., Westgaard, R.H., Nilsen, K.B.and Stovner, L.J. (2006). Stress-induced pain and muscle activity in patients with migraine and tension-type headache. Cephalgia, 26 (1), 64–73. Lemaitre, M. J. (2004). Redes de agencias de aseguramiento de la calidad de la educación superior a nivel internacional y regional. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación, 35 (mayo-agosto), 73–87. Levy, D. C. (1997). El liderazgo institucional y su papel en la reforma de la educación superior. Revista Mexicana de Investigación Educativa, 2 (4), 205–21. Loerbroks, A., Shang, L., Angerer, P. and Li, J. (2015). Effort-reward imbalance at work increases the risk of the metabolic syndrome: A prospective study in Chinese university staff. International Journal of Cardiology, 182, 390–91. Mäki, K., Vahtera, J., Virtanen, M., Elovainio, M., Keltikangas-Järvinen, L. and Kivimäki, M. (2008). Work stress and new-onset migraine in a female employee population. Cephalalgia, 28 (1), 18–25. Mann, S. and Delon, M. (1995). Improved hypertension control after disclosure of decades-old trauma. Psychosomatic Medicine, 57 (5), 501–5. Mauss, I.B. and Gross, J.J. (2004). Emotion suppression and cardiovascular disease. Is hiding feelings bad for your heart? In I. Nyklicek, L. Temoshok and A. Vingerhoets ed., Emotional Expression and Health. Advances in Theory, Assessment and Clinical Application, New York: Brunner-Routdlege, pp. 60–80. Merleau-Ponty, M. (2000). Fenomenología de la percepción, 5th ed. Barcelona: Península. Mitscherlich, Alexander (1966a). Die Krankheiten der Gesellschaft und die psychosomatische Medizin. In Krankheitals Konflikt. Studien zur psychosomatischen Medizin, Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, pp. 11–34. —. (1966b). Die psychosomatische und die konventionelle Medizin. In: Krankheit als Konflikt. Studien zur psychosomatischen Medizin, Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, pp. 53–73. Minhee, S., Barksdale, D. and Logan, J. (2013). Relationship among acculturative stress, sleep, and nondipping blood pressure in Korean American Women. Clinical Nursing Research, 22 (1), 112–29. Molerio Pérez, O., Arce González, A., Otero Ramos, I.and Nieves Achón, Z. (2005). El estréscomo factor de riesgo de la hipertensión arterial esencial. Revista Cubana de Higiene y Epidemiología, 43 1). Available at: http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttextandpid=S1561-3003 2005000100007andlng=esandnrm=iso>. ISSN 1561-3003.
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CHAPTER TWO TOWARDS A GEOGRAPHY OF MEMORY: RECITATION OF CLASSIC AMONG THE CHINESE DESCENDANTS IN GERMANY KEJIE HUANG
Abstract The present case study uses the perspective of “boundary between self and others” to examine the integration of a special group of Chinese immigrants. The (re)construction of “ethnic identity” is seen in the analysis as the reaction of immigrants tolocal attitudes. The effort of this (re)construction is based on the essential differentiation between two self-views and represents the psychological need of a certain group for integration. Through participant observation, it is revealed that,on the one hand, they adopt all the external characteristics of the host society (habitus, etiquette, school education and even the religion) into their new “self”. The boundary of their “self” is flexible and flowing so it is easily extended and changed according to the context. On the other hand, the deep-rooted “connectedness” with their ancestors and historical traditions means they always hold ontosomething “Chinese”when abroad, which makes them “assimilated but not integrated”.1 This way of integration is marked bya “dual character”: They assimilate to the local customs quickly but don’t integrate into the local core system of values. During this process of integrating the cultural differences, the social, cultural and economic capital of the Chinese immigrants helps in a concrete way. As such, it is no wonder that the boundaries of social groups become stronger.
1
Shengyou Xie 寊䚃⍳:୰ᅜேᅾᾏእ⼥⪋ධ (The overseas-Chinese are assimilated instead of integrated). Website: http://frankfurt.china-consulate.org/ chn/sbwl/t961222.htm. Website time: 12.09.2015 19:50
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Introduction Numerous studies have shown that the construction of ethnic identity is a remarkable social phenomenon in the adaptation of immigrants toa host society (Phinney and Chavira 1992: 272). Immigrants interact with the host society, with their attitudes about their own cultural origins, and receive levels of acceptance from them (Phinney et al. 2001a: 494). The “(re)discovery” of their heritage cultural identity during the acculturation into the host society comes with the subjective (re)construction of their ethnic identity. The positive correlation between ethnic identity and selfesteem (Phinney et al.2001a: 501; Phinney and Chavira 1992: 271) suggests that investing resources in building a strong and stable ethnic identity is an important task for every immigrant. The present study handles a special case, with participant observation, to answer the following questions: Which resources do they use for this (re)construction? How do they combine their ethnic identity with their national identity as a new member of the host society? What kind of influence does the (re)construction of ethnic identity have on their life in the host society? I believe the analysis of the “Children’s Recitation of Classics” in Germany presents an insight to these questions.
Ethnic identity: a complex construction To understand the concept “ethnic identity”, sociologists and psychologists have developed different perspectives and corresponding measures. It becomes a complex construction with high ambiguity and multiple components. After a review of the relevant studies in the USA up to 1990, Phinney points out that the measuring structure of ethnic identity in most of the studies depends greatly on the specific ethnic group (Phinney 1990: 500). Roberts et al. indicate that the meaning of this concept and the methods of measure are heterogeneous. Most measures have nothing to do with the theory of identity and have focused on only certain aspects of a specific ethnic group (Roberts et al. 1999: 302). According to Roberts et al., the diverse understanding of “ethnic identity” can be attributed to two different theoretical approaches: the social identity theory of Tajfel and Turner in 1986 and the developmental theory of identity of Erikson in 1968 (Roberts et al. 1999: 302).2 Each definition leads to a measurement 2
This divide focuses on the differentiation between the individual’s social identity as a group member and the ethnic attribute as part of an individual identity. Therefore, it can also be described like the differences between the “social identity
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and interpretation of “ethnic identity”. The first approach, “social identity theory”, deals with the development of the sense of belonging to an ethnic group and the attitudes as a group member. The second approach, developmental theory of identity, is based on Erikson’s identity development model. According to this approach, the formation of identity takes place during the process of researching ethnic characteristics in adolescence (Roberts et al. 1999: 303–4.). Both approaches confirm that ethnic identity is subjectively built for the individual’s psychological needs. Some researchers have tried to sum up these wide connotations. Schwartz et al. mention that all “ethnic identity” should be understood under dimensions such as exploration, dissolution and confirmation to the ethnic group (Schwartz et al. 2011: 297). Bernal et al. (1990: 4–5) list five components of ethnic identity: 1) ethnic self-identification and categorization; 2) ethnic consistency; 3) use of ethnic roles; 4) ethnic knowledge; and 5) ethnic preference and feelings. Phinney summarizes the most common applications of the term “ethnic identity” in research about attitudes and feelings for an ethnic group between the years 1972–1990: The research includes ethnicity and ethnic self-identification, attitude to their own group and that sense of shared values, sense of belonging, participation in ethnic-cultural activities, reliability of measurement and development of ethnic identity, and attitudes or attitude towards another group. In addition, the cultural aspects of ethnic identity are emphasized: language, behaviour, values and knowledge about the history of the ethnic group (Phinney 1990: 500). With this in mind, the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) was developed as a universal measurement for all the ethnic groups, which includes behaviour associated with ethnicity, such as habits, traditions and social interactions (Roberts et al. 1999, Phinney 1992). The core idea of this model is to measure the strength of the ethnic identity of the ethnic members through their involvement, commitment, affirmation and belonging to the ethnic group. In this way, different ethnic minorities can be measured and compared. theory” and “identity theory”. According to Stets and Burke, the differences are based on three aspects: The first one is between categories or groups (for “social identity theory”) and roles and persons (for “identity theory”); the second one is the activation of identities and the concept of salience; the third is thedifferent ways of activating an identity: as a cognitive process of depersonalization (for “social identity theory”) or as self-verification (for “identity theory”), and the motivational process: as self-esteem (for “social identity theory”) and self-efficacy (for “identity theory”) (Stets and Burke 2000: 224). In “The Western identity” section, these two approaches will be discussed further.
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The above conceptual discussion involves almost all the external appearances of “ethnic identity”. It confirms ethnic identity’s effect for the individual: it makes one feel a member of the minority through subjective (re)construction. But few of the wide measurements of “ethnic identity” around all the groups have responded to the core question: Why is the building of such an “ethnic identity” for the corresponding groups necessary? In other words, how has a certain way of (re)construction or definition of ethnic identity (for a specific ethnic group or universal) finally reflected the psychological needs of the immigrants, which are strongly connected with their integration? To answer the above question, the following research perspective is taken in the present study: The building of ethnic identity works by feeling like a member of an ethnic group and taking the corresponding values (Tajfel 1981: 255). It means the minority members develop a sense of the “ethnic group” and get their sense of belonging during intergroup actions. In other words, the building of ethnic identity is seen as the reaction of the minority to this relationship of tension between themselves and the host society. Tajfel cited Sherif’s definition of “intergroup behaviour” to point out the effect of such an “ethnic identity”: Whenever individuals belonging to one group interact, collectively or individually, with another group or its members in terms of their group identification, we have an instance of intergroup behavior. (Sherif 1966, cited in Tajfel 1982: 2)
Tajfel argues that the intergroup relationship is the product of social categorization as a cognitive process during interaction (Tajfel 1982: 2). Ethnic identity is consequently built duringthe same cognitiveprocess and strengthens the social categories in turn (Barth 1998: 10). In this sense, immigrants develop an ethnic identity as part of their experience within the larger society (Berry 1997, Rumbaut 1994, Phinney 1989, 1990, cited in Phinney et al. 2001b: 135–6.). Confronted with this experience, the immigrants adopt the “ethnic label” offered by the locals as their own, and then subjectively develop their ethnic identity based on selective reconstruction. It can also be seen as a narrative organization of personal autobiography (McAdams, in Schwartz et al. 2011: 107). The immigrants form their ethnic identity as the counter-strategy against the perceived attitudes and views from the host society and finally as a way for integration (see Lien et al. 2003: 1098, Wynter in Durán-Cogan and Gómez-Moriana 2001: 34–5). One example of this argument is that names and the headscarf are the two most conspicuous signs of Muslim ethnic
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identity; they represent both their stigma and their emotional identity with their ethnic group (Khosravi 2012: 66; Becker 2009: 202). Understandable here is also that the attitude of the minorities toward their own ethnicity, namely, their ethnic identity, is critical to their psychological functioning (Phinney 1990: 499).
A different self-definition in Chinese culture The above paragraphs have demonstrated that the building of an ethnic identity as a selective and reconstructed narration about oneself is a reaction or counter-strategy of immigrants during their interaction with the host society. Proceeding from this, we should ask how such tension can be described. What is the immigrants’ biggest difficulty for adaptation after accommodation of the language? Can we develop a dimension to describe the essential difference between ethnic groups, or in light of this research, the difference between Chinese immigrants and German local residents? In intercultural studies, the definition of the “self”, the limitation of an individual as a member in the society, the boundaries between “I” and “the others” are highly relevant (see Benet-Martínez and Haritatos 2005: 1017). In each culture, the individual experiences himself consciously, and such an experience stems from both the personal psychological structure and the limitation of social relations (Lu 昭 2003: 141–2). The distinction between “I” and “the others” is therefore the most important differentiation of human life (Yang 㝏ᐅ㡢 1998: 24; Markus and Kitayama 1991: 224). Through this perspective, how a culture shapes an individual through his “primary group” or “significant others”can be seen in detail (Lu 昭 2003: 149). In all cultural traditions,the individual experiences himself through his interaction with others, but the “self” of an individual against “the others” is defined differently in different cultures, and different narrative modes of the “self-experience” consequently develop. This dimension – the definition of “self” in the society – focuses on the question: Does the concept of “individual” include the other persons in his (extended) “self”, or in a larger collective of “we”? Or is there a third possibility? In the following paragraph, the definitions of “self-concept” or “identity” in culture-comparison will be reviewed. The focus will not be on the conceptual development in intellectual history but more on the perspective of cultural comparison, namely, the differencesin the relationships between the individual and societyinWestern and Eastern traditions. The nature of this relationship is not only whether an individual is prior or subordinate to the group but also how an individual is socially formed. After this analysis, it should be possible to illustrate the status of
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the tension of people who stay between two cultures. It will also be possible to theoretically and practically understand the decisions of the Chinese migrants regarding intercultural acculturation. Oyserman et al. (2002: 5–6) compared several aspects of individualism and collectivism in the Western tradition and concluded that the greatest difference for the individual in these two traditions is that the “collective identity” for the collectivist is an inherent attribute. That means an individualist can take the collective only as a pure means for his goal and act as a single “self” and “individual in group”; but, for the collectivist, it is a “fact of life” and is his duty to accept that he must act as a single “collective” or “a group in an individual”, which means he should take the collective norms as part of his identity (Yang 㝏ᐅ㡢 2008: 152–3). Yang argues further that an individual with a clear and solid self-concept is basic to both theoretical approaches (Yang 㝏ᐅ㡢 2008: 152–3). According to him, even “collectivism” is built on the view of the world being made up of single and independent individuals with clear boundaries (normally the boundary of body). Thus, for the Chinese, a strict separation of “individualism” and “collectivism” makes no sense, because the Chinese “self” is not an autonomous individual with a clear boundary and structure but someone withina circle of trust (Yang 㝏ᐅ㡢1999a: 48–9). Markus and Kitayama (1991) provides a significant explanation. They point out that in every culture there exists a special construction of “self” that has a decisive influence over individual experience, cognition, emotion and motivation. They develop two opposing views of “self”: “the independent self” and the “interdependent self”, as two samples that represent the American /Western and Japanese/Asian “self” view. They describe the role of the “interdependent self-view” as influencing individual behaviour in the Asian culture with the basic focus on interpersonal relationships or “interdependence” (Markus and Kitayama 1991: 227): …experiencing interdependence entails seeing oneself as part of encompassing social relationships and recognizing that one’s behaviour is determined, contingent on, and, to a large extent, organized by what the actor perceives to be the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others in the relationship.
This quote shows the tendency for this self-view. According to the “interdependence” opinion, the individual is an entity whose structure can (and should) be changed according to the specific social context. The “self” is an “an integral part of the setting, situation, orcontext to which the self is connected, fitted, and assimilated” (Markus and Kitayama 1991:
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227). Individuals should always be ablle to find a w way to adapt, assimilate a and connectt to relevant otthers. Accordding to this vieew, many inteernal characterristics of an in ndividual, such as skills, ideas, judggements and personal p charracteristics, arre seen as situation-deppendent, not fixed f and unreeliable (Markuus and Kitayama 1991: 227). Thesee attributes, which are seen s in the Western trad dition as “individual””, work not as a the key faactors of inddividual behav viour but interdependeently with “siggnificant otheers.”
Figure 1 The two views of seelf by Markus and a Kitayama ((1991)
Figure 1 shows a com mparison between the patterrns of the two views of self. In bothh figures the biig circles are the t “self” andd the smaller circles c the “others”. Thhe Xs represeent the variou us characterisstics of the “self” and “others”. Thhe more com mmon propertiies “I” and thhe “others” share, s the more “my” behaviour is influenced by b the surrounnding people (Markus and Kitayam ma 1991: 2266). In figure “A. “ Independeent View of Self”, S the individual’s attributes arre seldom seeen as shared or influenceed by the
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attributes of other people. Furthermore, the boundaries between the individual and other social groups are clearly and definitely marked. In figure “B. Interdependent View of Self”, in contrast, the “self” does not have a closed and fixed boundary since it changes with other partners interacting in social contexts (Bond 1986, Phillips 1976, 1988, Roland 1988, cited in Markus and Kitayama 1991: 227). If the larger circles overlap the small ones, it means that certain attributes do not exist alone but are shared between “self” and “others”, and that the “self” is relatively dependent on certain other people. The “self” is also highly influenced by other factors, such as time and specific context. As a result, the relationships between “I” and “others”, or between the subject and the object, are in this cultural model much closer (Galtung 1981: 822–3). People in this model tend tosynthesize and integrate all the components of a problem or situation into harmonious wholeness (Northrop 1946 and Moore 1967, cited in Markus and Kitayama 1991). An individual cannot be understood if he separates himself from a social whole (Philips 1976 and Swede 1984, cited in by Markus and Kitayama 1991). The precondition of “identity”in the Western tradition is built on the individual’s psychological reflection according to categories (Yang 㝏ᐅ㡢 2008: 157), and this reflection should be based on stable, observable, fixed and distinctive characteristics. Some of the characteristics are psychological, such as temperament, character and personality; others are social, such as race, gender and age. A “self-concept” is the sum of all the identities. Therefore, the experience of “self” in the Western tradition comes from the unique inherent attributes of the individual. This is an essential difference from the Chinese/Asian way, where an individual’s existence depends mainly on the context and the surrounding people. An unfixed and at-any-time changeable personality is appreciated so the individual can easily take the others into or out of his “self-concept”. The concept “self” in the Eastern culture is therefore not as subdivided and frequent as in the Western culture (Lu 昭 2003, 140). The mobility, dependence and uncertainty of this kind of “self” are confirmed. Longkee Sun also confirms that the Chinese “self” exists in the form of “relationships”. He explains that the Chinese writing character “Humanity” (ren, ோ) consists of “two” () and “person/human being” (ை, namely ே). Sun argues that this means a Chinese person cannot be solely defined as a “human being” but as within an “interpersonal relationship.” Without such interdependence with others, a man is “dissolved”. Therefore, the Chinese tend to believe that there is no abstract personality behind specific human relations (Sun 1994: 12). However, such dependence doesn’t mean that the “individual” in the Chinese culture
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should be abolished. It means only that Chinese prefer to see the “I” in connection with “others”, without unambiguously defined rights and obligations as a boundary. Sun also emphasises that such relations have a tendency towards “stability” or “stillness”. That means the “two-person relationships” have the tendency to be formalized and fixed (Sun 1994: 14). They become a fixed model and all the people should learn to follow it when playing the corresponding roles. Examples of such formalized patterns are between king and minister, father and son, husband and wife. This argument not only strengthens the understanding about the form of the Chinese “self” but also points out one of the results of this special form. The above-cited arguments introduce the different way the Chinese people define themselves as among their surroundings. This characteristic means they stay in constant connection with their ascendants and descendants, which can, however, be challenging during migration. In the host society, the immigrants need to learn to rebuild their relationships with others, including with their children, who grow up in different surroundings. Faced with such conflicts, it is a basic human need to defend self-esteem, avoid feelings of uncertainty about “self”, and maintain an affirmatory self-existence (Zhao 嵜ᚿ⿱ et al. 2005, 202–3). The immigrants need to construct an ethnic identity in a way that can rationalize the differences in a proper way and does not disturb the normal life they have chosen for themselves. The adoption of “Children’s Recitation of Classics” is one of these ways.
“Children’s “Recitation of Classics” overseas and the reconstruction of ethnic identity In this part, the background of the “Recitation of Children’s Classics” movement in China and overseas will be briefly introduced as the reference of the analysis.
“Recitation of Classics” Caigui Wang㸦⋤崉崜㸧initiated the movement “Children’s Recitation of Classics” (hereafter, the Chinese expression “Du Jing” will be used) in January 1994, in Taiwan, where he was assistant professor of pedagogy at the National Taichung University. According to this movement, children should first read the “most valuable” and “eternal books”, which are original Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist books (English classics are added later). These books are mostly two thousandyears old. Second, the children
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should read them more than a hundred times, regardless of whether they can understand the books or not. Wang criticizes the idea of education in modern schools, which emphasizes children’s “understanding” too strongly thus making learning too easy. In 1996, Wang began to expand the movement into mainland China in the form of lectures.3 This movement is based on the basic idea that one can best absorb and remember when one is a child. This means that children can store all the contents of the books in their brains by reciting them loudly, even if they are complicated or abstract. Advocators believe that these classic books explain the basic rules about the nature of the cosmos, morality and interpersonal relationships. Through repeated “reciting”, the children are unconsciously influenced: They form a “correct” philosophy about ethnic relationships and moral principles, learn self-discipline and intercourse with others. The advocators also believe that such a way of learning promotes the full development of the children’s mothertongue, which can be the basis for all kinds of learning. Wang claims that children can use this “immersive” way to absorb contents they have not yet understood. Therefore, the children adopt the most beautiful and elegant Chinese directly. If the children are accustomed to classical Chinese by “reciting”, they will have no difficulty with everyday or modern Chinese. The learning of other subjects or skills, such as mathematics or the violin, will be easier because the children have mastered the means of language quite well. The direct motivation of Du Jing in China lies first of all in the parents’ dissatisfactionwith the state-maintained schools. The deepest motivation behind that is the pursuance of Chinese cultural identity, which takes the form of a renaissance of the traditional Chinese school system. The parents who send their children to Du Jing school mostly criticize the onesided emphasis on academic achievements and the neglect of “moral education” (Wang 2016, 447). Consequently, they and their children believe that the extensive recitation of classics helps moral selftransformation (Wang 2016, 435). This “moral education” is not about the civil morality in the Western sense; the emphasis is more that an individual is an ethical whole whose “particular kinds of obligations and entitlements by which we live varies largely according to the social roles that one plays” (Tiwald, in Cushman 2012: 245), but not according to his own choice.
3
See also the websites of “Children’s Recitation of Classics” (ඒ❺宣乷): http://www.aidujing.com/a/2806.html
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Du Jing’s expansion abroad The Chinese immigrants in Germany have contributedthe most to the successful spread of the Du Jing movement from China to abroad. The Zhiqian (⮴對) school, as the first Du Jing heritage language school in current Europe, was founded in Hamburg on 28 September, 2009. It is also the first language school overseas that has successfully maintained the Du Jing movement. The founder of this school, Dr. Mei Yang, a classic Indologist, adopted the idea of Du Jing in 2003. After the birth of her daughter in 2005, influenced by Caigui Wang, she tried to start a “Chinese Classics” course and institutionalize it into an existing language school in Hamburg so that her daughter, who has an American father and speaks English at home, could learn Chinese in this way. When her effort failed, Yang organized a small Du Jing group, and then extended it to more groups. After Caigui Wang’s visit in Hamburg in 2009, the Zhiqian school was founded. This school has successfully lasted for more than seven years. Up to eight teachers conduct sixty-five students in five classes at Zhiqian school every weekend (Yang 㝏ᔏ in Wang ⋤崉崜 2014: 218). In all, hundreds of children from families from Germany, France, Finland, Hungary and England have attended one-week intensive Du Jing courses every quarter in Hamburg;the motivation, interest and learning effect in Chinese far exceeds the normal level in the other language schools in Chinese communities. According to her research, Mei Yang points out that it is difficult for the most Chinese-speaking children abroad to read and write Chinese because they can only develop their language skills in listening comprehension and oral expression through everyday communication with their parents. In this case, they can only understand Chinese superficially and they express it even worse. The more their thinking is developed in the native language, the more unwilling they are to speak Chinese. Such a cycle leads to the fact that the children are beginning to consider Chinese as superfluous. At the same time, their subjective sense of belonging to China is lost so their Chinese identity cannot be built successfully. Yang believes that through Du Jing, children can learn the Chinese characters effectively and develop their speech by repetition. Such a methodology does not reject modern Chinese and everyday communicationbecause its advocators claim that the “classical, abstract and hard” Chinese covers the “modern, concrete and simple” Chinese. After the children unconsciously master the classical Chinese by repetition, they can easily use modern Chinese in their daily life. More importantly, the children can form a
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better sense of belonging to Chinese and Chinese culture. The learning method in the Zhiqian school is simple: reading and repeating. Every weekend in the classrooms, the children read different classical texts according to their age. The teachers, who are also mothers of the students, use a variety of techniques to encourage the children to continue. The children at the Zhiqian school carry out the monotonous task of reciting so effectively because, firstly, they enjoy the cooperation in such a collective. Secondly, their parents help them to form regular habits at home. Parents must encourage the children to recite the texts effectively and persistently every day. It is not easy to form a good repetitive routine. Many parents also motivate themselves to take part in the Du Jing group. For example, theyhave organized the reciting group “Confucius 100” and “Mencius 100” (100-times recitation of “Talk of Confucius” and “Mencius”) and encourage each other. Since the founding of the Du Jing courses in Hamburg, similar courses have spreadto seven cities in Germany. Hundreds of families are committed to teaching their children at home. In Paris, Lyon, Helsinki, The Hague, Budapest, London and Edinburgh, parents are beginning to have their children read “works of Chinese classics”. Many learning groups with the same basic idea are founded based on private connections between the families. After Caigui Wang and Mei Yang visited North America in 2015, more and more Du Jing schools and groups sprung up in North America as well as in Australia (⋤崉崜 2014: 222). Persisting with Du Jing is not easy. Many parents are initially attracted by the brave expectations (the success of Chinese learning and the ethical education) but find it impossible for their children to stick with it. It is also hard to persuade the children that the abstract texts and the uninteresting recitations are helpful. Consequently, they cannot persevere with the daily recitations. Some Du Jing homeschools have closed. Now, in Germany several small Du Jing weekend schools are active in Dortmund, Freiburg, Stuttgart, Bodensee and Muellheim as well as in Berlin and Hamburg.
Research goal and methodology After the theoretical discussion, it is hypothesized that the attitude of distinguishing between “self” and the “others” works in the integration of immigrants in the same way because it influences how immigrants react toa strange culture and foreign objects. The role of heritage culture in this process is decisive because it decides the way the immigrant interprets and reacts to the situation. The building of “ethnic identity” is the reactive product against this essential differentiation as the need for integrating into
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the host society. Furthermore, the choice of the way to build “ethnic identity”, such as Du Jing, also reflects the immigrants’ psychological need for integration, even when it takes the form of “traditional/classical culture.” Consequently, the empirical materials in the present research will be analyzed intwo directions: Firstly, the Du Jing group in Germany, as a minority of Chinese immigrants abroad, continues the persistent Chinesestyle of integration overseas, which is based on the differentiation of “boundaries between self and the others”; secondly, as the first group to promote Du Jing from China abroad, their strong motivation for this special cultural practice represents a certain need, namely, to give their children “the best education,” which differentiates them from the general Chinese immigrant. The research methods were chosen according to this research question. A qualitative anthropological method is taken for the discussion of the way immigrants integrate. This study is based on field research in three Chinese heritage language schools with Du Jing in 2015 and 2016 in Berlin and Hamburg, Germany. The founders of Du Jing schools in other cities are also interviewed. All these schools were initially founded by first-generation Chinese parents. The parents aregreatly motivated to teach their children Chinese, which is for them a foreign language. The importance of the case lies firstly in that the parents, during integration, also focus on the heritage language so much; secondly in that the parents are dissatisfied with the teaching quality of the institutional weekend schools of the heritage language for the Chinese community and so teach their children the kind of Chinese they appreciate (in this case, it is the old classic Chinese. The main teaching materials are the Confucius classics, which are more than two thousand years old) as well as build their children’s understanding about Chinese culture in their own way. Participant observation was implemented mainly in these Du Jing schools as well as in other institutional weekend schools comparatively. The reaction of the children in the classes and the performance of the teachers (mothers) were observed. At the same time, all the teaching records were analyzed as well as the reflections of the founders, in which the development of the schools (including the founding, dissolution and reestablishment) is fully documented. The founder-parents also involved in every phase of the development of the school were interviewed so their purpose of teaching can be better clarified.
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Results: tension, integration and differentiation Why do Chinese descendants learn Chinese abroad? It is quite common for Chinese immigrants in Berlin, and all over the world, to send their children to weekend schools or after-schools to learn Chinese. Despite this enormous investment, Chinese learning in these kinds of school is poor (Tse 2000: 199).4 The universal struggle between the parents and their children is the parents’ wish for their children learn Chinese and the children’s unwillingness. After a detailed description of the Chinese language schools in the United States, Zhou and Li found that these kinds of schools are the direct product of the parental longing for success, because Chinese parents consider their children’s success as their own (Zhou and Li 2003: 68). A more substantial but invisible function of these kinds of school is inheriting the Chinese view of world from the older generation through the teaching of language. So, the difficulty of teaching Chinese to the descendants of immigrants lies in the difficulty of building a balanced and bicultural identity and a successful integration. The differentiated power of all the ethnic-linguistic groups of immigrants leads to the immigrants’ change of language (Tse 2001: 680). The descendants of the immigrants, compared to their parents, tend to assimilate to the dominant language and mode of thinking because the change of social support, social network and lifestyle results ina change of language (Miroy, in Klatter-Former et al. 2001: 60-61). For the Chinese immigrants in Germany, the more they participate in the host society, the more they tend to assimilate into the German culture (Zou et al. 2008: 1151), which limits their chances of speaking Chinese (Zou et al. 2008: 1152). At the same time, their mode of thinking is formed during the process of socialization and resocialization by the overwhelming German factors. In adolescence,many children begin to realize the social meaning of their indelible Chinese characteristics, which are bound to them for their whole life. They start to pay more attention to learning the language and culture in order to find the correct way to be Chinese in Germany.
4
Most criticisms concentrate on the bad learning quality of the writing and reading. Some examples: Mei Yang 㜐ⳳ: “The solution for Chinese-learning of overseas Chinese descendants” (ᾏእ⋶㔯㔁做䘬妋⅛ᷳ忻). Website: http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_483aa3d70100mugd.html. Blog of Jie Kejia ᤩඞె: http://www.51ielts.com/html/canada/edu/2012/0524/79186.html. Blog of Ribenbaihe ᪥ᮏⓒྜ: http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_6271652b0102e1tn.html.
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Many children begin learning Chinese from a very young age, even before school, because their parents believe the earlier they start, the more efficient the learning. They apply all the possible resources and means to help their children balance the conflicts between cultures. The learning of a heritage language is the most important way for the parents to conserve the heritage culture for their children. But for the young children, who are obviously much more assimilated than their parents, the loss of the heritage language and culture is a natural phenomenon, and the boundary of the ethnic-cultural group seems therefore obscure. Whether the children (especially at the early age) can enjoy the learning of the heritage language and maintain a high learning efficiency depends totally on the educating skills of their parents. All parents exert a gradual influence about Chinese culture on their children, which is based on their own social background. In my research, it was observed that all Chinese parents tried their best to make this influence compatible with the values of the host society. Almost only in the case of “learning Chinese” would they would tell their children “This is Chinses style” and “We are Chinese” to persuade their children to follow them. Therefore, it is easy to see, especially through the learning strategies, which are chosen or designed by the parents, how the parents interpret “Chinese specialty”, how they reconstruct the “Chinese identity” and what expectations they have for the future “integration” of their children. All the educating practices depend on the parents’ cultural capital: Each family has their own opinions about the textbook, the intensiveness of learning, the leisure activities Chinese culture involves and the goal for the learning. During this process, which is influenced directly and strongly by their parents, the children construct their consciousness as a member of the Chinese ethnic group in Germany. This consciousness is the main source of their Chinese identity.
The decision of Du Jing The observation about the general Chinese weekend schools confirms P. Bourdieu’s affirmation: “Cultural needs are the product of upbringing and education, […] (which) are closely linked to educational level(measured by qualifications or length of schooling) and secondarily to social origin.” (Bourdieu 1984: 1) The Du Jing group is no exception. Although it is still difficult to classify this group of Du Jing parents by income, level of education or occupation, it is not difficult to detect that the Du Jing parents try to form circles to strengthen some cultural habitus and exclude others. If we say that the Du Jing group in China is motivated by “moralization” (see also the section titled “Recitation of Classics”), what
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is the motivation for the Du Jing group overseas? In Germany, as well as in other countries, Du Jing is firstly seen as a means of learning Chinese. The difference lies only in that the parents believe that theirchildren are reading something “valuable” and “time-tested”. For this reason, they encourage their children to recite the abstract texts, which are for the children totally meaningless and boring. That also gives them more freedom to explain the meaning of “Chinese culture” to their children. In summary, the Du Jingparents invest much more time and energy, as well as education skills, to make the Chinese language and culture learned through Du Jing part of their children’s everyday life. This process always comes with conflicts and confusion. Only some of them can maintain the commitment. The Children’s Recitation of Classics, which is essentially led, organized and pushed by the parents, can be seen as a process of rebuilding cultural symbols. These cultural symbols mark this group and strengthen the sense of the “collective”, which helps the parents transfer efficiently not only the heritage language but also the values and behaviour mode to their children. In this sense, Du Jing parents are the same as all the Chinese parents who want to maintain the influence of Chinese culture for their children.What is special is the type of resources invested.Through recitation and the corresponding activities, with which the parents help their children feel the appeal of the classic works, the parents beautify and selectively strengthen Chinese characteristics, and fulfiltheir need to protect their self-esteem and reconstruct their ethnic identity. All this reflects the needs of overseas Chinese (of a certain class) to integrate into the host society. It reminds us that“integration” and the “construction of ethnic identity” are both realized through concrete dailymechanisms, which actually present the differences of certain social groups and, in turn, strengthen their boundaries. These social groups are marked by certain cultural symbols, which represent different educational practices. Behind the differences on the surface are the different ways every family integrates two cultures and builds a double-cultureidentity for the children.
Chinese culture-specific way of integration Let’s come back to the question at the very beginning: How do the Chinese immigrants construct their “ethnic identity” as a reaction to the German host society? From the field research, it is observed that primary importance is attached to the teaching of language skills. With language as the carrier, some cultural knowledge is also taught but only incidentally. In the
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teaching contents, we find little principles about ethnics or values. Teachers always adapt their teaching strategies and contents to the German society. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that the classroom is only for language study because school itself is a very important place for the Chinese immigrants’ social communication.5 Children inherit ethnic characteristics during their interaction with the ethnic community during language learning. Most Chinese parents are asked by their children, especially when they are unwilling to go to the heritage language school at the weekend: “Why should I learn Chinese?” The answer is always easy and direct: “Your parents (father/mother) are Chinese, so you are Chinese. So, you should learn Chinese.” This unassailable answer contains a lot of information. Firstly, the children should go to the weekend school to learn Chinese at an early age, no matter how much interest they have and how motivated they are, because they are born Chinese; secondly, most of them can only learn Chinese consciously as a language, which is additionally forced in their normal life in Germany. Combined with the teaching practices in the Chinese weekend school,it is easy to see, first of all, that the parents want the children to be accepted membersof society in Germany, and then they should learn Chinese, even if they have no interest at that time. So why do the parents choose such a strategy for integration? In the explanation of the “boundary between ‘I’ and ‘others’”, the structure of Chinese self-concept was described: The individual in Chinese culture is not defined by his uniqueness and independence but according to the particular context because of his social role in the interpersonal hierarchy (Lu 昭 2003: 26). Therefore, each individual must take the dependence on “the others” within the structure of his own self. Because each individual has his own combination of social relations, the “self-concept” of the Chinese is highly contextual, vague, and flexible (Lu 昭 2003: 145). It is totally different from the independent, established, united self, whose existence remains over time and space, which is fully founded in the Western tradition. This flexible “self-concept” of the Chinese has its strength in absorbing and accommodating cultural differences with great contextual flexibility. On one hand is the flexibility of the elastic self-structure without obvious unambiguous boundaries. This structure easily accommodates the cultural 5
Gao, Guanzhong (㧗ය୰), “The first organization for Chinese in Germany: Hamburg Zhonghua Benevolent Association” 㸦ᚫᅜ᭱᪩ⓗὐ⚊烉㯱⟉ᷕ⋶Ể椮炸: http://wxs.hi2net.com/home/news_read.asp?NewsID=85974
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differences into the “self”. They quickly forget their cultural subjectivity and follow what the locals do. What has been observed in the empirical research is that Chinese immigrants hope their children can be excellent members in German society. They are always ready to be assimilated: The children should achieve the same (or more) success in a secular sense as the natives. They have almost no taboosabout adopting the cultural characteristics of the host society. The Chinese are the most assimilated among all the minorities and have totally realized a socially upward mobilization (Zhou ࿘ᩄ2006: 35). On the other hand, we should ask why they like to have their children learn the heritage language if they have such a great motivation for “assimilation”. The children of the first generation of Chinese immigrants also live in the net of relationships connecting their parents and their descendants. The parents are so strongly convinced (sometimes without awareness) that their children are bound to them, or even belong to them, especially overseas. The emphasis of this kind of “connectedness” leads to the respect of and sentimental attachment to the “permanent root”, which is quite common for the Chinese living abroad. The answer from this case study is that,faced with two contradictory views of world, which have essential differences in a basic dimension (the definition of “self” within “the others”), the Chinese immigrants use their heritage culture to preserve their self-esteem and continue their sense of existence, which is abasic human need. On one hand, they take advantage of their self-structure to adopt as many favourable characteristics as possible; on the other hand, they maintain their strong connection with their ancestors and descendants. This “dual character”, as an enduring ethnic feature, is inherited through generations and becomes the strongest source of the Chinese immigrants’ “ethnic identity”. This “dual attitude”, namely the flexible mentality and the fixed “connectedness”, makes the Chinese so invisible and remarkable: They are ready to imitate what the local people are doing, which makes them no different; but at the same time, they try to establish an interdependence with their surroundings, which is always hard in the countries with a more “self-view of independence” (for example, in Germany). The system of this Chinese view of world is somehow self-consistent and resistant to being changed from the outside. As Näth points out, the essence of “Chineseness” is defined less as ethnic or racial, but rather from a specific, in flesh-andblood delivered solicitude (Näth, in Von Gröling-Che et al. 2005: 14). In the Du Jing group, such a “dual character” mentality can also be seen in a concrete way, with the mothers of the small group helping their children with the selective reconstruction of a new identity in the hope that
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they will make the best of the two worlds. Different from many other Chinese parents, they don’t only follow the “cultural instinct” to hold onto the children’s connectedness with them but also have the initiative to look for resources to rationalize and justify their cultural heritage, not only for their children but also for themselves. They don’t only want to adopt all the cultural heterogeneities but also want to use their cultural awareness and knowledge to integrate them. DuJing comes exactly from this hope. The development of Du Jing in China has its sustenance in the strong belief in Confucianism (and other traditional philosophies). They think these “moralized theories” teach the truest principles about the cosmos and ethics (Wang 2016: 436). The Du Jinggroup abroad also believe that these traditional (or classical) theories help the children’s future life in the host society because, in a humanitarian sense, they can overcome the cultural differences, although not all the Du Jing parents have mastered the education skills needed to handle the daily conflicts. This motivation of “Chinese learning” by Du Jing, driven by the deep-lying self-structure, combined with the belief in a “truest principles for classics”, aware or unaware, could frequently lead to the parents’ authoritative behaviour. Some parents, blindly pursuing the quantity of “recitation”, could exert too much stress on their children and bring disharmony to their family. The practice of Du Jing, whichrequires the parents’ hard work and education skills, represents the immigrants’ strongest wish to reconstruct (in the sense of beautifying and justifying) not only an ethnic identity but also their cultural quality.
Discussion Nowadays, a commingled status of cultural characteristics from different sources has become the most normal situation. Everybody, in these globalized times, is a cultural migrant. But the heritage culture plays an invisible and strong influence over everyone. In the present study, these cultural characteristics are summed up as the “relationality” of the individual with the others, firstly the familial members. The influence of the heritage culture of the immigrants can be further observed. Furthermore, the concrete mechanism the subgroups reproducing inside the immigrants can through be revealed in their daily life.In this study especially, we see that the Chinese immigrants reconstruct their ethnic characteristics with the resources of “classic culture” to mark their identity in the host society. Their special origin, after being reconstructed and decorated, help them to build a new network in the ethnic community,
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strengthen their self-esteem, educate their children within a certain chosen circle and, finally, help them to integrate better in the host society.
Acknowledgement This research is part of my Ph.D. at the Humboldt University of Berlin and is financed by the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC).
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Schwartz, S. J. (2001). The Eriksonian and Neo-Eriksonian identity theory and research – A review and integration. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 1 (1), 7–58. Stets, J.E.B. and Peter. J. (2000). Identity theory and social identity theory. Social Psychology Quarterly, 63 (3), 224–37. Sun, L. (1994). Das ummauerte ICH: Die Tiefenstruktur der chinesischen Mentalität. Leipzig: Gustav Kiepenheuer. Tajfel, H. (1981). Human Groups and Social Categories Studies in Social Psychology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. —. (1982). Social psychology of intergroup relationships. Annual Review of Psychology, 33, 1–39. Tiwald, J. (2012). Confucianism and human rights. In T. Cushman, ed., Handbook of Human Rights, 244–54). New York: Routledge. Tse, L. (2000). The effects of ethnic identity formation on bilingual maintenance and development: An analysis of Asian American narratives. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 3 (3), 185-200. doi: 10.1080/13670050008667706 Von Groeling-Che, H.-w., and Yü-Dembski, D. ed. (2005). Migration und Integration der Auslandschinesen in Deutschland (Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes) Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. Wang, C. (2016). Individuality, hierarchy, and dilemma: The making of Confucian cultural citizenship in a contemporary Chinese classical school. Journal of Chinese Politics, 21, 435–52. Wynter, S. (2001). Towards the sociogenic principle: Fanon, the puzzle of conscious experience, of “identity” and what it’s like to be “black”. In M. Durán-Cogan and Antonio Gómez-Moriana, eds., National Identity and Sociopolitical Change: Latin America between Marginizalization and Integration. New York: Routledge. Zhou, M., and Li, X.Y. (2003). Ethnic language schools and the development of supplementary education in the immigrant Chinese community in the United States. In C.T. Suárez-Orozco and L.G. Irina, eds., Understanding the Social Worlds of Immigrant Youth. New Directions for Youth Development, 100 (special issue), 57–73. Zhou, M. K., Susan. S. (2006). Community forces, social capital and educational achivement. Harvard Educational Review, 76, 1–29. ᪉ᩥ. (2008). ⩌య崫᱁♫宋ྠ௳ⓗ᪂㊰ᚄ.୰ᅜↃḁ⤎⭍⭍㊌Ƌ䤥ἁ䦸⭍䈯
ƌ, 25, 89–108. 㧗ය୰. (2014). ᚫᅜ᭱᪩ⓗᾏ⛉̾̾㰰ሏ୰⌵業. Retrieved from http://wxs.hi2net.com/home/news_read.asp?NewsID=85974
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昭. (2003). ᢡ⾺⮬ᡃⓗ䎗㌟. ᮏᅵᚰ⌮Ꮫ◊✲, 20, 139–207. 尉┒. (2012). ୰ᅜேᅾᚫᅜ⼥⪋ධ. Retrieved from http://frankfurt.china-consulate.org/chn/sbwl/t961222.htm 㝏ᔏ. (2010). ᾏእ⌵ᩥᩍ⫱ⓗゎ෩அ㐨 Retrieved from http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_483aa3d70100mugd.html 㝏ᐅ㡢. (1998). ⮬ᡃཬ徠⏺ᩥ௴‣ྲྀྥゅᗘⓗ◊✲忂ᒎ. ᅜእ♫⛉Ꮫ, 6, 24–8. 㝏ᐅ㡢. (1999). ⮬ᕫே” :ಙ௵ᘓᯊ微⛬ⓗ୭◊✲. ♫Ꮫ◊✲, 2, 38–52. ⋤崉崜. (2014). 寢亶ṳ⌨⹛. ி: ୰⌵ṍᒁ. 嵜ᚿ⿱㸪 㟼㸪尔㑥. (2005). ♫宋ྠⓗᇶᮏᚰ⌮⍭⛬̾̾ 㤶 ᅇ⼹୰ᅜⓗ◊✲Ⱳ. ♫Ꮫ◊✲, 5, 202–7. ࿘㘺. (2008). 宋ྠ⌮审:♫Ꮫᚰ⌮Ꮫⓗศᯒ㊰ᚄ. ♫⛉Ꮫ, 4, 46–52.
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Abstract This article seeks to analyse the symbolic image of the body of migrants in a migration system, with the main aim of identifying and describing the process by which the body of migrants become icons and, in particular, social icons. Drawing on the Theory of Social Representations (Moscovici, 1978), the article attempts at investigating how social representations of migrant bodies affect the interaction among individuals of different origin living in a same territory. Fundamental is the analysis of the gender dimension, that the paper explores with the aim of elucidating the impact of body representation at a social level on men and women, whether heterosexuals or homosexuals. In this perspective, the article focuses on the body of gay migrants, with a focus of the role that sexuality plays in understanding the identity of migrants. The article uses the classic Durkheim’s methodological approach: after reviewing the existent literature and analysing interviews to keyinformants conducted on field, it intends to explain the role that the body of migrants plays in the construction of their social representation and whether this is a relevant factor in their degree of social inclusion, exclusion or rejection. This article is the result of the first phase of my ongoing research PhD research on LGBT migration and social remittances.
Introduction This article seeks to analyse the symbolic image of the body of migrants in a migration system, with the main aim of identifying and describing the process by which the body of migrants become icons and, in particular, social icons. Drawing on the theory of social representations (Moscovici 1978), the article attempts to investigate how social representations of migrant bodies affect the interaction among individuals of different origins living in the same territory. The article aims also to identify the dynamics of the construction of identity, and the effects of the perception of identity in relation to the level of integration of the migrants. Fundamental is the
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analysis of gender dimension, which the paper explores with the aim of elucidating the impact of body representation at a social level on men and women, whether heterosexuals or homosexuals. In this perspective, the article focuses on the body of gay migrants, with a focus of the role that sexuality plays in understanding the identity of migrants. The article uses the classic Durkheim’s methodological approach: after reviewing the existent literature and analysing interviews with key-informants conducted in the field, it intends to explain the role that the body of migrants plays in the construction of their social representation and whether this is a relevant factor in their degree of social inclusion, exclusion or rejection. This article is the result of the first phase of my ongoing research PhD research on LGBT migration and social remittances.
The migration phenomenon: a theoretical framework Castles and Miller (2013) argue that we are living in the “age of migration”. This is true to the extent that, since the late 1980s, migration systems and processes have been subject to diversification, globalization, acceleration and politicization. It must be highlighted that migration, intended as the movement of people from one country to another, crossing one or more international borders (Moura 2011), is a human and natural process. Migration is a natural aspiration (Del Re 2017): it is a dynamic force that leads to a significant change in both the migrants and the societies “affected” by the migration process. There is an extensive debate on the factors that cause populations to move: some emphasize individual rationality and household behaviour while others cite the structural logic of capitalist development (Czaika and de Haas 2014, Wade 2004, de Haan and Rogaly 2002). Numerous studies show that the migration process is influenced by social, cultural and economic factors and enhanced by the way these factors interact, affecting men and women, groups and individuals, space and time in a variety of ways (Castles and Miller 2013, Ramírez, García Domínguez and Míguez Morais 2005, Zlotnik 1998). Over the last few decades, new models have emerged, challenging the traditional paradigms (Kurekova 2011). The neoclassical economic theory (Hicks 1932, Lewis 1954, Harris and Todaro 1970) and the historical-institutional theory (Castles 2008), the two main theories explaining how and why migration takes place, have been integrated with new variables. For example, they have been enriched by incorporating the socio-demographic characteristics of the individual as an important determinant of migration, and at the centre of such analyses is a rational individual who migrates with the goal of maximizing his or her
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benefits and gains (Bauer and Zimmermann 1999, Borjas 1978, Fourage and Ester 2007, Liebig and Sousa Pousa 2004, Sjaadstad 1962). Researchers are demanding new interdisciplinary approaches to studying the different aspects and the multilevel dimensions of the migratory experience (Massey et al. 1993, Bretell and Hollifield 2000, Castles 2008, Favell 2008): a greater interconnection between the analysis of causes, consequences, effects and outcomes of the migration process is strongly needed (de Haas 2008). This research adopts the approach pioneered by Mabogunje, known as the migration system theory. Mabogunje (1970: 4) defines a system as: a complex of interacting elements, together with their attributes and relationships. One of the major tasks in conceptualizing a phenomenon as a system, therefore, is to identify the basic interacting elements, their attributes, and their relationships. Once this is done, it soon becomes obvious that the system operates not in a void but in a special environment. (…) [A] system with its environment constitutes the universe of phenomena which is of interest in a given context.
Therefore, a migration system, according to de Haas (2008: 10), can be defined as “a set of places linked by flows and counter-flows of people, goods, services, and information, which tend to facilitate further exchange, including migration, between the places.” Migration systems link people, families and communities over space and time in what today might be called transnational or trans-local communities (Bakewell et al. 2011: 5). Criticisms have been raised about Mabogunje’s migration systems theory due to its roots in the social systems theory of the post-war period: recent generations of scholars studying migrations (de Haas 2009) question the fact that Mabogunje –like later authors such as Lucassen 1987 and Borges 2000–borrowed the concept of “system” from the general social theory and applied it to his theory on migration. The functionalist formulation of the migration systems theory reflects the state-of-the-art of systems theory in the 1950s and 1960s. Bakewell points out that the functionalist approach on which the migration system theory has been formulated is not able to account for the heterogeneity of migration system formation (the existence of different trajectories), change (growth, decline, stagnation) within existing migration systems or the role of agency (vis-à-vis structure) in explaining such change. Unfortunately, since Mabogunje, no systematic attempts have been made to redefine the migration system theory, drawing on subsequent advances in general social theory. However, the fact that migrants may
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experience all dimensions of the migratory experience within a migration system is widely accepted (de Haas 2009).
Migrants’ body and migratory experience Referring to the studies of Bernardie-Tahir and Schmoll (2014), I maintain that within a migration system the body of migrants plays a central role in shaping and reshaping the patterns of the migratory experience. The concept of “body” cannot be easily defined (Pirani and Varga 2008) yet it is one of the main concerns for scholars and academics. While classical sociology and earlier modern sociologists dealt with structural changes in society, they did not analyse the human body as such (Pirani and Varga 2008: 3). Since the 1980s, there have been multiple intellectual efforts to examine the role of the body in a number of ways. In The Body and Society (1984: 1), Bryan Turner claims that it is evident that human beings “have” bodies and at the same time “are” bodies by which human beings are “embodied, just as they are enselved.” He identifies three areas where the body has been treated in some detail: the body’s symbolic significance as a metaphor for social relationship; as a necessary component in the analysis of gender, sex and sexuality; and in the context of the study of medical issues. Shilling (1993) argues that with the individualisation of the body–which points to the presence of barriers between biological bodies and the development of a reflective awareness of the body as a separate entity (Tulle 2008: 32)–it has become an agent of “symbolic value”, which Bourdieu (1986) defines as “symbolic capital.” Bodies, for Bourdieu, mark class in three main ways: “through the individual’s social location, the formation of their habitus and the development of their tastes” (Gill et al. 2005: 5). In France, more than in Italy, the issue of the body was widely explored, as witnessed by the major work by Alain Corbin, Jean-Jacques Courtine and Georges Vigarello, L’Histoire du corps (Cipriani 2008: viii). Since the body has come to be seen as the “locus of multiple social relationships and varied subject positions” (Parrini 2007) through which the individuals organize their social and symbolic life, we assume that the body of the migrants is a “spatial unit” (Bernardie-Tahir and Schmoll 2004) that contributes not only to the physical connotation of the migrant but also to defining how the migrant is (inter)connected to the world. The physical body of migrants and its interactions with the surroundings and other bodies becomes “a focus of meditation, dissection, and investigation” (ibid.) to understand the role it plays in the migratory experience: it can be seen as the “place of condensation” (Sayad 2004) of
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the migratory experience itself. The viewpoint of Sayad on migration is emblematic to understanding the role of the body within a migration system. Sayad, who was the disciple and assistant of Pierre Buordieu, argues that migration is a “total social fact”, to use the expression of Marcel Mauss (1923). Talking about the “double absence” (1999) of migrants–their absence from their place of origin and within their host society–Sayadclaims that migration, as a collective movement produced by individual trajectories, is a “trial” that tests the resistance of the body and the psychological strength of the mind of migrants. The body of migrants is a constant presence within a migration system, being the only support as well as the limit of the migratory experience. The “successful migrant” is the migrant whose body has survived, overcoming the risks and challenges to reach the desired destination. In this sense, the body of the migrant emerges as the only guarantee of survival (Parrini 2007: 62– 3). Thus, we can assume that migration itself is “embodied” by the body of the migrant, which acquires a symbolic and iconic value due to the way it is exhibited. The body itself contributes to the paradigm “migrationmeaning-making”, that is, the process of making, of creating the migratory experience. The migration-meaning-making process begins in the country of origin. Since migration is not merely movement but also a form of sociocultural construct, the so-called “geographical imaginations” play a central role in constructing migration. This concept was first introduced by Said (1978) and further explored by Gregory (1994), and it refers to the “subjectivity of the human conception of locations, spaces, countries and the people inhabiting these physical places” (Del Re 2017: 29–71). People hold certain images of the world’s geographical regions and the people inhabiting these regions, and they tend to consider these images as the mirror of reality. These “geographical imaginations” are fed by the new technologies and, in particular, the social networks, through which a certain image of life in the West is constructed. For example, Facebook pages that promote the “European Dream” are adorned with attractive images of iconic European sites such as the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and St. Peters, with European flags, maps and pictures of flourishing green landscapes. Healthy blooming bodies of migrants who have reached the destination country are presented in photo-galleries aimed at convincing people to make certain decisions about the migratory experience. There is a promotion strategy behind these “geographical imaginations” that underpin a set of mythologies–the “myth of today”, according to the definition of Roland Barthes (1994: 114)–about life in Europe and in the West.
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The process of making migration and the migrant in the country of origin is also fuelled by many signs of a “culture of migration” (Vium 2014), which includes products such as American and European action movies, Western-style clothes and garments, cars and vehicles, and so on. Furthermore, rumours, narratives and discourses about and by those who have migrated abroad contribute to building up imaginings and fantasies about Europe (Appadurai 1996: 31–5, 53–4, Vium 2007). The body plays a central role in the process of migration-meaning-making: it is the decisive factor that provides life opportunities, limiting or extending the experiences of migrants; it implies a space, a boundary, a site and a location where the migrant must find his/her own dimension to carry out his/her life project (Misgav 2013: 6–19).
The theory of social representations: the migrant’s body Moscovici defines social representations as “a specific way of understanding and communicating what we already know (...) a modality of private knowledge that has for function the elaboration of behaviours and the communication between the individuals that are modelled in the individual/society interrelation” (1984: 17). For him, social representations are symbolic/practical/dynamic sets whose status “is of a production and not reproduction or reaction to exterior stimuli, but the utilization and the selection of information from the itinerant repertoire in the society, destined the interpretation and the elaboration of the real.” Thus, the representation of an object, person or whatever consists not only in implanting, repeating or reproducing but also in reconstructing, retouching and modifying the representation itself (Moscovici, 1984: 65). Migration, as a human process, natural aspiration, movement and form of socio-cultural construct, involves representations, dreams, images, desires, needs, ambitions and projects of life for migrants in their individual-collective migratory experience. It is necessary to understand and articulate the motivations in the migration process (push and pull factors) in the context in which they are built (system). Migration must be analysed taking into account the interactions in the context in which they take place, in a global perspective, since everything is indefinable and unable to be fully identified, even the migratory experience (Patrício 1999). The social representations of migration and migrants are built on the political, economic, cultural, social and media variables of a certain place at a certain time. Since the late 1980s, before the outbreak of the so-called “refugee crisis”, migration has been represented in apocalyptic terms (de
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Haas 2008: 1305, 1317). Images of masses of men and women crossing the Mediterranean Sea in overcrowded boats, sinking or landing on the shores of Italy, Greece and Spain, continue to fuel this apocalyptic representation of migration, where migrants are depicted as “lost souls” fleeing poor and disadvantaged countries in search of better life conditions (Mallki 1996: 387–90). “Lost souls” were also the Albanian migrants who disembarked in Bari on August 8, 1991: images of a mass of bodies, a sea of people huddled on a hijacked ship, squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder into every available millimetre of space have become part of the collective imagery. Their bodies, the clothes and the shoes they were wearing and the few items they brought with them became the representation of their status and social position. The presentation of the body is always connected to a person’s social status (Pirani and Varga 2010: 55–6). Most of the 15,000 Albanian migrants who disembarked in Bari came from the poorest areas in Albania. They had nothing with them. Their bodies were their business card (Le Breton 2000). The bodies of these Albanians were the main players in the 1990s refugee crisis. Today, they have been replaced by the bodies of migrants coming from the southern shores of the Mediterranean. As of September 2017, more than 133,000 migrants from Africa have crossed the Mediterranean in 2017, according to the UNHCR,1 of which almost 2,500 are feared to have drowned. Photographs and videos of people rescued off the coasts of Italy and Greece and pictures of migrant bodies floating in the Mediterranean have been circulating in the media since the outbreak of the current migration crisis. The shocking image of Alan Kurdi, a two-year-old Syrian refugee, lying face down on the Turkish beach of Bodrum in early September 2015, has become the symbol of all the children who lost their lives trying to reach safety in Europe and the West. We need to remind ourselves that a “symbol” is something that exists in reality, in belief or as a concept, and that in our times the role of symbols is being played by the so-called “icons”, making the meaning of the religious symbols shift to the secular domain (Verga 2010: 55–6). The image of Alan Kurdi is a symbol and an icon. Symbolic and iconic meanings interplay with the concept of “totem” (Lévi-Strauss 1967). In this regard, Polly Pallister-Wilkins (2015) stated that the image of Alan Kurdi is a “totemic” image of the current migration crisis. She argued that “the innocence of the child becomes a proxy for naturalness, blamelessness and it becomes easier to invoke compassion
1 UNHCR (2017). Mediterranean situation – sea arrivals in 2017. Data available at http://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/mediterranean (accessed: 25 September 2017).
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and justice because the child is seen as separate from and free from the messy politics and contingency of the ‘adult’ world.” The photo of Alan’s lifeless body, taken by Nilüfer Demir, can be recognized as “iconic” due to the considerable attention it has had from media commentators and academic researchers alike. In his study of iconicity, Perlmutter (1998) identified several key factors that determine how and why certain images, provoking strong, evocative reactions across diverse publics, become iconic: prominence, where its “greater likelihood to achieve a higher rank in our collective memory is influenced by its place order in the agenda of media” (1998: 13); frequency, claiming that the repetition across diversified media contexts underwrites the assumed power of the image; instantaneousness, in keeping with the perception that icons reach eminence immediately; and transposability, which highlights “how the ‘quoting’ of an icon from one media source to the next facilitates retention, even when stripped of its original context” (1998: 14). Perlmutter points out how simplicity seems to go hand-in-hand with iconicity (1998: 15–6). The image of Alan Kurdi, just like other images of the current refugee crisis, is as simple as it is iconic. It shows that the visual representation of a fact seems to be particularly powerful in drawing attention to, understanding, and exposing political events and their consequences (Del Re 2017: 33; Withnal and Dathan 2015). We assume that the visual representations of a fact, in which clothing is included, contribute to its social representations.
Clothing as a social extension of the body In his book Five Bodies: Re-figuring Relationships (2004), the Canadian sociologist John O’Neill explores the relationship between the body and social institutions: introducing the concept of “communicative body”, he argues that the body is “the general medium of our world, of its history, culture and political economy” (2004: 4). O’Neil also emphasises that the natural (biophysical) body is intrinsically coupled with the symbolic meanings every society attaches to it. Clothing, for instance, plays a central role in shaping these symbolic meanings: clothing is more than a means of protecting the body and regulating temperature. It is an extension of the body, and works as a means of expressing one's personality and social status (Brey 2000: 11). The “social skin” (Turner 1980), consisting of clothing, garments, attitudes, formation of the body and gestures, may facilitate the integration of the individual into larger groups (Fisher and Loren 2003). As pointed out by Craik (1993), the way one is formed through clothes, makeup and behaviour constitutes the sexual identity and
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social position, namely, the dressed body constitutes tools of self. Clothing is important to the interpretation of body image and, of course, has further implications in shaping responsive attitude (De Long, Salusso Deonier and Larntz 1980). According to Elizabeth Grosz (1994: 83), body image constructs the dynamic interrelation between the physical body and its “social extension”, such as clothes, makeup and underwear: in this view, clothes are the means of connection between body, mind and context. Terence Turner (2012) argues that covering, uncovering, decorating or otherwise altering the body seems to have been a concern of every human society since the dawn of time. Clothes, costumes, garments and other bodily adornments can be seen as the common frontier between society, the social self and the psycho-biological individual. Clothing is the “surface of the body”, and becomes both the symbolic stage upon which the so-called “drama of socialization” is portrayed and the language through which it is expressed. Even though it may appear to individuals a frivolous and inconsistent business, the adornment and public presentation of the body is a serious matter for cultures. The feeling of being in harmony with clothing gives people a “measure of security” (Turner 2012). As Lord Chesterfield remarks: Dress is a very foolish thing; and yet it is a very foolish thing for a man not to be well dressed, according to his rank and way of life; and it is so far from being a disparagement to any man’s understanding, that it is rather a proof of it, to be as well dressed as those whom he lives with: the difference in this case, between a man of sense and a fop, is, that the fop values himself upon his dress; and the man of sense laughs at it, at the same time that he knows that he must not neglect it (cited in Bell, 1949: 13).
Clothing, dress and bodily adornment constitute one such cultural medium, perhaps the one most specialised in the shaping and communication of personal and social identity.
Gendered icon of migrants’ bodies Azad is a young man from Syria. He travelled to Europe in 2015 with some of his relatives’ friends. During his journey he faced many challenges. “The hardest part was the sea crossing from Turkey to Greece. The waves were really powerful and scary. It was very dangerous. A wave crashed over the side and my clothes were completely soaked through. I was shaking for an hour”, he told me in an interview. “We travelled
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through Greece and Macedonia, before crossing into Serbia. We were stuck there for a couple of weeks. We reached the border with Croatia and, finally, after more than one month, we crossed into Austria, where I could join my family, who was already living there”. Azad succeeded in his migratory experience. Since living in Austria, he has started behaving as a young European, adopting European-style attitudes such as the acknowledgement that clothing may be a way to be accepted and integrated into society (Arvanitidou and Gasouka 2013: 111–2). Clothing represents a type of person and acts as a “kind of visual metaphor for identity” (Droogsma 2007: 296). It is also a visual means of identifying the community a person belongs to: “Clothes can create boundaries between people and shape collective identities (...) they are a visual means of creating community” (Shaheed 2008: 290). Identity construction is centred on the meaning one gives to the clothes he or she wears (Moore 2007: 239). Azad wears European-style clothes to feel part of a (new) community. He is (re)presenting his body according to the social status and the social position he is trying to acquire in Austria. While he was living in KRG in a refugee camp, he depicted himself as a “poor Syrian refugee living in a tent in a refugee camp.” Nowadays, since he is living in Austria, he considers himself a “young Syrian man who migrated to Europe.” There has been a shift in his social representation and the clothes he wears play a central role in this sense. He continues to be “a Syrian man” but his social status has changed because he is living in a peaceful country, in a proper house with all the facilities. Accordingly, his body is acquiring a new symbolic and iconic role. Like his young peers, he is making a continuous series of choices and changes. He is trying to connect with the behaviours and lifestyles of his target group, seeking a leading role, seeking to eliminate the insecurity of his future. This might explain the search for a body trend, an interest that enables young people like Azad to feel recognized and accepted by his peer group. Assuming the characteristics of the group, dressing like them and acting the same way they act might be a way to access the new community. Nevertheless, it may happen that in the destination country, the migrant is treated as an “invasive body” that interrupts the daily routines of the locals (Sisk 2014). First, the body itself visually places the migrant as a stranger. Second, the migrant body is emptied of subjectivity and history in that its strangeness inhibits identification and obstructs its integration into the local symbolic networks that name it. The Muslim women in Europe who wear the veil, for example, are mainly seen as the “Other.” Traditionally, the veil was (also) a visual sign of spatial separation, between sacred and profane, private and public
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(Mernissi 1992: 113–35). However, in the second half of the 20th century, the veil became “a signifier for the Islamic world, a (supposed) backwardness associated with it, or simply the Other who refuses to ‘fit in’” (Wenk and Krebs 2007: 24). Especially since the New York terrorist attacks and the subsequent war in Afghanistan, the veil appears to have become a “highly visible sign of a despised difference” (Donnell 2003: 123). This is also true for the headscarf. Wenk and Krebs (2007: 26) argue that the headscarf found in representations of female migrants like those in pictograms seemed to be no more than a signifier of the other, backward culture and was therefore comparable to the stereotypical metonyms for male foreigners, such as the moustache.
The veil is not only a matter of hidden femininity but also an “obstruction” to discovering what is behind the culture of veiling (Mirzoeff 2007: 60). “For Western men in particular, the veil represented a challenge, not only to the imagination, but to the right to scrutinize their subjects” (Al-Ani 2003: 100). While the veil of the Muslim women is mainly seen as a symbol of oppression (Blakeman 2014), the keffiyeh, the traditional Arab male headdress or shoulder scarf that has become a Palestinian nationalist symbol, is heavily associated with Islamic terrorism (Matusitz 2014: 250) and, in particular, with Palestinian terrorist groups such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. In the last few years, the keffiyeh has become a fashion accessory, and it adorns the shoulders of Palestinian-sympathizing students as well as celebrities all around the world. Many Muslim migrants wear the keffiyeh as a symbol of their belonging to a Muslim transnational community (Sahin 2013: 4–5). We assume that the keffiyeh is a symbol of identity originally used by Arabs and is still used either to symbolize Arab identity or connote affinity with Arabs. Furthermore, the keffiyeh can be seen as an extension of the body (McLuhan 1964) in the context of logos, icons, totems and other forms of visual symbols that are attached to the body. The migrants who wear the keffiyeh are socially representing their background. The iconic use of the keffiyah by a “successful migrant” like Mohammed Assaf is emblematic. Mohammed Assaf became famous across the Arab world in 2013 after he won the reality-TV competition Arab Idol. He was born in Misrata, Libya, to Palestinian parents. His mother's family hails from the village of Bayt Daras, which was captured and depopulated by the nascent IDF in 1948, and his father's family is from Beersheba. Assaf's parents moved from Libya to the Khan Yunis
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Refugee Camp when he was four years old. During Assaf’s time in Arab Idol, he sang patriotic songs about the suffering of his people during the war. His final performance was a personal rendition of Ali al-keffiyeh, “Raise Your Keffiyeh,” a Palestinian nationalist anthem, and he called on Palestinians to raise their keffiyehs and unite in light of the split between the two major Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah. The keffiyeh became the extension of his body, accomplishing the function of unifying people, which serves to uphold feelings of nationhood and the notion that “we are all in this together.” We can assume that the keffiyeh of the migrants who arrive in Europe–which is part of their everyday traditional clothing–may be seen as support for determined practices of inclusion that allow the creation and the subsequent implementation of their life projects. The keffiyeh, the veil and the European-style clothes mark the territory upon which a network of exclusions and inclusions is traced. It may happen that migrants are excluded from or included in a group according to the way they present themselves. There is a social boundary in which the interpretation of the signs marks inclusion, exclusion and/or rejection of bodies (Foucault 1992). Skin colour, demeanour, certain features and particular clothing play a central role in the process of inclusion and exclusion. Thus, once the migrants have crossed the geographic and legal border, a new “social” border emerges in their daily experience in the country of destination. The way the body of the migrants is read and translated by others is the basis of its social inclusion or exclusion, and the consequence can be the migrant’s integration and acceptance or his/her humiliation and exploitation (Butler 1993).
Gay migrants: sexualized body and social representations In our societies, migrants are seen as foreign and marginal (Burgio 2009: 228–9). In the collective imaginary and to a certain degree of generalization, as foreigners they are enemies, and as marginal people they are deviant (Burgio 2009: 288). Those who come from other cultures are therefore foreigners to us, they are the “radical alterity”, and even more so if they express other differences as well, as Marcasciano argues (2010). LGBT1 1 LGBT is the acronym of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the term is an adaptation of LGB, which was used to replace the term “gay” in reference to the LGBT community beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s. Activists believed that the term “gay community” did not accurately represent all those to whom it referred. Generally speaking, the term LGBT may be used to refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual. Many variants of the term exist, including variations that change the order of the letters: LGBT or GLBT are the most
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migrants, and especially gay migrants to whom I refer in this paper, live the peculiar experience of being both an ethnic and/or cultural minority and a sexual minority. LGBT migrants are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals fleeing persecution based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. While most other migrant populations flee persecution by different actors–community, state and others–the migration of LGBTs is caused by the need to escape violence committed by family members, friends, neighbours and community members. The condition of being a gay migrant implies that the individual has to deal on the one hand with the host society in general and on the other with the gay minority population in the destination society. There are a number of issues raised by the way the body of a gay migrant is perceived. Several gay migrants from the Middle East that I interviewed in London argued that the body is at the same time the cause of discrimination and persecution and the symbol of self-determination and self-confidence. Through their body, gay migrants tend to claim their existence as individuals and they want to express their pride on a daily basis, even in their migratory experience: “I feel strong, which is part of my body identification,” Khalil, a 26-year-old man from Baghdad told me. “I feel confident about my body. I like that I feel strong and I feel I fit in my skin. I feel like I am an outer projection of what is inside me, and I like that.” I have noticed that most of the gay migrants I met in London, especially those coming from the most repressive and homophobic countries, chose to get very specific body modifications that signal to others their place in the community. Common signals include piercings besides the earlobes (particularly cartilage, nostril, septum and eyebrow), tattoos and non-traditional hair colours and styles (especially short hair and undercuts). This serves as a way for gay migrants to overcome the conventions of hetero-normativity and “get out of the closet” (Coppola 2014: 244). These body modifications may affect the way society looks at
common terms and those most frequently used. LGBT may also include additional Q’s for “queer” or “questioning”, producing the variants LGBTQ. The shorter form LGBT+, to mean “LGBT and related communities”, is also used. The acronym LGBTTQQIAAP, which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, ally, pansexual, has also resulted, although it has been criticized for being confusing, and has sparked controversy. For a thorough overview of LGBT issues, see D.T. Meem, M.A. Gibson, M.A. and J.F. Alexander, Finding Out: An Introduction to LGBT Studies. Los Angeles: Sage 2013.
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gay migrants. Yet, even within the gay host community,2 there might be episodes of intolerance and discrimination against gay migrants. I was told by several of the gay migrants I interviewed in London that they were discriminated against for their skin colour, their clothes and their hairstyle by members of the gay community in the destination country. The UNHCR has pointed out that gay migrants, especially those who seek international protection, are one of the most “isolated and brutalized groups of people worldwide”, even within the gay community.3 Patanè (2002: 15–6) argues that the intercultural relationship between the Western gay community and gay migrants in our cities is influenced by the historic weight of European homosexual tourism, which is directed toward destinations like Cuba, Thailand, and Sri Lanka (where forms of male prostitution are tolerated) or toward places like Maghreb where (because of their non-identity based conception of sexuality) young men offer themselves for sex intercourse to Europeans, often in exchange for a small gift.
The body of gay migrants becomes their representation and identity: they become the metonymy of the gay migratory experience as a whole. The body of gay migrants is associated with the dimension of sex work and prostitution (Martinez 2013; Massari 2009): bodies can be “goods of consumption or exchange”; bodies can be “symbols of subjugation and abuse”; bodies can be stripped of their rights; bodies can be expropriated for their capacity to express themselves differently (Massari 2009). Research shows that the majority of gay migrant sex workers have voluntarily decided to work in the sex industry in order to avoid a greater exploitation in other sectors (Mai 2016). In contrast to the image of the prostitute as a passive victim of trafficking, sex workers can be defined as “agents of their migratory projects that decide to use commercial sex for 2
The gay community, also referred to as the LGBT community, is a loosely defined grouping of gay and LGBT-supportive people and organizations united by a common culture and social movements. Gay and LGBT activists and sociologists act as a counterbalance to heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, sexualism and conformist pressures existing in the larger society. See: A. Bausum, Stonewall: Breaking out in the fight for gay rights, New York, Penguin,2015; J. Dececco and V. Bulloughm, Before Stonewall: Activists for gay and lesbian rights in historical context, New York, Routledge, 2014. 3 UNHCR (2016). Searching for a safe place to be gay. In http://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/2016/5/573b34f04/searching-for-a-safe-placeto-be-gay.html (accessed: 26 September 2017).
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instrumental aims” (Oso Casas 2010: 47–65). Nonetheless, gay sex trafficking exists and this is a serious issue with its own particular set of difficulties (Martinez 2013). When dealing with gay migrants, we need to take into account the dimension of sexuality, which plays a central role and is necessary for understanding the identity of the migrants and how it affects their bodies. When a (gay) migrant leaves his home to explore a completely different space, the tensions and risks he encounters affect and transform his representations of sexuality. The migratory process brings about important changes in sexual habits and results in the (gay) migrants’ adoption of new practices. This is why the gay migrant sex workers seem to be keener to explore and overpass the boundaries of “traditional” sexuality (Coppola 2014; Patanè 2002). This leads gay migrant prostitution clients to eroticize imagined characteristics like skin colour, penis size, wild voraciousness and the uncontaminated authenticity of these young men, who are thus “racialised” and “sexualised” (Burgio 2017). The body of gay migrants becomes an object of sexuality (Vaes et al. 2013), and hence a sexualised icon (Weiss 1994: 63). When sexual practices and social representations of gay migrants interplay with those of the other migrants and of the host communities, new models of gender and sexuality are forged. Gay migrants are pioneers of what Burgio (2017) calls the “inter-culture of desire” and put in practice a complex intercultural dialogue through kisses and caresses, desires and pleasures, gestures and identities. With their desire and their loving, they practice a concrete intercultural communication in which symbols and icons interact and (re)shape the dimension of their body.
Conclusions In this article I intended to point out the symbolic image of the body of migrants in a migration system. Starting from the literature review of the main theories about migration and focusing and continuing with the role of the body–whose concept has been explored and analysed–in the migratory process, the paper has sought to investigate how social representations of migrant bodies affect the interaction among individuals of different origins living in the same territory. The theory of social representations is the framework on which the research was conducted. The paper has attempted also to identify the dynamics of the construction of identity, and the effects on the perception of identity in relation to the level of integration of the migrants. The paper has also explored the gender dimension, elucidating the impact of body representation at a social level on men and women,
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whether heterosexuals or homosexuals. In this perspective, attention was focused on the body of gay migrants, seeking to highlight the role that sexuality plays in understanding the identity of migrants. My research is in its first stage and the fieldwork is still ongoing. The interviews I have conducted are few: the empirical data, for instance, is limited and needs to be further explored to have an overall view of the issue. This paper is part of a broader study I am conducting for my PhD thesis on LGBT migrants and what we may call “LGBT migrations.” The research aims at investigating four dimensions of the LGBT issues related to migration: 1) whether an “LGBT migration” exists and differs from a “heterosexual migration;” 2) whether LGBT migrants arrive in Europe and are involved in LGBT sex trafficking; 3) whether homosexuality, as a condition for which people are persecuted in many countries where being gay is illegal, may be seen as an “entry point” to obtain the recognition of the status of refugees; and 4) how the LGBT migrants differ from the other migrants and how they are perceived within the country of destination.
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CHAPTER FOUR NOWHERE’S LAND: WHY IMMIGRANTS SHOULD CURRENTLY FEAR MOVING TO EUROPEAN UNION SOCIETIES MARIA JOÃO GUIA
Abstract This chapter reflects upon global policies with respect to migrants, especially economic migrants. Through a satirical analysis of the topic, taking the perspective of the immigrant, this article proposes three reasons for why immigrants should fear leaving their countries of origin or residence to settle in European Union member states. These reasons include: (a) the risk being perceived of as a threat to the receiving country; (b) the risk of being criminalized and sent to a detention centre or prison instead of being welcomed and duly paid for their labour; and (c) even if conferred nationality, no European Union society will completely accept them as being complete members of the host society. Over the coming sections, I will describe how immigrants have been increasingly criminalised over the course of the last 30 years in response to political decisions that prioritise the protection of sovereign borders over human rights. Moreover, I shall describe how this process of criminalization has resulted in the mass perception of immigrants as aggressors. Keywords: Immigrants, Criminalization, Immigration policies, Potential ennemies
Introduction Over recent years, immigrants have been increasingly regarded with prejudice; perceived of as criminals when they are in fact more often the victims. Consequently, not only should migrants fear entering and settling in European Union (EU) member states but it is also high time we dispel the El Dorado illusion of migration to Europe that emerged in the postSecond World War golden period in which immigrants were, for the most
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part, welcomed into European societies to help with reconstruction efforts. And while this approach might have significant economic benefits, thus providing an objective benchmark for political mileage, it would also be fair to say that this approach does nothing whatsoever to benefit more magnanimous ambitions, like human rights. In fact, despite a number of trans-European treaties for the supposedly humane handling of immigrations matters, when challenged by the massive regularization of immigrants at the end of the last century or in response to international requests for the protection of refugees following the ongoing Mediterranean Crisis, EU member states have tended to convergence upon decisions that follow a path of criminalization. These responses by EU member states echo US president Trump’s draconian immigration measures, including the building of walls, as has been seen among the Eastern European member states. The stigma associated with being an immigrant in Europe is not only a product of government policies but also an array of subliminal messages emanating from media and the political sphere that work in tandem to ensure that the immigrant is properly reviled. These stereotypes and prejudices are a product of: (a) the power of words, such as the use of ‘illegal’ in relation to immigrants, thus imposing upon them a quality that would ordinarily apply to a fact, not to a person; (b) the importation of crimmigration policies into Europe, thus merging criminal and administrative laws for the purposes of excluding immigrants from society via imprisonment or coercive expulsion measures; (c) inconsistent approaches to immigrant entry and residency requirements among member states; (d) the use of the media to publicize criminal networks or acts instead of stressing demographic or economic gains; (e) the emergence of spaces of exception as a way to control new migrations challenges (e.g., the Mediterranean Crisis); (f) the implementation of certain measures that stratify foreign-nationals from third countries into a stratified European Union; and (g) the inability or lack of will among member states to solve legal dilemmas surrounding stateless persons or those whose detention period has ended without being removed but who are not eligible to stay legally. Cumulatively, these artefacts have contributed toward the creation of an army of invisibles who remain resident, but unwanted, in EU societies. Within this atmosphere, one is left fearing the spirit of openness that has historically typified European society. This state of fear has subsequently given way to a growing socio-political movement that is pitted against foreign-nationals, and not just immigrants. In countering this state of fear and growing xenophobia, it is crucial to bear in mind the
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positive sociodemographic, economic and cultural contribution of immigrants to contemporary EU societies. Following the work of Donohue (2012), Fassin (2011), Kalhan (2010), Noble (2011) and Sarikakis (2012), I have explored the loss of migrant rights in the United States of America, drawing comparisons to the increasingly harsh measures and sentiments that have materialised in relation to immigrants in EU societies. Three key talking points have emerged subsequent to this analysis: (a) the feeling of non-inclusion among immigrants in receiving societies; (b) the increased risk of immigrants being perceived of as a threat to receiving societies instead of an acknowledgement of their positive contribute to these societies; and (c) the growing trend toward the detention of immigrants while in irregularity and subsequent questions of human rights.
“You’re not my brother, remember that!” The rules governing that way in which immigrants are received and perceived by destination societies tends to be in a continual state of flux. Even if migrants are conferred nationality after some years of living in a certain country, barriers may exist that prevent the migrant from developing a sense of belonging to the said society. Worse still, the way immigrants have been regarded, as well as the increasing securitisation of borders, has led to the negative stigmatisation of migrants. In fact, Fassin (2011) suggests that European border and immigration control authorities have, over the last 30 years, targeted and subsequently marginalised a group of individuals who exist on the fringes of the law, treating them as exceptions (Das and Poole 2004, Inda 2006). Wimmer and Glick Schiller (2002) describe this process of immigrant marginalisation as a form of methodological nationalism, which, despite being in irregular situation, partial and ineffective, is apparently still functional. By increasing the volume of immigrants in irregularity through law enforcement (Becker 1963) and immigration quotas/restrictions (Ngai 2004), the state promotes a racial criminalization of migrants (Palidda 2011), which Heyman and Smart (1999) suggest may be unconstitutional. Within this obscure legitimacy (Coutin 1995), geographies of exception are created in the name of sovereignty (Schmitt 2005), moving in the interstices of law (Agamben 2005). Paradoxically, the exploitation of irregular immigrant workers is overlooked as it benefits a number of economic sectors. Sociological and historical characteristics (Joppke 1998) define how these illegalities or irregularities are administered (Foucault 2009), thus creating
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different levels of equality before the law (Fischer and Spire 2009), what Heyman (1998) refers to as an “ethnography of bureaucracies.” At the same time, the increasingly hostile border and immigration control measures that are pervading the EU, especially in the wake of Directive 2008/115/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 16 December 2008 (herein simply referred to as Directive 2008/115/EC), and the possibility of legitimising or extending immigrant detention, have been a constant threat to the immigrants’ defence of human rights. As well as imposing a number of restrictive measures on new immigrants, this directive also severely limited the immigrants’ right to appeal a reappreciation of their case when a right to contradictory applies. Sarikakis (2012) explores the loss of speech rights amongst detained immigrants, what this means, its functional purpose and its immediate consequences for immigrants, especially for female immigrants. According to the author, it has become increasingly common in Western countries for criminalised and securitised immigrants to lose their communication rights while they occupy a position of so-called exceptionality. The myth of freedom, mobility, autonomy and interconnection that is generally attached to the concept of globalization (Mosco 2004, cited in Sarikakis 2006) conceals a system in which a process of immobilisation and silencing – by way of physical confinement – takes place, relegating those who fail to be recognised to an alternate reality in which they lack status. But when the state transforms migrants in irregular condition into dehumanised outsiders, whose treatment represents a departure from normal democratic processes, their recognition as citizens, and subsequent respect for their social rights, disappear (Sarikakis 2006). Under such circumstances, silence becomes the norm and a new geographical territory of immobilisation forms, rendering individuals simultaneously inaccessible and incommunicable. Such exceptional status, Sarikakis (2006) contends, serves to prevent the circulation of undesirable groups and contributes to a line of discourse that opposes the “other” (who is given no chance to voice their own condition) to the “norm” (the hegemonic voice that speaks of this other in a construction that is significantly informed by notions of social class, citizenship and criminality) (Sudbury 2004, cited in Sarikakis 2006). Immigrant voices are removed from societies not only through this process of silencing but also by the way in which Europe’s physical borders, especially the new Schengen space, have been reconceptualised. Fassin (2011) argues that territorial borders (Alvarez 1995)–physical limits that define states–and social boundaries (Lamont and Molnár 2002)–symbolic constructs that define one’s class, nationality and race–are
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inseparable if we are to understand the mechanics of immigration and the phenomenon of inclusion versus exclusion. Immigrants who cross physical borders and establish a home in a new society experience a new set of boundaries as they encounter differential levels of treatment, a symbolic margin delineated around each individual (Bohannan 1967 cited in Fassin 2011) that imposes different limits upon different people. What contemporary immigration seems to reveal is a society defined by the exclusion of the other (through physical borders) and stratified according to different levels of membership (or lack thereof). This differentiated access to legal statuses and citizenship reminds the newly arrived that they are not members of the host society (Waldinger and Fitzgerald 2004). Moreover, Fassin (2011) observes a cycle of attitudes toward immigration. At times, immigration issues are dealt with openly and with respect for human rights and dignity treated as paramount. At other times, however, a far more hostile approach pervades the immigration discourse, often translating into increasingly rigid geopolitical borders and boundaries. This cyclical of attitudes to immigration, according to Rudolph (2006), appears to be mediated by certain social, economic, political and ideological factors. Lewis (2007) observes a number of similarities between the socio-political atmosphere at the dawn of the twenty-first century and the interwar period when the Great Depression was raging; the perception of immigrants as potential threats, the withdrawal of their rights, increased immigration enforcement and surveillance, and the manipulation of public fears. Today, immigrant mobility is being progressively restricted in the West (Sassen 1999) and, just 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, physical walls are once more being erected between countries as new social barriers proliferate (Brown 2010). What promised to be the symbolic end to European territorial divisions has since descended into a state of ever-growing boundaries and instruments of control as the war on terrorism rages on (Huysmans 2006). While immigration issues in America and Europe are fairly well documented, little is known about migration in the developing countries where the majority of forced migration occurs and where refugee camps continue to proliferate (McDonald 2000), and this raises a number of concerns. One of them is their nationality, which may raise important concerns about being a potential threat. So, one of the questions now is to know whether questions such as risk, nationality and immigrants may be intersectional, giving birth to new forms of inequalities between different groups of people.
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“Hey you, immigrant, is your nationality a risky one?” Despite an increasingly globalized world, people of certain nationalities have had their movement restricted. Trump’s travel ban, supposedly based on certain nationalities being deemed a risk to national security, and the use of imposing walls to solve or to avoid issues of irregular immigration remind us of Gunter Jackobs’ theory of the penal law of the enemy. Fassin (2011) explores the inconsistencies of globalization through the lens of immigration, drawing attention to a growing circulation of goods and businesses in response to increased restrictions circumventing the circulation of certain nationalities. Fassin (2011) describes these restrictions in terms of what he calls a “wall around the West”, built to keep immigrants in irregularity out of Europe and North America. Although immigration expanded under the banner of multiculturalism and acceptance, discrimination and hostility have become commonplace as religious and cultural differences soon became apparent (Appadurai 2006). These differences usually result in the establishment of a stigmatised minority who, having crossed numerous physical borders, continue to be subject to rigid social boundaries (Fassin 2010). According to Fassin (2011), this situation is a product of the growing governmentality, which broadly encapsulates all matters pertaining to the control and subjectivation of individuals and populations, surpassing sovereignty in a complex network of policies and measures that target the other. Following these tendencies, the surveillance and control of immigrant populations has evolved into a refined system of identification (Crettiez and Piazza 2006), not only at the entrance points into states but inside the physical borders of the country as well. In the EU, databases are constantly fed with information concerning legal and residential statuses of settled migrants (Broeders 2007), while consulate and embassy officials practice a form of surveillance under the scope of their national Ministry of Foreign Affairs, forming a primary barrier of defence against unwanted immigrants (Bigo and Guild 2005). In both the EU and the USA, numerous deaths and violations of basic human rights have occurred on account of border control (Spijkerboer 2007). Despite their long and hideous genealogy, internment under the pretext of security and ease of removal in concentration camps remains the preferred 21st-century solution to unwanted (in this case immigrant) populations (Agamben 2005). The construction of new waiting areas and detention centres has increased significantly (Kobelinsky et al. 2009), resulting in the creation of physical spaces in which individual rights are often overlooked and kept away from public scrutiny, despite obvious legal constraints. Europe has
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even gone so far as to push the control and regulation of entry to countries outside its physical borders, such as Libya and Morocco, where these unwanted populations are confined in camps built expressly to prevent their crossing (Pian 2009). Moreover, the living conditions of these camps located outside EU scrutiny remain largely unknown. Immigrant removal– which in many situations is little more than a veiled euphemism for roundups, chases, arrests, violence and sometimes even death–is also increasing, reminiscent of dark times in European history in which deportations were common (Ellermann 2009, Kanstroom 2007).
“Immigrant, be aware of possible detention!’ How and when did European Union societies begin to implement such measures? What happened that the tradition of welcoming immigrants morphed into increasing levels of control and scrutiny? Answering these questions requires that we look to the USA, where many of these measures have their genesis. The 9/11 terrorist attacks not only exposed gaps in the exchange of information between US security agencies and the weaknesses of a failed immigration system, it also prompted the reorganisation of federal immigration policies and enforcement, including the transition of responsibilities from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to various new agencies established under the scope of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) (Legomsky and Rodriguez 2009). One such new agency was Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), charged with the removal of criminal non-citizens (US Department of Homeland Security 2003, Secure Communities 2011). Donohue (2012) explores how the implementation of new programmes, including the 2008 Secure Communities Strategy – an extension of the 287(g) programme that allowed for the delegation of federal powers to state and local authorities (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement 2008, Michaud 2010) – encourage ethnic profiling and increase tensions between immigrant populations and law enforcement officers (Michaud 2010). Donohue (2012) reports that a significant number of non-citizens have been wrongly detained and removed from the US territory in the absence of criminal convictions (Ill. Coal. For Immigrant and Refugee Rights 2011, cited in Donohue 2012). Moreover, he contends that because of their lack of legal status, non-citizen victims of crimes may fail to report them for fear of being deported. The Secure Communities Strategy began with the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). IIRIRA was the first piece of legislation to widen the scope of non-citizens subject
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to removal (including Lawful Permanent Residents convicted of aggravated felonies) (Francis 2003, cited in Donohue 2012), expand the definition of aggravated felony (including several misdemeanours), reduce sentence time subject to deportation and limit the forms of relief available to prevent such outcomes (Bogdan 2003). In 2011, the Secure Communities Strategy was focused on the removal of criminal non-citizens who posed a threat to public safety or national security, encompassing all convicted aliens (without regard for the severity of the offense), and all those in violation of immigration laws and fugitive aliens (including those without convictions). The primary purpose of the Secure Communities Strategy was to speed up the process of removing immigrants who had turned to a life of crime and minimise recidivism. These priorities, however, were often overlooked, and statistics reveal an alarming number of migrants being arrested without a criminal record or history of prior convictions. Moreover, the local authorities charged with the enforcement of these laws and, in some cases, the provision of detention have little knowledge of these immigration laws or the status of the family members of incarcerated immigrants (Capps et al. 2011, cited in Donohue 2012). Consequently, local law enforcement is prone to make arrests based on racial profiling. A task force on secure communities was created by the DHS in 2011 to analyse the US crimmigration strategy and make recommendations for its improvement (Homeland Security Advisory Council 2011). The report identified a need for greater transparency and advocates a clarification of the goals of the Secure Communities Strategy, urging ICE to focus on the removal of serious offenders as opposed to those convicted of minor offenses and misdemeanours (Homeland Security Advisory Council 2011). Moreover, the report recommended better collaboration between local security forces and respective immigrant communities, criticising the manner in which the Secure Communities Strategy had been applied thus far (Homeland Security Advisory Council 2011). Notwithstanding, the Secure Communities Strategy raises a number of concerns about possible violations of the Fourth Amendment, including the sudden appearance of immigration officers to arrest immigrants and the enforced removal of US citizens and victims of crimes (The Secure Communities Program 2010). Such constitutional violations are possible because detainees may not necessarily know their immigration status and because ICE agents, who no doubt have to deal with frequent false claims, are responsible for quickly deciding whether the information they have been given by the detainee is credible or not. To ensure that the detainee is removed to their country of origin, ICE requires that a travel document be issued by the recipient country; however, most removals are to Mexico
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and Canada, countries that do not require travel documents (Problems with ICE Interrogation 2008). Donohue (2012) argues that ICE goes beyond the scope of its jurisdiction and violates the Fourth Amendment whenever it wrongfully detains a US citizen. However, the fact remains that ICE immigration officers have been given extensive powers to detain and interrogate individuals, without a warrant, as to their lawful permanence in the US. The question of credibility, which ultimately lies in the hands of the ICE officer, is subjective and determined against a “reasonable suspicion standard” (Donohue 2012: 146). The issue of ethnic profiling is equally relevant here. Indeed, federal and local law enforcement agents are permitted to discriminate and make stops/arrests based on the appearance of the individual, whether they are an American citizen or not (Johnson 2000). Furthermore, for fear of being detected and removed, victims of crime who lack appropriate legal status may avoid contact with authorities, thus increasing their vulnerability and abuse, exposing society to a far greater threat than that posed by non-criminal illegal aliens (De La Cruz 2011, cited in Donohue 2012; Kittrie 2006). Noble (2011), in a review of academic papers, reports (human rights and governmental), international data, news, court proceedings and interviews with ICE and prison employees, detainees and lawyers, explores the legal framework and the conditions under which immigrants are detained in the US, particularly in Texas, through the lens of the international human rights law. Exposing some of the problems concerning detention standards and compliance oversight, access to counsel, over-detention, detention policies and alternatives, the author hopes to shed light on the conditions under which almost 400,000 people are currently being held. These numbers include children (Bremer 2010), the mentally ill and the elderly, held captive in a combination of federal, local and private detention facilities, the vast majority of them located in the state of Texas. Despite the existence of alternatives, such as community-based programmes, the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program II (ISAP II), Enhanced Supervision Reporting and electronic monitoring (and despite having the discretionary power to use these alternatives), ICE continues to rely on incarceration as their method of choice (Schriro 2009). Until 2003, non-citizens were detained only when considered a flight risk or a threat to public safety (The Constitution Project 2009). Most detention cases today, however, concern federal mandatory detention orders that fall under Article 236 (c) of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which dictates the compulsory detention of all non-citizens (including permanent residents)
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convicted of any of a number of vaguely defined crimes, subject to free interpretation by the courts (Jailed Without Justice 2009, cited in Noble 2011). This solution excludes a case-to-case approach and does not take into account the actual risk or threat posed by the detainee, their legal status in the country or the time they might have spent living as a permanent resident. Moreover, immigrant detainees are reviled by the general community, which views them as criminal offenders. Despite the resemblance to criminal incarceration in terms of restrictions and the deprivation of personal freedoms, immigrant detainees are not afforded the same rights or safeguards as criminal detainees. The immigrant detainee is not privy to the usual constitutional protections. As such, they do not have the right to government-appointed counsel and it is up to the detainee to prove that they do not satisfy the criterion for mandatory detention, an inversion of the burden usually assumed by the state (Markowitz 2009). According to Noble (2011), despite their binding nature in the US (Bustamante 2008, cited in Noble 2011; United Nations Commission on Human Rights 2002), laws governing international human rights are seldom observed or respected in immigration proceedings and detention (Amnesty International 2007, cited in Noble 2011). The imperative to comply with international legislation serves to contextualise various national immigration policies and practices that, in principle at least, aim to promote human rights, invigorate democracies and prevent humanitarian crises. It is also worth noting that the protection of human rights was one of the founding principles of the US over 200 years ago. International human rights legislation also implies protection against arbitrary detention (Weissbrodt 2003 cited in Noble 2011), against cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and respect for the humanity of detainees. According to Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations Commission on Human Rights 2002), any form of detention must be reasonable, predictable and proportional to the reason for such detention. That said, the conditions observed in ICE detention facilities are clearly excessive for administrative purposes and are lacking in proportionality. Moreover, some detentions appear to be blatantly arbitrary, and in many cases, completely unnecessary. Additionally, the use of solitary rooms for disciplinary purposes (especially when used for the “protection” of vulnerable individuals who might otherwise require a more suitable environment), the use of uniforms and the excessive restriction of detainees’ movements, visitations and recreation might be considered a deprivation of human dignity. Moreover, such treatment could well be considered cruel, inhumane and degrading, as
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well as a disproportionate response to the reasons for initial incarceration (Human Rights Watch 2010, ICCPR 1966). Another issue explored by Noble (2011) is the length of detention. Given the complex nature of deportation procedures and repatriation agreements (United Nations Commission on Human Rights 2002), the reasonable time for detention established by the courts (usually in the order of six months) is often largely surpassed. Consequently, it is not unusual for some individuals to be held for years at a time (Schriro 2009). Immigration detention facilities and practices, however, are only designed for short-term detention. Consequently, no consideration has been given to how to cater to the needs of long-term detainees (Heeren 2010, cited in Noble 2011). Some detention may even be considered arbitrary even if the entry was illegal. Moreover, some lawful detentions might be somewhat arbitrary, in violation of ICCPR Article 9 (Kessler 2009). According to Noble (2011), the violation of international standards and the obvious disparity in the conditions among facilities can be explained by the complete lack of enforceable detention standards, by the delegation of facilities to the private sector and by the absence of any systematic oversight. Despite the promulgation of quality and operating standards, the fact is that these are usually incomplete, based on criminal incarceration protocols (Schriro 2009), and are not legally binding, thus fail to impose any actual consequences for non-compliance (National Immigration Law Center 2009, cited in Noble 2011). Moreover, ICE officers themselves are strongly opposed to many of the proposed reforms, claiming that such reforms are a threat to their safety (Carroll 2010, cited in Noble 2011). The contracting of immigration facilities to the private sector, which house approximately 67% of immigrant detainees (Morehouse 2010, cited in Noble 2011), allows for the non-application of certain provisions and, according to the Schriro Report, many of the agreements do not mandate compliance with national detention standards. The lack of independent onsite monitoring and oversight, and the lack of access to information concerning previous evaluations (National Immigration Law Center 2009, cited in Noble 2011), gives rise to serious and widespread violations in human rights and detention standards, including overcharging by Intergovernmental Agency Services Agreements (IGSAs), which increases the burden on the taxpayer (Texas Appleseed 2010). The lack of legal representation and the obstacles to effective representation are considered by some to be more problematic than the actual living conditions, because it profoundly impacts the outcome of the case and perpetuates the inefficiency and backlog of immigration courts (Markowitz 2009). Moreover, such a lack of legal representation raises serious concerns about
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due process and international human rights. The fact that immigrant detainees are often forced to pay for their own representation, despite not earning an income, and pro bono legal aid organisations are often overwhelmed and unable to represent the thousands of detainees held in this situation, exacerbate the problem (Markowitz 2009). Noble (2011) argues that the mandatory detention policy, responsible for 66% of all immigrants detained (Schriro 2009) and the consequent over-detention, is the core problem that results in the aforementioned issues, thus overwhelming the system. The omission of an individual case evaluation violates several international human rights obligations and due process standards (Bustamante 2008). Moreover, racial profiling– encouraged by the enforcement of federal laws by local authorities, who are not qualified or prepared to do so, made possible under the 287 (g) programme, the Criminal Alien Program and the Secure Communities Strategy–raises several key problems, contributes to over-detention and overlooks basic human rights. The fact is that the detention policy is preferred to the softer alternatives, and that the reasons and assumptions used to justify this choice are often based on false premises (Greene 2010), as most detainees are in no danger of fleeing and do not represent a public danger. There is a false perception of criminality (Schriro 2009) and even a certain degree of xenophobia attached to immigrant detainees by the public (Bustamante 2008), contributing to the implementation of an excessive, disproportionate and quasi-punitive regime. Detention, initially confined to border inspection only, evolved into a necessary component of the hearing process (Benson 2010). As time went on and the detention became longer, it would eventually be used as a deterrent, thus consolidating its role in immigration law enforcement (Benson 2010). The presumption of innocence, a hallmark of the US justice system, has been subverted, giving rise to guilt by default, contradicting the basic principles of US law and resulting in the detention of several immigrants who might actually be entitled to some form of relief (Blackstone n.d., cited in Noble 2011). On a final note, the fact that some entities are profiting from immigrant detention raises a number of moral concerns: some counties are even persuaded to build and fill facilities because their revenue depends on it, and ICE saves money once a certain occupancy level has been achieved in its contracted facilities (Schriro 2009). Moreover, private prison corporations are known for lobbying and donating to state legislators, and have, in some cases, helped draft and pass bills on immigration laws that have contributed to their profits (Sullivan 2010). This treatment of noncitizens is questionable and degrading.
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Despite the acknowledgement of many of these issues, very little has actually been done. ICE itself seems to be responsible for this lack of progress. It has been argued that a more humane approach would be less effective and that harsher measures to deal with immigration issues should be supported.
“I just want to keep working and feed my family…” Notwithstanding the social and economic crisis currently raging across Europe, the old continent is still one of the most sought-after destinations in the migration sphere. Common migration policies have dictated the end of mass regularisations, and despite the complete lack of agreement as to what should be implemented in their place, European countries have taken to adopting increasingly restrictive measures to keep irregular migrants out of their territories, aggravating the number of pre-removal detentions. We must not forget, however, that these numbers account only for settled migrants, namely, those captured in formal statistics. That said, an estimated 500,000 immigrants in irregularity enter Europe each year, and an estimated 5 million immigrants in irregularity were able to remain in Europe in 2000, accounting for 10% of Europe’s immigrant population. Estimates reveal that between 1995 and 2000, immigrants in irregularity accounted for 89% of European and 75% of US population growth. Indeed, the nineteenth century was marked by mass migrations to the US. Between 1820 and 1980, approximately 25 million Europeans moved to the US, driven by hunger and economic recession. This was a time when immigrants were welcomed; the need to populate territories and develop work activities negated any discussion concerning the legitimacy of access rights granted to immigrants despite strict entrance controls for newly arrived workers. The mass exodus of European emigrants in the wake of the World War II magnified Europe’s devastating loss of 70 million lives. The Schuman Declaration drew the attention of the European countries to the necessity of building a Europe focused on solidarity. The Council of Europe was thus created for the purpose of promoting and defending fundamental human rights, extending this role to member states (i.e., the future EU) in order to avoid extremism. Several treaties were signed at the time in what began as a strictly economic union and integration. The Treaty of the European Coal and Steel Community was agreed upon in 1951, and the European Economic Community in 1957, setting in motion the genesis of a European convergence. In 1987, the Single European Act solidified the European Union, which was envisaged to become the “United States of Europe” as
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imagined by Victor Hugo. Jean Monnet supposed that this convergence of Europe would promote: democracy on the basis of the fundamental rights recognized on the constitutions and laws of the Member States in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the European Social Charter, notably freedom, equality and social justice (preamble to the Single Act).
But despite these noble treaties having been ratified, they exist only on paper, without real-world implications. Instead, the laws that were actually implemented tended to be considerably more exclusionary, promoting higher forms of criminalisation. The securitisation and crimmigration tendencies observed in Western recipient countries are reflected in the increased use of immigrant detention, imprisonment and deportation, as well as the use of military means to address immigrant-related issues (Kalhan 2010). Inside these border immobilisation zones, where speech is necessary to change the migrant’s status, the detainee’s vulnerable position undermines their freedom of speech and will, resulting in basic communication rights being grossly overlooked (Bail for Immigration Detainees 2009, cited in Kalhan 2010). Stereotyping, racism and xenophobia, pervasive throughout the media and in the public discourse, further debilitate what is already an uneven interlocution process (Spoonley and Butcher 2009, cited in Kalhan 2010). Moreover, the public and the media have limited access to these camps and detainees (Migreurop 2009b, cited in Kalhan 2010), resulting in the suppression of crucial information and the keeping of the situation from the public eye, further contributing to the silencing and dehumanisation of the subject. In conclusion, marginalised groups must be included in the public discourse if their fundamental rights are to be respected (Hansen 2009, cited in Kalhan 2010). With this, we must return to the example of North America, as widely described by several authors. Addressing the confluence of criminal enforcement and immigration control, Kalhan (2010) explores the recent phenomenon of immigration detention in the context of the increase in the range of non-citizens subject to detention and removal. Sarikakis (2012) raises several questions and concerns as to the legality/constitutionality, inadequacy, severity and temporal extension of the adopted measures, declaring them a quasi-punitive system in which detainees are inappropriately and unnecessarily incarcerated and imprisoned – as opposed to being detained – under criminal circumstances that exceed the intended purpose of immigration detention (Schriro 2009). Kalhan (2010) argues that the
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phenomenon of crimmigration has evolved into a system of immcarceration, amplifying the hardships of detention to the level of deportation itself (Kramer 2008, cited in Kalhan). Civil, not criminal, detention is legitimate to the extent that it facilitates the removal of individuals who pose a threat to public safety or who are expected to flee; other than that, however, excessively punitive detention might be considered unconstitutional. Therefore, within the broader context of crimmigration, Kalhan (2010) explores how these tendencies have evolved and analyses several solutions proposed by the US government to tackle concerns voiced by observers. A number of enforcement laws have expanded the scope of foreign individuals subject to discretionary detention and removal. Consequently, one can be held in detention and removed for any of a number of minor and serious offenses (Kalhan 2008), including non-criminal grounds (e.g., previously released from criminal custody or when considered inadmissible). This has led to a significant increase in the length of immigrant-related detentions, the duration of which are not individually reviewed by immigration judges. To this, the Schriro Report (2009) adds that the number of detainees without criminal convictions, and therefore not subject to mandatory custody, has increased significantly since 2005. As detention itself exacerbates the difficulties experienced by these individuals (The Constitution Project 2009), not only may they be unable to build an effective case against removal but they may even accept removal simply to be released, despite having a legitimate entitlement to remain. The fact is that the absence of basic conditions (Schlanger 2003), overcrowding, inadequate health care and abuse (Amnesty International 2009, cited in Kalhan 2010; National Immigration Project 2007, cited in Kalhan 2010) are common and have been reported frequently. In county jails, often used for immigration detention, detainees are often subjected to the same treatment as criminal offenders, resulting in what has been considered an excessive deprivation of personal freedom (Schriro 2009). Conversely, the increase in immigrant-related detentions has resulted in a shortage of detention space, triggering routine transfers from one facility to another (Human Rights Watch 2010, Kalhan 2010, Schriro 2009), not only further complicating the aforementioned hardships but also necessitating changes in the applicable legislation (Human Rights Watch 2010). Overcrowding has even resulted in the complete disappearance of detainees from inside the system for extended periods (Human Rights Watch 2010). Immigration proceedings do not fall under the scope of the Sixth Amendment or other statutory speedy trial mechanisms, and the accumulation of cases, triggered by overcrowding, the lack of resources and constant delays, can mean that a detainee can end up being
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incarcerated for months, sometimes even years (Human Rights Watch 2009). Remember, this is a quasi-punitive regime that is, by default, inappropriate for non-criminal detainees, housing non-criminals in excessively restrictive detention facilities built to hold criminal offenders and subject to detention officials who are not prepared to deal with alternative detention standards (Schriro 2009). In order to address these issues, the DHS has made a number of proposals, such as the development of centralised facilities designed for civil immigration purposes, the adoption of alternatives to detention and the individualised analysis of cases and risks imposed by detainees (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement 2009, US Department of Homeland Sec 2009, cited in Kalhan 2010). Kalhan (2010), however, argues that these prospective reforms are unlikely to be sufficient. The proposed reforms fail to deal with the over-detention of non-citizens or the excessive severity of their confinement. Some of the problems identified by Kalhan (2010) include the absence of higher and binding detention standards in a system where impunity, indifference and secrecy prevail (Detention Centers 2009, cited in Kalhan 2010), and where one is encouraged to overlook minimum standards; the implementation of a detainee location system (US Department of Homeland Security 2009, cited in Kalhan 2010) as opposed to the elimination of the indiscriminate transfer of detainees based on operational needs (Human Rights Watch 2010); the absence of someone responsible who might be aware of and report ambiguous detention statutes, involving grounds for detention and prolonged detention, which are aggressively and freely interpreted (Markowitz 2009); the lack of an individualised scrutiny given to the decisions of immigration judges and the inadequacy of the custody level, both resting on broad categorisations by the ICE (Schriro 2009, Bernstein 2009). Left unaddressed, these issues may lead to a policy of alternatives to release as opposed to alternatives to detention (Human Rights First 2009, cited in Noble 2011), leading to new forms of confinement and aggravating the severity of this quasi-punitive immigration detention system. On a larger scale, these issues emanate from a progressive toughening of immigration-related enforcement policies (Schriro 2009), and from the amplification of detention practices, which, in association with budgetary constraints, leads to an increase in the number of non-citizens being held in custody at minimal cost (Dolovich 2009; Vaughan and Edwards 2009, cited in Kalhan 2010). Improving the conditions is more expensive than creating additional detention space (Legomsky 1999), thus the excessively restrictive and quasi-punitive nature of immigration detention (Carroll
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2010). Consequently, crimmigration feeds and is fed by a public discourse that associates criminality with immigration (Stumpf 2006). How then did we transplant crimmigration, already implemented in the US, to European Union societies? Instead of recognising the need to welcome new immigrants for their socioeconomic and demographic contributions to the development of societies, we have criminalised them and sent them to detention centres or prisons.
Conclusions Now is not a peaceful time for immigrants to improve their living conditions. As we have seen, the new exception paradigm imposed over their criminalization has already become the rule. While crimmigration may have started in the US, where such policies are currently being reinforced, these policies have subsequently been transplanted to European Union societies. The increased fear of risky nationalities has resulted in a perceived need to securitize borders, to over-control newcomers at external borders and the complete non-uniformization of immigration solutions towards irregularity. Prison, detention and fines have been the answer in most EU member states. Ironically, there are still member states, such as Portugal, where a residence permit is granted for those identified as victims of human trafficking or of aiding and abetting illegal immigration. We live in state in which immigration policies have not been successfully harmonized, the only thing that member states have in common being the criminalization of immigration. More than a state of exception, these paradigms introduce a state of confusion in which issues of security are mixed with securitisation. Simultaneously, measures for the criminalization of those who enter or remain in irregularity are mixed up with the protection of victims and selectively chosen. After fearing the immigrant, what shall we fear next?
References Agamben, G. (2005). State of exception. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Alvarez, R.R. (1995). The Mexican-US border: The making of an anthropology of borderlands. Annual Review of Anthropology 24 (1): 447–70. Andreoli, V. (2007). O mundo digital. Lisboa: Editorial Presença. Appadurai, A. (2006). Fear of small numbers: an essay on the geography of anger. Public Planet Books, Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
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Bales, K. (2001). Gente descartável. A nova escravatura na economia global. Lisboa: Caminho. Becker, H. (1963). Outsiders. Studies in the sociology of deviance. New York: The Free Press. Benson, L.B. (2010). As old as the hills: detention and immigration. Intercultural Human Rights Law Review 5: 11–55. Bigo, D. and Guild, E (2005). Policing at a distance: Schengen visa policies. In Controlling frontiers: free movement into and within Europe, edited by D. Bigo and E. Guild. Aldershot: Ashgate, pp. 233– 62. Bogdan, A. (2003). Guilty pleas by non-citizens in Illinois: immigration consequences reconsidered. DePaul Law Review 53 (1): 19–66. Bremer, M. (2010). Pa. family immigration detention and new DHS parole guidelines. The Legal Intelligencer, Philadelphia, PA. Available from: http://www.thelegalintelligencer.com/id=1202463062121?keywords= %22Family+Immigration+Detention+and+New+DHS+Parole+Guideli nes%22 (accessed 3 December 2016). Broeders, D. (2007). The new digital borders of Europe: EU databases and the surveillance of irregular migrants. International Sociology 22 (1): 71–92. Brown, W. (2010). Walled states, waning sovereignty. New York: Zone Books. Bustamante, J. (2008). Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Mission to the United States of America, A/HRC/7/12/Add.2 5 March. Bustamante, J. (2008). Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, mission to the United States of America (A/HRC/7/12/Add.2). Geneva: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Carroll, S. (2010). ICE upgrades standards for detention facilities. Houston Chronicle, Houston, September 28. Available from: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/ICE-upgradesstandards-for-detention-facilities-1713834.php (accessed 17 March 2017). Coutin, S.B. (1995). Smugglers or Samaritans in Tucson, Arizona: producing and contesting legal truth. American Ethnologist 22 (3): 549–571. Crettiez, X. and Piazza, P. eds. (2006). Du papier à la biométrie: identifier les individus. Sociétés en mouvement, Paris: Presses de la Fondation nationale des Sciences Politiques.
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Das, V. and Poole, D. (2004). State and its margins. Comparative ethnographies. In Anthropology in the margins of the state, edited by V. Das and D. Pool, pp. 3–34. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Pressௗand James Currey. Detention Watch Network (2010). Policy brief: community-based alternatives to immigration detention. Stanford Law School Immigrants’ Rights Clinic. http://law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/default/files/childpage/163220/doc/slspublic/DWN_ATD_Report_FINAL.pdf (accessed 15 March 2017). Donohue, L. (2012).The potential for a rise in wrongful removals and detention under the United States immigration and customs enforcement’s secure communities strategy. New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement 38 (1): 125–152. Echiburu, A.M. (2009). Healthcare standards in immigration detention centers. Public Interest Law Reporter 14 (2): 136–140. Ellermann, A. (2009). States against migrants: deportation in Germany and the United States. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Fassin, D. (ed.) (2010). Les nouvelles frontières de la société française. Paris: Découverte. Fassin, D. (2011). Policing borders, producing boundaries. The governmentality of immigration in dark times. Annual Review of Anthropology 40 (1): 213–226. Fischer, N. and Spire, A. (2009). L’État face aux illégalismes. Politix 87 (3): 7. Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (2009). Dying for decent care: bad medicine in immigration custody. Miami: Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. Foucault, M. (2009). Security, territory, population: lectures at the College de France, 1977-78. New York: Springer. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9780230245075 (accessed 27 March 2017). Fraser, N. (2000). Rethinking recognition. New Left Review 3: 107–20. Greene, J. (2010). ICE warms up to detainees: immigration chief promises overhaul of “haphazard” system. The National Law Journal. Guia, M.J. (2015). Imigração, “Crimigração” e Crime Violento. Os Reclusos Condenados e as Representações sobre Imigração e Crime. Tese de Doutoramento em Direito, Justiça e Cidadania no Século XXI. Coimbra: Universidade de Coimbra. Guia, M.J. (Forthcoming). Building ideologies: bias in the legal translation of the irregularity/illegality terminology.
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Guia, M.J. (Forthcoming). The Daedalus puzzle of European immigration policies: law in books and law in action in the corners of the EU space. In: Research Handbook on Transnational Crime. Hamelink, C.J. and Hoffmann, J. (2008). The state of the right to communicate. Global Media Journal 7 (13). Heyman, J.M. (1998). Finding a moral heart for U.S. immigration policy. an anthropological perspective. American Ethnological Society Monograph Series, Arlington, TX: American Anthropological Association. Heyman, J.M. and Smart, A. (1999). States and illegal practices: an overview. In: Heyman, J.M. (ed.), States and illegal practices, Oxford: Berg, pp. 1–24. Homeland Security Advisory Council (2011). Task force on secure communities: findings and recommendations. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Available from: https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/hsac-task-force-on-securecommunities-findings-and-recommendations-report.pdf (accessed 6 March 2017). Human Rights Watch (2009). Detained and dismissed: women’s struggles to obtain health care in United States immigration detention. New York: Human Rights Watch. Available from: http://books.google.com/books?id=sfraAAAAMAAJ (accessed 17 April 2017). —. (2010). Detained and at risk: sexual abuse and harassment in United States immigration detention. New York: Human Rights Watch. Available from: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us0810webwcover.pdf (accessed 12 December 2016). Huysmans, J. (2006). The politics of insecurity: fear, migration, and asylum in the EU. The new international relations, London: Routledge. Inda, J.X. (2006). Targeting immigrants: government, technology, and ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell. Johnson, K.R. (2000). The case against race profiling in immigration enforcement. Washington University Law Review 78 (3): 676–736. Joppke, C. (1998). Why liberal states accept unwanted immigration. World Politics 50 (2): 266–293. Kalhan, A. (2010). Rethinking immigration detention. Columbia Law Review: Sidebar 110: 42–58. Kanstroom, D. (2007) Deportation nation: outsiders in American history. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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Kessler, B. (2009). In jail, no notice, no hearing . . . no problem? A closer look at immigration detention and the due process standards of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. American University International Law Review 24 (3): 571–607. Kittrie, O.F. (2006). Federalism, deportation, and crime victims afraid to call the police. Iowa Law Review 91: 1450–508. Kobelinsky, C., Makaremi, C. and Agier, M. (2009). Enfermés dehors: enquêtes sur le confinement des étrangers. Bellecombe-en-Bauges: Croquant. Lamont, M. and Molnár, V. (2002). The study of boundaries in the social sciences. Annual Review of Sociology 28 (1): 167–95. Legomsky, S.H. (1999). The detention of aliens: theories, rules, and discretion. The University of Miami Inter-American Law Review 30 (3): 531–49. Lewis, M.D. (2007). The boundaries of the republic: migrant rights and the limits of universalism in France, 1918-1940. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Lyotard, J.F. (2002). The other’s rights. In: The Belgrade Circle, ed., The politics of human rights, London: Verso, pp. 181–88. Markowitz, P.L. (2009) Barriers to representation for detained immigrants facing deportation: Varick Street Detention Facility, a case study. Fordham Law Review 78 (2): 541–75. McDonald, D.A., ed. (2000). On borders: perspectives on international migration in Southern Africa. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Michaud, N.D. (2010). From 287(g) to SB1070: The decline of the federal immigration partnership and the rise of state-level immigration enforcement. Arizona Law Review 52 (4): 1083–133. National Immigration Law Center (2009). A broken system: confidential reports reveal failures in U.S. immigrant detention centers. Los Angeles: ACLU of Southern California. New York University School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic (2010). Locked up but not forgotten: opening access to family and community in the immigration detention system. New York: New York University School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic. Ngai, M.M. (2004). Impossible subjects: illegal aliens and the making of modern America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Noble, L.N. (2011). Immigration detention and human rights in the Lone Star State. Berkeley, CA. Available from: https://works.bepress.com/liane_noble/1/download/ (accessed 20 December 2016).
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Office of Immigration Statistics (2010). 2009 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Pian, A. (2009). Aux nouvelles frontières de l’Europe: l’aventure incertaine des Sénégalais au Maroc. Paris: Dispute. Problems with ICE Interrogation, Detention, and Removal Procedures. Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law of the Committee on the Judiciary House of Representatives, 110th US Congress 5 (2008). Rudolph, C. (2006) National security and immigration: policy development in the United States and Western Europe since 1945. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Sarikakis, K. (2006). Making security: citizenship, public sphere and the condition of symbolic annihilation. Challenge F6 Programme Workpackage. Available from: http://www.academia.edu/1206331/MAKINGSecurity_Citizenship_Pu blic_Sphere_and_the_Condition_of_Symbolic_Annihilation (accessed 23 December 2016). Sarikakis, K. (2012). Access denied: the anatomy of silence, immobilization and the gendered migrant. Ethnic and Racial Studies 35 (5): 800–16. Sassen, S. (1999). Guests and aliens. New York, NY: New Press. Schlanger, M. (2003). Inmate litigation. Harvard Law Review 116 (6): 1555–706. Schmitt, C. (2005). Political theology: four chapters on the concept of sovereignty. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Schriro, D. (2009). Immigration detention: overview and recommendations. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Available from: https://www.ice.gov/doclib/about/offices/odpp/pdf/ice-detentionrpt.pdf (accessed 26 December 2016). Spijkerboer, T. (2007). The human costs of border control. European Journal of Migration and Law 9 (1): 127–39. Sullivan, L. (2010). Prison economics helped drive immigration law. NPR. Available from: http://www.npr.org/2010/10/28/130833741/prisoneconomics-help-drive-ariz-immigration-law (accessed 17 February 2017). Texas Appleseed (2010). Justice for immigration’s hidden population: justice for immigration’s hidden population. Austin, TX: Texas Appleseed. The Constitution Project (2009). Recommendations for reforming our immigration detention system and promoting access to counsel in
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immigration proceedings. Washington, DC: The Constitution Project. Available from: http://www.constitutionproject.org/pdf/359.pdf (accessed 6 March 2017). TRAC Reports (2010) Detention of criminal aliens: what has congress bought? TRAC Immigration. Available from: http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/224/ (accessed 17 March 2017). United Nations Commission on Human Rights (2002). Report of the Special Rapporteur, Ms. Gabriela Rodríguez Pizarro, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 2002/62. Geneva: United Nations Commission on Human Rights. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (2008). Delegation of immigration authority: Section 287(g) Immigration and Nationality Act. Immigration Enforcement. Available from: https://www.ice.gov/287g (accessed 17 February 2017). U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (2008). Fact sheet: secure communities. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Available from: http://www.aila.org/infonet/ice-fact-sheet-on-secure-communities (accessed 3 March 2017). Waldinger, R. and Fitzgerald, D. (2004) Transnationalism in Question. American Journal of Sociology 109 (5): 1177–95. Wimmer, A. and Glick Schiller, N. (2002). Methodological nationalism and beyond: nation-state building, migration and the social sciences. Global Networks 2 (4): 301–34.
CHAPTER FIVE THE DEEP PLAY OF LABELLING IDENTITIES: SPORT, SECOND GENERATIONS AND NATIONAL IDENTITY IN CONTEMPORY ITALY FRANCESCA CONTI
Abstract Sport stories are important for any nation’s cultural and social history, and the sport sector in Italy is one of the few where the second generations can be clearly recognized. This essay looks at the role and experiences of professional secondgeneration athletes. It is based on 11 semi-structured interviews with athletes who represented Italy at international sport events between 2012 and 2016. Secondgeneration athletes, who were often referred to by the Italian media as “new Italians”, embody the changes and opportunities brought by immigration and multiculturalism. Research on the second-generations in Italy is becoming a wellestablished field but very few studies have examined the impact of professional athletes in society. My research aims at contributing to this field in the perspectives of Italy’s second-generation athletes. Often considered role models for secondgeneration migrants, their images have not been used systematically to target specific goals such as integration and social reforms. This paper suggests that second-generation athletes could be a very significant resource for social engineering but their potential from a pedagogic and symbolic perspective is not fully recognised. Analysis of the labelling discourse used in Italy to identify second-generation athletes suggests that more attention should be paid to the terminology used by the media to categorise citizens and migrants. Keywords: Italy, Second generations, Sport, Immigration, Integration
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Sport and migration in Italian society Sport is one of the few fields of social action in which the presence and contribution of Italy’s second generations can be observed and recognized. Modern sports have traditionally played a civilizing role in society and have been used as pedagogic tools to build the modern nation-states (Elias and Dunning 1986). National sport teams and international mega events like the Olympic Games present an opportunity to inspire and unite a nation through the success of its athletes.In this regard, this essay presents and discussestheexperiences and the symbolic role of professional secondgeneration athletes in Italybased on 11 in-depth interviews withsecondgeneration athletes who represented Italy, at an international level, between 2012 and 2016. These athletes, who were often referred to by the Italian media as “new Italians”,embody the changes and opportunities brought by immigration and globalization in Italian society. Italy is a country with a long history of emigration, while immigration represents a relatively recent and unexpected social fact. Italians were among the most mobile people on the planet,and now, due to a stagnant economy and high unemployment rates, particularly among graduates, emigration has resumed:in 2015, more than 107,000 people left the country in search of better jobs, salaries and opportunities (Rapporto Migrantes 2016). Nonetheless, since the early 1990s, Italy has also become a very important gateway to Europe: a crossroads for many migrants heading toward Europe and its unstable Union. At first, it was Albanians who crossed the Adriatic Sea to reach the shores of Italy, attracted by the affluent lifestyle of the second economic boom (King and Mai 2002). Gradually but inevitably, different flows of migrants converged on the peninsula, the majority of whom are economic migrants from Eastern Europe, South-East Asia and North Africa; and more recently, asylum seekers and refugees from the Middle East and SubSaharan Africa. The tragic aspect of the so-called “refugee crisis” is well-known: images of desperate migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea in old, overcrowded ships, or even rubber dinghies, fill the European news daily (Collyer and King 2016). While the numbers of deaths are increasing as more and more people risk their lives trying to reach Europe, antiimmigration feelings are growing deep in the nation and beyond its borders. National identity is traditionally considered one of Italy’s unresolved issues. A country historically and internally divided, characterised byan ever-growing north-and-south economic divide, Italy is considered a fragile nation but with a relatively monolithic, static, mono-
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cultural tradition of nationhood (Gabaccia 2000, Zoletto 2010). National identity, defined by Koopmansas “a nation’s cultural self-understanding” (2005: 4), is a product of both history and ideologies; the recent transformation of Italy into a country of both emigration and immigration is challenging its conceptual and cultural foundations.The arrival of many different groups of migrants in a relatively short time, as well as the fear of terrorism engendered by the recent tragic events in Europe and Turkey, hasincited a revival of defensive nationalism characterised by fear of the “other” and any societal transformation. Surely, this is not unique to Italy; around the world, the same feelings seem to be spreading, facilitating the political success of many conservative, populist parties and leaders such as President Trump in the USA. The discourse and representation of the Italian second generationreflect this complexity. The academic literature in this field is vast; there are a lot of expectations for the second generations of Europe (for an overview, see: Ambrosini and Caneva 2009, Ambrosini and Molini 2004, Bertolini et al. 2015, Bosisio et al. 2005, Clough-Marinaro and Walston 2010, Colombo et al. 2009, Grillo and Pratt 2002, ISMU 2008, Pföstl and Bisi 2013, Queirolo Palmas 2006). According to Carl Gustav Jung, the great advantage of the second generation of researchers in his field of study was that they could benefit from an existing body of knowledge on the subject matter that, despite its embedded limitations, would allow them to connect some elements the first generation of scholars could only begin to understand toward the end of their lives (Jung, in Neumann 1978). The same process might apply to the second generations in Italy. As this article was being written, the second-generation movement in Italy was launching a campaign: “L’Italia sono anch’io – italiani senza cittadinanza” (“I am Italy too – Italians without citizenship”) and thousands of people are taking to the streets of Rome to ask Italian senators to discuss the revision of the criteria necessary for Italian citizenship. A new citizenship law was discussed and approved by the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 2016 but needs to be revised by the Senate to become effective: a long bureaucratic process that seems to be being intentionally delayed as no review of the new law has so far been pursued by the Senate. This explains the choice of the official motto of the campaign: Ius soli subito! (the right of the land, now!) with the hashtag #senatorerispondi (#senatorreply).1 The Italian 1
For a reportage of the event, see: http://www.repubblica.it/politica/2017/02/07/news/giovani_in_piazza_per_lo_ius_ soli_la_senatrice_lo_moro_pd_spero_in_aula_entro_fine_febbraio_-157772114/ http://espresso.repubblica.it/attualita/2017/02/26/news/anche-noi-siamo-italiani-siallo-ius-soli-1.296168
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second-generation movement has become a forerunner of social activism and integration, and this is not an easy task: they are pioneers of integration and multiculturalism; nobody before them has challenged the principles of Italian citizenship and national identity. To compare the situation of Italy with other European member states, the rights derived by the ius soli are present under different conditions in France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Finland and Greece. The modality varies from country to country but in all these countries, the possibility to acquire citizenship independently from the status of one’s parents is recognised (Dronkers and Vink 2012). The acquisition of Italian citizenship is based on a 1992 law that follows the principle of ius sanguinis: the right of the blood. This principle indicates that Italian citizenship can be passed down from one generation to the next via kinship but if one’s parents are not Italians; the situation is more complicated. The ius sanguinis was historically conceived to recall a connection with the Italians abroad and their descendants. For those who are born or raised in Italy by foreign parents, the existing protocol consists of renewing one’s temporary permit of stay until a modern“coming of age” ritual can take place: submitting the application for Italian citizenship after turning 18 years old. Some politicians expressed their sympathy and support for the second generationsbut despite the numerous campaigns, the law has not yet been amended. The negative consequences of this disequilibrium are not difficultto imagine. The latest survey carried out by the Italian National Institute for Statistics on the “integration of the second generation” registered a significant presence of second-generation students in lower and uppersecondary schools: a total of 148,000 foreign students were enrolled in lower-secondary schools and 157,000 in upper-secondary schools. Several questions were asked to investigate students’perceptions of national identity:in total, only 38% of the second-generation students declared they feel "Italian” while 33% felt they were a “foreigner” and more than 29% preferred not to answer.2 The well-known statement by Massimo Azeglio, an early nationalist, commenting on the newly founded Italian state in 1861, “We made Italy, now we must make the Italians”, seems more relevant now than ever (Berrocal 2010). How does sport fit into this picture? In this difficult historical period for Italy and Europe, sport plays a key role in representing the nation. As previously stated, sport is one of the few sectors in Italy in which the second generations are clearly recognized, embodied in successful athletes 2
These data are published in a report online: http://www.istat.it/en/archive/182915
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with mixed heritages and difficult-to-pronounce surnames. This dynamic will be analysed in the following sections.
Italy’s second generations, globalization and sport The first grand symbolic action taken by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) was to designate Carlton Myers, a very talented, successful Italian basketball player as Italy’s flag bearer for theOlympic Games in Sydney, Australia, in 2000. Carlton Myers was the first “black Italian” chosen for this role: despite the many triumphs of his long career, this decision was perceived by the athlete himself as asymbolic choicethat couldsend a strong anti-racist message through sport (Tailmoun etal. 2014,Valeri 2006). It was an investment in an inclusive pro-multiculturalist message but, unfortunately, Italy could not match these aspirations. Racism has been a key component of Italian sport for decades.Black players are often the targets of xenophobia and racism: Myers himself has experienced firsthand the racist attitudes of many Italian basketball fans before and after the Olympic Games.3 A few years later, a new sport icon for the Italian second generations appeared: the footballer Mario Balotelli. Born in Italy to Ghanaian parents, he was fostered and later adopted by an Italian family. His career as a football striker is full of ups and downs:scandals and media stories about his personal life fill the pages of both national and international media, accompanying his career and his many transfers to different teams. He is a difficult player with a complicated past and an even more complicated personality but with great talent. From the start, his presence in Italian football irritated many ultras, who created anti-Balotelli chants like “if you jump, Balotelli dies” and “there are no black Italians” (Doidge 2015). The magazine Vanity Fair in 2009 portrayed him naked, surrounded only by an Italian flag.4 The suggestive title: “Balotelli d’Italia” [“Balotelli of Italy”] brilliantly articulated a message that not all Italians were ready to hear: he is black and Italian. Even the Times chose him, in 2012, as one of the most influential people of the planet.5 Their motivation was summarised in a
3
http://www.gazzetta.it/Basket/Italia/25-05-2013/cori-insulti-razzisti-carltonmyers-una-partita-basket-rimini-20453370439.shtml 4 http://www.vanityfair.it/people/lifestar/b/mario-balotelli 5 The news would be reported by all Italian media; see, for example: http://www.huffingtonpost.it/2012/11/02/mario-balotelli-in-copertina-sultime_n_2062802.html
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short article entitled “The Meaning of Mario”.6 Why so much interest in this young man? This is not really about football anymore. He represents far more than a game. Mario Balotelli has become the symbol of a new nation, a multiethnic Italy. He embodies the changes brought by migrants in Italian society and this realization is slowly beginning to emerge in the collective consciousness. Like many otheryouths in his situation, Balotelli had to wait until he was 18 years old to apply for Italian citizenship. He could not participate as a young footballer in the Under-21 selection for the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008 because he could not get citizenship in time for the event. Finally, when the papers were ready and the Italian bureaucracy had done its part, the ceremony for the acquisition of his citizenship became a public ritual, taking place in the town hall of his home town, Brescia, among journalists.1 He has become a symbol of the second generations: even the 2011 documentary 18 ius soli, directed by Fred Kuwornu, opens with images of Balotelli scoring memorable goals and the ultras chanting “there are no black Italians”2. Very few players and people have embodied the nation as significantly as Mario Balotelli. In many ways, it could be argued that a real conversation about racism and the second generations of Italy started with the controversies surrounding him. In my opinion, racist slogans like “there are no black Italians” were not only used by football ultras to offend him and make him nervous but to exclude the possibility of a new world. It would be a mistake to underestimate these common expressions of racism. We need to look more carefully into the cultural assumptions embedded in these slogans because these are not only rude sports fans shouting nonsense. Unfortunately, this way of thinking is quite common in many parts of Europe characterised by ethnocentric, mono-cultural visions of national identity: many Italians wrongly assume they are the direct descendants of the original inhabitants of the Italic peninsula. Racism and exclusiveness are key ingredients of Italian history and culture, even though this is hardly ever acknowledged (Del Boca 2003, Geddes 2008). Through Fascism, the idea of an Italic race has penetrated the mind of many Italians (Ben-Ghiat 2001, Martin 2012). Exclusion, discrimination and xenophobia played an important role in Italian society long before Mario Balotelli was even born. However, owing to his global fame and the 6
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2128258,00.html See, for example, the coverage of the Italian Gazzetta dello Sport: http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/SerieA/Squadre/Inter/Primo_Piano/2008/07_Luglio/ 28/popup_balotelli.shtml 2 http://www.mymovies.it/dizionario/recensione.asp?id=79871 1
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interest he generates in both the public and the media, his presence, especially on the national team, inspired a whole new level of considerations and questions about Italian national identity. Sport gave visibility to these different voices and tensions, becoming a mirror for the challenges the Italian second-generation faces in their fight for recognition.
Labelling identity: the new Italians in London 2012 At the Olympic Games in London 2012, the main Italian newspapers focused onthe multicultural segment of the Italian team, dedicating numerous articles to the “new Italians”.3 It was at this moment that the research started and athletes were contacted to participate in this study.In the 2008 edition of the Games, they were 25 out of 284 athletes; four years later, in London, 27 out of 276 athletes were multicultural (Porro 2013). The Italian press used the label “new Italian” for all athletes with a mixed background, not only for the second generation, including those who became Italian through marriage, like Fiona May and Josefa Idem. My initial plan was to contact second-generation athletes to learn about their experience of representing both Italy and multiculturalism. I was interested in how they perceived their role as symbols of the second generation and their opinions on the label “new Italian”. To have access to respondents with these characteristics, I contacted the Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Gialle, a brach of the Guardia di Finanza (the Italian financial police force), in which many professional athletes are enrolled. I was granted access to the athletes interested in participating in this research. At the time, I had already had contactwith some second-generation athletes that I could reach directly andI composed an initial sample of sevenathletes, six males and one female. The first round of interviews took place soon after the London Olympic Games in 2012 and a second round of interviews and follow ups was organised in 2016, before the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. A total of 11 interviews were recorded, transcribed, sent to these athletes for approvaland subsequentlyanalysed. 3
See, for example: http://www.repubblica.it/speciali/olimpiadi/londra2012/2012/07/29/foto/londra_20 12_i_nuovi_italiani_alle_olimpiadi-39957575/#9; http://www.corriere.it/gallery/sport/07-2012/azzurri/01/i-nuovi-italiani-leolimpiadi-londra_168da454-c9b6-11e1-826a-3168e25ab050.shtml#9; http://www.avoicomunicare.it/blogpost/futuro/nuovi-italiani-alle-olimpiadi-dilondra-chi-va-e-chi-no ; http://www.tgcom24.mediaset.it/euro2012/articoli/1051060/non-solo-balotelliecco-i-nuovi-italiani-che-ci-rappresenteranno-a-londra-2012.shtml
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No fixed interview schedule was used; questions were adapted to the age, experience and story of each athlete. Emphasis was placed on individual experiences and opinionsas professional athletes and as second-generation citizens.Some extracts from the interview transcripts presented in this article were published in two previous essays: the first in a book on the Italian second generation edited by Eva Pföstl and Simonetta Bisi entitled Non Solo Balotelli in 2013; the second in an issue of the migration journal Studi Emigrazione that I edited together with Nicola Porro in 2016. Therefore, some of the data discussed in the following sections is not new but this is the first time thatextracts from the original interviews have been translated and analysed in English. The names of the athletes interviewed are not disclosed in order to prevent their objectification. Despite my contact with these athletes, my analysis does not aim to represent them or their experiences. What follows is a number of considerations based on the information respondents shared with me and my analysis of the current situation of the second generation in Italy. Research on the secondgeneration in Italy is becoming a well-established field and this study aims to contribute to this body of knowledge, starting from the experiences of the athletes who embody the second generation at international sport events and competitions. As mentioned, the first round of interviews focused on the athletes’ perceptions of the term “new Italian”, which the Italy media frequently used at the time to identify them. I talked about this labelling process with all the athletes and these are some of their considerations: During the Olympics, I was asked a million times about being a “new Italian.” I was fed up with it! Because it must be said, journalists force you to read this kind of stuff (…). One day some photographers came to take some pictures of us, I didn’t ask why. The Olympic Games were a few weeks away (…). Then I see an article entitled “Don’t Look at the Surnames.”4 Can you believe it? Instead of marketing the Olympics and our team, they pointed to the fact that three “not-so-Italian” players were in the national team! It is unbelievable!
This quote raises an important question about the construction of collective identities. The second generations have been defined in other studies as a generation of “identity.” Studies and surveys tend to question their sense of belonging to a single nation, investigating their cultural framework or the transnational aspects of their upbringing, etc. As this 4 The article, published by Newsweek, was published by the Gazzetta dello Sport in June 2012.
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quote suggests, athletes have very little control over what is said and written about them. Whether they are chosen as a flag bearer, like Carlton Myer, or as “Man of the Year,” like Mario Balotelli, or even as respondents for studies such as this one, these athletes are, to some extent, objectified. Their identity is extrapolated and turned into something else: a symbol, a label, a discourse. The use of labels like “new Italians” reinforces the deep play of identity politics; readers are invited to learn about these athletes as new Italians and not just as athletes. By and large, the attention of the media in Italy follows the same path: the representations of the second generations in professional sport is full of conceptual contradictions: on the one hand, there is a tendency to focus on what makes them different, to tell their story; on the other, journalists tend to justify their presence in the national team, explaining their Italianness. Presenting the “new Italian” at the Olympics, explaining their stories and the origins of their surnames, reinforces the idea that there is a difference between them and the other members of the Italian team. If there are “new Italians” then there must be “old Italians” as well. Talking about this with another athlete, he proposed a simple alternative: Look, I don’t get offended, we are the representative of a phenomenon and I accept and I understand this. I am happy, I accept this situation, is normal (…). Perhaps, instead of “new Italians” just “Italians”, or the new generation, maybe…
As this second quote suggests, the athletes I talked to were affected in different ways by the label “new Italian.” Some were more upset by the interest of the media in their family background than others. In most cases, a feeling of discomfort could be detected. Why is it so difficult to refer to them as simply Italian? In my opinion, the answer to this question can be found in the dark corners of Italian history, where the idea of race and national identity are still closely connected (Andall 2002, Patriarca 2001). As I have argued elsewhere (Conti 2013, 2016), I am against the use of the term “new Italian” because I consider it inappropriate and potentially offensive. I prefer the technical expression “second generation,” although I am aware that this is not a neutral, value-free concept either (Thomassen 2010). Nevertheless, I still believe that it should be preferred to the “new Italians” label because it is more descriptive. Moreover, members of the second-generation movement use the term “second generations” for their campaigns; see,for example, the very popular website “Rete G2 – seconde
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generazioni.”5 Another quote, from a long interview with a male athlete, is worth repeating here: I didn’t take it so badly because since I was born here, nobody really made me feel bad about being a “new Italian”. When I was told that I didn’t have citizenship, I didn’t feel “strange” because in the end, I grew up here and you are not Italian only because a piece of paper says so… this way of thinking is too limited; in the end, citizenship’s only function was to enable me to compete for the national team and if I had to wait, I wait, but in the meantime I didn’t feel like a stranger, I did not let a document influence me…. I feel sorry because there are a lot of young athletes that I know, who are as talented as I am, but some of them cannot compete internationally because they don’t have Italian citizenship and I feel sorry for them because I was born here and when I turned 18 years old, I immediately got it (…) in the end, I always felt Italian… even if my document at the time didn’t say so, because I know this country’s history, I know the food culture and all the rest of it… and I said to myself: “OK, now I have to miss some competitions but there is still time for more…”
This conversation touched many important points: identity, citizenship, relationships and ambitions. As these extracts suggest, one can feel Italian because is born and raised in Italy and feels connected and familiar with its history and culture. These feelings of belonging and identification can sustain individual identity even when the state imposes a period of separation and the person is told to wait for citizenship. Of course, it cannot be assumed that this happens all the time and for everyone. The history of Italian sport is full of missed opportunities for the second generations: in the lucky cases, this enforced absence from competition did not coincide with the most important competitions; in others, unfortunately, it did. Young athletes might get only one chance to compete in the Olympic Games and to miss this opportunity because the law forces the person to wait until they are 18 to declare their intention to become Italian is really a shame. Moreover, to question second generations’ loyalty to Italy as a nation is to question the importance of socialization in society. If anything, this says more about Italy being a country still characterised by a weak and fragile national identity than the second generations who find themselves in the middle of contentions that do not depend on them.
5
http://www.secondegenerazioni.it/
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Sport and the second generations as an opportunity Being a pioneer in one’s field, being successful, becoming a champion and winning an important competition oran Olympic medal are remarkable events. Sport stars are important figures in society and it is usually believed that they can inspire people in a positive way to think differently, to train differently and to act differently although it should be noted that academic literature on the subject is quite vague and little evidence exists to support claims that role model programmes are effective tools to increase sport participation (see, for example, Payne et al. 2003). The athletes interviewed are often considered role models for the second generations but despite sporadic events, their images have not been used systematically to target specific goals. In many ways, it could be argued that the potential of these athletes from a pedagogic and symbolic perspective has not been fully recognised yet, even though the athletes I talked to are aware of the social role they take on when they wear the national uniform. For example: I feel part of a movement, not a symbol, not at the moment, I have a lot still to prove as an athlete, and it is quite a big responsibility, a heavy title to carry. I don’t know if I can be a symbol... but sometimes, even if I don’t want to, there are kids that train with me and… they ask my advice, and even if I don’t want to, I find myself influencing others…
The connections between sport and integration are many but in Italy very few studies have examined the impact of professional athletes in society (Doidge 2015). As the last respondent observed, certainly to be a symbol of the second generation is a big responsibility that can weigh on someone’s shoulders, and it would be unfair to ask these athletes to take on this role unwillingly. Sport can be used to send positive messages, to inspire certain values like courage, determination, hard work and respect, but the job of these athletes is to embody these values in their sport and not elsewhere (Lines 2001). The second generations are politically and culturally under-represented. The success of these athletes in different sports might help to break down conceptual barriers between the “new and the old Italians,” raising awareness about the changes produced by immigration in Italy. For his book on the “Black Italians” in Italian sport history, Mauro Valeri (2006) interviewed Jacques Riparelli, a professional second-generation athlete, who declared: People are not interested in the integration of blacks, or minorities or Muslims, but if there was a very successful athlete, this would provide an
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In my opinion, this quote brilliantly summarises the issue. Integration is not a process that many people are interested in reading or learning about, especially nowadays. The presence of successful secondgeneration-athletes, even the controversies that surround the most popular ones like Mario Balotelli, has brought these topics to the front page of many widely-read sport newspapers. Sport might not be able to stop racism and discrimination but at least it makes them visible, creating the condition to talk about these elements of culture and society. During the last Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016, the Italian press dedicated less time and space to the “new Italians”. They were there, of course, but compared to previous games, the ethnic differences between the athletes in the Italian team were not emphasised, with the exception, perhaps, of Ivan Zaytsev, the “tsar” of the Italian male volleyball team. Ivan Zaytsev, born in Italy to Russian parents, is a representative of the Italian second generations, and in the past, he was included in the list of the most popular “new Italians.” In the 2016 Olympic Games, he led the Italian team successfully until the final, becoming one of the most popular volleyball players around the world. He was usually portrayed as the “Italian tsar” but this time there were not so many discussions about his foreignsounding “surname.”7 I don’t think this signifies that the second generations are generally more accepted now compared to four years ago but in terms of their representations as “Italians,” this is a good sign. If anything, it is the geo-political climate that is altering the perception of and interest in the second generations. In 2016, immigration and the refugee crises in Europe were in the news every day and integration can be defined in many ways, including the capacity to move on from a stereotypical representation of a country and the necessity to explain “people.”
6
Jacques Riparelli, in M. Valeri (2006), Black Italians, atleti neri in maglia azzurra, Roma: Palombi, p. 218. 7 See, for example: http://www.repubblica.it/speciali/olimpiadi/rio2016/2016/08/19/foto/rio_2016_iva n_zaytsev_zar_del_volley_italiano_foto_social-146281143/1/#1; http://www.vanityfair.it/news/sport/16/08/20/rio-2016-ivan-zaytsev-zar-italiavolley-ritratto; http://www.ilsecoloxix.it/p/multimedia/sport/2016/08/20/ASwYSsxDitaliano_zaytsev_pallavolo.shtml#1
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At a time of political and economic uncertainties, migrants have become easy targets for channelling discontent, anxiety and violence. Sport is a bridge between different generations, social groups and nations,and it can be used as a social glue to strengthen identities. Sport stories, made of memorable successes and failures, constitute important chapters of any nation’s cultural and social history. It plays an important role in representing the nation and its pedagogic potential has now been fully recognised, transforming athletes into important tools for community building and integration. The enormous global success of the recent Paralympic Games is an indication that when used intelligently, sport can really make a difference, breaking down andchallenging stereotypical ideas about the human body and its capacity to represent entire nations. This is not to say that sport is an ideal industry: corruption, hidden agendas and outrageous economic interests play a significant role in directing the show in unhealthy ways but despite all the scandals and the understandable accusationsof its actors, sport inspires the dreams of millions of people. In the case of the second generations of Italy, sport continues to play a vital role in representing the skills and the contribution migrants and their children can bring to the country. The state must intervene to reform the existing citizenship legislation to increase youths’ chances of integration but, in the meantime, it could be argued that sport has played its part in raising awareness about the second generations and it has done more than other activities to encourage Italians to think about their nation in new, inclusive ways. Symbolic actions like choosing a black athlete to represent the national team at the Olympics will not stop racism or reduce discrimination but at least it is a positive start. Sport should be used to send positive messages, especially at a time in which anti-immigration feelings and xenophobia are rising. Second-generation athletes could be used more efficiently to campaign for integration and social reforms. Every nation needs to be embodied by real people, in flesh and bone, and athletes can be good role models if their public images are used competently to unite or inspire the country. Unfortunately, this is not often the case. Analysis of the labelling discourse used in Italy to identify second-generation athletes suggests that more attention should be paid to the terminology used by the media to categorise citizens and migrants. These athletes might have a lot to offer in terms broadening people’s ideas about national identity but their stories need to be contextualised in the national and global histories of our times.Otherwise, the risk is that their images are used symbolically to talk about racism and cultural differences but in unhelpful, superficial ways. Considering that populism is already on the rise on a global scale, the world does not need any more opportunistic,
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politicised discourses on immigration and integration. If anything, sport could be used to re-focus attention on the humanity of these athletes, creating more opportunities to appreciate the value of sharing similar passions and interests. Sport provides a chance to share moments of joy, excitement and delight based on the premise of participants acting on fair play and common rules. This is the educational gem that sport can offer: an intentional return to the core values of collective participation at a time coexistence and cohabitations seem increasingly difficult.
References Ambrosini, Maurizio and Molini, Stefano ed. (2004). Seconde generazioni: Un’introduzione al futuro dell’immigrazione in Italia. Torino: Edizioni Fondazione Giovanni Agnelli. Ambrosini, Maurizio and Elena Caneva (2009). “Le Seconde Generazioni: Nodi Critici e Nuove Forme di Integrazione”. Sociologia e Politiche Sociali 12: 25–46. Andall, Jacqueline (2002). “Second-generation attitude? African-Italians in Milan”, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 28: 389–407. Anderson, Benedict (2003). Imagined Communities. Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism (2nd ed.). London: Verso. Ben-Ghiat, Ruth (2001). Fascist Modernities: Italy 1922–1945. Berkeley: University of California Press. Berrocal, Emilio Giacomo (2010). “Building Italianness through the logic of the ‘Other in US’ and the ‘Self in the Other’: an anti-nationalist approach to the Italian debate on Citizenship Law.” Bulletin of Italian Politics 2: 69–90. Bertolini, Paola, Lalla, Michele and Pagliacci, Francesco (2015). “School enrolment of first- and second-generation immigrant students in Italy: A geographical analysis”. Papers in Regional Science 94:141–59. Bosisio, Roberta, Colombo, Enzo, Leonini, Luisa and Rebughini, Paola (2005). Stranieri e Italiani: una ricerca tra gli adolescenti ¿gli di immigrati nelle scuole superiori. Roma: Donzelli. Clough Marinaro, Walston, Isabella and Walston, James (2010). “Italy’s ‘second generations’: The sons and daughters of migrants”. Bulletin of Italian Politics 2: 9–15. Collyer, Michael and King, Russell (2015). “Narrating Europe’s migration and refugee crisis”. Human Geography 9: 1–12. Colombo, Enzo, Leonini, Luisa and Rebughini, Paola (2009). “Different but not stranger: Everyday collective identifications among adolescent
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children of immigrants in Italy.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 35: 37–59. Conti, Francesca (2013). “Atleti e sport di seconda generazione: simboli e rappresentazioni di una nazione contesa.” In Non solo Balotelli. Le seconde generazioni in Italia, edited by Eva Pföstl e Simonetta Bisi. Roma: Bourdeaux. —. (2016). “La vera vittoria è non pensarci. Seconde generazioni, sport e integrazione nell’Italia contemporanea.” Studi Emigrazione 203: 508– 23. Del Boca, Angelo (2003). “The myths, suppressions, denials and defaults of Italian colonialism.” In A Place in the Sun: Africa in Italian Colonial Culture from Post-Uni¿cation to the Present, edited by Patrizia Palumbo. Berkeley: University of California Press. Doidge, Mark (2015). “‘If you jump up and down, Balotelli dies’: Racism and player abuse in Italian football.” International Review for the Sociology of Sport 50: 249–64. Dronkers, Jaap and Vink, Martin Peter (2012). “Explaining access to citizenship in Europe: How citizenship policies affect naturalization rates.” European Union Politics 13: 90–112. Elias, Norbert and Dunning, Eric (1986). Quest for Excitement – Sport and Leisure in the Civilizing Process. Oxford: Blackwell. Fondazione Migrantes (2016). Rapporto Italiani nel Mondo. Roma: Idos. Gabaccia, Donna (2000). Italy’s Many Diasporas. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Geddes, Andrew (2008). “Il rombo dei cannoni? Immigration and the centre-right in Italy.” Journal of European Public Policy 15: 349–66. Grillo, Ralph and Pratt, James, eds. (2002). The Politics of Recognizing Difference: Multiculturalism Italian-Style. Aldershot: Ashgate. ISMU (2008). Studiare insieme, crescere insieme. Un’indagine sulle seconde generazioni indieci regioni italiane. Milano: Franco Angeli. Jung, Carl Gustav (1978). “Prefazione”. In Storia delle origini della coscienza, edited by Erich Neumann. Roma: Astrolabio. King, Russell and Mai, Nicola (2002). “Of myths and mirrors: interpretations of Albanian migration to Italy”. Studi Emigrazione 39: 161–99. Koopmans, Ruud (2005). Contested Citizenship: Immigration and Cultural Diversity in Europe, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Lines, Gill (2001). “Villains, fools or heroes? Sports stars as role models for young people”. Leisure Studies 20: 285–303.
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Martin, Simon (2012). “Sport Italia: 150 years of united Italy.” Bulletin of Italian Politics 4: 49–62. Patriarca, Silvana (2001). “National identity or national character? New vocabularies and old paradigms.” In Making and Remaking Italy. The Cultivation of National Identity around the Risorgimento, edited by Albert Russell Ascoli and Klara von Henneberg. New York: Berg. Payne, Warren, Reynolds, Michael, Brown, Sue and Fleming, Ashley (2003). “Sports role models and their impact on participation in physical activity: a literature review”. Victoria 74. Pföstl, Eva and Bisi, Simonetta (2013). Non solo Balotelli. Le seconde generazioni in Italia. Roma: Bourdeux. Porro, Nicola. (2013). “Figli di un dio minore”. In Non solo Balotelli. Le seconde generazioni in Italia, edited by Eva Pföstl and Simonetta Bisi. Roma: Bourdeaux. Queirolo Palmas, Luca (2006). Prove di seconde generazioni: giovani di origine immigrata tra scuole e spazi urbani. Milano: Franco Angeli. Tailmoun, Mohamed Abdalla, Valeri, Mauro and Tesfaye, Isaac (2014). Campioni d’Italia? Le seconde generazioni e lo sport. Roma: Sinnos. Thomassen, Bjorn (2010). “‘Second generation immigrants’ or ‘Italian with immigrant parents’? Italian and European perspectives on immigrants and their children.” Bulletin of Italian Politics 2: 21–44. Valeri, Mauro (2006). Black Italians, atleti neri in maglia azzurra. Roma: Palombi. Zoletto, Davide (2010). Il gioco duro dell’integrazione. L’intercultura sui campi da gioco. Milano: Raffaello Cortina.
CHAPTER SIX MEMORIES OF SETTLEMENT: THE BLACK PRESS OF THE AFRO-CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY IN THE ENGLISH CONTEXT DARIA FORLENZA
Abstract This research paper aims at analysing the role of the black press in the historical process of settlement of the Afro-Caribbean community in the English context. Although today there is an emerging convergence between the content of the national press and the black press, the researcher would argue that the black press continues to be the agent of a minority group image and a means of contesting the power of the national press. The researcher used a qualitative method of analysis to evaluate the social and cultural role of the black press; at the British Library, the researcher collected select pages from The Voice, Britain’s favourite black newspaper. These items are related to historical events that occurred for over three decades (1982-2014) and which were significant for the establishment of the Afro-Caribbean community in England. In the light of the qualitative data collected regarding the three historical phases here considered, the researcher analyses the evolution of the social representation of the “black identity” in The Voice. In conclusion, she assesses whether the black press remains a medium capable of shedding light on the view of a minority group and improving the intercultural dialogue between the majority and the minority group it intends to represent. Keywords: Migration, Identity, Integration, Race, Ethnicity.
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Introduction According to the British Office for National Statistics (ONS), the British population, on 30 June 2014, was 64,596,800 people1. From the beginning of 2014 until mid-2014, the number of people resident in the United Kingdom increased by 491,100 people (0.77%), i.e., more than the average annual increase over the last decade (0.75%). In addition, in that decade, migration was an important driving force behind population change. Migration currently accounts for around half of the population growth in England and Wales, while natural population change (births and deaths) accounts for the remaining population change. In particular, net migration has been around 53%, which is equivalent to an average of 259,700 people during the first half of 2014 (which includes 582,600 international immigrants who arrived in the UK and 322,900 emigrants who left the UK). An increase in the population size in the first half of 2014 was due to other changes, mainly in the armed forces (equivalent to an increase of 1%). Moreover, the population increase in the first half of 2014 included a natural growth of 226,200 people (777,400 births minus 551,200 deaths), equivalent to 46% of the population change. The number of births occurring in the first half of 2014 is less than the number of births during the previous year (a decrease of 1.9%), continuing the downward trend seen in births since the recent peak in the first half of 2012. Over the last ten years, net international migration contributed more to population change in the year 2014 and in the earlier part of the decade, considering the process of EU enlargement from 2005 onwards. The migration patterns of the Jamaican-born population have also changed over a span of 60 years.2 Like the other non-UK residents, the Jamaican community experienced a peak in numbers during the 1960s and in 1971. In 1961, the first significant increase was recorded (100,000 residents). Then, in 1971, another peak in the arrival of migrants was recorded (with 171,000 residents). After that, a big decrease in the arrival of migrants was recorded in 1981 (164,000) and in 1991 (142,000), while a small increase was recorded in 2001 (146,000). The period between 2001 and 2011 saw another big increase, with a peak of 160,000 residents. These evolving patterns with many downward turns should be considered the result of return migration, which is typical of the Caribbean community. A natural increase through the second generation has 1
Data available online at: www.ons.gov.uk. Peach C. 1991. On Afro-Caribbean settlement in England, also see E. Quirke, B.R. Potter and D. Conway 2009. On multiethnic society and Britishness, see L. Colley 1992 and R. Grillo 2015.
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furthermore led to a growth of the Caribbean population in Britain since the mid-1960s, even if a big return was recorded during the twentieth century. As with other migrant communities, there have been “push” and “pull” factors in the migration from the Caribbean to the UK. Even if the economic reason was the main “push” to depart from the Caribbean, it is also true that the bulk of the modern Caribbean community in the UK was due to the arrival of relatives in the UK. Firstly, the diversification includes migrants from Jamaica as well as migrants from other small islands such as Barbados, Grenada, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago. The departure of the first settlers, furthermore, caused a similar gap between the antecedent population and the remaining one on all of the islands. Indeed, the demographical impact of the migrants’ departure was more significant on the Caribbean islands than in the UK. In 1948, the first to migrate to the UK were the Jamaicans (at least 457 Jamaicans settled in the UK). From the 1950s to the 1970s, the presence of Caribbean migrants became more diffuse in western European countries where migrant labour was required. The group of Caribbean migrants continued to be relatively small, however, in comparison to the native population of the European countries. In the UK, some changes in the arrival between the 1960s and the 1980s were due to legislation restrictions concerning Commonwealth immigrants. The difficulty in categorising the Caribbean migrants caused an evolution in the terminological indication of this group. In particular, until the 1980s, it was more common to indicate this whole group as the “West Indian population” as well as “West Indies.” Currently, these terms are still in use to indicate the “descendants of West Indian settlers” but it is more common to use the modern term “African Caribbean” to indicate the group, which includes the second generation of migrants who constituted the modern Caribbean community during the twentieth century onwards. During the 1990s, the presence of the Caribbean-born population was underestimated because of the internal stratification between Caribbean migrants with a legal and recognised status and other Caribbean migrants without the same recognition. Legal recognition furthermore did not simply lead to social and cultural integration. In fact, many Caribbean migrants had to struggle against discrimination and social exclusion. Overall, from the 1990s onwards, it is possible to identify three small groups that can be related to historical changes in migration patterns: the post-war immigrants, who arrived before the 1960s; the children of the post-war immigrants born in the 1960s; and the grandchildren. The second group, consisting of the children of post-war immigrants, represents the
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second generation of settlers and is by far the largest in comparison to the other two groups of Caribbean migrants. Indeed, they constitute the bulk of the modern “Black Caribbean minority” who, in 2001, made up 12.2% of the ethnic minority population in the UK. Undeniably, from the 1950s, British circumstances have been shaped by the advance of new policies of cultural inclusion and the promotion of an interethnic dialogue between the minority groups and the majority group. In particular, new social and economic policies were adopted in order to ensure the labour inclusion and social integration of the Young Caribbean community. Moreover, to find new ways with which to avoid social marginalisation in the case of the Young Caribbean ethnic group, it is important to stress the meaning of being part of a “symbolic community.” Indeed, the participation of the Young Caribbean group in transnational and familiar networks brings a sense of belonging and collective membership, which can overlap with the sense of being excluded from the physical surroundings. Overall, the youth sub-cultures and the symbolic transnational bonds with the motherland shape the identity and cultural background of this community.
The Voice: a newspaper as an institution for the community During the qualitative evaluation of the historical facts that led to a gradual shift in the representation of the “ethnic other” and the “black minorities,” it became essential to analyse select pages and images of scanned newspapers at the British Library. These pages covered a number of historical events that occurred over an approximate period of 30 years (1982–2014). As an historical and social institution, it is possible to consider the evolution of the representation as divided into three main historical periods: 1982 to 1990, 1990 to 2000 and 2000 to 2014. Over the first period (1982–1990), the newspaper was considered the voice of the Afro-Caribbean community. It built a representation of the ethnic group and subverted the dominant representation (“the sliding of meaning” as defined by S. Hall). The paper also attempted to contest the public space allocated to traditional newspapers, and attempted to direct public opinion and break the social frame with the circulation of new representations. Over the second period (1990–2000), the evolution of the newspaper from a “voice of the community” to a type of “ethnic” newspaper, representative of the whole “black minority” is more evident. The newspaper acted as a “holder” of the history of the ethnic group as a whole; this history is rooted in the images of a shared collective memory
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and began to regularly remind readers of this using images and words in the articles that evoked a sense of identity shared by the group. Over the third period (2000–2014), the newspaper underwent a further change from an “ethnic” newspaper to a type of “multicultural” newspaper. This was due to the different content regarding the increasing migrant communities; the contemporary representations broadly embraced the “cultural diversity” related to the migrant universe. The 1970s and 1980s were years in which racial issues increasingly became a national challenge. The introduction of legislation to guarantee equal opportunities for the entire national community was one solution. During this period, there was a change from a “multi-racial” society to a form of “multicultural” society. This historic shift is also evident in the role the black press has taken since 1980; it has changed from a “militant” political press into a “historical political institution” of the community. It has become a keeper of the memory of the cultural black past and the bearer of the present civil claims of the black community that it is becoming a constituent part of modern English society. In the mid-1970s, the universality of the words of Martin Luther King, along with the spread of the movement of the Black Panthers in America, led to a strengthening of “black power” and the arrival of a form of cultural rebellion, which resulted in the rejection of the Western lifestyle and the strengthening of a “positive” self-cultural representation of the Afro-Caribbean community. Cultural resistance was also expressed through alternative channels with an important political significance; for instance, music, which was used as a means of the symbolic and shared representation that characterized the years from 1970 to 1980. This included, for example, the famous song by James Brown (1968): Say it loud, I am black and I am proud, and many other songs that had the power to draw global attention. Such forms of cultural resistance mainly interested the new generations of immigrants or the black youth born and raised in England. Unlike the previous generations of immigrants, the “new black” generation constituted the first “black” citizens, whose struggles and forms of resistance in the 1980s led to the formation of a modern multi-ethnic English society. In 1981, from the legislative perspective, the formal idea of nationhood was modified with a new British Nationality Act, which introduced the nationality of citizens of the Territories employees from Britain (British Dependent Territories Citizen; BDTC). In 2002, it was followed by The British Overseas Territories Act, which introduced the figure of BOTC (British Overseas Territories Citizen). In 1971, the West Indian World newspaper, founded by the publisher Aubrey Baynes, was the final newspaper after the West Indian Gazette to
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maintain the role of the press for the black “immigrant” community. In 1982, the Jamaican Val McCalla, with The Gleaner Company, founded The Voice, aimed at the Afro-Caribbean community in the British context. The Voice was founded with a different format, which represented a break with the forerunning black press. The Voice was the first newspaper addressed to the “black citizens” run by publishers who had grown up in Britain and had experienced a different kind of information. The precursor black press had supported, until then, the different struggles of the AfroCaribbean and Asian communities, combined into the ideal of a common struggle, but being viewed as people with different cultural backgrounds. The Voice was the first newspaper directed to black youth between the ages of 15 and 35 years, and was aimed at reporting the news that affected the entire “black” generation regardless of geographical origin. Therefore, it was the first newspaper to support the struggles of the black community as a national issue in the English context outside of the cultural roots that could affect the Afro-Caribbean, Asians or other minorities. In the late 1980s, publisher Onyekachi Wambu3 called The Voice “the voice of black Britain” by saying: “It does not matter if your ethnic background is Aboriginal or Zulu; if it is an issue which affects Black Britons, let’s report it”. The other newspapers had never quite departed from the image of being papers for mainly first generation black settlers. The aim of the paper was to promote forms of equality through access to employment and the enjoyment of rights in the information world and society as a whole for all African descendants. In particular, the founder Val McCalla launched the first edition of The Voice as a result of the Brixton riots of 1981, which were the most significant results of racial tension in England, in the second half of twentieth-century. During those years, the majority of the Afro-Caribbean community populated areas in the south of London, including the boroughs of Lambeth and Brixton, areas characterized by high unemployment that mainly affected men. The high crime rate aroused “suspicion” and “distrust” towards these areas and their inhabitants. To cope with street crime, the British government introduced measures to reduce criminal incidents and ensure public order. These measures were accorded Sus Law (stop under suspicion) as part of “Operation Swamp”, a police operation aimed at arresting people “suspected of crime”. In 1981, Operation Swamp commenced with the aim of fighting crime in Brixton; this led to many arrests, a high 3
I. Benjamin 1995: 70. For the historical evolution of the Afro-Caribbean settlement, also see: I. Duffield 1981; A. Sivanandan 1986; S.J. Gundara and I. Duffield I. 1992; G. Baumann 1996; A. Brah 1996; T. Martin 1998; P. Kennedy and V. Roudometof 2002.
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proportion of which were of black men. These arrests provoked a rising concern in both the Afro-Caribbean community and within the police. After the report of an attack by two plainclothes police officers against a driver of colour, tensions grew until they exploded into the Brixton riots in April 1981. Black youth in particular participated in the clashes, which spread across the street and lasted three days; the main focus of the subsequent conclusions included in the Scarman’s Report (the report of the jurist Lord Scarman, commissioned by the government to investigate the reasons for the clashes) was on the black youth. These riots were the main historical “facts” that shaped both the formation of the modern social-historical representation of the “black” community and the contemporary meaning of ethnic relations. In particular, during the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, episodes of crime that populated the front pages of the national newspapers mainly targeted the Afro-Caribbean youth. The reporting of the facts by the national media was decisive in crystallizing the representation of black youth as associated with the idea of a “criminal culture”. In particular, according to a study by Sarah Neal (2003), the narratives of the media in 1981 gave birth to a contradictory and confused scenario. They formed the image of a fragmented society divided by social problems. The national newspapers, including The Mirror, The Times, The Guardian and The Sun, often mentioned the “political crisis,” “social collapse” and “civil disintegration” plaguing British society. For instance, in the case of The Guardian,5 it reported: “It is hard to overestimate the shock to the British system of seeing those appalling scenes of violence (…). It was as if we had been brought to the edge of an abyss, beyond which lay anarchy, the breakdown of law and order and social catastrophe.” In this critical situation, the media represented the facts of Brixton in the light of a “problematic question” and as a question of “public order”; they did not report them as facts relating to the “racial issue,” which was overshadowed. In particular, the cause of the clashes of Brixton was attributed to the “criminal tendency” that plagued some areas of the city. The criminal inclination of the Afro-Caribbean youth was particularly associated in the headlines with the word “mugging”6, used to emphasise the idea of a “criminal matter” in the public debate. The media recognition of the troubles of blacks justified this type of social disorder in the public discourse, helping to reinforce the need to adopt legislative measures in order to solve cases of crime that plagued this section of English society. 5 6
John H.D. Downing 1985: 295–324; S. Neal 2003: 62. S. Hall (1999). History Workshop Journal, 48: 187–97.
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In the media narrative of the Brixton riots, one interesting aspect was the presence of a contradictory framework, which was part of a form of “descriptive rhetoric” and part of a stereotype of the “criminal minority.” In particular, the Scarman Report was described by the media as “the final warning” or as a “watershed” in the resolution of social conflicts; this representation contributed to strengthening the legislative recognition of the presence of the “social disadvantage” that plagued the Afro-Caribbean minority and the refusal of a form of “institutionalized racism.” The use in the media of a rhetoric of fear, darkness and confusion associated with the use of classic images such as police cars burning, crowds in turmoil, buildings being destroyed and policemen being injured have shaped the social frame and the shift from the “race problem” to that of a “public order problem.” Through its representation of the events in Brixton, the media narrative led the public to build a sense of a national “us” and distinguish it from what is not “national”; they have helped to create symbolic spaces of cultural belonging (i.e., the “criminal” culture, the culture of “marginality”) that over time acquired the form of standardised representations and which have strengthened the dichotomous system of social interests representing the “minority” and “majority”. Following the riots in Brixton, the first edition of The Voice was launched; this launch coincided with the Notting Hill Carnival of 1982. In particular, The Voice was born from the desire of the community to self-integrate into the English context and self-represent themselves as readers. The desire to self-include themselves as part of the context changed the attitude of the society towards the black community, which became increasingly “visible.” The majority became increasingly aware of the presence of a “dynamic” social actor determined to speak for itself and seek a symbolic representative space. On this page, there is an image of the newspaper The Voice, displaying headlines from many editions in 1982, including the cover of the one-year anniversary edition which was entitled “The Voice, Britain's Best Black Newspaper, The Voice Speaks for Itself”. In the editions of 1982, the editors gave special attention to news stories concerning the crime scenes in which Afro-Caribbean people were the main characters in order to include an alternative voice for the deconstruction of the negative image that plagued the community, and which was commonplace in the national representation. From 1980 onwards, the concept of an “ethnic minority” began to replace the concept of “classic immigrant communities” for the wellestablished Afro-Caribbean and Asian communities. This drift from “immigrant communities” to an “ethnic minority” was also evident in the legislative development, which was due to an equalization of wider social
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interests and which aimed at ensuring a more equitable representation of minorities. In 1981, the Framework Law on Broadcasting (Broadcasting Act of 1981)7 was modified; in particular, with this Act, the Channel 4 was introduced. This was a channel with an “alternative” perspective on information, which was created to give a voice on national television to the ethnic minorities as they did not appear to have representation on any of the main national channels. On the government site, it is possible to read: “At its launch, Channel 4 committed itself to providing an alternative to the existing channels, an agenda in part set out in September by its remit, which required the provision of programming to minority groups (…). Nature of the fourth channel and its relation to ITV: (…) to ensure that the programmes contain a suitable proportion of matter calculated to appeal to tastes and interests not catered for by ITV generally, (…) as relates to the dissemination of education, to ensure that a suitable proportion of the programmes are of an educational nature, to encourage innovation and experiment in the form and content of programmes, and to give generally the Fourth Channel a distinctive character of its own.” The introduction of Channel 4 entailed an evolution in the concept of a “national audience” and, since then, the need to ensure minorities have equal access to journalists has led to an increasing “ethnic” component in the major national newsrooms. Twelve years after the birth of The Voice, the journalistic production addressed to the Afro-Caribbean community has diversified, including such lifestyle magazines as Pride magazine. This magazine was founded in 1994 as a subsidiary to The Voice and then, a few years later, it became a newspaper with its own production. With the rise of the “ethnic business” and the growth of the migrant population, the “ethnic” newspapers passed from a form of community newspapers to a “commercial” form, becoming increasingly available but maintaining a precise target. The 1990s, as a historical period, was characterised by the emergence of a conflicting reality; the legislative development was the first step towards a form of formal integration of the “ethnic minorities” but from the social point of view, the killing of the young, black Stephen Lawrence and the Macpherson Report were significant episodes that proved the discrepancy between the legislative progress and the social surroundings. In particular, the attitude of the national media in reporting the case of Stephen Lawrence was very different from the attitude adopted in 1981; the “moderate rhetoric” that had characterized the chronicles of 1981 was abandoned and the majority of the media did not mention the social problems that afflicted the Afro-Caribbean community. In contrast, 7
See http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/68
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the national media adopted an attitude of criticism and denounced the facts, including denouncing the presence of the form of “institutionalised racism”, which was later confirmed by Judge MacPherson.1 In light of this context, it is important to reflect upon the role of the media during the second half of the twentieth century. The national media have played a central role in defining the “boundaries of the public truth” in order to shape the transition from a multi-racial to a multicultural society. In contrast, The Voice and other “ethnic” papers have increasingly been confirmed to be historical institutions of the black community in Britain. As an “ethnic” newspaper, in contrast to the national newspapers, The Voice broke the social frame in order to bring new representation into the public discourse. In general, the media narrative, whether “national” or “ethnic”, acted as an invisible environment for the construction of belonging; the media had a political meaning for their intrinsic social value. In the case of the national media, they have clearly operated in the recognition or non-recognition of forms of racism and in the definition of a “social problem” of national interest; in contrast, in the case of the “ethnic” media, their political significance is found in the forms of selfdetermination and self-legitimisation of the minority that led society to recognize their presence as an integral part of the nation. There was a significant turning point in the ethnic composition of Britain in the second half of the twentieth century and the early twentyfirst century, with a significant multicultural drift and the emergence of a “multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-community” society. The rise of multi-ethnicity and the coexistence among different communities of old and new settlements have led to the emergence of a number of reports in which the characteristics of multi-ethnic Britain have been analysed, as 1
“Institutional racism is the process by which people from ethnic minorities are systematically discriminated against by a range of public and private bodies. If the result or outcome of established laws, customs or practices is racially discriminatory, then institutional racism can be said to have occurred. Although racism is rooted in widely shared attitudes, values and beliefs, discrimination can occur irrespective of the intent of the individuals who carry out the activities of the institution. Thus, policing can be discriminatory without this being acknowledged or recognized, and in the face of official policies geared to removal of discrimination. However, some discrimination practices are the product of uncritical rather than unconscious racism. That is, practices with a racist outcome are not engaged in without the actor’s knowledge; rather, the actor has failed to consider the consequences of his or her actions for people from ethnic minorities. Institutional racism affects the routine ways in which ethnic minorities are treated in their capacity as employees, witnesses, victims, suspects and members of the general public” (Macpherson, 1999).
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well as the adoption of policies to improve the living conditions of the social context. Among others, the “Parekh Report – The Future of Multiethnic Britain: Report of the Commission on the Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain,” was one of the most important (see Sooben 1990 and Parekh 2000). In this report, the problematic aspects of the English identity were analysed in relation to the modern concepts of “ethnic minority”, “majority” and “community”. In particular, the report noted that the transition to a type of multicultural society was a gradual process. The commemorative event of the SS Wind rush in 1998 highlighted the historical presence of migrant communities; they shaped the cultural background of contemporary Britain and their presence resulted in a form of social recognition. In contrast, the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report made it clearer that forms of “institutionalised racism” exist within institutional bodies and the police. The recognition of criticism in the contemporary context was the result of the gradual emergence of a new social awareness regarding the phenomena of integration and interaction among different ethnic groups.
Conclusions From a demographic perspective, the so-called “ethnic minorities” have achieved such a high number density that many of them are no longer minority groups. Therefore, the term “ethnic minority” does not coincide with the reality of the urban ethnic communities in the metropolitan contexts, such as in London. The use of the terms BME/BAME is useful to indicate the parts of English society with historical migrations different from that of the majority; therefore, it is in use primarily as a “political label”, which depends on the social need to ensure the maintenance of the collective interests among groups claiming different identities and forms of belonging. It is evident that with the increase in social welfare recipients and the consequent lower social disparities between minority and majority groups, the boundaries of belonging to a group are more attenuated than ever. Thus, whether or not to belong to a “minority” has increasingly become a “cultural matter” rather than a “fact” to be taken for granted. Furthermore, the absence of a cultural border between social groups makes it difficult to detect contemporary forms of discrimination. In the contemporary context of the nation-states, the use of terms to indicate the “ethnic minority” forces us to return to the needs of public institutions to define the limits of social and political categories. Over time, The Voice has obtained a form of social legitimacy in the national public opinion. Currently, its version of the facts and orientation remain
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viewed as “alternative”; this tendency to maintain a precise target audience suggests a civil society still divided. There is always a preference to consider the “other” as different, as in this case of the non-white minority and of all new immigrants. We could in fact consider that the British national identity continues to claim a space of belonging, routinely contesting it with the identity of “new” and “old” minorities; therefore, in this society, there is a reproduction of models and social representations in new forms of interaction but with similar meanings to those of the past. There is a greater convergence and meeting of social groups; this is also observed in the media. There is a convergence among the topics covered by the “ethnic” newspapers9 and the national newspapers; most are sensitive to the problem of the representation of minorities at the collective level. This convergence of intentions and guidelines increases the complexity of the scenario. It is not possible to analyse the press and deduct the different view of the world perceived by the minority and the majority because of the high degree of interconnection between these two poles of society. In general, it must be considered that the “black media” is facing a “crisis of representation” in the English context. In the case of The Voice, the alternative circuit has reached a standardisation and reification so that it cannot be considered as inclusive or exclusive but as ordinary. The Voice remains an important social-historical institution, but of an ethnic minority that has become similar to the majority. It is therefore not possible to consider it as an “ethnic” newspaper, but rather as a “national” newspaper. A recent article in The Guardian10 concerning the future of the black press provided some food for thought regarding the future of The Voice: “Voice over? Once Britain’s leading Afro-Caribbean journal, The Voice, was proud of its large circulation. But now, two decades after its launch, it has lost its way and its readership”. The article went on to report the comments of some publishers in the world of black media. Eboda says: “The Voice does a lot more racist-based stories, maybe it’s because they came out of the 1981 riots. But people now want to know what’s going on in the mainstream community that will affect them.” Broadcaster and London assembly chairman Trevor Phillips says: “The Voice was an absolutely necessary community institution in the 1980s. But it probably has not recognised how the community has 9 M. Georgiou 2001, I. Rigoni 2003, M. Shackleton 2008, Lays and L. Thomas 2012. On “ethnic media”, “immigrant press”, see R.L. Wynar and T.A, Wynar 1976, J. Miller 1987, R.E. Park et al.1922, 1925; M.D. Matsaganis et al. 2011. 10 Available online at (09.07.2009): http://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/jul/09/mondaymediasection.raceintheuk
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changed. I speak at a lot of schools and churches and no one discusses The Voice any more.” Chris Mullard, chairman of Focus Consultancy (…) says: “The Voice raises its editorial standards and begins to compete as a professional paper with other ethnic and mainstream titles. It is losing its position, its credit rating, its status as a newspaper.” Henry Bonsu, a radio presenter on BBC London Live, held a recent phone-in about the black press: “People felt it was out of touch with its potential readership, and The Voice no longer has a captive audience, especially now that the national newspapers are far more willing to do stories of minority interest.” In light of these considerations, and considering the convergence of intentions collectively shared, it could be said that there is no need to consider The Voice as “Britain’s favourite black newspaper” but rather as a national newspaper with a particular focus on the historical events of civil society and news regarding one of the social groups that are part of the national community. However, the trend of the national newspapers to represent ethnic minorities in terms of stereotypes and the standard image is always present; this trend contributes to ensuring that The Voice has remained an “alternative” newspaper whose representative-institutional role of a minority continues to exist, albeit more tenuous. In fact, with globalisation and the homogenising tendencies of the context, The Voice has become a historical newspaper whose claims have lost their validity in media and politics. The element of exclusivity remains in the adoption of an internal perception of the facts regarding the episodes of the news, as happened during the three historical periods. Finally, if in the media the regime of representation seems directed towards standardisation, at the demotic (popular) level, the question of representation remains connected to the perception of being or not being part of a minority. Personal stories remain the main tools of analysis to understand the “gap” of representation between what is told in the media, whether national or ethnic, and what is perceived by the individual in the context of belonging. In this way, the daily interaction and analysis of internal perceptions of community members remain important in order to analyse both the forms of social representation and the contemporary forms of discrimination.
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References Baumann, G. (1996). Contesting Culture, Discourses of Identity in Multiethnic London. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Benjamin, I. (1995). The Black Press in Britain, London: Trentham Books. Brah, A. (1996). Cartographies of Diaspora, Contesting Identities. London: Routledge. Colley, L. (1992). “Britishness and otherness: an argument”, Journal of British Studies, 31 (4). Downing, J.D.H. (1985). “Coillons … hryned in as hogges toord: British news media discourse on 'race'” in Discourse and Communication: New Approaches to the Analysis of Mass Media Discourse and Communication, edited by T.A. van Dijk, 295–323. Berlin: de Gruyter. Duffield, I. (1981). “Black people in Britain: History and the historians,” in History Today, 31 (9). Georgiou, M. (2001). “Mapping Diasporic Minorities and their Media in Europe Studying the Media. Investigating Inclusion and Participation in European Societies, European and Transnational Communities”. LSE (London School of Economics) working paper for the project: “Diasporic Minorities and their Media: A Mapping” in European Media Technology and Everyday Life Network (EMTEL 2). Grillo, R. (2015). “Reflections on Super-Diversity by an Urban Anthropologist, or Super diversity So What?” www.academia.edu. Gundara, S. J. and Duffield, I. (1992). Essays on the History of Blacks in Britain. From Roman Times to the Mid-twentieth Century, England. Avebury: Aldershot. Hall, S. (1997). Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: Sage Publications and the Open University. Hall, S. (1999). “From Scarman to Stephen Lawrence,” History Workshop Journal, 48: 187–97. Kennedy, P. and Roudometof, V. (2002). Communities across Borders – New Immigrants and Transnational Cultures. London: Routledge. Lay, S. and Thomas, L. (2012). “Ethnic minority media in London: transition and transformation,” Media, Culture and Society, 34 (3): 369–80. Macpherson of Cluny, (Sir) William (1999). The Macpherson Report. In The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry: Report of an Inquiry. http://www:official-documents.co.uk/document/cm42/4262/4262.htm. Martin, T. (1998). The Pan African Connection – From Slavery to Garvey and Beyond. 2nd ed. Dover, MA: Majority Press.
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Matsaganis M.D. et al. (2011). Understanding Ethnic Media, Producers, Consumers and Societies. California: Sage. Miller, J. (1987). The Ethnic Press in the United States: A Historical Analysis and Handbook. New York: Greenwood Press. Neal, S. (2003). “The Scarman Report, the Macpherson Report and the Media: how newspapers respond to race-centred social policy interventions”, Journal of Social Policy, 32 (1) :55-74. Open Research Online – The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Park, R.E. (1922). The Immigrant Press and its Control. New York: Harper. Park, R.E. et al. (1925). The City. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Parekh, B. (2000). The Future of Multi-ethnic Britain: Report of the Commission on the Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain. London: Profile Books. Pawlowski, A. (2011). “Wear undies to fool scanners, get pat-down”, CNN, January 11. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/01/11/tsa.scanner.underwear/ind ex.html (retrieved: May 2017). Peach, C. (1991). “The Caribbean in Europe: contrasting patterns of migration and settlement in Britain, France and the Netherlands.” Research Papers in Ethnic Relations, 15. Warwick: Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, University of Warwick. Planet Biometrics (2015). “Can biometrics help with Europe’s migrant problem?” 25 June. http://www.planetbiometrics.com/article-details/i/ 3197/desc/can-biometrics-help-with-europes-migrant-problem/ (retrieved: August 2017). Quirke, E., Potter, B.R., Conway, D. (2009). “Transnationalism and the Second-Generation Caribbean Community in Britain.” Geographical Paper, 187, Department of Geography, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, University of Reading, White Knights, UK, and Department of Geography, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA. Rigoni, I. (2003). “Ethnic Media, an Alternative Form of Citizenship,” European Conference EMTEL (European, Media, Technology and Everyday Life Network). London: London School of Economics 23– 26. Shackleton, M., ed. (2008). Diasporic Literature and Theory – Where Now? Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
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Sivanandan, A. (1986). From Resistance to Rebellion: Asian and AfroCaribbean Struggles in Britain. London: Institute of Race Relations. Sooben Philip N. (1990). “The Origins of the Race Relations Act.” Research Paper in Ethnic Relations, 12. Warwick: Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, University of Warwick. https://web.warwick.ac.uk. Wynar, R.L. and Wynar, T.A. (1976). Encyclopedic Directory of Ethnic Newspapers and Periodicals in the United States, 2nd ed. Littleton, Colo: Libraries Unlimited.
PART TWO THE WALL AND THE BOND: MIGRANT BODIES IN SEARCH OF PLACE
CHAPTER SEVEN BODILY INTEGRITY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES VIS-À-VIS SECURITIZATION AND BIOMETRICS EMANUELA C. DEL RE
Abstract Bodily integrity is listed by Martha Nussbaum as one of the ten capabilities that are fundamental for a life to be considered good, as it allows individuals to move freely and to be secure against violent assault. This concept applies to migrants and refugees in all the phases of their journeys, in which they are exposed to a number of challenges that endanger the integrity of their bodies, intended as part of their identity. The current system of control in all the phases of the journeys of the migrants and refugees implies a number of practices and procedures that heavily challenge bodily integrity and identity. The issue of how much bodily control is really needed and whether the current normative is correct is another crucial question, in particular when related to migration movements. The double interpretation of the aim of these examinations, that is protection and cure of the migrant him/herself as opposed to protection and cure from the migrant, is also another important issue. The A. explores these aspects analyzing the paradigm body-controls-protection-security vis-a-vis EU norms and policies, testing it with the concepts of bodily integrity and identity, that are not only physical and biological aspects, but also cultural, symbolic, components of personal narratives, alternative languages. Keywords: Biometrics, Bodily Integrity, Securitization, Migrants, Refugees
1. Fundamental capabilities Bodily integrity is listed by Martha Nussbaum as one of the ten capabilities that should be at the basis of constitutional guarantees fundamental for a human life to be considered good. She thinks that having a list of capabilities is necessary to avoid omissions and manage
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power: “Just as people can be taught not to want or miss the things their culture has taught them they should not or could not have, so too can (they) be taught not to value certain functioning as constituents of their good living” (Nussaum 1988: 175). In her definition, bodily integrity–as a capability–implies “being able to move free from place to place; to be secure against violent assault including sexual assault and domestic violence; having opportunities for sexual satisfaction and for choice in matters of reproduction” (Nussaum 2000: 78–80). Nussbaum’s list of capabilities has been challenged by Amartya Sen (2005: 158), who explicitly refuses “one pre-determined canonical list of capabilities, chosen by theorists without any general social discussion or public reasoning.” Given the continuous transformation of society and the need to constantly re-adjust values and norms, Nussbaum’s innovative list should only be seen as an important indication; yet, the fact that bodily integrity is included in the list as a capability appears to be a significant reference point for the analysis of migration movements. Bodily integrity has become even more pregnant in the current so-called migration “crisis” or “emergency,” often defined as such because of the increase in migration flows towards the European Union due to conflicts and economic crises, and because of the numerous deaths in the Mediterranean Sea, a situation that has raised crucial issues such as the difficulties in adequately responding to the situation in respect of human rights, in accordance with EU norms, with the correct sharing of responsibilities between EU countries and so on (Del Re, 2017a). The concept of bodily integrity as a capability that cannot be denied to human beings applies to migrants and refugees in all the phases of their journeys, in which they are exposed to a number of challenges that endanger the integrity of their bodies, intended as a part of their identity. Significant challenges for bodily integrity are the identification process and the use of biometrics. In analysing capabilities, Alkire and Deneulin (2009: 45) correctly point out two relevant issues that imply a dual perspective: (1) which capabilities do people enjoy and consider valuable and higher in rank compared to others, and (2) which capabilities are relevant to a given policy, project or institution. These crucial issues are particularly meaningful in the case of migration movements today because they combine (a) personal perceptions, demands and aspirations with (b) the perceptions and demands of policy makers and institutions. The common denominator for both these elements is the motivation or aim. Bodily integrity provides a specific intersection that can produce adequate as well as inadequate responses. There are also intervening variables in this process deriving from the social-political current context:
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(a) the issue of security related to migrations and the consequent securitization, and (b) the procedures implied in this complex process; that is, biometrics. Another important aspect is that bodily integrity emerges as a fundamental issue in both (a) the procedures related to security and (b) the exploitation and subjugation of migrants and refugees by the traffickers/smugglers. I have elaborated the following two tables to offer a synthesis of the concepts above expressed related to (a) bodily integrity in securitization processes, and (b) bodily integrity in traffickers’ exploitation processes, with all their implications.
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Table A BODILY INTEGRITY IN SECURITIZATION PROCESS Fundamental human capability
Interpretation of bodily integrity
Context and consequences
Securitization tools related to migration
Examples of potential benefits and costs of this process (to be demonstrated)
Amongst the potential BENEFITS: SECURITY RISK
BODILY INTEGRITY
VALUE given by people to their bodily integrity at an individual and collective level
Level of CONSIDERAT ION of bodily integrity by policy makers
UPDATED TECHNOLOG Y
SECURITIZATION BIOMETRICS (techniques)
- Increases security - Permanent effects of security controls - advancement in technology Amongst the potential COSTS: - Disrespect for bodily integrity - Psycho-social consequences - Changes in perception of fundamental capabilities in society and potential consequences at legislative level
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Table B BODILY INTEGRITY IN TRAFFICKERS’ EXPLOITATION PROCESS Fundamental human capability
Bodily integrity
Interpretation
Value given by people to their bodily integrity at an individual and collective level
Level of consideration of bodily integrity by traffickers and smugglers
Context and consequences
Migrants and refugees in need and vulnarable
Trafficking and smuggling Exploitation
Exploitation strategies in migrants’ trafficking/ smuggling
Sexual abuse, disrespectful and/or violation of bodily integrity for smuggling and trafficking
New abuse behaviour and accesss to medicines and practises for abuse
Examples of potential benefits and costs of this process for all actors (to be demonstrated) Benefits: for traffickers: - more control over migrants to be smuggled, imposing rules (women –but also men– having to accept antiovulation injections, sexual intercourse, etc.); - fewer demands by migrants due to intimidation and subjugation (e.g., accepting to board a boat with an excessive number of people) for migrants/refugees: being able to travel Costs: for traffickers: - arrested for serious crimes: offences against persons for migrants/refugees: - disrespect for bodily integrity with psycho-social consequences
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Traffickers abuse migrants and refugees by imposing controls on their bodies, checking their health when there is a need to employ them in specific tasks, and obliging them to extremely distressing conditions for their bodies during their journeys, also perpetrating physical violence on them (not only sexual abuse but also, for instance, injecting women with anti-ovulation medicines before they travel on boats).1 This practice by the traffickers is not a form of protection of women as human beings against potential rape or risks during the journey: it is a form of protection of them as consumption goods (especially when women are destined for the sex market or black market). The current system of biometric control by the authorities in countries of transit and destination in all the phases of the journeys of the migrants and refugees is certainly not physical violence; however, it implies a number of practices and procedures that heavily challenge bodily integrity and identity in a social-cultural context in which these are highly valued. The level of the perceived intrusion and violation of bodily integrity through the application of biometrics depends upon cultural values: removal of the hijab (veil) for Muslim women; full body scanner (in which the body appears as though naked, although only to appointed officers) for Western women, etc. Within the EU, the system of control has become an automated process that uses specific machines for facial and bodily identification according to a biometric approach. Despite the debate on the normative and control practices focusing mainly on the issue of privacy, there is an emerging discussion amongst academics and practitioners on the implications related to the concept of citizenship, identity and integrity of the body, transversally crossed by the issue of human dignity. Moreover, the implications are not only moral or related to privacy–the most common approaches–but also political, especially when related to the need for securitization. The political aspects of biometrics, or biopolitics, have been well explored by Ajana (2013), who attempts a definition of biometrics by proposing a new concept that is the result of the aggregation of the concepts of biomedia by Thacker (2004) and of remediation by Bolter and Grusin (1999). Thacker shows that there is an interaction between genetic 1
Private conversation of E.C. Del Re with Petro Bartolo, the well-known doctor working on the island of Lampedusa (Italy), who has treated hundreds of thousands of people rescued in the Mediterranean. His declarations on this matter are public: A. Ditta, “Il medico di Lampedusa che salva i migranti e racconta le loro storie”, The Post Internazionale. Retrieved December 2016: http://www.tpi.it/mondo/italia/pietro-bartolo-medico-lampedusa-migranti
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and computer codes – that is, between life and information – and that each kind of body-related product–from biochip to DNA, computer and others– are so interrelated that they provide unique means of understanding and controlling living matters. Bolted and Grusin maintain that contemporary media such as the World Wide Web and virtual reality imply a new set of cultural principles that are a challenge for our age. They maintain that the visual media must pay homage to earlier media – painting, photography, etc. – by refashioning them, which is a process they call remediation. Ajana goes a step further, maintaining that biometrics can be defined as a form of bio-mediation, referring to: (a) the way in which biometrics refashion older forms of identification such as anthropometry and fingerprinting, and (b) the way the body in biometric processes is doubly mediated by being at once the object and the subject of measurement: what is being measured is what enables the process of identification (Beer 2014).
2. Body security Despite the undeniable importance of biometric controls in prevention (health, terrorism), processes such as facial image scanning imply ethical issues. For instance, Jain and Kumar (2012) underline that although biometrics nowadays pervade our society, these techniques are not perfect: amongst the requirements that they imply, not only are reliability and operability fundamental (ability to handle poor quality and incomplete data, achieve scalability to accommodate hundreds of millions of users, ensure interoperability) but also the user’s acceptance is very relevant, as well as technical values such as the protection of user’s privacy while reducing system cost and enhancing system integrity and others. When the phases of the application of the system are analysed diachronically, it emerges that the whole process is closely related to the perception of risk and the political attitudes that increase in case of specific traumatic events (9/11 or other) and vary according to different national approaches. There is another aspect that would enhance the “exploitation” dimension of migrants by states, exemplified, according to Pero and Smith (2014), by the case of Canada’s 2013 Temporary Resident Biometrics Project, which requires that foreign nationals provide enhanced biometric details, including fingerprints and facial capture, which will be shared with other governmental departments such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canada Border Services Agency (Pero and Smith 2014). Although the Canadian government admitted to being aware of the increasing vulnerabilities in their capacities of identification and
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verification, according to Pero and Smith no clear explanations have been provided as to why the enhanced surveillance and governance of noncitizens are necessary. Exploring the use of biometrics, they maintain that the increasing deployment of such forms of control is part of a larger global programme designed to promote and manage temporary, short-term labour. Finally, they refer to Callon’s theory of hybrid forums to define the economic dimension of biometric screening, directly connected with the fact that states’ relationships and obligations to non-citizens are increasingly defined through the rhetoric of a market-driven economized service. Security control and economic advantage, according to this analysis, converge. Ajana (2013) maintains that biometrics “is also a very telling example of the double strategy of biologisation and informatisation whereby the control and management of identity, movement, citizenship, access and so on are being conducted through the use and manipulation of one of our most intimate aspects: our bodies. Engaging with biometrics and its implications can help us start fathoming and appreciating what is at stake in rending the body as a ‘password’ and a means of ‘fixing’ identity.” The issue of how much bodily control is really needed and whether the current normative is correct is another crucial question, in particular when related to migration and refugees’ movements. Security has become a synonym of protection, with a number of serious ambiguities: the dual equal and opposite interpretation of the aim and nature of these controls, that is, protection of migrants and refugees and protection from migrants and refugees, is a crucial and delicate issue.
OF
PROTECTION MIGRANTS and REFUGEES FROM
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The paradigm body ĺ controls ĺ protection ĺ security vis-à-vis norms and policies must be challenged by the concepts of bodily integrity and identity, which are not only physical and biological aspects but also cultural, symbolic, components of personal narratives and alternative languages. These qualitative dimensions that determine the approaches cannot be forgotten or underestimated because they constitute the essence of the respect for and enforcement of the list of fundamental capabilities that is a significant achievement of democratic societies. The advancement of technology has served well the need for security that followed 9/11, the moment the sense of vulnerability of Western societies reached the highest level in contemporary times, determining an unsurpassable limit that has served as a reference point in counterterrorism strategies since, although its expansion has nowadays become the object of debate. How many of our civil rights are we ready to give up in name of security? Louisa Amoore maintains that there is a dual-faced phenomenon in the contemporary war on terror: (a) the turn to scientific technologies and managerial expertise in the politics of border management; and (b) the exercise of biopower such that the bodies of migrants and travellers themselves become sites of multiple encoded boundaries. She examines the US-Visit programme of border controls (United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology), enhancing the political elements that characterize the controls. Particularly relevant appear: (a) the use of risk profiling as a means of governing mobility within the war on terror, segregating “legitimate” mobility such as leisure and business from “illegitimate” mobility such as terrorism and illegal immigration, and (b) the representation of biometrics and the body, such that identity is assumed to be anchored as a source of prediction and prevention. Amoore (2006) stresses that the biometric border is an almost ubiquitous frontier in the war on terror, and it also contains “ambivalent, antagonistic and undecidable moments that make it contestable.” Despite the awareness of the limits of control systems–which resurfaced after 9/11 with the discovery that most terrorists were (and are) home grown (Del Re 2007a and 2012)–and the sense of a new type of risk whose lethality is proportional to its anarchical nature, governed by unknown rules, we have witnessed the phenomenon of a growing culture of securitization. A “culture” of securitization implies that the population has gradually accepted practices and procedures, allowing a certain degree of flexibility on issues that in the past were considered untouchable, such as bodily integrity. For instance, full body scanners through which the operator can see an alternate-wavelength image of an individual’s naked
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body and detect any suspicious item, after an initial perplexity by the public opinion and a debate on the ethical implications, have finally been fully accepted. Paradoxically, the attention to the ethical side-effects of this control system has become a marketing opportunity, with companies selling special underwear to avoid the exposure of private parts (Pawlowski 2011). The market is sensitive to these control needs. New technologies and programmes have been developed especially for border controls and the tracking of asylum seekers in the European Union, a need that has emerged in particular since 2015, leading to lively debate (Planet Biometrics 2015). Companies have created specific products to respond to these demands. For instance, funds have been allocated to Greece by the European Commission to buy biometric live-scan devices from a company, Cross match, which specializes in this technology. The company’s product, the Guardian Fingerprint scanner, has been adopted by the Germany’s Federal Office of Migration and Refugees. Greece has accepted the introduction of these devices to conform to the imperative indications by the European Commission related to EURODAC (European Dactyloscopy), the European Union fingerprints database for the identification of asylum seekers and irregular migrants above the age of 14 (Counter 2016). The introduction of biometric technologies on the binomial “control/security” has strongly securitized contemporary citizenship; as Muller (2004) points out, the securitization process has now pervaded the “inside” of societies, not only the “outside” as has occurred for centuries. The need for inside security enhances the need for more intrusive controls that invade the whole body, the once utmost insurmountable barrier of investigation. The indubitable advantages offered by biometric control are that it is convenient and allows a thorough authentication.
3. Dignifying bodies Biometrics by nature has an inherent universalistic dimension – because biometric qualities belong to any human being – in particular when the measurement is related to the body with its physiological characteristics. Physiological refers to the shape of the body and specific individual characteristics such as fingerprints, face recognition, DNA, iris and retina recognition and also skin-odour, palm print and others. Stories of criminals burning their fingerprints with acid to avoid identification are known as well as the idea of being able to overcome the problem of identification by changing somatic traits through plastic surgery. Recently,
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techniques and practices have become a recurring theme in the collective imaginary where they are seen as more sophisticated and challenging, awkwardly fascinating and even scary. This is also fed and represented by films such as Face Off (by John Woo, USA, 1997), in which an FBI agent undergoes a complete face transplant to take the identity of a criminal for investigation purposes. The viewer, disoriented by this change of image, is discomforted in that this is perceived as a true violation of the most intimate aspect of the inner self–although not the personality–a disturbing incongruity between body and person. A film even more relevant for this analysis is Minority Report (by Steven Spielberg, USA, 2002), not by chance released a year after 9/11. While maintaining the importance of respecting and taking into consideration the opinions of minorities despite a prevalent tendency towards the passive acceptance of a specific attitude or the opinion of the majority in society, the film depicts a hypothetic but not improbable future in which the body is described as an inescapable condition for the individual: technology is able to recognize a person by the iris wherever they go, through the dissemination of innumerable cameras that constantly trace and record the movements of people. The main actor, Tom Cruise, will only be able to avoid such controls by undergoing a transplant of both his eyeballs. The intrusion in the privacy of individuals through bodily features–although never physically touching the body–appears clear in this remarkably profound action, and yet philosophical, movie. It demonstrates that there is an endless intra-competition between advancements in science and the use we make of those advancements: while technological advancement can increase the intrusion in people’s lives for security and commercial reasons to the highest level, at the same time technological advancement (in medicine, for instance) can avoid that intrusion (eyeball transplant). Given that physiological characteristics can be circumvented, technology has gone further by adding behavioural characteristics to the identification/registration process. Physiological characteristics are related to the shape of the body. Behavioural characteristics–also called behaviometrics–are based on the idea that individuals follow a specific behavioural pattern: for instance, typing rhythm, use of the voice, gait (Giles 2012). Mariana Dahan and Alan Gelb (2015) link identification and development, sustaining in a 2015 World Bank report that “the role of identity and identification and its importance to development outcomes places it within the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda–specifically as one of the proposed SDG targets (#16.9)”. They sustain that modern
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identification systems can make a difference when trying to achieve the SDG goals, also referring to migration: “Targets that emphasize safe and responsible migration and mobility; reduce costs of remittance transfer; and strengthen the capacity to fight terrorism and crime” (p. 4). Identification is a crucial issue for refugees and migrants, and a controversial one. Crossing the borders can be a most traumatic experience because migrants and/or refugees are often abused by those they expected would be their saviours. Crossing the borders, heading towards the dreamed land, does not imply that men, women and their children are safe. The vulnerability of women, for instance, emerges more when they cross borders because they lose their points of orientation, they lack know-how, they can be blackmailed to have access to those resources to which they are entitled, they are sexually harassed, abused and so on. According to Amnesty International, refugee women from Syria and Iraq face sexual harassment, violence, assault and discrimination “at every stage of their journey, including on European soil” (Giles, 2012), a situation that is confirmed by the many women I have interviewed during my research in Syrian refugee camps in Iraq and Jordan, transit areas in Turkey and destination countries (Del Re 2017b). The process of identification of migrants/refugees is complex, and can become a source of humiliation for a number or reasons, including: a) lack of training and awareness of the personnel of humanitarian organization or of local administrations in EU border countries, b) lack of facilities in the centres to protect vulnerable groups (for instance, dividing women from men who are not members of their families), c) lack of research and attention to these issues as regards crimes that are committed in the identification centres, d) scarce control of guards in refugee reception/transit centres, e) lack of access to justice for victims of gendered crimes, f) lack of counselling, and so on. Many of the women I interviewed describe the Greek and Turkish identification centres as “prisons”. The issue of preserving one’s own dignity emerges as the most fundamental in the experience of crossing the border.2
4. Migrants’ bodies narratives The borders of Europe are being transformed into “e-borders” and behind the curtains there are many government services creating all sorts of risk 2
Private conversation with Petro Bartolo. His declarations on this matter are public: Ditta A. (2016) “Il medico di Lampedusa che salva i migranti e racconta le loro storie”, The Post International, http://www.tpi.it/mondo/italia/pietro-bartolomedico-lampedusa-migranti (retrieved: May 2017).
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profiles, according to Huub Dijstelbloem, Albert Meijer and Michiel Besters (2011). US President Trump has called for a rapid completion of a “biometric entry-exit tracking system” for all travellers to the country, despite strong resistance in the name of privacy violations, inefficacy and the unpredictable consequences of human judgement when applied to such systems (Lafrance 2017). The United Nations started expanding the iris identification technology to countries of destination in 2013 when the number of refugees leaving Syria started increasing dramatically. The intent of the UN iris-ID programme was to help prevent refugee fraud and facilitate the Syrians’ access to monthly aid dollars (Fine Maron 2013). Technology–smart telephones, in particular–is rendering the life of migrants and refugees easier, allowing them to be in contact with relatives all over the world from camps in Iraq and elsewhere, and this must be facilitated by donors (Kusumo Jati et al. 2017). It also acts as a form of protection: the UNHCR uses iris scans to identify refugees in camps in Jordan and Lebanon through the database ProGres, which uses biometric data to make sure aid goes to the really needy. The World Food Program also uses eye identification when refugees are buying food. The Economist reports that after introducing biometrics in the Kenyan refugee camps of Kakuma and Dadaab in 2013, the size of the population decreased significantly, saving 1.4 million US dollars a month, which the program had being paying out to fraudsters to support spectre-refugees.3 Biometrics and digitalization offer also an opportunity to the asylum seekers and refugees.4 As a consequence of the so-called “refugee crisis” that has hit the European Union, the countries of destination have updated their biometric systems – for instance, the system Asyl Online adopted by Germany – to render the process of registration and identification rapid and efficient and to avoid fraud such as repeated registration as asylum seekers in different countries. However, there are side-effects and risks: the data can be intercepted and fall into the wrong hands, given the fragility of the cloud system. 3
“Phones are now indispensable for refugees. Technology has made migrating to Europe easier. Over time, it will also make migration easier to manage”. The Economist, February 11, 2017, available at: https://www.economist.com/news/international/21716637-technology-has-mademigrating-europe-easier-over-time-it-will-also-make-migration (retrieved: August 2017) 4 CfDS Case Studies Series: Digitizing Humanitarian Act: The Role of Technology in Supporting Refugees.
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Soliman (2016) stresses that it is the aim of identification that makes a difference, especially as regards challenges. In fact, the challenges that emerge when biometrics are used for the relief and management of refugees are very different from deriving from biometric identification for security/military reasons. The United Nations built up their expertise when they were registering refugees in 2002 in Afghanistan. It is true that when it is related to security biometric identification. It can become a source of power for the refugees because it gives them an undeniable form of identification even when they have no documents to demonstrate their identity (which is, in my experience, the case of many Syrian Kurds in Iraqi refugee camps, to give an example). However, despite the abovementioned good effects of introducing biometrics in the UN identification system, critiques arise as regards the enormous power that the UN gains by entering the “global identification market” as Soliman calls it. There are also other well-known issues, such as who is entitled to keep the data, consult them, where to store them, who has access to them, for how long and so on. According to Kumar and Zhang, the large-scale deployment of biometric technologies in e-governance, e-security and e-commerce should inspire a global debate on these issues involving key stakeholders, taking into consideration all aspects of the use of biometrics; that is, the legal, political, philosophical and cultural implications (Kumar and Zhang 2010). The real issue is that the political implications of biometrics are slowly substituting the ethical and moral issues, which constituted the discussion arena before the waves of migration/refugee movements that have taken place in 2014. What has changed the way biometrics is perceived? Why is this system acceptable now, with resistance related to power rather than ethics, moral and privacy? There is no doubt that the global public opinion is changing direction, and in the name of security, it is rendering the boundaries of the private domain more flexible and permeable. The link between the body as a sacred temple and its external representation is becoming feeble; so feeble that the idea that a body and its representation are the expression of a human biography is becoming a secondary issue. Is biometrics distant from biographical information? Not really, because the body is still perceived as a narrative in itself, and in various cultures it is a representation of a collective identity; for instance, in the case of Muslim women covering the entire body with long dresses–in some cases, even the face with the niqab–or with specific clothes that indicate the provenance from a specific social group (African, Indian and
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so on). Biometrics in this case coincides with a biography, or at least with a part of it.
5. Bodily (dis)integrity Do biometrics violate bodily integrity? Are they a source of power or a weakening factor at all levels – individual, collective, identity - for those who undergo this kind of identification; in particular, migrants and refugees? Muller (2004) thinks that “biometric technologies are employed to conceal and advance the heightened exclusionary and restrictive practices of contemporary securitized citizenship” (p. 281). A distinction must certainly be made between control and security, and securitization. Migrants and refugees are seen as both a vulnerable group and a threat. The obvious gap between these two mutually exclusive ideological approaches is paradoxically filled precisely by the use of control systems that aim for the protection of and from migrants and refugees. The level and proportion of the use of means of control related to migration movements is overwhelming, whatever the aim. Everything is mapped, and movements of migrants and refugees are followed through satellites, drones and such like. The aim can range from sending aid to intercepting illicit trafficking. The UN has its own satellite system called UNOSAT, which operates within the activities of UNITAR (United Nations Institute for Training and Research) to map refugee camps in the Middle East. Huub Dijstelbloem (2017) defines migration tracking as “a mess” and warns that “because migration is increasingly bound up with questions of security, technological developments should be treated with discretion.” Louise Amoore (2013) analyses the equation “low probability, high consequence”, maintaining that the current demand for security due to the sense of being under threat (often combined with commercial opportunities) turns the traveller – or migrant/refugee – into “a person of national security interest” and the designer of risk algorithms for casino and insurance fraud into a homeland security resource. She defines this framework as the “politics of possibility.” Possibility is driving public opinion towards irrational perceptions of probability. I wrote that the equation migrants=terrorists was a terrible mistake already ten years ago (Del Re 2007). Today, this equation would also include refugees, with ideological interpretations that apply macrocategories to what should instead be analysed at the micro-level, with individual life-histories and motivations. Technology is a shortcut for
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identification: it cannot substitute for a qualitative approach that, although requiring more effort and attention, can allow the motivations to emerge with a consequent clearer picture of the real/concrete risks, not only in relation to groups but also in relation to geographical positions and routes. These concerns are expressed by many agencies, including the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, which implemented the project “Biometric data in large EU IT systems in the areas of borders, visa and asylum – fundamental rights implications” (FRA 2017). The European Commission has been sensitive to these issues in the past, with the projects RISE (Rising pan-European and international awareness on Biometrics and Security Ethics), a project that aims at setting up an international initiative to monitor ethical and policy issues raised by biometrics and security technologies (Mordini 2009); BITE (Biometric Identification Technology Ethics)5 and HIDE (Homeland security, biometric Identification and personal Detection Ethics).6 The more recent project carried out by FRA mapped administrative practices and case law related to the use of biometric and related data since 2014in all the EU member states. Its aim is also that of assessing the level of awareness and action of the civil society as regards issues related to the use of biometrics. Since 2015, the project has studied the impact of the use of biometrics on fundamental rights, focusing on potential vulnerabilities of those concerned, such as asylum seekers, refugees and irregular immigrants or third-country nationals that applied for a visa or were banned from entering the EU. There are other EU agencies that cooperate to the project, such as EULISA (The EU Agency for large-scale IT systems), Frontex (The European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders) and EASO (The European Asylum Support Office), and with working groups such as the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) and national data protection authorities. The report, published in July 2017 and entitled “Fundamental rights and the interoperability of EU information systems: borders and security”, shows the fundamental rights implications of managing biometric data in large EU IT systems in areas of borders, visas and asylum. Amongst the conclusions, the report states that not only should there be a limit on the processing of biometric data that should not go beyond the real necessities, there should also be a control on which authorities and staff have access to the data. Most important is the recommendation that there must always be an overarching awareness of the risks as well as opportunities that interoperability 5 6
See: www.biteproject.org See: http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/88614_en.html
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implies: “Privacy is a value inherent to a liberal democratic and pluralist society, and a cornerstone for the enjoyment of human and civil rights” (FRA 2017). The body is once again the “place” where different approaches– protection of / protection from– find their natural expression and intersections. DNA tests, for instance, can be used to identify kinship but, as Dijstelbloem (2017) points out, there is a risk of not including within the family ties distant relatives or children not biologically related to a parent. Muller (2014) sustains that biometric identification in particular favours the process of “securing identity.” Identity becomes a construction based on a collection of biometric data. Yet, according to Mordini and Massari (2008), “biometric technologies also promise to liberate citizens from the ‘tyranny’ of nation states and create new global, decentralized, rhyzomatic schemes for personal recognition.” Is the body again the “place” of such liberation? An ideal stage where all identity performances can be accomplished? What occurs is a real crossing of the borders of “nation states” then because the need for control also requires the application of the principle that identity – and control of identity – “follows” individuals wherever they go. This is why there are plans to create a system of subcutaneous implantation of radiofrequency identification (RFID) chips–already on the market–that, Alterman (2003) fears, “could be forced on prospective immigrants.” Counter-surveillance techniques are developing in parallel, allowing the migrants and the refugees to gather information on violations perpetrated at border crossings, during identification and so on. This is the context in which the body becomes the “place” where the positive usefulness of bodily controls and their biases converge. The “Deaths at the Border” database is a collection of official, state-produced evidence on “people who have died attempting to migrate irregularly to Europe by crossing the southern external borders of the EU without authorization, whose bodies were found on or brought to the territories of Spain, Gibraltar, Italy, Malta or Greece”, elaborated through the analysis of death certificates of people who died while crossing borders.7 The body is suspended in a “non-place.”When they cross the borders, migrants and refugees float in a limbo: they have left the authority under which they were when they departed, and they have not yet acquired a new status in the destination country. This is one reason why, according to Ploeg and Sprenkels (2011), it is crucial for the authorities to find ways to 7 “Human costs of border control”, available at www.borderdeaths.org (retrieved: May 2017).
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exercise control over migrants, especially through the identification process and by issuing documents that can provide identities to those who cannot prove it, also asserting the belonging of a person to a community. Lacerated between (a) the need to have an identity that protects and empowers, (b) the challenge of biometric identification that punctures the bodily barriers erected by cultures, (c) the awareness of being at the same time seen as a threat and of being at constant risk of abuse and violence, (d) the desire to be part of a new social-political context, and (e) the sadness of being forced to look for a new settlement, migrants and refugees use their bodies as a banner of their identity. When they start their journey, women wear their nicest hijab or their favourite t-shirt. They wear makeup and dress their kids nicely “to make a good impression”, Nerghiz, a Syrian refugee mother, told me before leaving her tent, which was sunk in the mud of a refugee camp in Iraq, ready to start her journey towards Germany and the unknown.8
6. Uniqueness If biometrics are capable of providing information, protecting the controller and the controlled, are they functional to good governance? Ajana mentions the concept of “biopower” by Foucault–the form of power being directed at the biological existence of individuals and populations, at man-as-species-body–and to his concept of the management of life–to explain that biometrics are functional to governance in all its areas of intervention–borders, citizenship and immigration policy, social services, healthcare and others. The risks, according to Ajana, derive from biometrics becoming a starting point for “the (sub) division of the population into manageable groups according to their level of risk and identity profiles” (Beer 2014). This is where biometrics brings us back to the crucial paradox that I mentioned at the beginning, whereby protection must be clearly defined because it implies a dual nature: protection of and protection from. It is the paradox that Foucault identifies in biopolitics: the same techniques that are used to protect and enhance certain lives can be used to endanger and hinder others. Ajana sees this happening in the policies related to asylum, immigration and citizenship today (Beer 2014). What is the future of the concept of citizenship and of those who aspire to it, such as asylum seekers, refugees and migrants? Is biometrics able to provide a valid tool to enhance individual rights and not to deny them? 8
Kawergosk Refugee Camp, Iraqi-Kurdistan, January 2017.
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Prokhovnik (2014) touches upon a very sensitive nerve in the relationship between body and citizenship, using the case of slavery to define citizenship and its denial: citizenship as embodied political subjectivity and slavery as a condition that denies it. In this sense, biometrics are the expression of the current perception of citizenship as an embodiment, much more than in the past, in contrast with expressions of democracy and freedom explicitated by the gradually decreasing controls on the citizens who are not required to produce documents certified by the authorities but are allowed self-certification. Paradoxically, the new restrictions come from that very body that in the last few decades has been the emblem of individual autonomy, with epochal social changes that imply an individual’s complete right to take decisions regarding his/her body (abortion, contraception, sex changes and so on). The body as a fluid border in a global amalgam is now undergoing a process of hyperdefinition with all its characteristics listed according to a taxonomic methodology in the name of security. Citizenship is a qualitative concept that implies a number of qualitative aspects: for instance, secondgeneration migrants in a country like Italy demand citizenship because they feel Italian – having attended Italian schools and having been brought up as Italians – even when their bodies express a different origin (being black or Asian). It remains very difficult, when using biometrics, to respect the dignity of individuals, which includes the need to enhance their uniqueness. Yet, this uniqueness can constitute an issue in itself because there is already a second generation of biometrics that goes beyond the identification of individuals through their bodily characteristics: second-generation biometrics include behavioural and electro-physiologic biometrics–with data gathered through electroencephalography, electrocardiography, electromyography, etc.–that can also go as far as detecting emotions, which constitutes a step up in the range of information that biometrics can identify. According to Mordini and Tzovaras (2012), this second generation of biometrics progresses from asking who you are (the focus of first-generation biometrics) to how you are. The focus is not only on the identity but also on the interaction of individuals with the environment in which they live: what are your intentions and how do you manifest them? While Mordini and Tzovaras stress the extreme social implications, especially the fact that these second-generation technologies apply surveillance and impact on privacy in a way that first-generation biometrics never did, they also underline the fact that these promise “a world which can be tailored to suit our needs. It is salient to remember that any new technology always brings risks. What therefore becomes
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paramount is that people interested in investing in these technologies take heed of the atmosphere of discontent and make efforts to improve public confidence in these technologies” (p. 12). A sense of the process of simplification of the issues related to biometrics in public debate–which anyway does not diminish its importance–is given, for example, by a video on YouTube entitled “Refugees and illegal immigrants will be used to push biometrics on us”, published by a person using the nickname ‘Thinking outside the matrix’ who maintains that “Your government is helping to harbour and fund terrorism around the world for the chief aim of bio-metrics, surveillance and control.”9 Scholars like Duran (2010) try to elaborate on the effects of the shift of security from an abstract concept to concrete practices that become part of the nation-state’s dominant discourse. The virtual borders that result from this process are becoming quasi-permanent states of exception. Biometrics cannot yet identify the aspirations that a body is capable of expressing, and that constitute the real bodily integrity yet they can give back to individuals the bodily integrity slowly dissolved along the perilous journey, which can metaphorically be the journey through life or a more prosaic journey to reach a desired destination that could guarantee survival or a better life when they migrate. In all cases, biometric controls are characterized by their dual natural of protection of and from, with all the consequences that this imposes on the controlled. The body becomes more and more–being explored nowadays in its most recondite places to secure a true identification–the arena in which all fundamental human issues are played. It is for us to find the balance between the need to respect bodily integrity and the need for control. This is not to be underestimated. Despite becoming a “normal” part of our life, the way we control bodies is our most challenging journey towards the future asset of the world.
References Ajana, B. (2013). Governing through Biometrics: The Biopolitics of Identity. Basingstoke: Palgrave McMillan Alkire, S. and S. Deneulin. (2009). “The human development and capability approach”. In S. Deneulin and L. Shahani, eds.. An Introduction to the Human Development and Capability Approach.
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Video available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y51ouvg1rGQ (retrieved: August 2017).
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Freedom and Agency, 22–48. London: International Development Research Centre and Earthscan. Alterman, A. (2003). “A piece of yourself”: Ethical issues in biometric identification”. Ethics and Information Technology, 5: 149. Amnesty International (2016). “Female refugees face physical assault, exploitation and sexual harassment on their journey through Europe”, 16 January. In https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/01/female-refugeesface-physical-assault-exploitation-and-sexual-harassment-on-theirjourney-through-europe/ Amoore, L. (2006). “Biometric borders: Governing mobilities in the war on terror”. Political Geography, 25: 336-351. —. (2013). The Politics of Possibility: Risk and Uncertainty beyond Probability. Durham, US: Duke University Press. Beer, D. (2014). “The Biopolitics of Biometrics: An Interview with Btihaj Ajana”. Theory, Culture and Society, 12 May. In http://www.theoryculturesociety.org/the-biopolitics-of-biometrics-aninterview-with-btihaj-ajana/ (accessed August 2017). Bolter, J.D. and R. Grusin (1999). Remediation: Understanding New Media. Cambridge: MIT Press. Counter, P.B. (2016). “Crossmatch Biometrics tech to register migrants in Greece”, 1 March. https://findbiometrics.com/crossmatch-biometricstech-to-id-and-register-migrants-in-greece-303011/. Dahan, M. and Gelb, A. (2015). “The Role of Identification in the Post2015 Development Agenda”. Center for Global Development, January 1st. In http://www.cgdev.org/publication/roleidentificationpost2015developmentagenda Del Re, E.C. (2007a). “Il profilo del potenziale terrorista” (Profile of the potential terrorist). Gnosis, Rivista italiana di Intelligence. Available in English at: http://www.eposweb.org/index.php?option=com_k2andview=itemandi d=275:profile-of-the-potential-terroristandItemid=65. —. (2007b). “Migranti = terroristi. Una terribile semplificazione”. Limes, 4: 161–9. —. (2012). Il comportamento collettivo. “Via con la pazza folla”: internet, ultras, terrorismo e oltre. Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino Editore. —. (2017a). Introduction. In Del Re, E.C. and R.R. Larémont, Pursuing Stability and a Shared Development: Euro-Mediterranean migration, 29–71. Rome: Aracne.
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https://issuu.com/centerfordigitalsociety/docs/cfds_casestudy_humanit arian Lafrance, A. (2017). “Biometric checkpoints in Trump’s America,” The Atlantic, February 14. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/02/biometriccheckpoints-in-trumps-america/516597/. Mordini, E. (2009). “Rising international awareness on Biometrics and Security Ethics.” https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/community/epractice/case/risinginternational-awareness-biometrics-and-security-ethics. Mordini, E. and S. Massari (2008). “Body, biometrics and identity”. Bioetics, 22 (9): 496. Mordini, E. and Tzovaras, D., eds. (2012). Second Generation Biometrics [electronic resource]: The Ethical, Legal and Social Context. Dordrecht and New York: Springer. Muller, B. J. (2004). “(Dis)Qualified bodies: Securitization, citizenship and identity management”. Citizenship Studies, 8 (3): 279–94. Nussbaum, M. (1988). “Nature, function and capability: Aristotle on political distribution.” Wider Working Paper no. 31. Helsinki: World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University. https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/WP31.pdf —. (2000). Women and Human Development. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press: 78-80. Pauly, P. J. (1987). Controlling Life: Jacques Loeb and the Engineering Ideal in Biology. New York-Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pawlowski, A. (2011). “Wear undies to fool scanners, get pat-down”. CNN, January 11. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/01/11/tsa.scanner.underwear/ind ex.html. Pero, R. and H. Smith (2014). “In the ‘Service’ of Migrants: The Temporary Resident Biometrics Project and the Economization of Migrant Labor in Canada”. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 104 (2): 401–11. Planet Biometrics (2015). “Can biometrics help with Europe’s migrant problem?”, 25 June. http://www.planetbiometrics.com/article-details/i/3197/desc/canbiometrics-help-with-europes-migrant-problem/. Prokhovnik, R. (2014). “Introduction: the body as a site for politics: citizenship and practices of contemporary slavery”. Citizenship Studies, 18: 465-484
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Sen, A. (2005). “Human rights and capabilities”. Journal of Human Development, 6 (2): 151–66. Soliman, S. (2016). ”Tracking refugees with biometrics: More questions than answers”, 9 March. https://warontherocks.com/2016/03/tracking-refugees-with-biometricsmore-questions-than-answers/. Thacker, E. (2004). Biomedia (Electronic mediation). Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press. The Economist. (2017). “Phones are now indispensable for refugees”, 11 February. https://www.economist.com/news/international/21716637technology-has-made-migrating-europe-easier-over-time-it-will-alsomake-migration. Van der Ploeg, I. and I. Sprenkels. (2011). “Migration and the machinereadable body: Identification and biometrics”. In Migration and the New Technological Borders of Europe, edited by H. Dijstelbloem and A. Meijer, 68–104. London: Palgrave McMillan.
CHAPTER EIGHT SOCIAL INTEGRATION OF MIGRANTS FROM CHINA IN RUSSIA: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ISSUES OLGA BORODKINA AND ANASTASIA AMIRKHANIAN
Abstract International migration is a global process in which Russia plays an important role given the great number of international migrants coming into the state. In the introduction of the paper, background information on the international migration to Russia, particularly from China, is provided. The majority of international migrants come to Russia from the former republics of the Soviet Union (Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, etc.). However, in recent years, the number of migrants from China has increased. At the same time, there is a lack of research on the problems of integration of migrants from China. The first section of this chapter is devoted to the main theoretical approaches to the social integration of migrants. In the next section, the results of a survey conducted among Chinese migrants living in the Far East (Vladivostok and Nakhodka) are discussed. Illegal status, language problems and discrimination are the main problems that create barriers for the social integration of Chinese migrants in this region. Then, the paper focuses on research carried out in Saint Petersburg. The analysis of cases of migrants from China also demonstrates different types of discrimination against migrants and very limited contacts between the Chinese and the local communities. Contemporary migration policy should be aimed not only at the regulation of migration flows but also at the development of effective mechanisms of the integration of international migrants.
Keywords: International Migration, Chinese Migrants, Social Integration, Discrimination, Russia.
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Introduction International migration from countries with weaker economies and war zones to more developed regions has been growing all over the world. Russia takes one of the leading places in terms of the number of international migrants coming to the state. During the last years, the dynamics of international migration to Russia have been positive, with the number of people arriving further increasing (417,681 persons arrived in 2012, 482,241 in 2013, 590,824 in 2014 and 598,617 in 2015) (Federal Service for State Statistics 2016). According to estimates, until 2016, the annual migration population growth stood at 280 thousand (Florinskaya and Mkrtchian 2016). In addition, although the influx of migrants to the Russian Federation has slightly declined over the past two years (see Figure 1), labour migrants are still considered a significant resource, necessary for economic growth and local employment.
Left Arrived
Figure 1. International Migration in 2010-2016. Quarterly Data Source: Florinskaya and Mkrtchian 2016
The increasing trend of migrant inflow to Russia is reflected in “The concepts of the state migration policy of the Russian Federation until the ear 2025”, which predicts an increase of the country’s population because of immigration and economic development attracting foreign workers to priority professional and qualification groups. Russian cities attract, first of all, citizens from the former Soviet republics, such as Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Armenia,
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and Moldova. The number of Chinese migrants is increasing systematically but, unfortunately, it is difficult to provide accurate statistics on the actual number of Chinese migrants in Russia. According to experts’ estimates, the most accurate figures stand at 200–400 thousand, with a possible maximum of 500 thousand people (Larin 2008). The Russian Far East is also attractive, particularly for the migrants from China due to its geographical position. The border territories of Russia–such as the Primorsky Krai (Russian Far East)–are mostly involved in the process of migration from China, and migration from China constitutes a rather moderate but stable part of migration flow into Russia. The Primorsky Krai is the southernmost region of the Far Eastern Federal District of the Russian Federation, and the administrative center of this region is Vladivostok city. The population of the Primorsky Krai, like that of the entire Far East region, is decreasing. In 2002, the population was 2,071,200 inhabitants; according to the results of the 2010 census, the total number of inhabitants stood at 1,956,497 inhabitants (Federal Service for State Statistics 2010). In this situation, international migrants are viewed as an essential demographic and labour market resource. During the period from 2004 to 2014, there was a gradual growth of the migration inflow from China. In 2014, about 10,563 Chinese citizens entered Russia. In 2015, the number of migrants from China decreased to 9,043 persons but, nevertheless, migration from China continues to play a special role in the migration process (Federal Service for State Statistics 2016). The Far East region is characterized by circulatory migration as many migrants, including Chinese labour migrants, are keen to become permanent residents. As a result, the ethnic diversity of Russian regions increases and the social integration of labour migrants becomes more urgent. Recent years have also witnessed an increase in the number of Chinese migrants in the central regions of Russia, mainly Moscow and Saint Petersburg. In many respects, this is connected to the intensive growth of Chinese tourism in Russia; according to official statistics, the number of tourist trips from China is gradually increasing. From January to December 2015, there were 1,122 thousand such trips, and during the same period of 2016, there were 1,289 thousand trips (Federal Service for State Statistics 2017). Tourist flows stimulate the development of the service sector and create more job opportunities for migrants from China. According to “The concepts of the state migration policy of Russiɚ”, there is a need to “create conditions conducive to the adaptation and integration” of labour migration in Russia (The State Migration Policy Concept of the Russian Federation 2012: article 23). The process of integrating labour migrants from China is largely determined by the characteristics, social
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practices and strategies of adaptations that are prevalent among this social group. The features of the integration of Chinese migrants in Russia are not sufficiently studied, and the results of studies conducted in the Far East (Primorsky Krai) and in the European part of Russia (Saint Petersburg) are presented in this paper.
Theoretical concepts of integration of migrants Studying migration is one of the key areas of modern social science, though it should be emphasized that there is a lack of international publications concerning the migration situation in Russia. There have been many more Russian migration studies in recent years but they remain, predominantly, empirically oriented. From the latest works, we have to mention the articles on migration processes and migration policy by V. Mukomel and K.S. Grigoryeva, (Mukomel and Grigoreva 2016); S.V. Ryazantsev’s papers on labour migration (Ryazantsev 2013, Ryazantsev and Skorobogatova 2013; Ryazantsev 2015); the articles by V.I. Mukomel, V. Malakhov, E. Varshaver and others on the problems of adaptation and integration of migrants (Mukomel 2016, Malakhov 2015, Varshaver et. al. 2014) and the papers on analysis of migration risks by Zh. Zayonchkovskaya, D.V. Poletaev and Yu. Florinskaya (Zayonchkovskaya et al. 2014). Migration from China to the Russian Far East has been studied by V. Gelbras and A.V. Larin (Gelbras 2016, Larin 2009). The socioeconomic aspects of Chinese migrants living in the Far East are reflected in E. Motrich’s, S. Naiden’s and E. Zagrebnov’s works (Motrich and Naiden 2009, Zagrebnov 2007) and the processes of the formation of the Chinese diaspora in the Far East are considered by A.G. Larin, and A.A. Kireev (Larin 2009, Kireev 2011). In sociology, the process of interaction between migrants and a host society is considered through a prism of various concepts: assimilation, acculturation, absorption, adaptation and inclusion. In our view, these are different manifestations of the process of integration, and we should give a brief overview of these theoretical approaches.
Integration as assimilation The classic concept of assimilation was suggested by M. Gordon (1964), who distinguished seven kinds of assimilation: (a) Cultural assimilation (acculturation); (b) Structural assimilation; (c) Marital assimilation; (d) Identificational assimilation; (e) Attitude receptional assimilation; (f) Behaviour receptional assimilation; and (g) Civic assimilation. This
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concept was rethought by R. Alba, V. Nee, H. Vermeulen and R. Brubaker (Alba and Nee 1997, Vermeulen 2010, Brubaker 2001) while A. Portes, M. Zhou and R. Rumbaut proposed the theory of “segment assimilation” (Portes and Zhou 1993, Portes and Rumbaut 2001). This theory holds that the children of migrants assimilate into different segments of the host country depending on the characteristics of the second generation of migrants themselves and on the characteristics of these environments (Vermeulen 2010). Because they retain a strong cultural identity, migrants from China are not characterized by assimilation processes.
Integration as acculturation Acculturation is widely understood as a process during which an individual, after direct contact with the adaptive society, loses his original cultural traits and values and adopts those of the host culture. The classic definition of acculturation was suggested by Redfield. Acculturation comprehends those phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first-hand contact, with subsequent changes in the original culture patterns of either or both groups. (Redfield, Linton and Herskovits 1936:149)
Under this definition, acculturation is distinguished from culture change, of which it is but one aspect, and assimilation, which is, at times, a phase of acculturation. Although the processes of assimilation and acculturation are close, assimilation could be interpreted as the "final stage” of the process of acculturation. The process of acculturation was traditionally viewed as a linear, individual, non-directional process during which an individual eventually assimilated in the predominant society. In modern theories, acculturation is viewed as a multidimensional and dynamic process during which an individual can preserve both his cultural characteristics and values, or become assimilated in a predominant society. This method of acculturation defines acculturation as a long process during which an individual begins with cultural acculturation and ends with ultimate assimilation. It should be also noted that reaching the final destination–civil assimilation–does not necessarily mean the complete or partial loss of features of an original culture, such as language and preferences in the environment. An individual can adopt certain qualities but still adhere to or even strengthen previous cultural values and behaviours.
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Integration as adaptation Social adaptation is often seen as an activity based on the subjective interpretation of an adaptive situation aimed at optimizing the inclusion of migrants in a new socio-cultural environment. On the one hand, this activity is implemented by sharing (partially or completely) the norms and values of the given environment, and the forms of social interaction that have been developed. On the other hand, this activity is aimed at changing the social environment in order to adapt it to migrants (Podporinova 2005). Among modern approaches to social adaptation, Massey’s concept deserves special attention. Massey’s research demonstrated the network nature of migration and now social networks are studied as a key mechanism of social adaptation of migrants (Massey and Goldring 1994). The integration of migrants from the point of view of the ethno sociological approach allows one to take into account not only the migratory behaviour of people and their individual preferences but also the social groups in which they are included, as well as reference groups. The ethno sociological approach is based on the concept of culture as a collective way of adaptation to the natural and social environment. According to the proponents of this approach, it gives a new, deeper understanding of the adaptation and integration mechanisms of migrants since the ethno sociological approach takes into account the historical traditions of the people, including the experience of migration. An important factor contributing to the segregation of migrants is the existence of the “buffer environment” that reproduces the social ties and networks and the traditional cultural environment most typical for those ethnic communities whose cultural and behaviour patterns differ significantly from those of the local population. For many migrants, staying in the “buffer environment” is a way to avoid isolation and adapt to a new society (Harutyunyan and Drobizheva 2008). Russian researcher Mukomel identifies the factors conducive to the success of adaptation: the length of stay in Russia, accumulated experience and social, cultural and material capital (Mukomel 2016). Without disputing this thesis in general, we believe that other life strategies are typical for Chinese migrants, namely, even with different social capital and long stays in Russia, they retain a strong cultural identity.
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Integration as inclusion The theory of social exclusion/inclusion is used to explain and analyse the various types of social ill-being associated with social problems primarily due to economic crises, long-term unemployment and the instability of social relations, including those found among family members. Social exclusion was seen as the result of the rupture of social and symbolic links between individuals and society and the inability of the state to establish solidarity. Two main approaches to understanding exclusion could be distinguished: the French and the Anglo-Saxon (Borodkin 2000). The French approach focuses on social solidarity and the integration (inclusion) of citizens in public life. On the one hand, this approach presupposes the recognition of the primary rights of communities to protect their integrity. On the other hand, it requires respect for the rights of any minority that does not encroach on the integrity of the community. Exclusion is viewed primarily as a consequence of the group monopoly, as the enforcement of the social order that serves the interests of the inclusive. The Anglo-Saxon tradition emphasizes individual freedom and equal rights for all citizens. Social inclusion is treated primarily as the result of a free choice of relations between individuals, and between individuals and society, the state. Social exclusion implies the existence of groups or communities that are outside the mainstream society. Scientists do not have consensus on the reasons for the social exclusion of a number of groups from the mainstream. Thus, M. Wolf considers social exclusion as a relative deprivation and distinguishes the following types of exclusion: exclusion of subject from the means of subsistence, exclusion from social services, welfare and social security, exclusion from the consumption culture, exclusion from the political choice, and exclusion from public organizations and solidarity (Wolfe 1995). According to C. Gore, exclusion is the result of the social construction of a certain compulsory social order aimed at excluding individuals and groups from the system of social solidarity, which is often expressed in direct discrimination. Exclusion includes two vectors: deprivation of the excluded as well as societal discrimination against this group (Gore 1995). In this regard, it could be noted that the anti-immigrant sentiments prevailing in Russian society, the approval by the majority of the population of administrative and other measures that impede the integration of migrants create a specific background for discrimination of international migrants, with discriminatory social practices spreading particularly in the labour and housing markets.
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Integration as absorption One of the most prominent works in the field of migration studies was done by Paul Collier. On the basis of the social capital theory, Collier developed his own model of the social consequences of migration with factors contributing to and hampering the process of migrant absorption. The model enables one to grasp the rules of migration on a worldwide scale. One of the basic theses in his theory holds that, as diaspora becomes larger, additional relationships between its members crowd out the interactions of its members with the host society and, thus, the absorption or integration of migrants decreases. Three other factors are important in the absorption process: 1) composition of diaspora, 2) attitudes of migrants and 3) migration polices in host countries (Collier 2013). Collier revealed an interplay between the size of the diaspora and the rate of absorption. The greater the cultural distance between a diaspora and a host community, the longer it will take migrants to integrate into a host society. A culturally distant diaspora is larger than the one with a familiar culture. The larger a culturally distant diaspora, the lower the overall mutual regard rate in the host society. Collier shares the idea that migrants bring not only their own agenda, but also a culture that may not be favourable to the host society. Understanding integration in the frame of the absorption concept seems to be the most promising theoretical basis for investigating the issues of integration of Chinese migrants in Russia but, first of all, integration, in our opinion, is connected with overcoming discrimination.
Research hypotheses and methods Surveys among Chinese migrants in Russia are not conducted often as there are many hurdles: not only the language barrier but also the closeness of the Chinese community, the lack of confidence in researchers and the perceived negative attitude of local residents to migrants from China. During 2014-2016, we conducted a study in three cities: two Far East cities (Vladivostok and Nakhodka) and Saint Petersburg. One of our tasks was to compare the data obtained in the Primorsky Krai (the border region with China) and St. Petersburg (the most European city in Russia). The main research hypotheses are the following statements. Chinese migrants are poorly integrated into Russian society for several reasons: (1) the economic activity of a significant proportion of labour migrants from China in the Primorsky Krai is illegal; (2) the majority of labour migrants from China have a low level of acculturation as they live autonomously,
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without being involved in social relations with the local population; and (3) Chinese migrants suffer from a high level of perceived discrimination. Several research methods were used in the study. Firstly, a survey among Chinese migrants living in the Far East cities (Vladivostok and Nakhodka) was conducted. Market squares and shopping malls as well as places near the local hotels were chosen as the main sites. All the necessary information about the survey, outlining the aims and the objectives of the study and the questionnaire, was given to migrants in Mandarin, the most common Chinese language. The questionnaire included different thematic parts: the socio-demographic characteristics of respondents, education, language skills, employment in Russia, living conditions and networks in the host country as well as questions regarding discrimination experience. Data were entered and analysed by SPSS. In addition, an analysis of statistical data and case studies data was carried out. Secondly, in 2016, a case study among migrants from China was conducted in Saint Petersburg. Nine participants were recruited in the areas close to metro stations and large grocery stores. Potential participants were approached and were offered booklets with information about the main goals of the survey in Mandarin. If migrants agreed to participate, they were then interviewed. The research was conducted to assess the participants’ social and demographical characteristics, the level of their education, their Russian language skills, occupation in Russia, income, their living conditions in Russia, whether they had close friends or family in Saint Petersburg, the ways they spent their time while in Russia, their intentions to stay in Russia and also the perceived level of discrimination. Undeniably, a relatively small sample poses limitations on the results but, nevertheless, we believe that the obtained data allows us to identify the most common trends characteristic for Chinese migrants in Russia.
Results of the survey among Chinese migrants Socio-demographic characteristics of migrants from China in Primorsky Krai The results reveal that most respondents are migrants from small towns from the border provinces: Heilongjiang (65.3%), Hebei (16.3%) and Liaoning (7.1%). A total of 12.6% came from villages; 3.8% and 2.9% of respondents arrived from major cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, respectively. Migrants came mainly from small towns (64.1%), with less
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than a third of visitors coming from major cities (23.3%). Thus, most migrants come to Primorsky Krai from towns with similar urbanization levels, which make adaptation easier. The 58.2% of the respondents were men and the 41.8% were women. It is necessary to mention that the majority of migrants were rather young (under 34 years of age), since the young age contributes to overcoming the difficulties of adapting to conditions in the host society. The majority of migrants (72.1%) reported having a spouse or a partner; only 23.1% reported being single while 2 % were divorced and 3% were widowed. More than half of the respondents (66.3%) had children. Almost all of the married respondents (72.1%) had Chinese spouses (94.4%). Only two persons had spouses from Russia, which means that mixed marriages are uncommon.
The educational level of Chinese migrants The education level is a significant indication of the potential integration of migrants into the cultural environment. In this sample, almost all labour migrants had at least a school education: 28.6% of the respondents graduated from primary school and 36.7% from high school; 9.2% of the respondents declared having technical education; 11.2% had three years of higher vocational technical education and 6.1% graduated from university; only 6.8% had not completed any school education. The Russian language skills of labour migrants are determined, first of all, by the sphere of employment in Russia. Of the respondents, 40.2% reported that they are able to speak Russian fluently and 17.5% that they can understand and speak Russian; 9.3% were satisfied with their Russian skills, 8.2% had poor Russian and 24.7% admitted to not being able to communicate in Russian at all. Assessing the level of language proficiency among migrants, one needs to take into account that migrants evaluate their language level primarily based on the ability to communicate in professional activities. Based on observations, however, it can be concluded that when it came to solving everyday or more complex issues, Chinese migrants turn to their Russian colleagues. This means that their language level is probably lower than that marked in the questionnaire. The data on the level of education showed that most migrants have the potential for learning the Russian language, as well as for understanding and adopting the norms and values of the host country. In practice, many migrants wish to learn the Russian language and culture.
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Legal status of migrants from China The legal residence status of migrants is viewed as the basis for integration. Owing to the fact that this topic is sensitive to migrants, they were asked to respond to indirect questions about the conditions of their entry and stay in Russia. Out of the 96 respondents who answered the question of how they arrived in the Primorsky Krai, 27% said that they had been invited by the employer and 16.7% had received a temporary residence permit, but the majority of respondents (43.1%) had entered as tourists. Half of those who arrived as part of a tourist group (n = 21), when asked about the duration of their stay in the Primorsky Krai for the current visit, reported that it was on average 3.03 months, which exceeds the permitted period under the agreement about visa-free entry. In addition, a significant portion of respondents (14.7%) did not give a clear answer, unwilling to disclose information about the status of their stay, marked "other" on the form. This data demonstrates that the significant part of Chinese labour migrants have no legal status for staying (long-term) and working in Russia. The unregulated status of the stay and activity of a large part of migrants makes them vulnerable – in particular, 13.7% of respondents reported experiencing fear of communication with local authorities. It is also necessary to note the difficulty of obtaining and extending a work permit in Russia. Moreover, there is no infrastructure to accept the large flows of migrants in the Russian Far East regions, which creates additional burdens for legalizing their stay in the Primorsky Krai. Research data confirm that residence status is a serious issue for many migrants, and an illegal status makes them very vulnerable.
The labour activity of Chinese migrants For most migrants from China, economic activity is the main purpose of staying in Russia. A migrant has the right to engage in economic activities if he has a work permit or a patent; however, quite often it is burdensome to obtain such permission. In any case, the activities of migrants satisfy the need of the local economy for a workforce. About a third of the respondents (30.8%) had been engaged in business before entering Russia; a significant proportion of respondents (16.3%) were former students. Among the respondents, there were also those who, before their arrival in Russia, had worked as employees in state organizations (8%), 3% reported that they had held leading positions in state organizations, 7.7% of respondents had been engaged in housekeeping, 6% had worked in agriculture, 11.5% had been labourers and 7% had not had any work
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before arriving in Russia. Thus, the data confirms the results of the previous studies: the reasons most migrants come to Russia is the possibility of higher earnings and, though to a lesser extent, unemployment. The majority of respondents (64.3%) worked as individual entrepreneurs, 18.4% were construction workers, 9.2% reported that they did not work and 4.1% reported "other". In Russia, most migrants (79.0%) work in small private businesses or in small companies (11.1%). A small number of labour migrants (6.2%) are employed in large companies, and some migrants (3.7%) work in medium-sized companies. Thus, migrants from China are mostly entrepreneurs who have their own small business in Russia. The economic activity of Chinese migrants is in demand in the Primorsky Krai, and, according to respondents, their earnings in Russia exceed their possible income in China, and it is this difference that is a decisive factor in the emergence and intensification of migration. Most migrants aim to help their families or relatives with money. As revealed by the survey, the majority of respondents (95%) reported that they helped their close relatives with money; 32.7% also helped other family members and 9.9% helped friends. A small percentage of respondents (6%) reported that they did not help anyone as there was no need, and 17% of the respondents did not help anyone because they did not have enough money. When asked whether migrants limited themselves things because of lack of money, 17% reported that they limited their food, 23% in buying clothes and footwear, 14% did without medical treatment, 19% other important expenses and 45.5% refused to travel home for the spring festival. Only 15% stated that they had no limitation in consumption. Thus, a significant part of migrants lacked the money for basic goods and services, and about half tried to save on trips home, including holidays.
Living conditions for Chinese migrants In the cities of the Primorsky Krai, there is not enough affordable housing or hotels. The majority of migrants from China (60.2%) rent a room from local residents, 12.6% (n = 13) live in a hotel and 7.8% (n = 8) live in an apartment with relatives or acquaintances. At the same time, there are some migrants (3%) who can afford to live in their own or in rented apartments. A significant proportion of respondents (11.7%) reported living in their place of work or in a hostel of the Chinese company (5%). Obviously, the financial situation and the desire to help relatives in China
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prompt the majority of the labour migrants to save on housing costs, and that is why often the living conditions do not meet the migrants’ needs.
Socio-networked connections of Chinese migrants The survey made it possible to identify the existence of social and network connections between migrants. When migrants were asked about friends in Russia who promised to help them, 52.9% reported having such friends but among Chinese people. To the question of whether they have friends or relatives who followed their example, 44.3% reported that they had such close people or friends. Thus, about half of respondents had the social support of compatriots in the process of resettlement to a new location. The respondents most often mentioned friends with whom they had become acquainted back home (47.1%), as well as family members with whom they came to Russia (24.1%) or family members who came after them (9.2%), as the people closest to them in Russia. Only 16.1% reported that they expanded their network of communication and had made new friends – compatriots they met while in Russia. Only one respondent indicated having a resident of the Primorsky Krai among his closest people. Thus, migrants tend to live autonomously from the local residents.
Leisure practices of labour migrants The answers to the question of how they spent their free time revealed that a significant number of the respondents watched TV: 45.6% of respondents watched Chinese TV channels and only 5.8% (n = 6) watched Russian TV channels. 19.4% of respondents reported that they spent time with their families. A total of 14.6% (n = 15) spent their free time with Chinese friends and only 5.8% migrants from China sometimes met with Russian friends; 7.8% reported that they did not have enough time for recreational activities and 9.7% spent their free time in a different way. An analysis of leisure practices confirmed that migrants from China live apart from the local residents, that their communication with Russians is very weak and that they do not integrate into the local community.
Discrimination issues The problem of discrimination against migrants from China is quite pressing in the Far East region of Russia. One third of the participants reported experiencing some form of discrimination, such as unfair
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treatment in access to accommodation, employment opportunities or low wages. In particular, 21.4% of respondents reported that they had felt the negative attitudes of the local people, 11.2% reported that the police bother them for unjust reasons, 20.4% reported that they were denied an opportunity to rent housing because of their nationality and 13,3% were paid less than the local people for the same work. Every fourth participant were the victims of attempted physical violence; 13.3% reported that they feel afraid when dealing with local authorities. The findings show that the level of migrant discrimination in the receiving society is quite high. This study demonstrates that the integration of labour migrants from China is very weak (Borodkina et al. 2016). However, it is necessary to note the high degree of involvement of migrants in the economic relationship. In fact, they occupy a strong position in the trade market. A significant factor limiting the integration of migrants is the informal (or sometimes illegal) nature of their economic activity, which makes them extremely vulnerable in legal terms. It should be noted that the problem of illegal employment relates not only to migrants from China but also to all international migrants (see Table 1). Table 1. Registration Authorization Documents for Labour Migrants in Russia, January–September, 2014 to 2016 9 months of 2014
9 months of 2015
9 months of 2016
Employment permit for foreign nationals
121,516
172,335
95,158
Employment permit for qualified specialists* and highly qualified specialists Labour Patents** Total
121,516
46,376
29,362
1,943,810 3,031,182
1,479,673 1,698,384
1,193,811 1,318,331
Source: Florinskaya and Mkrtchian, 2016:16 * Since January 2015 issued only to foreign nationals from visa countries. ** Since January 2015 issued only to foreign nationals from visa-free countries for working for private and legal persons.
Certainly, the high level of perceived discrimination negatively affects the integration of migrants. The social interaction with the local population is very limited; most migrants communicate inside their national network.
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The low degree of social assimilation can only be partially explained by the difficulties with the Russian language.
Results of research in Saint Petersburg In recent years, the number of Chinese migrants in the central part of Russia has grown. Primarily, this process is evident in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In our project, we focus on Saint Petersburg. In 1989, only 93 Chinese people lived in St. Petersburg, in 2002, there were 1,064 and, according to the population census of 2010, 1,578 Chinese lived in the city, which accounted for 0.03% of the total population of St. Petersburg. However, according to unofficial data, there are more than 10,000 Chinese in the city (Federal Service for Sate Statistics). The Chinese diaspora is small but constantly growing. The influx of migrants from China is also associated with the increasing Chinese investment in St. Petersburg; over the past five years, the Chinese have invested more than $5 million in the city. In addition, the development of tourism with China is facilitated by an increase in the number of labour migrants from China. The experts believe that by the 2030s, the Chinese people will displace Central Asian workers in the labour market (Zayonchkovskaya 2014). At present, there is a lack of studies devoted to Chinese migrants living in central Russia. Within the framework of this project, interviews with nine Chinese migrants were conducted in order to identify the main problems of integration and determine the level of similarity to the situation in the Far East. In our case study, the participants ranged from 19 to 35 years of age. Migrants arrived in Saint Petersburg from various provinces of China, including Heyludzyan, Hebei, Liaoning, Henan, Langzhou, Xinjiang and Shensi. Four of the participants came from large cities, three were from small cities, one came from a village and one did not respond. Two participants reported being single and seven said they were living with their partner/spouse in Saint Petersburg: four were in stable relationships with citizens of China, three reported having spouses, including two whose spouses were Russian citizens. Mixed marriages may indicate a relatively high level of integration of migrants. In general, migrants in St. Petersburg have a higher level of education than those in the Far East, with a significant proportion of them being students. In our case, two persons were pursuing education and seven had graduated from university. Most of the people surveyed (6) understood and spoke Russian fluently and were also able to read and write, but two reported that they could hardly understand and speak Russian.
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The legal status of their stay in Russia is also a concern for Chinese migrants in St. Petersburg. Six migrants arrived with a student visa, while three did not answer the question. This means that, like in the Far East, legal status is a problem. None of the participants reported that their current visit to Russia was their first one. Their migration experience ranged from 3 to 15 years (mean = 8.5 years). All the interviewed migrants said that they usually stay in Saint Petersburg for the duration of their studies or work and go back to China for the Spring Holiday (Chinese New Year). Four participants plan to live in Russia from 4 to 10 years, and only two reported they wanted to live in Russia permanently. Three participants did not answer the question. None of the interviewees had had work experience in other countries before coming to Russia. However, six participants are considering going to another country, and just two of them specified their destinations: the USA and New Zealand. Three people plan to move to other regions of Russia; however, only one respondent clarified that he wanted to move to Moscow. There are significant differences in the occupation activities among Chinese migrants in the Far East and in St. Petersburg. In St. Petersburg, many migrants from China are involved in the service sector. Six respondents reported that they work in Saint Petersburg in the service sphere: three reported working as tourist guides and three did not specify their occupation. Out of these six working participants, four migrants reported that they worked in a medium-size company (15–100 staff), and two worked as individual entrepreneurs or worked in a small company (1– 15 staff). Among the six participants who worked in Russia, four respondents said that they did not have an employment contract, one person did not answer the question, and only one respondent reported having an employment contract. With regard to the employment status of the other participants, one person did not work and two reported that they went to university. The average monthly salary of the surveyed migrants is rather high, about $1,000. The majority of the surveyed migrants do not send remittances home. Two people said that they do not help anybody with money because there is no need, while another 2 said they do not have enough money. Only one respondent reported that he helps his family members while the rest of the interviewees did not respond. Four respondents reported they could cover all necessary expenses, and one respondent did not buy clothes and footwear due to a money shortage. As far as the living conditions in Saint Petersburg are concerned, they are better than those in the Far East region. A considerable proportion of
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respondents (4 persons) live with their life partners, two live with relatives or people with whom they study or work and one person reported living alone. Four respondents reside in their own apartments, four rent an apartment, and one respondent lives in an apartment of relatives or friends. In general, the level of income and the quality of the living conditions of Chinese migrants in St. Petersburg are significantly higher than those in the Primorsky Krai, this being one of the key reasons for the increase in the influx of Chinese to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Social network connections are strong among migrants; seven participants reported they have friends who promised to help them during the initial stages, leaving just two who did not have friends to help them right after arrival. At the same time, five persons reported that their friends followed them to Russia. Social circles of five participants in Saint Petersburg consist of close friends from China with whom the interviewed migrants got acquainted in Saint Petersburg. Four participants reported that members of their social circles consist of family members who had come to Saint Petersburg prior or came together with the participants. On average, interviewees reported having five close friends or family in Russia. Six participants reported that the people closest to them work with them in Russia. The migrant’s intentions to stay in Russia vary. Only one respondent wanted to live in Russia and obtain Russian citizenship, while two respondents wanted to live permanently in China and visit Russia for work purposes. Five participants reported they wanted to live in Russia with a permanent residence permit and only one respondent reported wanting to live in China and never return to Russia. Two respondents reported they want their children to settle in Russia, three participants wanted their children to pursue their education in Russia and one participant wanted his children to work in Russia. Three respondents reported they had not considered it yet, and one respondent reported that he did not want his children to live in Russia. The attitude of the interviewed migrants to a possible mixed marriage of their children or other close relative reflects the readiness of the interviewed migrants to assimilate in Russia. Seven respondents reported that they were neutral about their child or other relative marrying a Russian citizen. Only one respondent reported that he considered such a marriage positively, and one respondent reported that he was negative about such a marriage. The leisure activity of migrants may indicate whether migrants seek to be involved in the cultural environment of the receiving country or remain adherent to the cultural values of China. The study revealed that five interviewed persons communicated with friends from China via the
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Internet, five spent their free time with friends from China, and seven also watched Chinese TV channels. Only two persons watched Russian TV channels, and one person spent time with family members. One person reported that he hardly had any free time. Migrants reported experiencing different forms of discrimination. In particular, six respondents fully or partly agreed with the statement that they felt that the locals treated them badly; five respondents fully or partly agreed with the statement that the local police disturbed them for unknown reasons; three respondents fully or partly agreed with the statement that they felt alienated from the locals in cafes, bars and night clubs; three respondents reported that they have been denied the right to rent an apartment because of their ethnicity; four respondents fully or partly agreed with the statement that they felt uncomfortable around locals when they spoke their mother tongue and three respondents reported they felt fear when they spoke with local officials. Based on the received cases, the following conclusions can be drawn, which are also supported by the experts' opinion. Migrants from China who work in the tourist sphere have a seasonal but stable income in Saint Petersburg. The plans of the interviewed migrants are not certain and rather controversial. On the one hand, only several migrants want to become a part of the receiving society and stay in the city, and the majority of migrants said that they want to work in Saint Petersburg for the period of up to 10 years and then return home or move to another country. On the other hand, a considerable number of the interviewed migrants want their children to continue their life with Russia. Many migrants do not have employment contracts, and only one respondent reported having a contractual agreement with his employer. At the same time, they have sufficient income to rent or sometimes buy an apartment in Saint Petersburg. The level of proficiency in Russian is generally higher in St. Petersburg than in the Primorsky Krai. The majority of the interviewed migrants speak Russian well. However, they do not spend their leisure time with Russian citizens. The interviewed migrants spend their leisure time communicating mainly with compatriots they befriended while staying in Russia. Some participants reported that they suffered from rights violations while staying in Russia. Discrimination against Chinese migrants in St. Petersburg takes place as it does in the Far East of Russia, and is one of the most significant barriers to integration.
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Conclusions The study revealed that the integration of labour migrants from China is limited. At the same time, the high degree of involvement of Chinese migrants in economic relations should be noted as they occupy strong positions in the sphere of trade.Many Chinese migrants are satisfied with their economic activities and their social situation in Russia; they feel ready to continue their work activities in Russia for years, living on its territory or, at least, regularly visiting it. Additionally, many migrants would like their children to continue working in Russia. A similar conclusion has been made in the studies of Russian authors conducted earlier. A significant obstacle to social integration is the unresolved legal status of a large number of migrant workers in Russia. In addition, the economic activity of migrants is often informal, which, on the one hand, weakens their social situation and, on the other hand, hinders the full taxation of their economic activities. There is also discrimination against migrants from China, which manifests itself both in the sphere of employment and in everyday practices. We can assume that migrants are often not fully aware of their rights and, thus, they may not even know whether their rights were violated. Therefore, in practice, the level of discrimination is much higher than what the reported statistics indicate. The social interaction of Chinese migrants with the local population is extremely limited. The social environment of Chinese migrants consists predominantly of their compatriots as they tend to spend more free time with family members or fellow compatriots. Only every twentieth migrant prefers to spend time with Russian friends. The low degree of assimilation can only be partly explained by the difficulty in speaking Russian. The results of the study revealed a wide range of problems, finding a solution to which would facilitate the further social and economic assimilation of labour migrants from China and aid the harmonization of socio-cultural ties with the local population. The implementation of a number of socio-economic measures can contribute to these processes. First, it is necessary to simplify the legalization procedures of the status of stay and of the economic activities of migrants. Secondly, assistance is needed in the study of the Russian language, as well as in the creation of infrastructure and conditions for social and cultural interaction; for example, the organization of events aimed at overcoming cultural distance. Labour migration from China is necessary for the economic development of the Far Eastern region; therefore, the issues related to the stay of Chinese migrants require further study and timely solutions.
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The analysis of the situation with migrants from China allows more general conclusions regarding ethno-social stratification, which is also a consequence of the increase in the number of migrants. Socio-economic discrimination, ethno-social stratification and the lack of support for foreign migrants create serious obstacles for the development of society. The segmentation of society on an ethnic basis and the practice of using forced labour of other ethnic migrants undermine the system of social norms and values. The separation of foreign migrants, which leads to the formation of subcultural migrant enclaves in the host environment, including territorial enclaves, becomes a problem that threatens socioeconomic and political stability, especially at the local level. Overcoming discriminatory practices against international migrants, including migrants from China, and countering the social exclusion of migrants are becoming socially significant problems for the Russian society since such conditions can threaten social stability. At the same time, it should be emphasized that overcoming discrimination against migrants is possible only on the basis of strict compliance with the Russian law. Regulation of the migration flow should be accompanied by the development of effective mechanisms for the integration of migrants from China, taking into account the cultural characteristics and expectations of the host society. These tasks for modern Russia are important not only for politicians but also for the academic and expert communities.
Acknowledgements This research was realized in Saint Petersburg University and was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, Project No 16-18-10092 “Social Risks of the International Youth Migration in Contemporary Russia.”
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CHAPTER NINE IRANIAN MIGRANT WOMEN’S SHARED EXPERIENCES IN BELGIUM: WHERE GENDER, COLOUR AND RELIGION INTERSECT LADAN RAHBARI
Abstract Although women’s independent migration is globally on the rise, female migrants are still prone to different forms of discrimination based on their gender, religion and skin colour. This paper is a qualitative study of female Iranian migrants living in Belgium. It is based on different methods used in anthropological inquiry, such as participant observation and informal conversations with open-ended and semistructured questions. The study focuses on the shared experiences of Iranian female migrants, and their accounts of perceived discrimination or intolerance. Data suggests that stereotypical presumptions about the coloured migrant women held in the receiving society often predicted the onset, and sometimes the course of social interactions. The participants struggled with recognition, and felt that they had to gain their position by proving they did not fit the conventional or typical images of Middle Eastern women by assuming the role of native informants. Participants shared experiences of whitesplaining and isolation. The shared experiences of the respondents of this study reflected a general feeling of segregation that affected their possibilities and choices of social interactions. Keywords: Colour, Ethnic Group, Gender, Iran, Migration, Religion.
Women on the move: Iranian migrants in Belgium Women’s independent migration–a phenomenon referred to as the feminization of migration– has seen a gradual increase in the past decades (Donato et al. 2006, United Nations Instraw 2007). Migrant and refugee women are widely subject to gender inequalities and discrimination
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(O’Neil, Fleury and Foresti 2016) and, as the feminization of international migration is increasing, the vulnerability of female migrants to discrimination, exploitation and abuse is also likely to increase (Kawar 2017). The bodies of migrant women are subject to constant othering, disciplining and control (Lan 2008, Romero Bachiller 2003). Although all bodily presences, movements and representations are controlled and policed regardless of their gender to a certain level, the intersection of gender, religion and colour, especially in the context of migration and the position of migrant women in the receiving context as female members of the cultural other, make this control more prevalent (Lee and Piper 2013). Bodies have physical and symbolic aspects and can be confined in power relationships (Massari 2009). Certain bodily characteristics perceived as significant embodied differences continuously mark certain bodies as the other, by which migrant women carry visible marks of exclusion, in a discourse characterized by the over-visibilisation of hegemonic positive markers such as whiteness and maleness (Romero Bachiller 2003). Studies on migrant women have sometimes been criticized for portraying them as passive victims without agency or status (Chireka 2015). In order to reflect on the agentic aspect of the intersectional position of migrant women of colour, their stories, memories and lived experiences should be highlighted to show how they made their life choices, managed situations and resources, and coped in adverse conditions within the social and political contexts and discourses. The Iranian diaspora and migration, and its gendered aspect, are generally understudied topics (Vahabi 2016). Iranians migration–mainly to Western countries–took off in the 1960s and 1970s when many Iranians moved to the West, especially for study reasons (Zijlstra 2014). The migration of Iranians to the West increased after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. These new waves of migrants in the 1980s and 1990s were predominantly political migrants and refugees (Zijlstra 2014, Vahabi 2016). A large proportion of Iranians migrants living abroad are highly educated; a phenomenon that is referred to as “brain drain” (Zijlstra 2014) as it has deprived the country of its young, skilled professionals and workforce in different fields. Today, it is estimated that up to five million Iranians have dispersed around the globe (Naghdi 2010). Although there is rich literature on several aspects of the social, economic and political lives of different migrant groups in Belgium (i.e.,Taran et al. 2016, Jayet et al. 2014, Van Meeteren 2014), studies focusing on Iranian migrants in Belgium are scarce (Shishegar et al. 2015 and Vahabi 2016 are among the few). There is no systematically gathered
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information on the situation and position of the Iranians in Belgian society (Raxen 3 Report, 2003). No new demographic studies have been conducted on the population characteristics of Iranian migrants in Belgium. A study conducted in 2000 reported that there were 3,183 in Belgium in that same year (Vahabi 2016). This population might have grown as a bigger proportion of Iranian migrants chose Belgium as their destination in the migration waves between 1999 and 2008 (Vahabi 2016). In 2010, the Iranian population in Belgium might have risen to a few thousand1 (Naghdi 2010). Belgium is one of the countries that Iranian refugees consider filing for in their applications; in the year 2003 alone, Belgium received more than one thousand refugee applications from Iranians (Belgian Policy 2004). However, higher rates of applications have not led to higher rates of acceptance, and Iranian asylum seekers have faced difficulties during the process of obtaining refugee status (Javaheri 2003). Iranian migrants can be considered a minority within the larger non-European migrant minority population.2 Studies in Western counties other than Belgium suggest that Iranian migrants have experienced different sorts of racial/ethnic discrimination in different aspects of their social lives in receiving countries. For example, according to Zogby International (2008), nearly half of Iranian-Americans have reported to have personally experienced, or have known another person with Iranian origins who has experienced, discrimination because of their ethnicity or country of origin. Iranian migrants in Sweden have also reported experiences of discrimination, and only half of them are optimistic for their future (Naghdi 2010). Although there are no reports of Iranian migrants experiencing discrimination in Belgium, other reports in Belgium indicate that Islamophobia is on the rise, especially since 20153 (Easat-Daas 2015). Islamophobic remarks, attitudes and actions have been heard and experienced in workplaces, schools and public spaces as well as online and in the social media, with women being the most prevalently targeted group. These activities have not been ignored, and have faced counter-Islamophobic actions and solidarity practices by humanitarian groups, individuals and active organizations in Belgium (Easat-Daas 2015). 1
The reported number of Iranian migrants in Belgium varies in different studies. It is hard to estimate the population as there is no officially approved number. 2 The minority position of the Iranian migrants arises from both population and cultural and religious differences from others of non-European origins. 3 Supposedly, this is a consequence of serial terrorist attacks in 2015 in France (i.e., the Charlie Hebdo and Stade de France attacks) and coordinated suicide bombings in 2016 in Belgium.
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This paper intends to study the Iranian female diaspora’s shared experiences as a minority migrant group living in Belgium. As most participants had had experiences of staying or visiting other European countries, they commonly made comparisons between Belgium and those visited countries. Based on their observations, they discussed issues of hospitality, including their experiences of ethnic misrepresentations and discrimination or intolerance. In what follows, based onparticipant observation and informal conversations and interviews, I try to explore and reflect on Iranian migrant women’s shared experiences of discrimination, intolerance and othering in Belgium.
Methodology This paper is based on participant observation, informal conversations and interviews with open-ended and semi-structured questions with Iranian migrant women living in Belgium. The research has adopted an emic approach by putting emphasis on participants’ analysis of their own lived experiences. Interviews included individual and group interviews with thirteen Iranian female migrants, and informal conversations with another ten.4From the thirteen interviewees, eleven were first-generation migrants and the other two respondents were generation 1.5.5All participants were selected by targeted and snowball sampling; some were approached through social media groups and forums created for expats and migrants, and others were reached through snowballing. Participants shared stories of their origins, reasons of migration (incl. work, study, political and social reasons), and their experiences of perceived hospitality, discrimination and/or intolerance based on their gender, religious affiliation, nationality and ethnic background in Belgium. It is noteworthy that the researcher shared similar ethnic’s origins with the participants, and thus the analysis entails auto ethnographic elements. All conversations/interviews were conducted in Farsi between January 2016 and August 2017 in public and private spaces. The findings are thematically categorized and presented in the next sections. The participants had lived in Belgium between one and thirty-three years at the time the interviews were conducted. They had either Iranian or dual Iranian-Belgian nationality. They had different migration backgrounds, 4
Informal conversations were conducted with women who did not wish to formally participate in recorded interviews. Notes were taken manually during these conversations. 5 Generation 1.5 refers to migrants who are born outside the receiving country and emigrate as children or adolescents (Benesch 2008).
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including participants who migrated for work and study reasons or to experience different social environments than that of their home country, and other participants who had once been refugees and had Belgian citizenship at the time the interviews were conducted. Most participants had a university degree, and all interviewees were either working or pursuing higher education at different universities in Belgium. Most interviewees identified as Muslim while others identified as agnostic but with Muslim roots or non-religious. Some respondents did not wish to share their religious affiliations.
Self-perception and identity Before she arrived in Belgium, Sahar never thought of her decision to come to Belgium as migration. She was coming to Belgium to pursue her postgraduate studies, and to join her cousin and friends who studied in different European countries. With excellent grades from her graduate studies programme in Iran and fluent in both English and French, she was hoping to fulfil her academic ambitions and enjoy the high-quality European education before heading back home to build a career in engineering. Today, after seven years in Belgium, the word migrant still sounds strange to her. However, now she understands that no matter what her own feelings about her position in the society are, she is perceived as a migrant, even though she travels frequently to her homeland and intends to go back as soon as she finishes her studies. She finds the term migrant too narrow to be used in her case. What she perceives of a migrant is a person who has left their country for good, or at least for a very long stay abroad, while in her case, although she has been studying in Belgium for years, she spends almost all of her holidays “at home”, as she refers to her parents’ home in Iran. Dina, another participant, explained her confusion over the issue of “colour”. Before migrating to Belgium with her husband almost a decade ago, she had no idea she would be considered a person of “colour”. It is the first time in her lifetime, she stated, that she has had to perceive herself as coloured, as her new “home” situated her. She explained that she has difficulty understanding the difference between the literal and the political meanings behind colour; although she has always known that she did not have a bright skin, she has not considered herself of any specific colour. Identifying as Persian, she believed that she might have common ancestors with some European populations and thus she has difficulty considering herself “brown” –“Not that ancestors mattered”, she emphasized; but if
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ancestral lineage were the logic behind the categorization, she would argue against it. Like Sahar and Dina, other informants also experienced a change in their perceptions of their position in society after moving to Belgium. Most participants declared that belonging to the Iranian/Persian “ethnic group” is an important aspect of their identity and social life. For respondents with dual citizenship, a significant emphasis was put on their exploration of their “Iranianness” in the interviews. They also believed that their receiving society consigned different identities and statuses to them than what they perceived of themselves; as a result, they sometimes felt the urge to adopt strategies either to be able to comfortably interact and integrate or to make their self-perception known to the people they interacted with. These processes of recognition and self-presentation were at times personally and inter-personally conflictual.
Encouraging the native informant Dabashi (2011: 35) maintains that, in the aftermath of 9/11 attacks, some Muslim expatriate intellectuals took advantage of the hostilities toward Muslims and Muslim-majority countries to reinforce the perception of these societies as constitutionally degenerate and direly in need of emancipatory interventions. These groups, called “native informants”, reinforced the colonial stereotypes about Muslim populations by establishing themselves as the enlightened elite. This attitude is prevalent among academics or intellectuals, and common among the public. Participants of this study reported how they had experienced more positive responses in their interactions with “white” or European individuals when they criticized their motherlands than when they expressed nostalgia or spoke highly of their home countries. Some participants related this to the general idea of trust, meaning that they perceived that they would be considered more trustworthy or honest if they were loud in their criticism against the traditions of their country of origin, especially as women having lived some/most of their lives in a traditional Muslim context such as Iranian society. There were also feelings among the respondents that if they did indeed criticize their motherland, and expressed their dissatisfaction with their pre-migration context, they would face more openness and intimacy. They also reported that this openness has sometimes revealed things that they otherwise would have not experienced. One respondent stated that a colleague confided in her with racist remarks towards other ethnic groups because he/she thought they “were on the same page” and the respondent was also
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“not a fan of political correctness.” The interviewee had the feeling that she was perceived by that colleague to be the “good” type of migrant who could be confided in and would not be offended by such remarks. This brings us to the second shared experience, namely, the categorization of migrant bodies, to be discussed in the following section. Among the respondents there were some differences between participants with a refugee background and those with other migration backgrounds as regards attitudes towards the receiving society; however, these differences of opinions were not observed in regard to participants’ ideas about the political or social situation in their motherland as the attitudes and criticism participants presented towards the society and politics of Iran were quite homogeneous. The attitudes of informants with a refugee background towards the receiving society–not always specifically the Belgian society, but very often put in different terms such as “Western Europe”, the “Dutch-speaking region” or Europe–were more inclined to accept integration and assimilation, while informants who came to Belgium for other purposes (study and/or work, better social/living conditions) rejected assimilation and perceived the definition of integration as building and maintaining social networks rather than learning the local language or adopting local norms.6
The good and the bad migrant Under this topic, there were two different forms of attitudes among the respondents: (i) the attitude of the respondents who recognized an existing hierarchy based on categorization of migrants and found it disturbing; and (ii) the attitudes of respondents who also recognized the hierarchy and believed in it, and thus tried to fit within the “good” category. The hierarchical approach towards migrants is an approach that considers a hierarchy between the people of foreign origins who adopt “European customs” (Osborne 2017) and the people with foreign origins who stick to some values attached to their ancestral cultures; in this category, the former are the “good” ones. Among the participants of this study, some respondents noted that certain behaviours/characteristics such as not carrying religious symbols, including (and especially) the veil, declaring that they were non-religious or consuming alcoholic drinks gained them acceptance in their interactions 6
Although respondents with a refugee background had more positive experiences and perceived the host as hospitable, due to the small number of participants, it is not possible to draw a conclusion based on the migration history.
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with their Europeans friends. Some interviewees found this approach problematic. There was, however, a second group who found it understandable or logical that Europeans had negative attitudes towards Middle Eastern and/or Muslim populations. Some respondents found it a relief that they were usually mistaken for being Southern European (i.e., Italian, or Spanish). They believed that because of the stigmas around it, it was a positive thing to be mistaken for having a different kind of identity other than Middle Eastern. A participant reported having been told she was “unthreateningly brown” as opposed to “threatening-looking browns” by a European friend in a conversation about racist encounters in Europe. The respondent believed that the remark had been made because she had relatively light skin and dressed in European style, thus she was sometimes mistaken for being European. Some informants also reported that they noticed a change in general attitudes towards Muslim and migrant populations after the Charlie Hebdo,7 Paris,8 and Brussels9 terrorist attacks. Ahijabi participant was specifically affected by these rising negative attitudes. Another informant expressed her astonishment about the fact that after these attacks, in her conversations with her European friends and colleagues, she learned that even though they cared so much about what they called “Islamic extremism and fundamentalism”, they had very little or no knowledge about the geographic and religious, social and political differencesbetween Muslim countries/societies, and even less information about the political and social dynamics in the Muslim countries/societies; instead, they had often stereotypical ideas about Islam, which they tended to generalize without making distinctions between different contexts in terms of faith, culture and political orientations. 7
On January 7, 2015, two armed men attacked the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. They killed 12 and wounded 11 people. They identified as belonging to the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, which took responsibility for the attack. 8 The November 2015 Paris attacks were a series of terrorist attacks thatoccurred on Friday 13 November 2015 in Paris, France in which three suicide bombers struck outside the Stade de France in Saint-Denis during a football match. This was followed by several mass shootings, a suicide bombing and hostage situation. The attackers killed 130 people, and several hundred were injured. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attacks. 9 On March 22, 2016, three coordinated suicide bombings occurred in Belgium. Thirty-two civilians and three perpetrators were killed, and more than 300 people were injured. Another bomb was found during a search of the airport. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attacks.
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Two informants were directly asked by their European contacts to specify their position on matters regarding terrorist attacks and Islamic extremism. One informant explained that she felt she was considered by default a supporter of extremism unless she publicly declared her opposition. Some informants had multiple experiences of being asked to explain the reasons for their migration. This made them feel like they had to justify their life choices. Two informants agreed that the logic behind this was that, had they not declared that they somehow suffered in their country, their reasons to leave their motherland would have been perceived illegitimate.
Whitesplaining The term whitesplaining has been used (especially on the internet) recently to refer to the phenomenon of using “whiteness” to claim better access to knowledge or a position of authority used for explaining things to people of colour (Elder 2015). This can happen in many ways; e.g., explaining to a person of colour what they know by experience; using the privilege of whiteness as the sole reason for having a better understanding of something; or explaining to people of colour why their knowledge is not impartial because it is rooted in their ethnic background while white people have a pure and/or impartial account of reality. Whitesplaining was a commonly reported experience among the participants. In one case, a participant was told she could not hold an opinion about the question of hijab since she had been raised in Iran and was systematically oppressed and thus unable to truly take part in an impartial discussion. Another participant was told (with humour) that she was denying her roots when she explained she was not ethnically Arab but Iranian. Other interviewees had similar personal experiences where people referred to their ethnic group affiliation or their mother tongue as Arabic10; while this was not seen as problematic per se, what the participants found problematic was that while the remarks were made in the absence of general knowledge about the ethnic diversities in the Middle East, they were meant to correct the respondents’ perceptions of their ethnic group affiliation.
10
There are several ethnic groups in Iran who speak different languages. Approximately 2-3% of the Iranian population speaks Arabic as their first language. The official language and the most widely spoken language is, however, Farsi, (Curtis and Hooglun 2008) followed by Azeri.
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Other examples of whitesplaining were brought up especially by respondents who had experienced it in their workplaces, where European work ethics were explained to them or in academic environments in which the participants perceived that they were treated differently as it was considered that they did not know the basic rules. There were perceptions by the respondents that they were briefed longer and more extensively about common sense matters, that they were interrupted and corrected more of tenor that they were treated as less knowledgeable. An example entailed the explanation of the notion of racism by a white colleague to one of the respondents because, according to the colleague, the interviewee had failed to understand that some racist comments were “innocent racism” and were thus a harmless and prevalent way of expressing intolerance but not really the source of “real” problems. Other respondents were whitesplained on issues of language, culture and tolerance in a way that their perceptions of existing language barriers and ethnic intolerance in Belgium were reversed and they were held accountable for lacking language proficiency or for not having integrated well-enough.
The sense of belonging The sense of belonging and other relevant terms such as feeling at home, feeling welcome, etc. were repeated and widely referred to themes in the interviews. Although most participants reported that they did not usually experience harsh forms of intolerance, racism or Islamophobia, most of them admitted that regardless of the extent of their stay, the level of social interaction and their migration background, they had not developed a sense of belonging to the receiving society because of their perceptions of hospitality. Most participants felt more comfortable interacting with other migrants or people with foreign origins and similar ethnic backgrounds, who did not judge them based on the level of their language proficiency, colour or religion. To create a sense of belonging, it is essential to go beyond the simple tolerance of difference (Orton 2012) and create a sense of recognition; this was, as the respondents observed, where failure occurred. Recognition has been used broadly in macro and micro-level analyses (Wang 2002). The micro-level, everyday-life recognition was discussed by Ahmed (2002) in relation to perceptions of embodiments, contamination and suspicion in the bodies considered unrecognized. Recognition was mentioned by some participants. One participant explained that every time she entered her colleagues’ offices in her workplace, the coffee shop where she ordered
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coffee every other morning or the local supermarket where she bought her goods, she expected some sort of recognition as a colleague, a loyal customer or just an acquaintance from the people she interacted with. She explained that she felt she was recognized, but as a stranger. A generation 1.5 respondent, who had grown up in Belgium and was fluent in Flemish, explained the difference between her phone and face-to-face encounters. In the former, she was a Flemish-speaking Belgian and thus recognized as a local, while in the latter, she was immediately recognized and othered due to her skin colour. Some respondents also reported segregation experiences in educational environments, where they were in ethnically diverse classes but were put in groups with other “foreigners” by instructors. Their bodies were recognized as the unrecognizable. Another shared experience was in relation to the language barriers. Most respondents in the study were polyglot, trilingual or bilingual. They all had knowledge of English besides their mother tongue (Farsi or Azeri). They also spoke other languages such as Turkish, Azeri, French, Arabic and Dutch. Despite this, because of inadequate simultaneous fluency in Dutch and French, some respondents had experienced difficulties such as limited access to information and help, depending on where in Belgium they were.11 Participants referred to quotes of their European associates such as “Make the best of it as long as you are here”, and the very common experience of being asked when or whether they were planning to leave for their own country after their work/study contracts were over. Some referred to these sorts of experiences as an explanation for why they had not developed a sense of belonging. These experiences generally made them feel unwelcome.
Discussion Although Belgian law is generally respectful of religious liberty and the country has long been home to one of the largest Muslim populations in Europe, which is growing rapidly, almost doubling in the past ten years (Teich 2016), there are indications that Islamophobia has been on the rise since 2015 (Easat-Daas 2015). Most of the participants in this study perceived Belgian society as generally accepting, and sometimes more accepting than other European countries towards migrants; however, they also discussed their experiences as being perceived as the “cultural other”, 11 Belgium is divided into different regions by official fixed language borders. The three official languages are Flemish, French and German (Vandenbroucke 2017).
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the general misunderstanding of their ethnic affiliation and their experiences of perceived discrimination or intolerance. The experiences of these Iranian or Belgian-Iranian women varied depending on their daily environment and workplace. For example, in the case of academics and students, the attitudes of their European colleagues and friends varied across disciplines. There were also some differences between perceptions of migrants who had once been refugees and other migrants for reasons of work, study, etc. The Iranian migrant population in Belgium is rather small compared to other larger migrant groups12, and respectively less studied. Studies on Iranian diaspora elsewhere have reported that it consists of mostly highly educated/skilled migrants of various socio-economic and religious backgrounds, but with a prevalent secular tendency (Gholami 2016). The participants of this study also fit that profile. However, their social experiences indicated that they were homogenized, and stereotypical presumptions predicted the onset and, sometimes, the course of social interactions. The participants struggled with gaining recognition, and had to gain are cognized position in society by proving they did not fit the presumed conventional or typical images of Middle Eastern women by sometimes assuming the role of the native informants. In the process, they were whitesplained, sometimes treated as second-class residents and segregated from local populations. These experiences made them feel unwelcome, and discouraged them from seeking social relations outside of migrant or their own ethnic-national communities; a situation that led to their further isolation. Although some of these themes, such as the categorization of migrants, whitesplaining and gender-colour-based stereotyping, might be applicable to all migrants regardless of their gender and nationality, because they embody both identities, these women are prone to isolation. According to some stereotypical presumptions about Middle Eastern or Muslim girls, they are presumed to be not willing to interact with “strangers”. These presumptions were especially reliant on women’s choices of body management and clothing, as misunderstandings are more common in the case of the hijabi women, also applicable to the hijabi respondent of this study. Because of their intersectional identities as coloured women, as Crenshaw (1991) describes, within discourses that are shaped to respond to one or/and the other identity, women of colour are marginalized within 12 The largest Muslim groups in the country are Moroccans (125,000) and Turks (70,000), followed by Algerians (8,500) and Tunisians (4,000) (Teich 2016).
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both. Based on Crenshaw’s (1991) argument, these women’s experiences are best captured with attention to structures of sexism, colourism and Islamophobia. Overall, the experiences of the respondents of this study reflected the general feeling of segregation that affected their possibilities and choices of social interactions. It is also important to note that there were some remarks about the usage of the word migrant (its Farsi equivalent) by some of the interviewees of this study. The word migrant was sometimes used by the informants to refer to a person who chose to live outside their motherland for a lifetime, or at least for a very long period. Some participants, understanding their position as temporary, did not perceive themselves as migrants, regardless of the length of their stay. This perception requires further reflection. It is also noteworthy that for some respondents, being a migrant has been an empowering experience. For some participants, migrating for work or study reason was their first experience of living away from their families, and the very first experience of relaxation of traditional norms. As such, some interviewees argued that their new situation as migrants made it possible for them to explore their own capacities and strengths on a personal level; and on the societal level, it enabled them to better understand the social discriminations against migrant populations in their home country and elsewhere. This study has its limitations. As the population of the study was small, and not selected systematically but by a combination of random and snowball sampling, it is hard to generalize the findings to all Iranian female diaspora. The participants were also mostly financially independent and highly educated women; most of them had/have attended university and were either working or graduate university students. I would like to further emphasize that due the methodological choices, it has not been the scope of this study nor is it possible to generalize the findings to a larger migrant or host (Belgian/European) populations. These findings are not representative of any of the two larger populations but rather qualitative insights on some aspects of living a life as a supposedly migrant brown Muslim in a Western European context. Based on these limitations and the ethnographic character of the research, the findings ought to be approached with caution.
Acknowledgement I would like to extend my gratitude and appreciation to all the wonderful women who shared their stories with me.
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References Ahmed, S. (2000). Strange Encounters: Embodied Others in Postcoloniality. London and New York: Routledge. Belgian Policy Report. (2004). The Belgian Policy Report on Migration and Asylum: with a Special Focus on Immigration and Integration, https://emnbelgium.be/sites/default/files/publications/bestudy1.pdf2004.pdf Benesch, S. (2008). “Generation 1.5 and its discourses of partiality: A critical analysis”. Journal of Language, Identity and Education, 7 (34): 294–311. Chireka, K.C. (2015). Migration and Body Politics: A Study of Migrant Women Workers in Belleville. Master’s Degree Thesis. Cape Town: Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, University of the Western Cape. Crenshaw, K. (1991). “Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics and violence against women of colour”. Stanford Law Review, 43 (6): 1241–99. Curtis, G.E., Hooglund, E. (2008). Iran: A Country Study. Area Handbook Series, Federal Research Division. Washington, DC.: Library of Congress. Dabashi, H. (2011). Brown Skin, White Masks. London and New York: Pluto Press. Donato, K.M., Cabaccia, D., Holdaway, J., Manalansan, M., and Pessar, P. (2006). “A glass half full? Gender in migration studies”. International Migration Review, 40 (1): 3–26. Doi: 10.1111/j.1747-7379.2006.00001.x Easat-Daas, A. (2015). “Islamophobia in Belgium National Report,” in European Islamophobia Report, edited by Enes Bayrakli and Farid Hafez, 51-68. Istanbul: SETA (Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research). Elder, C. (2015). “‘Whitesplaining’: What it is and how it works.” https://theconversation.com/whitesplaining-what-it-is-and-how-itworks-48175 Gholami, R. (2016). Secularism and Identity: Non-Islamiosity in the Iranian Diaspora. New York: Routledge. Javaheri, B. (2003). “Belgian government threatens Iranian asylum seekers.” http://www.marxist.com/Europe- old/belgian_gov_and_iranis.htm
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Jayet, H., Reyp, G., Ukrayinchulk, N. (2014). Immigrants’ Location Choice in Belgium. Discussion Paper 2014-4, Institut de Recherche Economiques et Sociales. Louvaine: Université Catholique. Kawar, M. (2017). Gender and Migration: Why are Women More Vulnerable? http://graduateinstitute.ch/files/live/sites/iheid/files/sites/genre/shared/ Genre_docs/2865_Actes2004/10-m.kawar.pdf Lan, P.C. (2008).“Migrant women’s bodies as boundary markers: Reproductive crisis and sexual control in the ethnic frontiers of Taiwan.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 33 (4): 833–61. Lee, S., and Piper, N. (2013). Understanding Multiple Discrimination against Labour Migrants in Asia: An Intersectional Analysis. Bonn and Berlin: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/10073.pdf Massari, M. (2009). “The Other and her body: Migrant prostitution.” Gender Relations and Ethnicity, 12. https://urmis.revues.org/787 Naghdi, A. (2010).“Iranian diaspora: with focus on Iranian immigrants in Sweden,” Asian Social Science, 20 (11): 197–208. O’Neil, T., Fleury, A., and Foresti, M. (2016). Women on the Move: Migration, Gender Equality and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Berna: Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Orton, A. (2012). Building Migrants’ Belonging through Positive Interactions: A Guide for Policy Makers and Practitioners. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Policy Document. http://www.coe.int/t/democracy/migration/Source/migration/EnglishMi grantBelongingWeb.pdf Osborne, S. (2017). “‘Behave normally, or go away’. Dutch PM warns immigrants weeks before vote.” Retrieved 13 March 2017, from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/dutch-primeminister-mark-rutte-immigrants-refugees-netherlands-behavenormally-go-away-geert-a7543196.html Raxen 3 Report. (2003). Migrants, Minorities and Employment in Belgium. Bruxelles: Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism. Romero Bachiller, C. (2003). Bodies in the Making: Migrant Women in Embajadores (Madrid). Gender and Power in the New Europe, the 5th European Feminist Research Conference, August 20–24. Lund University.
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Shishegar, S., Gholizade, L., DiGiacomo, M., Davidson, P. (2015). “The impact of migration on the health status of Iranians: An integrative literature review.” International Health and Human Rights, 15 (20): 1– 11. Taran, P., Tennant, E., Bertine, A., and Lin, B. (2016). Migrants and Refugees Have Rights. Bruxelles: Caritas Europea. Teich, S. (2016). Islamic Radicalization in Belgium. Report. Herzliya, Israel: International Institute for Counter-Terrorism. United Nations Instraw [United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women] (2007). Gender, Remittances and Development: Feminization of Migration. Working paper. http://www.renate-europe.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ Feminization_of_Migration-INSTRAW2007.pdf Vahabi, N. (2016).“The origin of the different waves of Iranian migration in France.” Cultural and Religious Studies, 4 (8): 469–87. Vandenbroucke, M. (2017). “Whose French is it anyway? Language ideologies and re-emerging indexicalities of French in Flanders.” Language in Society, 46: 407–32. Van Meeteren, M. (2014). Irregular Migrants in Belgium and the Netherlands. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam. Ya-Hsuan, W. (2002). “The Limits of Ethnic Recognition: A Preliminary Analysis of Multicultural Competence of Aboriginal Teachers on Curriculum Philosophy.” The Annual Conference of the British Educational Research Association, University of Exeter, 12–14 September. Zijlstra, J. (2014). “Stuck on the way to Europe? Iranian transit migration to Turkey.” Insight Turkey, 16 (4): 183–99. Zogby International (2008). Public Opinion Survey of Iranian Americans. Washington, DC.: Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans, https://web.archive.org/web/20081221105629/http://paaia.org/galleries /new-gallery/Survey_of_Iranian_Americans_Final_Report_Dec_10% 202008.pdf
CHAPTER TEN INTERNATIONAL EXPLOITATION OF LABOUR: THE CASE OF THE INDIAN COMMUNITY IN THE PROVINCE OF LATINA MARCO OMIZZOLO
Abstract This paper examines the main characteristics of international trafficking in human beings and the hundreds of thousands of people who fall victim to it – mainly migrants – in the Mediterranean. The paper explores the connections between international trafficking in human beings and the exploitation of migrants in the workforce, specifically illegal labour brokerage. Labour brokerage is examined through a detailed ethnographic study by the author of this paper in the province of Latina. It is presented through the results of his direct participation while working as a day labourer and includes visual sociological elements accrued in the fields. Specifically, the author worked anonymously as a day labourer in the Pontine fields and then followed an Indian trafficker to Punjab to study and observe the methods of international trafficking in human beings first-hand. The result was a comprehensive understanding of the main elements and characteristics of international trafficking for labour exploitation in the Pontine-Punjabi workforce, local recruiting processes in the use of Indians as day labourers in the Pontine area and the relative socio-economic conditions. Keywords: Sikh, Labour Brokerage, Trafficking in human beings, Exploitation
Introduction This paper briefly analyses the main characteristics of international trafficking in human beings and the hundreds of thousands who fall victim to it in the Mediterranean – mainly migrants – and introduces elements that are typically linked to the exploitation of migrants in the workforce. In
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general, the analysis includes considerations on the evolution of legislation regarding the issue and reveals the progress as well as the limitations of the said legislation. The paper focuses on the elements of international trafficking that the Indian community is subjected to with particular attention on the Sikh Punjabi in the province of Latina (Italy). The paper aims to link aspects of international trafficking to labour exploitation, which is approached in the paper through an ethnographic study by the author as a result of direct participation while working as a day labourer in the fields and then following an Indian trafficker in Punjab to observe and study his methods so as to fully understand the origins and routes of this particular type of trafficking in human beings, how Indians are recruited as day labourers in the Pontine Marshes and their social-economic situation.
The main characteristics of the international trafficking in human beings The phenomenon of international trafficking in human beings is continuously evolving. It includes constantly changing recruiting methods and activities as well as new victims and forms of exploitation that become more and more complex. The methods in which the victims are recruited change according to the contexts and contingent situations as well as the policies on migration of the countries involved (countries of transit or destination) and enforcement policies. However, there are two main characteristics regarding the victims and the trade: The coercive behaviour against the victims and their vulnerability.1 Human traffickers use a transnational network involving several people who are fully aware of their roles. This is essential to the success of the journey and to guarantee the highest returns. According to Europol, the criminal organisations primarily involved in trafficking in human beings in Europe have an ethnic base. Generally, it involves organized criminal groups run by Romani, Nigerians, Romanians, Albanians, Russians, Chinese, Hungarians, Bulgarians and Turks. Over the years, other ethnic organisations such as Indian, Bangladeshi and South American have also become involved in the trafficking of human beings. The five main recipient countries in Europe for trafficking in human beings are Belgium, Germany, Italy,2 Greece and Holland, followed by 1
The Eritrean case is very significant (Drudi and Omizzolo 2015). According to the Ministry of Justice, each year in Italy about 209 charges of criminal violation regarding trafficking in human beings are registered with the District Attorney’s office and an average of 33 are registered with the Corte di
2
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Austria, Spain, Denmark, France and Switzerland. They are usually connected to the sex industry, begging and forced labour. The primary countries of origin of the victims are Bulgaria, Moldavia, Nigeria, Romania, Russia and the Ukraine. The 2012 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Global Report on Trafficking in Persons stated: “Almost all human trafficking flows originating in Africa are either intraregional (with Africa and the Middle East as destination) or directed towards Western Europe” (UNODC 2012: 7). It goes on to assert: “With respect to victims from North Africa, Moroccan victims were detected in nine countries in West and Central Europe, including Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. Algerian victims were trafficked in France and Norway… North Africans were detected in the Middle East between 2007 and 2010” (UNODC 2012: 78). The 2000 United Nations Convention against Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto define trafficking in persons as: (a) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs; (b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used. (Annex II, Article 3, 42–43)
According to the provisions of the UN Convention, trafficking in human beings can be briefly defined as the result of a combination of three elements: the actions of the parties involved, i.e., the traffickers (recruiting, transportation, transferring, etc.); the means in which the victims’ participation is obtained and/or their consensus is extorted (the threat of use of force, fraud, kidnapping, deceit, lies, etc.); and the objectives (identified as various forms of exploitation).3 Assise (Assize Criminal Court). Most cases, 73%, concern enslaving; 23% the trafficking in human beings; and 4% the alienation and purchase of slaves (articles 600, 601 and 602 of the Penal Code). 3 Article 4 of the protocol on trafficking in persons delineates the scope of application to the phenomena “where those offenses are transnational in nature and
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Victims of trafficking are highly vulnerable for various reasons such as war, poverty, natural disasters or authoritarian regimes. This is why they decide to leave their countries of origin and often rely on traffickers affiliated to international criminal organizations rooted in the relative territories that subsequently recruit the victims into transnational exploitation networks. Victims don’t always come into contact with the traffickers at the start of their migration. In fact, it often takes place in other phases of the migratory process. The complex phenomenon of trafficking in human beings tends to be transnational but can also occur within the victim’s native country. Trafficking can be subject to forms of physical and psychological coercion exercised against the victims. In destination countries, victims of trafficking are usually pressured into begging or forced labour in the case of men while women are almost always victims of enforced sexual exploitation where traffickers resort to threats and various forms of blackmail (specific tribal religious rituals). However, it is important to add that sexual exploitation does not necessarily correspond to prostitution; often, female victims of trafficking–sometimes even men and children–are forced to work in agricolture.
The international and European legislation on trafficking in human beings in relation to the prohibition of slavery/servitude It is important to remember that until recently it was thought that trafficking in human beings was always in relation to sexual exploitation. Currently, forced labour can also be defined as a form of exploitation. As far back as the 1990s, the problem of trafficking in human beings in Europe aroused the interests of intergovernmental organizations and the most debated issue concerned the very definition of “trafficking in human beings” (Gallagher 2010). The European Council initially adhered to the concept of trafficking essentially as a phenomenon aimed at sexual exploitation. In the European Commission’s Communication to the Council and the European Parliament on trafficking in women for sexual exploitation dated 20 November 1996, the Commission Communication addressed the issue in the same way and defined trafficking as: involve an organized criminal group, as well as to the protection of victims of such offences” (Annex II, Article 4, 43), regardless of the legitimacy or otherwise of crossing borders.
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the transport of women from third countries into the European Union (including perhaps subsequent movement between Member States) for the purpose of sexual exploitation… Trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation covers women who have suffered intimidation and/or violence through trafficking. Initial consent may not be relevant, as some enter the trafficking chain knowing they will work as prostitutes, but who are then deprived of their basic human rights, in conditions that are akin to slavery. (COM(96)0567 – C4-0638/96)
The European Parliament’s position is interesting. Distancing itself from the European Council and the European Commission, it began to regard the issue as something much more than just the sexual exploitation of women, defining it as: the illegal action of someone who, directly or indirectly, encourages a citizen from a third country to enter or stay in another country in order to exploit that person by using deceit or any other form of coercion or by abusing that person’s vulnerable situation or administrative status. 4
However, when the Council of the European Union adopted the Joint Action to combat trafficking in human beings and the sexual exploitation of children,5 it used a more restricted definition than that of the European Parliament by emphasizing sexual exploitation as the only possible consequence of trafficking. The debate called for an urgent need to establish a common definition for trafficking. In 2000, the UN took responsibility of the issue by releasing a specific protocol on the prevention, suppression and punishment of trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, also known as the Protocol on Human Trafficking, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Organized Crime. The definition of human trafficking, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, undoubtedly established substantial innovations. The 2000 Convention significantly expanded the classification of exploitation and, with the addition of the Palermo Protocol, forced labour was recognized as a form of exploitation. Another significant aspect of the UN document is that it increased awareness of trafficking as a complex phenomenon. It cannot be addressed and fought solely by using repressive 4
European Parliament Resolution of 18 January 1996 on trafficking in human beings (Official Journal C 32, 5 February 1996, 88). 5 97/152/JHA: Joint Action of 24 February 1997 adopted by the Council on the basis of Article K. 3 of the Treaty on European Union concerning action to combat trafficking in human beings and sexual exploitation of children (Official Journal 063, 04/03/1997 p. 0002 – 0006).
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mechanisms but rather it requires effective action on several levels. The UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol actually implied three objectives: To prevent and eradicate trafficking, to protect and assist victims, and to promote cooperation among the countries involved (Nascimbene and Di Pascale 2008). Since the UN Convention, a significant step has been taken towards separating trafficking in human beings from the crime of slavery/servitude. In particular, the new definition provided by the Palermo Protocol highlights the intention to isolate slavery from exploitation as this objective must now include at least “the exploitation of third party prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or forced services, slavery and similar practices, trafficking in persons for organ removal”. It does not exclude the crime of labour exploitation by minimizing it to a lesser status than slavery and servitude. This is confirmed by the fact that trafficking can also take place by means of abusing a position of vulnerability and by the use of force. It seems appropriate at this point to reflect upon the relationship between trafficking in human beings and the prohibition of slavery or servitude in key international documents before the adoption of the Palermo Protocol. In particular, the issue complies with the possibility of separating the phenomenon of trafficking in human beings from slavery and trying to distinguish whether there is a definition of trafficking on international and European levels that does not imply the conditions of slavery/servitude of the recruited victim. An important document of international interest is the Geneva Slavery Convention signed on 25 September 1926, which secured the abolition of any form of slavery in all parts of the world. In Article 1, the document defines slavery as “the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised.” During preparatory work, the definition of slavery status (linked to the eponymous institution) was further described to include “conditions analogous to slavery”. This expression points to and punishes the processes of reification, unrelated to any kind of legitimacy or to the institution of slavery, which leads a person to exercise full or partial personal property rights on another person (Annoni 2013). Despite the significant expansion of the definition and the enduring distinction between slavery and servitude, the second article does not seem adequate to ensure the safety of migrants in the trafficking of human beings, which is defined and punished separately. The Convention prohibits all forms of trafficking, defining it as,
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all acts involved in the capture, acquisition or disposal of a person with intent to reduce him to slavery; all acts involved in the acquisition of a slave with a view to selling or exchanging him; all acts of disposal by sale or exchange of a slave acquired with a view to being sold or exchanged, and, in general, every act of trade or transport in slaves.
At the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery held in Geneva on 7 September 1956, the concept of servitude was amended but did not define the connection to trafficking in human beings. In either case, both documents clearly state that there is an intrinsic connection between slavery and trafficking (Callaioli 2004). Even after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the 1959 declaration of Children’s Rights and the 1966 United Nations Treaty on Civil and Political Rights markedly enforced the prohibition of slavery and trafficking regardless of the methods and locations they were put into practice, establishing prohibition as a standard regulation. In the treaty adopted by the UN General Assembly regarding the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCCPR) and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), a broader interpretation was recognized, equating trafficking to slavery and servitude. A significant effort to clarify the connection between trafficking and slavery was accomplished by the European Court of Human Rights when it was called upon to judge the possibility of including trafficking in the ECHR Guide on Article 4 on the prohibition of slavery and forced labour.6 The Strasbourg Court intervened on two occasions: the first time in the Siliadin7 case, where it reaffirmed the definition of trafficking in Art. 4 of the ECHR, therefore upholding the right to protection against servitude. More recently, it took on the Rantsev8 case, where the Court stated that although the ECHR did not specifically implement the suppression of trafficking in human beings, it must be inferred according to the developments of art. 4 on the prohibition of slavery and forced labour. In the latter judgement, the Court confirmed that trafficking was a violation of human rights–analogous to slavery and servitude–protected under Article 4 as a “modern form of the old worldwide slave trade” (Ibid, par. 6
Article 4, ECHR: “1. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude. 2. No one may be compelled to perform forced or compulsory labour...” 7 European Court of Human Rights, judgment of 26 October 2005, Siliadin v. France. 8 European Court of Human Rights, judgment of 7 January 2010, Rantsev v. Cyprus and Russia.
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281). According to the Court, the similarities didn’t necessarily imply an ontological identity. More recent rulings consider trafficking an early warning to establishing or perpetuating the state of “absolute subjection” that characterizes slavery. In conclusion, the Court considered the two situations as equal violations of fundamental human rights while maintaining their autonomy on an ontological level and therefore punishable as separate offences. Continuing in the European context, it is necessary to examine the efforts made within the EU to crack down on this phenomenon. In fact, the Commission took the opportunity to present a proposal for a decision on the trafficking of human beings to the Council. The Commission’s initial proposal set a goal to go beyond the UN protocol by extending its minimum standards and providing broader definitions and sanctions (Europa Press Release 2001). The decision was supposed to improve the international tool the European Union had already ratified. However, the modifications proposed by the Commission were polished over time, leading to the 2002/629/JHA: Council Framework Decision9 that essentially reiterated the United Nations’ provisions (Gallagher 2010). Notwithstanding that the protocol in question still represents the core of the international regulatory landscape, it now appears virtually obsolete in light of the evolution of the phenomenon. The main criticisms address the essentially repressive and controlling approach of the legal instrument that failed to fully deal with the protection and assistance of victims. In fact, the mandatory provisions of the Palermo Protocols essentially deal with mechanisms for prevention and cooperation between the signatory countries to crack down on criminal activities, while measures for the protection of victims of trafficking, which cover a wide range of rights, are generally encouraged but left to the discretion of individual States’ parties to implement (Nascimbene and Di Pascale 2008). A decisive step towards an integrated approach in the international community in the fight against trafficking in human beings was made by the adoption of the European Council Convention (Warsaw 2005), which came into force on 1 February 2008 (Italy’s ratification took place with Law n. 108, July 2, 2010). The purpose of the Warsaw Convention was to prevent and combat trafficking in human beings in all its forms at national and international levels, whether it was connected to organized crime or not. In addition, it included trafficking for the purposes of exploitation and 9 2002/629 / JHA: Council Framework Decision of 19 July 2002 on combating trafficking in human beings, OJ L 203, 1/08/2002 P. 0001-0004.
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forced labour. It counts as the most comprehensive anti-trafficking instrument ever adopted at an international level. What distinguishes it from other legal instruments are the detailed measures established for victim assistance, protection and support. The Warsaw Convention can be considered the first international treaty specifically designated for the protection of the rights of persons subject to trafficking. The commitment is also evident in the preamble to the Convention, which states the need to strengthen and develop the protection offered by the Palermo Convention and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Human Trafficking supplement, and to elaborate a new international legal instrument focusing on human rights and the protection of victims. For the first time, the definition of trafficking in the Convention separates it from the traditional link to transnational organized crime by applying it to all forms of trafficking (national and transnational) whether connected to organized crime or not.10 As stated in the Explanatory Report to the Council of Europe Convention, the intention is to extend the scope of the Palermo Protocol on Trafficking.11 With regards to providing assistance, it states that victims should be guaranteed secure housing, psychological and material assistance, access to emergency medical care, the right to a translator and/or interpreter and access to education for children. These measures are not conditional on the victim’s willingness to cooperate in criminal proceedings and are broader than those provided in the previous Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA adopted by the European Community.
10
Article 2, the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings: “This Convention shall apply to all forms of trafficking in human beings, whether national or transnational, whether or not connected with organized crime.” 11 Explanatory Report of the Council of Europe Convention on action against human trafficking: “61. Secondly the drafters wanted the Convention to make clear that it applied to both national and transnational trafficking, whether or not related to organised crime. That is, the Convention is wider in scope than the Palermo Protocol and, as stated in Article 39, is intended to enhance the protection that the Palermo Protocol affords. Article 1, paragraph 2, of the Palermo Protocol states that the provisions of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime apply mutatis mutandis to the protocol unless the protocol otherwise provides, and Article 3, paragraph 1, of the United Nations convention states that it applies to certain offences of a transnational nature and involves an organised criminal group Under Article 2 of the Convention, therefore, Chapters II to VI apply even if trafficking is at the purely national level and does not involve any organised criminal group.”
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The European Council’s approach, although broader than that of the European Union, was considered too narrow. The mandatory measures were similar to those previously provided, while a higher standard of protection was only encouraged (Raffaelli 2009). On the basis of a new awareness regarding the necessary implementation of a plurality of appropriate actions to counter the risk of trafficking, the European Union defined a new legal instrument, Directive 2011/36/EU, which for the first time adopted a holistic perspective to contrast the crime. The new measures regarding the prevention of trafficking as well as assistance and support to victims – basically absent in the previous Framework Decision – were significant but also insufficient for the European Union’s concerns about preparing repressive measures against employers who hired citizens from illegal third countries and subjected them to severe labour exploitation.
Segregation and exploitation of migrants in the Mediterranean and the Italian case study Migrants are often victims of labour exploitation in both the transit and destination countries. Some employment sectors are characterized by severe labour exploitation, even in Northern Europe. These sectors are mainly agriculture, construction, food services and family care, where heavy competition and rules, both formal and informal, are in force and lead immigrants to accept forced working conditions. They lead to exploitation and produce segregation and marginalization. The combination of these two aspects results in conditions of vulnerability and subordination for the migrant workers under their employers. In addition, other nonsecondary aspects such as racism and various forms of discrimination and xenophobia are apparent. Emblematic case studies involve the sexual exploitation and blackmail of workers originating from North Africa, Eastern Europe and India employed as labourers in the Ragusa countryside and in the province of Latina. A few studies have detected the presence of Moroccan nationals working under conditions of severe exploitation in Belgium, while North Africans were employed under similar conditions in farms in South Italy and Spain (CTHB-OSCE 2009). A significant proportion of sub-Saharan migrants are employed in conditions of severe labour exploitation in Mediterranean areas like Italy, Greece, Spain, Libya, Algeria and Morocco. They arrive at their destination countries after a demanding journey. Often, they have crossed the Sahara Desert and even the Mediterranean Sea, aboard precarious boats, exposed to the dangers of shipwreck and subsequent death by drowning or hypothermia, to reach
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Europe. Among the Mediterranean countries, Spain and Italy (with the addition of Romania) have collected the most significant data on the phenomenon of trafficking and severe labour exploitation. In January 2017, to cite one of the most recent cases, in a joint operation involving the German Federal police, the police in Ancona, Italy, managed to thwart a criminal organization specializing in illegal immigration run by Pakistanis. It has been accused of conspiracy and aiding and abetting illegal immigration involving the so-called “Balkan route”. The conspiracy was headed by a Pakistani resident near Macerata, who asked each victim of trafficking between EUR 3,500 and 8,500 for illegal entry into Germany and France by passing through Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Austria and finally Hungary or to France through Italy. After gruelling journeys where they were sometimes forced to walk through difficult terrain, the migrants would reach their destinations and ask for political asylum. This was verified during the investigation. The organization made an estimated profit of EUR 500 thousand.12 The data reveals the greater risk of exposure for the migrant communities from Northern and Central Africa. North African workers are among the most employed as farm labourers and are often victims of labour exploitation and illegal recruiting on a national level. Not surprisingly, second only to migrants from Eastern Europe, they have the highest number of people receiving assistance (Carchedi 2012). The dynamics of migration affecting the Mediterranean area is very complex. Despite some restrictive rules adopted by individual European countries to discourage immigration, migration remains high, including illegal immigration. The flow has remained high even after 2008, the start of the economic crisis that hit Europe. In particular, Spain, Italy and Greece have hosted a growing proportion of immigrants whose origins can be traced to specific areas such as North Africa, Latin America and Asia (Clandestine 2009). Southern Mediterranean countries such as Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon and Libya have also become areas of transit and destination for various migration flows and, in particular, refugees and asylum seekers, with an exponential growth in recent years (Khachani 2008, De Haas 2008, Bel Hadj Zekri 2009). Migrants are usually recruited in specific sectors such as day labourers in agriculture but they are also recruited for other activities such as international trafficking for the purpose of forced marriage (Encscr 2011). 12
The epilogue took place in Bavaria where two Pakistani victims of trafficking denounced the abuse. Once arrived in Bosnia, the criminals blackmailed and made death threats then locked them in a cellar if they did not give them more money to cross the border into Germany.
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The relationship between type, exploitation and discrimination produces abuse and increases vulnerability. This is evident in the case of subSaharan women, especially those from Nigeria (OSCE 2009). In the past 25 years, the international trafficking of Nigerian women has increased substantially throughout the Mediterranean, with dramatic cases in Libya, Mali, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Nigeria. This trend is generated by complications in international trafficking, by foreign policies in the main destination countries (Italy in particular) and the European Union and by the spread of armed conflict and jihadist terrorism (Syria, Iraq, Nigeria). Given these considerations, the relationship between international trafficking in human beings and labour exploitation with various forms of illegal labour brokerage is increasingly related. Numerous university studies establish a relationship between these phenomena, taking into account the main characteristics (or tendencies) of globalization. This is evident in many Italian regions, such as the province of Latina, with reference to the Indian community, the province of Caserta and the Piana del Sele in Campania, the plains of Sybaris and Gioia Tauro in Calabria, the provinces of Siracusa, Ragusa and Trapani in Sicily, Metaponto and Alto Bradano in Basilicata, Capitanata, the north of Bari and the area of Nardò in Puglia. In some areas in the north the phenomenon is underestimated but certainly not absent, as revealed in recent studies. Piedmont, for example, is directly affected by the phenomenon of migrant labour exploitation, as are Lombardy, Veneto, Tuscany and Emilia, where migrants are often recruited in local cooperatives or packaging companies. The various methods of male and female labour exploitation in Italy are not attributable to extraordinary factors such as interests related to national or international criminal organizations or to contingent cases. It is a daily practice that affects about 450 thousand farm workers in Italy, of which 80% are foreigners. Of these, 100 thousand live in conditions of severe labour exploitation in addition to a lack of adequate housing and sanitation: 62% of immigrant day labourers recruited for seasonal agricultural work do not have access to sanitation, 64% do not have access to running water and 72% of the workers who have undergone a medical examination after harvest carry diseases that were not present before. In Italy, there are at least 80 agricultural districts where illegal recruiting is practised: in 33 of them, indecent working conditions were found; in 22 severe cases of labour exploitation were observed; and in the others, illegal labour brokerage is carried out. According to some farmhands in Foggia (Apulia), in Palazzo San Gervasio (Basilicata), in the province of Latina and in Cassibile (Sicily), the migrant labourers are paid 4 euros per container for picking tomatoes or other vegetables while wages reach 5 per
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hour in Saluzzo, in the Piedmont countryside, in Padua (Veneto) and Sibari (Calabria) for citrus harvesting. The workers do not have a contract, and wages, from which a percentage received by the labour provider (gangmaster) are deducted, are based on working days that range from 12 to 16 consecutive hours. According to Nocifora, farm work “in large parts of Southern Italy, the low prices that the Camorra-controlled wholesale market charges would not be possible today without the availability of a large numbers of labourers without rights who sleep and eat where and when they can, ready to flee at the slightest warning of imminent legal paperwork checks.” Furthermore, Bevere states that criminal law alone cannot guarantee an efficient and effective defence for the freedom and dignity of workers along with respecting Art. 36 of the Italian Constitution, which sets remuneration to ensure that workers have “a free and dignified existence.” Gangmastering has a few unwritten rules that put the size of the phenomenon in proportion. The share of income the gangmasters deduct from workers is around 50% of the remuneration provided for by law in national and provincial contracts for each sector. The workers receive a daily wage of between EUR 25 and 30 for an average of 10-12 hours of work. The gangmasters also impose their own daily fees: €5.0 for transport to the fields, €3.5 for a sandwich and €1.5 for every bottle of water consumed. In some cases, the gangmasters make the labourers pay rent for the dilapidated housing in which they live in overcrowded conditions. If they are immigrants, perhaps even illegal immigrants who do not know Italian, the exploitation circle closes perfectly. The exploitation of immigrant labour (the same applies to Italians, even if it is expressed differently) feeds on trafficking in human beings. Organized crime in agriculture is a strategic sector for many clans and presents the perfect opportunity to launder millions of euros. There are 3,600 organised crime organizations operating in Europe; the antimafia commission established at the European Parliament estimates that “Mafia SPA” infiltration in the legal economy has damaged the EU economy, with losses in revenue of over EUR 670 billion. Transcrime, the Research Centre on Transnational Crime, estimated that in Italy alone mafia organization revenues amount to at least EUR 33 billion, or 1.7% of the gross domestic product. Organized crime controls the food industry and affects the entire food chain, from agricultural production to the arrival of goods at ports, from wholesale markets to large retail chains, from packaging to marketing, from large fruit and vegetable markets (for example, Fondi, a town in the Pontine Marshes) to logistics with a total revenue of EUR 12.5 billion a year. Twenty-seven organised
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crime clans run their businesses through the agricultural sector; in particular, trafficking in human beings for labour exploitation and illegal recruiting, illegal money laundering through black market labour, industrial investments in the processing cycle, racketeering and extortion, logistics management and the transportation of fruit, vegetables and food, direct management of general markets with the aim of influencing the stock exchange price and mafia infiltration in the distribution pipeline and exports.13 The primary sector is still the one where the percentage of added value produced by undeclared activity (36% of the economy in the sector) is more relevant; therefore, it is easier to conceal illegal phenomena due to the endemic features of the sector. Agriculture and the agro-industry are less affected by the crisis than other sectors, and investments are related to highly profitable exports. In the areas where traditional organized crime is present, controlling the land still means controlling a considerable part of the economy and its social consensus. With regards to wages, it is important to emphasize that, although undocumented migrants tend to be paid less than regular employees, a legal migration situation does not guarantee better wages or a regular contract. A worker can be legal and exploited nevertheless, just like an illegal labourer would be. Regardless of official and contractual regularity, migrant workers are often paid less than the salary stated in the payslip. This signifies being exempt from a series of facilities and social services where a worker would normally have full rights. The difficulties encountered by the control system intercepting these practices and tackling them effectively stem from various factors: the economic constraints that prevent much-needed investments in structures useful in battling the phenomenon; administrative backwardness, both in practice and in the reading and interpretation of the phenomenon; an underestimation of the issue, probably deriving from the predominant presence of immigrants; administrative red-tape that prevents an acceptable tackling of the problem; and the lack of adequate legislative instruments. In addition to more detailed and on-going controls by inspection bodies, it is essential to carry out regular controls of pay slips and cross-referencing data to detect inconsistencies that conceal cases of exploitation. For this fundamental reason, it is necessary to establish a new governance of repression. The involvement of workers is essential. They are the vulnerable party, witnesses to the injustices they are victims of 13
From the Bilico, La Paganese and Sud Pontino investigations conducted by the Direzione distrettuale antimafia (DDA – District Anti-Mafia Offices) of Naples who unveiled a business pact between the Camorra, the ‘Ndrangheta and Cosa Nostra and led to important arrests.
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daily, repositories of information tied to the leaders of the underworld, to practices adopted and the logistical aspects that characterize it. Without a new relationship between the public and repressive systems of investigation and the immigrant communities, the issue will always be handled superficially, resulting in the waste of economic and cultural resources. One of the issues that cannot be avoided is the visa trading system. Individuals posing as prospective employers receive money in order to submit applications for residence permits, but in most cases, they have no intention of employing newly arrived immigrants (Capasso 2012). The “contracts” are often not signed and shortly after their arrival in Italy, the status of the migrants becomes illegal; in some cases, “contracts” are signed so that the authorities will issue a residence permit but without the actual guarantee of a job. Some Indian workers were reported to have paid 1 million rupees (about EUR 14,300) each to an agent in India for a longterm residence permit and a job, and received a visa and a permit for a seasonal visa but no work. Another worker paid 450,000 rupees (about EUR 6,500) for a residence permit and a well-paid job; he received clearance but not all the necessary documentation to obtain a residence permit. According to Article 18 of the Consolidated Act of Provisions concerning immigration and the condition of third-country nationals, foreign citizens who are victims of trafficking should receive a “residence permit for reasons of social protection” that allows them to benefit from assistance and social integration programmes. The format for the residence permit system in Article 18 was the primary mechanism of protection for exploited migrant workers but it is still not adequate enough to protect workers who aspire to get out of severe labour exploitation conditions. The social segregation of immigrant workers in agricultural communities does not facilitate pressing charges, while threats, violence, blackmail and poor knowledge of the Italian language prevent the emergence of the issue with the exception of emergency cases. Furthermore, the lack of trust in institutions closest to the cause prevents struggles for their human rights to get widespread recognition. Even though trials against gangmasters and exploiters are starting to go to court, the phenomenon is still not being adequately dealt with. The pace of justice and its drawn-out procedures do not facilitate the battle and the creation of a climate of trust.
About the borderline legalities in the Indian community in the Province of Latina Over the last few years, there has been a lot of publicity on the issue of the international trafficking of large groups of male and female immigrant
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workers from Punjab14 for the purpose of labour exploitation. It is a specific form of international trafficking of human beings that involves criminal organizations that use trafficking to manage their business plan (Carchedi and Omizzolo 2016). It is a proven system characterized by coercive and non-coercive aspects to gain the consent of those using its services. Organized crime, as defined by current Italian law, particularly Italian law of 13 September 1982 n. 646 (including Art. 416 bis and further amendments), is a group composed of three or more people who use “intimidation and various forms of subjugation for unjust gain.” This then would include the transnational criminal organizations that traffic in Indian (Punjabi) workers and are organized through migratory chains operated by criminals that offer a full range of services, including transfer costs, reception on arrival (including housing), integration into the agrofood sector for work and the necessary legal advice to prevent the migrants from finding themselves in illegal conditions. Two sub-systems of delinquency are added to the organisation: gangmasters of Punjabi origin and corrupt/corruptible employees and officials for the supply of administrative measures at the request of a few local dishonest farmers.
Organized crime and the grey area legalities of trafficking in human beings from Punjab The system of international trafficking in human beings for the purpose of forced labour in the past 30 years in the province of Latina presents characteristics that make it an original case. There is a grey area in the system of trafficking in human beings supported by organized structures that work together with contacts (entrepreneurs, local administrators, professionals, gangmasters and migrant workers) without the initial coercive and violent characteristics typical of other systems of trafficking in human beings for sexual or labour exploitation (such as in Nigeria). The front office deals with information and contacts while the back office conducts abusive economic interests through an advantageous system that finds the appropriate functions for the leading figures of the organization, such as the Indian trafficker, the Italian entrepreneur and the Indians recruited and wanting to come to Italy (Omizzolo and Sodano 2016). The collaborative and consensual appearances conceal a criminal act equal to other organizations that specialize in trafficking in human beings, the difference being that violence and abuse are not generally disclosed. 14
Punjab is an Indian state (located in the North-East, Chandighar is the capital city) with a territorial extension of about 40 thousand km.
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The leading members of these criminal organizations are the same nationality as the Punjabi migrants and able to govern the cycle of trafficking. Some are structured for recruitment, others specialize in travel and the transnational transfer of migrants, and the ones in the Pontine area handle labour placement as well as the monitoring/tracking of the relationships established with employers (Omizzolo 2017). These relationships determine the peculiarity of Punjabi organizations. Before migrants depart from their country of origin, they are guaranteed employment on farms in the province of Latina looking for low-cost labour in various stages of production. The Punjabi traffickers, perhaps equal to Chinese traffickers, forge structured relationships with Italian business sectors for the procurement of manpower. Basically, the entrepreneur contacts (consciously and unconsciously) the international labour market through these specialized organizations in order to meet its particular employment needs. There is an interdependent and strictly operative relationship between the overseers of trafficking in human beings and a few entrepreneurs in the province of Latina. This peculiarity is clearly evident only in the province of Latina and particularly in the municipalities of Sabaudia, Pontinia, San Felice Circeo, Terracina, Fondi, Formia and the city of Latina. This combination is perceived as an opportunity, at least in the way the Punjabi workers and their families talk about it. Once they arrive in the Pontine area, the labourers are guaranteed immediate employment and housing nearby or in cohabitation with other compatriots already living there, to whom they are generally related.15 Punjabi trafficking in human beings is ultimately established through an initial and structured relationship between a local farmer and a prominent member of the Indian community in the Pontine area. The latter (also known as a sponsor) has the economic and social resources that allow him to play a key role in the criminal system that governs the different phases of trafficking, and he is often a representative of the local Punjabi community.
Connections between Indian sponsors and entrepreneurs The preferential relationship that sponsors have with a few of the agricultural entrepreneurs in the Pontine area is essentially based on trust, the shared desire of making a profit, the de-privatization of their business, 15
In particular, many trafficked Punjabis are housed at the BellaFarnia Mare consortium in Sabaudia (LT) and near Borgo Hermada, a small rural village in the municipality of Terracina (LT).
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and relationships and actions that support their fiduciary relationship. The partnership between the entrepreneurs and the local Indian sponsors is based on the needs of both to find effective solutions to labour requirements for local companies. In this sense, the entrepreneur, in addition to meeting his own labour requirements, also meets those of the companies he offers illegal services to (through one or more trusted gangmasters). The reasons related to the activities and objectives pertaining to the company’s production (seasonal or annual) are undertaken by the sponsor on the entrepreneur’s instructions. They use the workforce already in the area or avail themselves of their international relationship with Punjab to recruit farmhands in short order for the entrepreneur. The pre-arranged arrival of new workers does not always correspond to the immediate needs of the entrepreneur. The manpower without immediate employment will serve as reserved labour for the local labour market. It is readily available and on call so it can be mobilized in just a few hours as reinforcement and casual labour for particularly strenuous activities and paid partial wages, often under the counter. The entrepreneur recognizes the economic advantages of the illegal intermediary nature of the sponsor’s work and pays the middleman from EUR 1,000 to 3,000 for each illegally recruited Punjabi labourer. The revenues as a whole make up the profits for the sponsors/leaders of the criminal organization for their role as international labour providers. The entrepreneur’s profits, on the other hand, are determined by the arrival of new Punjabi migrants from their country of origin and the resulting capital gains acquired by using them in their own business depending on long working hours and the pace of the work and by paying them ridiculously low wages.
The illegal and criminal network There are not many Punjabi criminal organizations that operate on a transnational level (Sciacchitano 2015). They seem to associate a variable number of people on the basis of available economic power and the power that derives from the calibre of the relationships they establish with dishonest local businessmen. They have easily interchangeable structures so that they can organize networks with relative flexibility, especially when variances accidentally occur that hinder the performance of the prefigured illegal business. Furthermore, their strength increases based on the quality of the relationships they establish with other active collaborators in the areas of recruitment as well as in transit areas. In the countries of origin, associates typically belong to the sponsor’s family,
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whether they are closely or loosely related. In collaboration with them, the sponsor handles the initial phases of the overall trafficking of their fellow countrymen and women. In the transit areas, on the other hand, the predominant figures are unrelated to the family-based clans, although there are structured relationships with Punjabi immigrants who settled in these areas previously. The logistics structures not only guarantee practical services for the purposes requested (a transnational criminal associative link) but also use the necessary discretion and omertà (code of honour) required by the clear awareness that they are involved in illegal activities. This awareness emerges from the many interviews conducted with Punjabi workers employed on the farms in the Pontine area and with Punjabi residents in the transit countries (Omizzolo 2010, 2014 and 2015). The leader or leaders of the organizations are generally people who have been residing in Italy, and in the Pontine area in particular, for a long time. They possess considerable experience on illegal entry procedures for migrants, official and non-official procedures for recruiting labour for companies, as well as extensive knowhow on the complicated administrative and bureaucratic procedures. They also speak fluent Italian, an element that distinguishes them from the rest of the community, which often does not speak the language very well or at all even though a few of them have lived in the area for over fifteen or twenty years. Knowing Italian is crucial to playing the role of benefactor-service provider in the Punjabi community and masking their criminal identity. Filling out the paperwork for residence permits or for renewing documents and completing applications to facilitate family reunification are services that the organization provides. The sponsors, most likely in collaboration with their Italian cohorts (lawyers, labour consultants, professionals from various professional backgrounds), are familiar with the regulations and know how to circumvent them if necessary. The result is that the sponsor is able to create a composite network of contacts that accept their collaboration (even if illegal) for monetary compensation. Among these, as discovered by the judicial authorities of Latina, public administration employees and law enforcement officers carry out corrupt illegal acts in exchange for financial incentives. Nevertheless, the sponsors represent an essential point of reference for the entire Punjabi community. They are looked upon as facilitators-specialists by the Punjabi community even though they are making money from it behind their backs. They are also regarded as benefactors even though they resort to illegal practices. This conduct as a whole acts as a dividing line between what is metaphorically deemed lawful and unlawful and is therefore caught within the grey area. .
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Payment in cash and money laundering Every economic transaction between the organization (including the Punjabi and Italian entrepreneurial components16) and its customers (i.e., other entrepreneurs who purchase services and the migrant workers involved) is carried out immediately in cash unless other arrangements have been specifically established between the parties. Workers are given special terms for the payments they have to make. The most common is the division of the total amount into rates that have to be paid at regular deadlines. Among other things, the rates are calculated according to the total amount so as not to seem disproportionate and arouse the suspicion of the police. This suggests a skilful ability on the part of the criminal organisation to plan the recovery of credit as well as the evident knowledge that both parties are conducting illegal activities. Once companies have given the sponsor the “order” to recruit labourers, the active members of its networks throughout Punjab recruit Indians willing to emigrate according to the required conditions. This type of recruitment has always been successful because it is reinforced by the promise of future work placement and related benefits, starting with residency/accommodation. The organization can earn as much as EUR 5,000 to 12,000 per person from the entire operation.17 This wide variation in costs allows the organization to have a broader range of potential customers, considering the economic status of the applicants for emigration, and still be regarded as an esteemed benefactor. Thus, there is room for negotiation between the parties with the aim of finding a satisfactory solution for both. In fact, the recruiters assess the financial resources of the potential migrants and customize the costs of migration accordingly. Furthermore, recruiters also evaluate the degree of kinship with the sponsor/head of the organization or its close collaborators. A first instalment is paid in advance and the other instalments are paid later and are of different values, especially once the migrant has arrived at the destination. The cost per migrant –between EUR 5,000 and 12,000 – is kept in full by the sponsor/Indian trafficker, who uses it to pay the actual costs of the trip, while the remainder is his illegal profit. Considering that 16
This close collaboration between some sponsors/leaders of the organization and local entrepreneurs is part of the crimes alleged by the anti-mafia prosecutor in Lecce in the so-called “Sabr Operation”. 17 The sponsor receives from each employer a sum between EUR 1,000 and 3,000 for each worker to be added or subtracted, depending on the ties the entrepreneurs have with the sponsor: in case of a close link between the parties the numbers are subtracted, if the link is wider, the numbers tend to add up.
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each arrival includes a number of workers that varies from 5 to 20 individuals, the sponsor/trafficker Indian develops a volume of illegal business resulting from trafficking in human beings (in this particular historical phase) ranging from EUR 25,000 to 240,000, tax-free. These significant figures make this a particularly favourable activity.18
The function of mediators in the organization: avoid conflicts and perpetuate illicit business The organizations governed by sponsors receive large sums of money for emigration and work placement in Italy. Profits are guaranteed, as are the prestige of the criminal organization and the ability to conduct similar operations. An economic partnership (legal or illegal) is interested in the perpetuation of income for the business and the possible increase over time. It seems clear that the relationships that develop between the Indian sponsors and the migrants who work in the fields in the Pontine area are varied and trust is not a secondary feature. These relationships are forged without threat, violence or blackmail, at least in close relationships in the absence of conflicts and latent conflicts. The same type of relationship is maintained between entrepreneurs and the organization. Regarding the workers who are not coerced, the organization displays shared values by which the entire community is identified. This inevitably produces favourable relationships that guarantee the success of the “deals”.19 By using these strategies, the criminal organizations prevent disputes, enmities and complaints. From this point of view, they consider themselves immune from criminal prosecution even though the bond within the Punjabi community in this respect is beginning to fray (in the summer of 2011, there were demonstrations against the exploitative practices of gangmasters and entrepreneurs, and the first strike by Indian farmhands in the Pontine area was held on 18 April 2016 with a commitment from the In Migration Co-op as well as other major demonstrations organized by In Migration such as the one in front of the Centro Lazio Agriculture Co-op). 18
As of 2005, it is estimated that about 20,000 workers from Punjab have arrived (almost half of them arrived in the previous decade). By multiplying 20,000 by EUR 8,500 (the average value is between EUR 500 and 12,000, which is the disbursement of each employee for expatriation), the figure adds up to EUR 170 million (i.e., 17 million per year). 19 This does not mean that it is a harmless organization; it strategically takes on a low profile so as not to risk police raids.
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The sponsor’s and organization’s power as mediators who communicate with both internal associates and external sources (primarily workers and entrepreneurs20) are threefold, and directly or indirectly involve just as many social and professional figures. The first social figure is local businesses that are usually more structured and have medium-to-high food production and quality. The entrepreneur requires a replaceable workforce and so the continuous labour turnover implies a close relationship with the sponsor/organization of traffickers who are willing to cooperate and supply seasonal labourers for the company. The teams of labourers who come from Punjab have not been alerted about the employment dynamics in the Pontine Marshes and they are unaware of labour rights and legal administrative practices. In other words, they are easier to use, exploit and remove if the businesses default on the agreement or if their needs have been satisfied. Alongside the entrepreneurs, not in a secondary position, there is one or more gangmasters, primarily of Punjabi origin although there are widespread cases of gangmasters from Bangladesh, Romanian-born women and, in some cases, even female Indian gangmasters. The second figure directly involved is that of the workers. In the Pontine Marshes, there are estimated to be about 30,000 workers (of which almost two-thirds have arrived in the last ten years) as a result of an efficient “migration chain” focused on extended families. The migration chain is fed through contacts with members of other families and a clear willingness to migrate to Italy. They are divided and separated families: some of them remain in their homeland while others live in the Pontine Marshes. Exchanges and communication between members of the family are continuous, feeding the propensity of emigration to younger members and revenues for criminal organizations. In the early stages, as explained, a peaceful relationship between the workers and sponsors is formed because they promise them work. Sometime after arriving in Latina, they discover the unethical working conditions, contrary to those promised before the settlement, which subsequently causes conflict. The sponsor and their affiliates then start a process of significant mediation so as not to destroy the fiduciary relationship and avoid small internal conflicts.
20
Attention to the internal and external dynamics of the organization are determined not only in the Pontine area, but also in places where there is a support structure for the criminal organization and therefore in transit countries and in the recruitment areas.
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Fraud, Threats and Labour Exploitation of Punjabi Labourers at the Pontine Marshes Farmland The “black area” of Punjabi criminal organizations is antithetical to the “grey area”. It manifests itself illegally and reveals the true nature of the sponsors and their entrepreneurs. Illegal profit through labour exploitation is the official “mission statement” of a criminal organization. Over the years, the arrival of many immigrants from Punjab has produced a bracket of workers with few opportunities to pursue the immigration prospects that prompted them to emigrate. Therefore, the presence of these groups of impoverished workers has led criminal organizations to use gangmasters of Italian (to a lesser extent) and Punjabi (to a greater extent) nationality that report directly to the sponsor/leader of the structure. They form the backbone of the criminal organization that operates in collaboration with local dishonest entrepreneurs. The organization takes on a dual personality, taking into consideration the duality of its expertise and operative specialization: one is as a transnational company practised in the recruitment and transfer of migrants and their relatives through operative structures outside Italian borders; the other is a local structure focused on daily labour brokerage. Profits for the organization come from both business sectors and in both cases, there is an operative combination of Punjabi and Italian criminals: transnational businesses (sponsors and entrepreneurs who recruit workers directly from abroad) and local ones (Italian and Indian gangmasters who act as intermediaries at a regional level). The Indian gangmaster plays an important role in the interests of the employer, urging his fellow countrymen to work at the pace and intensity demanded by the employer. The gangmaster is pressured into exploiting the workers through the entrepreneur or the mere threat of coercive power corroborated by the employer. Gangmasters are socially ambiguous and complex figures because they have to maintain and preserve disparate, potentially conflicting relationships simultaneously. They run the risk of generating violent confrontations that can only be handled through force and material violence. It is evident that there is a connection between this grey/black system of trafficking and the dynamics of the exploitation of Indian workers in the province of Latina. Labourers are often forced to work 10 to 14 hours days (including Saturdays and Sundays) for circa €3.50 per hour whereas a national provincial contract pays €9.00 per hour gross for 6.5 hours a day. Day labourers are subjected to the constant threat of dismissal by the employer and are often obliged, as an extreme form of subordination, to call the employer “Master” and lower their heads when speaking to him. In
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addition, there are fraudulent scams of various kinds: from illegal practices for the renewal of residence permits to false pay slips and contracts, from yo-yo wages (paid electronically and then returned in part by the worker to the employer in cash) to fraudulent procedures to renew documentation (some Indians have paid up to EUR 800 to renew their identity cards), and from late wage payment of up to a year, and in some cases never paid at all, to physical violence and continued intimidation, including the sexual harassment of the female Indian and Romanian workers. The underpaid work, blackmail, harassment and, in some cases, enslavement practised with systematic perseverance by the traffickers, gangmasters and masters contribute to creating a “production system” and distribution system based on organized exploitation and subjugation practices. This permits some companies to obtain a substantial reduction in production costs and restructure their production system by means of a sort of “on site relocation”. There was an interesting case of a farm in the Pontine that employed all its Punjabi workers legally but hired them with the illegal practice of non-salaried piecework at €3.00 per 100 bunches of radishes harvested (excluding waste). After a small wage claim upon payment, often increased in time, they received an hourly piece rate of €2.90 for the same amount of product harvested. Furthermore, a new contractual practice was implemented between the employers and labourers that stipulated that every claim had to be submitted in writing, signed and placed in a specific box; each day it was taken out and disposed of. Illegal labour brokerage and gangmasters were introduced. Older Punjabi labourers were laid off and replaced by new labourers who had just arrived from Punjab and therefore were less likely to claim rights and better wages. Illegal brokerage took on some of the typical characteristics that made it similar in part to the general regulations foreseen in Italian organisations. It established the uncommon practice of direct labour recruitment in squares or streets that was quite commonplace in other Italian regions. The gangmaster contacts selected labourers through text messages or WhatsApp, thereby camouflaging illegal recruitment and avoiding law enforcement checks. The labourer is selected to benefit the employer (owner) who is compliant with forced exploitation. In addition to these cases, there are on-the-job injuries or accidents that are almost never reported. They take place during working hours and are often concealed in order to spare the company from controls and charges. Punjabi labourers are often taken to a nearby hospital or emergency room by the employer and advised/blackmailed not to report the actual dynamics of the incident. Punjabi labourers are frequently subject to thefts on payday. At times, their salary is paid in cash; while returning to their
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places of residence, often on a bicycle or scooter, gangs of Italian youths, waiting for them along the side of the road, attack them and steal their hard-earned wages. This widespread practice has created a climate of distrust among labourers, who are convinced of their persecutors’ impunity. This has been confirmed by the difficulties the workers face when they report the incident to the police and by the difficulty many agents have in understanding the worker’s conditions, their anxieties and fears. There have also been very disturbing reports of incidents where Italian criminals have tried to set Punjabi labourers on fire or broken their legs in order to punish or intimidate them. Even more tragic is the number of suicides among Punjabi labourers in the Pontine: Men who after years of exploitation consider suicide the only escape from that hell. This happened, for example, near the town of Sabaudia, where a Punjabi labourer hung himself inside the greenhouse where he worked. His employer paid him only EUR 300 per month for 26 working days. The working conditions led to a state of frustration and severe depression that probably induced him to carry out the extreme act. Sexual blackmail is also carried out on some farms; practices of further subjection based on abuse and gender violence that affect Indian and Romanian women labourers. This practice is observed in other Italian regions, particularly in the farmlands of Ragusa in Sicily. According to a study by MEDU (Doctors for Human Rights), conducted in collaboration with ASGI (Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration) and the LEGAL CLINIC at RomaTre University, the most common method of payment in the province of Latina for Punjabi labourers is hourly rates according to over 80% of the people surveyed. Of the workers, 67% state they are paid directly by the employer, 7% by an Indian intermediary, and 24% preferred not to answer. Pay slips and employment contracts are often legal but almost always contain the wrong information to the benefit of the owner. They work twelve to fourteen hours a day every day of the month but the payslip only declares three or four days of work per month while the rest of the hours are buried or marked in pencil on paper (exploitation hush money). A Punjabi worker in the Pontine declared, “My master owes me 26 thousand euros. I have been working in a cooperative near Sabaudia for seven years and for seven years I have been getting 200-300 euros a month. I don’t know why. I work all week, seven days a week, half a day on Sundays for only 300 euros a month. The rest of the money is kept by the master” (interview). The practice of false pay slips is widespread and represents the stratagem for avoiding controls and entering a system where the definitions of legality and illegality are foggy; it constitutes the
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primary instrument used to avoid controls and determines conditions of illegality and exploitation of Punjabi men and women labourers21. Equally tragic is the case of the Punjabis in the Pontine who were induced by the employer/owner/gangmaster to take drugs to work as slaves at an imposed work pace; by compatriots ready to take their place (replacement process), by the obligations deriving from commitments made to their families in Punjab. They took methamphetamine, opium and antispasmodics in order to withstand the daily physical and psychological fatigue and the social pressure they were subjected to every day. K. Singh, a Punjabi worker who lives in the province of Latina, stated, “We are exploited and we cannot tell the boss “that’s enough” because he’ll send us away. So, some Indians pay for a little substance so they don’t feel pain in their arms, legs and back. The owner tells us to work, work, work, come on, come on, and after fourteen hours of work in the fields, how is it possible to keep this up? In the fields to pick radishes, the Indians work bent over on their knees all day; the substance helps us to live and work better”. This is the most evident expression of a structural and structured relationship between international trafficking in human beings, labour exploitation and illegal labour brokerage with significant social and often decisive consequences on the lives of the Indian men and women labourers in the province of Latina.
Conclusions The paper illustrates the well-structured relationship between countries on the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean and proves the vastness of the system of international trafficking in human beings and its relationship with the legal and illegal labour markets in the Mediterranean. At the same time, it reveals the various holes in the Italian and European institutional systems in handling international trafficking in human beings and labour exploitation, including the illegal practice of gangmasters. For example, the divided nature of the Italian labour market, both legal and illegal, receives the victims of trafficking (women and children included) and by virtue of their conditions of social, cultural and economic vulnerability, it is often the origin of long-term exploitation and, in some cases, enslavement. This includes both the south and the north of Italy 21
In Migrazione presented a dossier called “Sfruttati a tempo indeterminato” (Permanently Exploited) that described the methods through which exploitation, being reduced to slavery and labour brokerage lends a guise of legality (www.inmigrazione.it).
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albeit with different quantitative and organizational systems. The relationship between labour exploitation and migrants, particularly victims of trafficking, is an important source for collecting sufficient data on the main characteristics of the said relationship that have been briefly reconstructed in this paper. Among the various systems of trafficking in human beings and labour exploitation, the system in the Pontine area was analysed with particular attention on the Indian community and above all the Punjabi Sikh. Its characteristics facilitate camouflage and this makes every research study, especially if conducted in the field through an ethnographic approach, particularly valuable. The grey area in this type of trafficking in human beings, an example of the particular methods used by Indian recruiters, their criminal network and their Italian clients (agricultural entrepreneurs), represents a strategic form of self-defence for the purpose of reproducing itself and is based on social consensus research carried out in primis on Indian labourers who were trafficked and their families. The interweaving of widespread economic advantages, the relative ease of recruitment of Punjabi victims in the trafficking in human beings, their induced subordination, the instrumental collaboration of a vast network of professionals and entrepreneurs that more or less consciously support this system, along with the simultaneous subordination of the trafficked Indian’s family to the trafficker and the financial debt they take on, constitute the central elements of this specific case, which should be kept in mind for the process of any action to oppose it. It’s inevitable connection with severe forms of labour exploitation and illegal recruitment, which exceed the relationship between the employer and employee until they become a binding social model, determines the creation of an illegal and transnational organized system responsible for the systematic violation of human rights that involve new forms of organized crime as well as traditional ones.
References Annoni, A. (2013). “Gli obblighi internazionali in materia di tratta degli esseri umani.” In La lotta alla tratta di esseri umani. Tra dimensione internazionale e ordinamento interno. Napoli: Jovene Editore. Bel Hadi Zekri, A. (2009). La migration de transit en Tunisie: état des lieux et impacts et avancement de la recherche sur la question. Carim Analytic and Synthetic Notes, no. 16.
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Callaioli, A. (2004). Art. 2 – “Modifica dell’articolo 601 del codice penale. L. 11.8.2003 - Misure contro la tratta di persone” (comments). Legislazione penale, 4. Capasso, O. (2012). “La criminalità di origine estremo-orientale.” In Relazione annuale sulle attività svolte dal procuratore nazionale antimafia e dalla Direzione nazionale antimafia, nonché sulle dinamiche e strategie della criminalità organizzata di tipo mafioso nel periodo 1 July – 30 June, 209–14. Rome: Direzione Nazionale Antimafia. Carchedi, F. (2012). La tratta degli esseri umani: alcuni aspetti delle principali forme di sfruttamento, Ricerca e interventi sociali. Roma: Parsec. Clandestino. (2009). “Undocumented migration. Data and trends across Europe: country reports and research briefs.” Research Project Funded by the European Commission, DG RTD, FP6. De Haas, H. (2008). “Irregular migration from West Africa to the Maghreb and the European Union.” Geneva: IOM [International Organization for Mifation]. Drudi, E., and M. Omizzolo. (2015). “Ciò che mi spezza il cuore.” In Eritrea: dalla grande speranza alla grande delusion. Migranti e territory. Roma: Ediesse. ENCSCR [Egypt National Centre for Social and Criminological Research]. (2011). National study on trafficking in persons, research report. Cairo. Europa Press Release. (2001). “The EU launches an appeal for the high priority agreement for the fight against trafficking in women and children.” Ip/01/35 of 7 March. Gallagher, A.T. (2010). The International Law of Human Trafficking. Cambridge, UK and New York: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511761065. Hammouda, N.E. (2008). “La migration irreguliere vers et à travers l’Algerie.” Carim Analytic and Syntethic Notes, 75. Irregular Migration Series. In Migrazione co-op. (2014). “Sfruttati a tempo indeterminato” (dossier). Roma. Khachani, M. (2008). “La migration irrégulière vers et à travers l’Algérie.” Carim Analytic and Synthetic Notes, 50. Irregular Migration Series. Monzini, P. (2010). “The smuggling of migrants in, from and through North Africa.” A Thematis Review and Annotated Bibliography of Recent Publications. Unodc.
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Nascimbene, B., and Di Pascale, A. (2008). “Riflessioni sul contrasto al traffico di persone nel diritto internazionale, comunitario e nazionale.” In Il contrasto al traffico di migranti: nel diritto internazionale, comunitario e interno. Milano: Giuffrè. Nocifora, E. (2015). “L’avvento del lavoro paraschiavistico e le trasformazioni del mercato del lavoro in Italia.” Quasi schiavi, paraschiavismo e super-sfruttamento nel mercato del lavoro del XXI secolo. Rimini: Maggioli. Omizzolo, M. (2010). “I sikh a Latina, una storia trentennale di lavoro agricolo.” In Libertà Civili, n. 5. Milano: Franco Angeli. —. (2014). “Le migrazioni tra terra, capitale e lavoro nell’epoca della globalizzazione. Migranti, caporalato e sfruttamento in provincia di Latina, Caserta, Nardò e Rosarno.” Rivista di Studi sui Servizi Sociali, no. 4/2013. —. (2015). “Il movimento bracciantile in Italia e il caso dei braccianti indiani in provincia di Latina dopati per lavorare come schiavi.” In Migranti e territori, edited by M. Omizzolo and P. Sodano. Roma: Ediesse. —. (2017). “Migranti e diritti, tra mutamento sociale e buone pratiche.” Tempi Moderni. Macerata: Simple. Omizzolo, M., and P. Sodano. (2016). “Indagine sul contrasto allo sfruttamento lavorativo e di manodopera immigrata in Italia: dalla direttiva europea Sanzioni alla legge Rosarno.” Democrazia e sicurezza (Università Roma 3), 6 (1). —. (2017). “La lotta dei braccianti indiani in provincia di Latina contro lo sfruttamento lavorativo e il caporalato: lo sciopero del 18 aprile 2016.” (Im)migrazione e sindacato, 8th Report, edited by E. Galossi. Fondazione Di Vittorio. Roma: Ediesse. OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] (2009). Guide on Gender-Sensitive Labour Migration Policies. Vienna. http://www.osce.org/secretariat/37228?download=true Raffaelli, R. (2009). “The European approach to the protection of trafficking victims: The Council of Europe Convention. The EU Directive and the Italian experience.” German Law Journal 205. Sciacchitano, G. (2015). “Criminalità transnazionale.” In Relazione annuale sulle attività svolte dal procuratore nazionale antimafia e dalla Direzione nazionale antimafia, nonché sulle dinamiche e strategie della criminalità organizzata di tipo mafioso nel periodo 1 luglio 2013 – 30 giugno 2014, 306-454. Roma: Direzione Nazionale Antimafia.
CHAPTER ELEVEN HISTORY OF DUAL NATIONALITY IN TURKISH LAW: CHANGING UNDERSTANDING AND RULES HANDE ÜNSAL
Abstract Dual nationality, which is one of the most debated issues of nationality law, has traditionally been undesirable by the states. However, this view started to change since the will of the individual gained importance in nationality laws against the will of the state. Indeed, the efforts to avoid dual nationality do not seem to combine with the needs brought by increasing migration movements. Dual nationality is of significance important for immigrants. Migrants desire to retain their original nationality while acquiring the nationality of the host state, Nevertheless, states' approach to dual nationality is generally shaped by their outward migration rates. States become more insightful about dual nationality in the extent that their nationals emigrate. Turkish Nationality Law’s approach to dual nationality is also transformed following the mass emigration movements which initiated in 1960’s. From that time on Turkish Law's approach to dual nationality started to change and Turkish Republic which has traditionally exhibited an adverse standing towards dual nationality became increasingly more tolerant concerning the issue. In the context of this study, the impact of migration on Turkish Law will be examined over the regulations on dual nationality. Keywords: Migration, Nationality Law, Acquisition of Nationality, Allegiance Theory
Introduction Dual nationality is one of the most debated issues of nationality law as states have been unwilling to accept the “dual national” status for a long period. One of the reasons for this unwillingness is the abutment of the nationality laws on “allegiance theory”, the roots of which are founded in
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the feudal era. The allegiance theory claims that an individual can be loyal only to a sole ruler and thus allegiance is indivisible. However, due to the improvements in human rights over the course of time, the will of the individual has gained importance in nationality laws against the will of the state. Consequently, the influence of the allegiance theory on nationality laws is decreasing. In today’s nationality law, the “legal status theory”, which qualifies nationality as a legal bond between the individual and the state, is more commonly accepted. Nevertheless, the allegiance theory is not totally defunct. Influences of the allegiance theory in the nationality laws of several states can be traced in different forms and, as expected, the states that pursue the allegiance theory more effectively are less likely to welcome dual nationality. However, states' negative attitudes towards dual citizenship cannot be explained solely by their understanding of loyalty. There are some other aspects of dual nationality that makes states refrain from welcoming it. First of all, dual nationality is a status that limits a state’s personal jurisdiction, which might lead to conflicting interests with respect to issues such as military service, diplomatic protection and taxation. In addition, dual nationality can cause difficulties in determining the personal status of an individual. For these reasons, dual nationality has traditionally been accepted as a situation that needs to be hindered and “avoidance of dual nationality” is placed within the guiding principles of nationality law. Nevertheless, this principle is now being questioned more frequently and is occasionally qualified as “obsolete”. Indeed, efforts to avoid dual nationality do not seem in tune with the soul of the century, which is largely shaped by improvements in communication and transportation technologies. In today’s world, people are travelling between borders– either willingly or unwillingly–more than ever, which also contributes to the enlargement of the transnational space. As a result, the number of people who have connections with more than one country has increased dramatically. This makes dual nationality an important phenomenon for those who are on move. Dual nationality is of significance for immigrants in particular. Migrants desire the nationality of the host state for several reasons. First of all, acquiring the nationality of the host state is mostly perceived as an indication of being accepted by the society of that country but, above all, migrants desire the nationality of the host country for practical reasons like being free of burdensome procedures and possessing rights such as residence rights, working rights and property acquisition. In other words, migrants desire the nationality of the host state as it enlarges the scope of their rights and thus elevates their life standards (Ünsal 2012:108).
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Due to these considerations, the need for the principle of the avoidance of the dual nationality has become a subject of debate. Indeed, dual nationality is expected to cause some problems. However, given the conveniences and the benefits it provides, it can be claimed that avoidance of dual nationality would be unnecessarily costly for individuals, especially for migrants. On that account, in the last few decades, a significant number of states have made changes in their dual nationality arrangements and have adopted a more individual-focused approach. Nevertheless, it appears that governments' outward migration outcomes are decisive in their approach to dual nationality. States are becoming more insightful about dual nationality to the extent that their nationals emigrate since nationality is an important legal vehicle in maintaining the connection. Actually, even though the emphasis is frequently put on the emotional aspect of nationality, there is a strong material aspect too. First of all, nationals abroad make a lot of contributions to the origin states, such as repatriating remittances, enhancing investments and providing foreign currency entry. Apart from this, diasporas constitute a major political pressure working in favour of states of origin. Hence, a remarkable number of states seeking to utilize these possibilities have accepted more flexible regulations and practices in terms of nationality, and introduced the right to dual nationality into their legal systems. This is the path that Turkish law’s approach to dual nationality has followed. Since its foundation, the Turkish Republic has been characterized as a country of immigration, which has shaped its nationality policies significantly. However, the Recruitment Treaty signed between Turkey and Germany in 1961 constituted a milestone in the transformation of Turkish law’s approach to dual citizenship since, with the enforcement of this treaty, the Turkish Republic was confronted by massive emigration for the first time in its history. Today, Turkey is a country of both immigration and emigration, and thus seeks to adjust its regulations accordingly. In this study, the development of dual nationality in Turkish law will be examined. Sociological, historical and economic developments have played an important role in the changing understanding on dual nationality in Turkish law. However, this study deals with the issue through the legal lens and limits its scope to the legal course.
Nationality as a legal concept Nationality in its broadest definition is the concept that links the individual and the state. The nature of this link has been engaging the attention of
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societies for a long time. Various theories have been used to explain the nature of nationality, including allegiance theory, contract theory, sociological theory and legal bond theory. The earliest and probably the most influential one among these theories is the allegiance theory, the roots of which are founded in the feudal period. The allegiance theory considers nationality as the constant loyalty between the state and the individual (Do÷an, 2002: 29). According to this theory, the individual owes constant loyalty to the ruler who possesses the territory where the individual is born and is resident. The allegiance theory has lost its former influence on the nationality laws due to the improvements in humanistic thought but retains its existence through various provisions in the nationality laws. Deprivation of nationality in the case of acquisition of another state’s nationality without the permission of the former state could be given as an example of this influence. According to the contract theory, on the other hand, nationality is a contract that creates mutual rights and obligations for both the state and the individual (Do÷an 2002: 30). An obligation of the state points to the rights of the individual, and vice versa. This view however, has been much criticized due to its inadequacy in explaining the involuntary acquisition and loss of nationality in particular; hence, it is currently out of use. The third theory, the sociological theory, is based on the thought that a state should move from sociological facts to determine its nationals. According to this theory, in granting nationality, the individual’s connection with the state, such as participation in social life and economic activities, should be considered (Güngör 2014:8). The sociological theory is frequently included in the nationality laws to be applied in certain cases, especially when one of the nationalities of the dual national needs to be chosen for dealings with the courts or legal authorities. On such occasions, the “genuine nationality principle,” which is the outcome of the sociological theory, is commonly applied as long as one of the nationalities is not the nationality of the administrative authority. Today, however, the most widely accepted theory in terms of explaining the nature of nationality is the “legal status theory” (Do÷an 2002: 31). The legal status theory defines nationality as the legal link between the state and the individual. According to this theory, nationality is a status whose conditions and content are unilaterally determined by the state, and the individual who fulfils the specified conditions attains national status (Güngör 2014: 8). This theory is entirely legal in nature, and separates the concept from ethnicity and allegiance. Nationality furnishes the individual with rights that could be claimed against the state and thus provides several conveniences, such as
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unconditional residence and working rights. On the other hand, it is important for an individual to know from which state to claim rights and protection. For immigrants, there is also a “social” aspect of nationality, which indicates whether the individual is included or excluded from a national community. This aspect, which Hagedorn (2003:185) calls the “symbolic aspect” of nationality,7 constitutes an important matter for migrants, especially as a means of being accepted as part of society. Nationality is important not only for the individual but it is also crucial for states in determining the obligators of the duties it will impose and to anticipate the claims that could be made against it.
Definition and terminology Dual nationality can be defined in a broad sense as “the status of possessing the nationality of more than one state in the same time frame.” (Nomer 1994: 57).9 A more elaborate definition, on the other hand, could be “an individual’s status of being granted the legal status, and diplomatic protection of two separate states and being subjected to the personal jurisdiction of the courts of those states at the same time” (Nomer 1994: 57). While dual nationality is becoming more common, an individual’s possession of even more than two nationalities is not considered exceptional anymore. As such, it seems more appropriate to call this status “plural nationality” or “multiple nationality” (Legomsky 2003: 80). However, compared with occasions of “multiple nationality”, “dual nationality” is a more common status and as a term is more commonly engaged in the legal literature as well as everyday life. Within the context of this study pursuant to the traditional terminological approach, the term
7
Hagedorn uses the term “symbolic aspect” to denote the mental aspect of nationality. According to Hagedorn, nationality has two aspects, the “symbolic” and the “practical.” 9 The European Convention on Nationality, which was prepared by the Council of Europe and entered into force on March 1, 2000, defines dual nationality as the “simultaneous possession of two or more nationalities by the same person” (art. 2/b), except it engages the term “multiple nationality” instead of “dual nationality”. The convention is especially significant for being the first legal document that regulates the principles and rules on nationality and reflects the general international tendencies in the field. For the text of the Convention, see https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?d ocumentId=090000168007f2c8 (as of April 1, 2017).
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“dual nationality” will be used. Nevertheless, the term “multiple nationality” is not negated.
The source of dual nationality The most important reason underlying the emergence of dual nationality is the mismatch between the citizenship laws of states. For this reason, dual nationality is also called “positive nationality conflict” in the legal literature. Customary international law entitles a state to determine its nationals without being subjected to any restrictions under its own law.12 In other words, states have exclusive jurisdiction in making their nationality laws. Very often, while regulating the conditions of acquisition and loss of nationality, states are not concerned about being in harmony with other states’ nationality laws but rather their own demographic and migratory problems. For this reason, it is possible for an individual to acquire the nationality of two or more states. In some cases, the status of dual nationality is acquired by birth. Two dominant principles are used in the endowment of nationality by birth: ius sanguinis and ius soli. According to the principle of ius sanguinis, the individual acquires the nationality of his descendants, his mother and/or father in particular. The principle of jus soli, in contrast, confers nationality through place of birth. The nationalities of the mother and/or the father do not play a role in the endowment of nationality under this principle. When a child whose mother and/or father possess the nationality of a state that adopts ius sanguinis principle is born in the territory of a state that implements ius soli, he acquires the nationality of both states by birth.13 It is the same, when the child’s mother and father possess nationalities of different states that both adopt the principle of ius sanguinis; again, he acquires the nationality of both states by birth. Individuals, especially migrants, may also acquire nationality by naturalization. To grant nationality by naturalization, states ask the applicants to meet a number of requirements. In most European states, requirements such as minimum period of residency and proof of integration into the host society are sought.14The relinquishment of the previous nationality (relinquishment condition), which used to be a 12
Donner 1994; Bilgin 2006; Boll 2007; Spiro and Bosniak Ünsal, Turkish and German Nationality Laws, pp. 108–9. 14 The integration criteria mostly appear as a combination of secure job, adequate income, loyalty to national regime, obedience to national laws, possession of language knowledge and adaptation to the native culture. 13
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common requirement, has been abandoned by the majority of the European states as the understanding of dual nationality has largely changed within the recent decades. Nevertheless, the relinquishment condition is still in use, though rarely. Some states insist on preserving it as one of the basic conditions of naturalization. In cases when the relinquishment condition is not sought, the individual becomes a “dual national” from the moment he is naturalized.
Nationality in Turkish law The regulation of nationality in Turkish law took place relatively late. The first law concerning nationality was the Ottoman Nationality Law (Tabiiyeti Osmaniye Kanunnamesi), dated January 23, 1869. The law, which regulated the conditions of acquisition and loss of Ottoman nationality, remained in force for fifty-nine years, until 1928, even though in 1923 a new state was established in Turkey, the Republic of Turkey, which invalidated Ottoman rule. The regime of the Turkish Republic is different from the Ottoman regime since the former is unitary and secular. In accordance with this transformation, radical changes were introduced to the Turkish law system, and new laws entered into force accordingly. However, the Ottoman Nationality Act remained in force for five years more, so, in the context of this study, the examination of dual nationality in Turkish law will be initiated from the Ottoman Nationality Act. Four different nationality acts have been introduced into the Turkish legal system since 1869. These acts exhibit different understandings concerning dual nationality; the first one pursued a stricter understanding of dual nationality where the processors were increasingly more tolerant.
Ottoman nationality law The first nationality act of Turkey was the Ottoman Nationality Act, which radically changed the understanding of nationality in Turkish law. Before the Ottoman Nationality Act entered into force, there were no systematic rules governing nationality, and the Ottoman nationality was not institutionalized. During this period, residing in the Ottoman territory was the foremost condition of being an Ottoman subject. The residents, on the other hand, were categorized as Muslims and non-Muslims,15 and subjecthood16 was endowed accordingly: for the Muslims, residence in 15
Serbesto÷lu 2011:209. Prior to the adaptation of the Ottoman Nationality Act, the nature of the link between the Ottoman State and the subjects of Ottoman did not fit in the terms of 16
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The lack of a nationality act in Ottoman Law resulted in an undesirable increase in the number of the dual nationals in the Ottoman territories (Gö÷er 1995:169). A large number of non-Muslim subjects acquired a foreign state’s subjecthood as well as Ottoman subjecthood without the consent of the Ottoman Government in order to benefit from some of the privileges the Ottoman State provided the subjects of foreign states, and also claimed these privileges before Ottoman authorities. Moreover, foreign states claimed rights on their subjects who were also Ottoman subjects, and this led to significant political disturbances (Do÷an 2002: 38; Nomer 2000:44).20 In 1869, the Ottoman Empire, which was struggling with the problems caused by the subjecthood status, sought to find a solution by introducing the Ottoman Nationality Act. It was a relatively short act consisting of nine articles. Even though the introduction of this legislation was triggered by the problems caused by dual subjecthood, the Ottoman’s genuine aim was to bring an end to the corrupt practices in this field and enhance administrative, social and political unity (Rumpf 2003:362; Nomer 2000:69). For this reason, instead of religiously based principles, principles that were included in the European Nationality Acts were adopted (Serbesto÷lu 2011:209). The Ottoman Nationality Act regulated subjecthood without any reference to religion. Under article 7 of the Act, all subjects were Ottoman regardless of their religion and this subjecthood could only be acquired and lost under the provisions of the law (Banko 2014). For the endowment of nationality by birth, the principle of ius sanguinis, namely endowment according to the nationality of the descendants, was accepted. Therefore, ius soli, which has long been the “nationality” or “citizenship”. As such, in the context of this study, the term “subjecthood” will be used to denote the link between the Ottoman State and its subjects in the pre-Ottoman Nationality Act era. However, according to Kern (2011:82), the Ottoman Nationality Act was a shift from subjecthood to citizenship as a part of modernization. In keeping with Kern’s thoughts, the term “nationality” will be engaged for the period that the Ottoman Nationality Act remained in force. 20 According to Gö÷er (1995:142), the Ottoman Empire was troubled with the nationality issues due to the lack of a systematic nationality law.
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traditional principle for the endowment of Ottoman subjecthood, was converted to endowment by blood. The ius soli principle was accepted as a complimentary principle though for the exceptional cases. Ɣ
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Within the scope of Ottoman Nationality Act, dual nationality was regulated under four provisions. According to the Act: any person who acquires the nationality of a foreign state with the permission of the Ottoman State would be regarded as “foreign” and treated accordingly (Ottoman Nationality Act art. 5). Any subjecthood that is acquired without the consent of the Ottoman State would be considered null and void, and treated accordingly (Ottoman Nationality Act art. 5). Relinquishment of these persons from the Ottoman nationality depends on the permission of the Ottoman Empire. A person who acquires a foreign state’s nationality could be deprived of Ottoman nationality. In this case, this person would be forbidden to enter Ottoman territory (Ottoman Nationality Act art. 5). When necessary, the Ottoman State may grant nationality “exceptionally,” even if the foreigner has not fulfilled the necessary conditions to acquire the Ottoman nationality (Ottoman Nationality Act art. 4).
With the regulations enumerated in the Articles 5 and 6 of the Ottoman Nationality Act, the Ottoman Empire adopted a clear attitude against dual nationality. Possessing dual nationality was not possible under the Ottoman Nationality Act, even with the permission of the Ottoman State. Thus, the Ottoman Nationality Act was the nationality act of Turkish law that showed the strictest attitude towards dual nationality. However, even the Ottoman Nationality Act did not block the way of becoming a dual national entirely. Art. 4 of the Act allowed foreign nationals to acquire Ottoman nationality without relinquishing their former nationalities in exceptional cases. In fact, in many modern nationality laws, a provision similar to article 4 could be found; most states reserve the right to grant nationality to a person who does not fulfill naturalization conditions but is expected to benefit the state. Hence, Turkish Nationality Act art. 12/b can be regarded as a reflection of this understanding in the current Turkish nationality law. With the Ottoman Nationality Act, the Ottoman State aimed to impede dual nationality practice in its territory, which was not subject to any
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limitations until 1869. However, despite all the struggles, it did not succeed in avoiding the negative outcomes of dual nationality.
Turkish Nationality Act No. 1312 In October 29, 1923, the Turkish Republic was proclaimed following the de facto collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Founded on different principles and secular in nature, the new Republic needed a new legal regime and thus started to replace Ottoman Laws with new laws. The Ottoman Nationality Act remained in force for five more years after the proclamation of the Turkish Republic and was then replaced with the Turkish Nationality Act No. 1312. Act No. 1312 adopted the ius sanguinis principle in the broadest way for acquisition of nationality by birth (Nomer 1995:44; Do÷an 2002:44; Aybay 2003:49). However, it made a distinction between a natural-born Turkish national and a naturalized Turkish national in terms of possessing dual nationality. According to Law No. 1312, a foreign national was not required to relinquish his former nationality or nationalities while acquiring Turkish nationality whereas a natural-born Turkish national was only allowed to possess Turkish nationality and foreign nationality at the same time if the foreign nationality was acquired involuntarily. That is, if a Turkish national acquired foreign nationality without any declaration of will, depending on descendants, on the place of birth or due to marriage bond, etc., he could possess the status of a dual national. Thus, Act No. 1312 provided flexibility to dual nationality up to a certain degree. However, Act No. 1312 did not show the same flexibility when the Turkish national acquired the foreign nationality voluntarily. If the Turkish national acquired the foreign nationality without obtaining the permission of the government, he could be deprived of his Turkish nationality upon the decision of the Council of Ministers. The approach adopted by Act No. 1312 could be interpreted broadly on two grounds. Firstly, the Act was prepared largely under the influence of Turkish society’s understanding of nationality. Back then, Turkish society, which had recently come out of successive wars, approached foreigners with suspicion. Hence, a Turkish national’s search for another state’s nationality was regarded as non-compliable with national loyalty (Aybay 2003:58). In fact, this Act was also one of the legal vehicles that served for the formation of Turkish nationality after the Ottoman understanding of subjecthood, which relied on religious distinctions. However, a more important reason underlying Act No. 1312’s distinction was again the demographic and migratory issues facing the
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Turkish Republic. During the time the Act was accepted, the Turkish Republic was young and still receiving migrants, especially the people with Turkish roots from the former Ottoman territories, either individually or collectively. Act No. 1312 aimed at easing the endowment of Turkish nationality to Muslim and Turkish-rooted people who had been living in the former Ottoman country. In this way, the Turkish Republic wanted to embrace the human inheritance of the Ottoman Empire, and thus enhance Turkish national identity (Özkan and TütüncübaúÕ 2008: 618), while increasing the number of inhabitants, which had decreased dramatically after the long-lasting wars (Aybay 2003:49; Özkan and TütüncübaúÕ 2008:618; Nuri, 2009). Considering the provisions of Act No. 1312 cumulatively, it is possible to say that the Act aimed at increasing the number of Turkish inhabitants and contributing to the formation of a Turkish national identity. Consequently, with regard to the Turkish nationals who desired another state’s nationality, the Act converged to the allegiance theory and did not allow them to retain Turkish nationality and the foreign nationality at the same time. Contrary to this approach, with regard to a foreign national’s acquisition of Turkish nationality as a subsequent nationality, the Act converged to the legal status theory and enabled them to possess more than two nationalities at the same time.
Turkish nationality act no. 403 On February 22, 1964, the Turkish Nationality Act No. 403, which abrogated Act No. 1312, was adopted. The aim of the new Act was to align Turkish nationality law with contemporary nationality laws. However, due to the developments in world, and in Turkey particularly, new needs in the field of nationality law emerged. Thus, as a result of the changes to Act No. 403, its approach to dual nationality transformed radically. However, the Act has received considerable criticism, claiming the deterioration of its system. Similar to Act No. 1312, the original form of Act No. 403 adopted a distinction concerning dual nationality. Even though it did not explicitly mention the right to be a dual national, it made dual nationality possible for a naturalized Turkish national by not setting the relinquishment of the former nationality as a condition for the acquisition of Turkish nationality. Thus, just as in Act 1312, it was possible for a foreign national to acquire Turkish nationality while maintaining his former nationality. However, the possibility to possess a dual national status for a natural-born Turkish national was granted only to those who acquired foreign nationality
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involuntarily. Moreover, when a Turkish national acquired the nationality of a foreign state by his own will but did not inform the State about the acquisition, he could be deprived of his nationality upon the decision of the Council of Ministers since this acquisition could be considered incompatible with loyalty. An amendment in Act No 403 in 1981, however, opened the way for a Turkish national to retain Turkish nationality, even if the latter nationality was acquired willfully. Thus, possessing dual nationality for a natural-born Turkish national became possible for the first time, which marked a significant change in Turkish nationality law. This amendment was followed by other amendments in 1989, 1992, 1995 and 2003, which all aimed to facilitate the holding of dual nationality. The reason for this change could be explained with regard to the mass migration movement from Turkey to European countries, to Germany in particular (Özkan and TütüncübaúÕ, 2008:618). While Turkey was struggling with unemployment, Europe, which experienced an economic boom in the post-war era, was seeking to compensate its labour deficit by recruiting workers from the Southern European countries (Kadirbeyo÷lu 2007:131). Thus, on 31 October 1961, a Recruitment Treaty was concluded between the governments of Federal Germany and Turkey. The Recruitment Treaty was introduced to Turkish public opinion as a part of the employment policy and migration of Turkish nationals to Germany promoted by the Turkish government (Çiçekli 2007:198; Bilgili and Siegel 2017:1). Right after the conclusion of the Recruitment Treaty, the first wave of migration from Turkey to Germany took place. Thus, Turkey, which had traditionally positioned itself as a migrant-receiving country, started to experience emigration. In time, the number of Turkish nationals in Germany increased with subsequent migration movements and family reunifications, even though Germany declared the suspension of the Recruitment Treaty in the 1970s. Meanwhile, Turkish immigrants, who were in the beginning called gastarbeiter (guest workers), were tending to settle permanently in Germany despite the “remigration” campaigns, with some financial incentives,run by the German Government between 1983 and 1985. Thus, Turkish nationals, who had both material and emotional ties with Turkey, living in Germany became an important social issue for Turkish society. As the number of permanent emigrants increased, new necessities rose and consequently the need for new regulations emerged (Tiryakio÷lu 2006:6). One may wonder why then Turkey preserved its stance against dual nationality in Act No 403 even though it was introduced in 1964, that is, after the Recruitment Treaty was signed and the first emigration waves
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took place. It is very likely that the significance and consequences of the migration were not fully comprehended either by the Turkish political authorities or by the legislators at that time. In 1964, when Act No 403 was introduced, emigration was a relatively new phenomenon for the Turkish society and the impact of it had not yet been observed. However, as the Turkish nationals abroad settled in the countries they were residing in, they started to claim for the nationality of the state while maintaining Turkish nationality. With the increasing number of Turkish immigrants and their claims for dual nationality, “dual nationality” turned out to be an issue not just for the Turkish nationals abroad but also for the Turkish society in general since nearly every individual in Turkey either had a relative or an acquaintance abroad. Thus, the Turkish legislature was pressured domestically by the public opinion and externally by the associations founded by the Turkish nationals living abroad to introduce dual nationality into its nationality law. As a result of this intense demand, with the changes in articles 21 and 22, the relinquishment condition for the acquisition of a foreign nationality was removed from the Turkish Nationality Act No. 403. In other words, a Turkish national’s acquisition of a foreign nationality while retaining Turkish nationality was no longer deemed disloyal. It is not, however, possible to consider the provisions brought by the 1981Amendment as a complete liberation of dual nationality in Turkish law. First of all, the language used in the alterations was accompanied by some uncertainty.39 Secondly, the Amendment obliged those who wanted to acquire another state’s nationality to first obtain permission from the Turkish authorities. In case of the acquisition of foreign nationality without permission, the dual national could be deprived of his Turkish nationality depending on the discretion of Council of Ministers due to “committing an act incompatible with loyalty” (Act No. 403 art. 25/a).In this provision, once again, traces of the allegiance theory could be observed. Moreover, with an additional provision stipulated in the amendment, the obligation for dual nationals to prove the preservation of their connection with Turkey was specified (Act No. 403 art. 25/h). Under this provision, a person who acquired foreign nationality and resided abroad for at least seven years could be deprived of his Turkish nationality unless he had made official connections or transactions that could be 39 Nihal Uluocak, “øzinsiz YabancÕ VatandaúlÕk Kazanmave Çifte VatandaúlÕktan Yararlanmaøstemi” (Acquiring foreign nationality without permission and the demand to benefit dual nationality), www.journals.istanbul.edu.tr/iumhmohb/article/download/1019003549/101900315 3, p. 142.
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considered proof of his will to retain Turkish nationality, and that his interest in and loyalty to Turkey had not ceased. Even though art. 25/h of Act No. 403 is likely to resemble sociological theory in the first instance, it actually converges to allegiance theory, firstly, because it is included under article 25, which is titled as “Acts incompatible with loyalty,” and, secondly, it is not applicable to all nationals but to dual nationals only. Besides, the provision was applicable to all dual nationals regardless of their way of acquiring the foreign nationality. That is, deprivation of Turkish nationality due to the acquisition of a foreign nationality under art. 25/h was applicable to those who acquired the foreign nationality with the state’s permission and also to those who unwillingly acquired another state's nationality. So, those who acquired another state’s nationality by birth or marriage also fell under the scope of that article.Via this provision, the scope of application of deprivation due to dual nationality had been enlarged. Thus, the provision also constituted an arrangement to practically measure the loyalty of the dual national to the country.40 At the end of the day, it is possible to say that Act No 403 exhibited a “confused” approach by allowing dual nationality, on one hand, and confining the retainment of Turkish nationality with some challenging conditions, on the other hand, and thus was open to ambiguities.
Turkish nationality act no. 5901 Nationality Act No. 403 remained in force for 45 years, being replaced in 2009 by the Nationality Act No. 5901.41 The new Act was adopted with the aim of satisfying various needs. The rationale of the Act states the deterioration of the system of Law No. 403 and the need to align nationality law with contemporary regulations such as the European Convention on Nationality. It also emphasizes the necessity for new arrangements to provide dual or multiple nationality for Turkish nationals living abroad. The rationale justifies this need by the increasing number of Turkish nationals residing abroad, and their effort to have the nationality of the countries in which they reside in order to be more effective in their political, economic, cultural and social lives. Thus, Turkish nationals living abroad and their needs once again played the leading role in shaping Turkish nationality law.
40 41
Özkan and TütüncübaúÕ, Double Nationality, p. 620. Act No. 5901 dated 29.05.2009. Official Gazette 12.06.2009-27256.
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Act No. 5901 promotes a supporting attitude on dual nationality like Act No. 403 had done since 1981, however, unlike its predecessor, Act No. 5901 moves further and adopts a totally liberal understanding that prioritizes the will of the individual with regard to dual nationality. Act No. 5901 accepts a Turkish nationals’ dual national status without any reservation. Art. 3/1-b of the Act defines multi-nationality42 as “a Turkish national holding more than one nationality at the same time”.43 This provision is the sole substantial provision on dual nationality in the scope of the Act No. 5901. As such, dual nationality in Turkish law is free of any restrictions. In the case of acquisition of a foreign nationality, the retainment of Turkish nationality is not linked to any other conditions. In that case, the permission of the Turkish authorities to acquire the nationality of a foreign state is no longer required. Consequently, deprivation of the Turkish nationality due to the acquisition of that of a foreign state is no longer applicable. In addition, the provision of the previous Act that obliged dual nationals who have been resident abroad for at least for 7 years to prove their ties with the Turkish State is not included in the new Act. Due to its liberal approach to dual nationality, the principle “everyone should have only one nationality,” which used to be one of the guiding principles of nationality law, is now neither a principle nor a goal of Turkish nationality law.44 Therefore, it is possible to claim that with regard to dual nationality, Turkish nationality law has departed from the allegiance theory entirely and has adopted the legal status theory.
Conclusions Demographic concerns and migration movements play the ultimate role in the preparation of the nationality acts of modern states. The approaches of the states to dual nationality, which is one of the most debatable issues of nationality law, differ depending on which side of migration a state is standing. It is seen that states that send migrants and the states that receive migrants exhibit different approaches in this respect. Migration has played a decisive role in shaping Turkish law’s approach to dual nationality too. In the early periods of its foundation, the Turkish 42
Act. No. 5901 engages the term “multinationality” instead of “dual nationality”. Güngör, Nationality Law, p. 28. 44 Rifat Erten (2008). “Türk VatandaúlÕ÷Õ Kanunu TasarÕsÕ’nÕn Türk VatandaúlÕ÷ÕnÕn KazanÕlmasÕnaøliúkin Hükümleri HakkÕnda De÷erlendirmeler” (Evaluations regarding the acquisition of Turkish nationality in the draft of the Turkish Nationality Act) Ankara Bar Journal, 4: 39. 43
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Republic was confronted by migration waves from the former Ottoman territories. During this period, the Turkish Republic, which wanted to increase its population and embrace the Ottoman’s humane heritage, embraced a supportive approach to granting Turkish nationality to a foreigner without demanding the relinquishment of his former nationality. However, it did not show the same flexibility to a Turkish national who wanted to acquire a foreign nationality while retaining the Turkish nationality. This approach can be explained not just by the nationalistic tendency of the society in the post-war era but also by Turkish society’s lack of experience in sending migrants abroad. Turkey’s first experience of a mass emigration wave took place in the early 1960s after the Recruitment Treaty between Turkish Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany was concluded. However, it was necessary to comprehend the impact of migration on society so, until 1981, Turkish nationality law did not allow Turkish nationals to possess Turkish nationality and a foreign nationality at the same time. In time, the Turkish migrants abroad and their needs turned out to be issue of general concern. Thus, dual nationality was no longer seen as "disloyalty" by society and by the legislature.Eventually, in 1981, the possibility for possessing dual nationality for a Turkish national was introduced to Turkish nationality law due to the increasing demands from the Turkish diaspora as well as society in general. After the first amendment in 1981, Turkish nationality law was seen to adopt an increasingly liberal approach to dual nationality. Between1981 and 2009, several changes were introduced to the Turkish Nationality Act with the aim of easing the path to obtaining dual nationality. However, some of the constraints associated with patriotic commitment were preserved. Finally, with the new Nationality Act adopted in 2009, dual nationality was accepted without any restrictions or conditions. Thus, the Turkish Nationality Acthas adopted a wide liberal understanding compared to the former Turkish Nationality Acts and its contemporaries with regard to dual nationality. Considering all the developments, it can be concluded that the reason for the changing understanding on dual nationality is the Turkish nationals living abroad. The Turkish State, which benefits in several ways from preserving its bond with the Turkish emigrants abroad, considered dual nationality as a legal tool to maintain this bond and thus took several steps in support of dual nationality. On the other hand, in the recent years, Turkey itself received huge waves of migrants and witnessed debate on the endowment of Turkish nationality to those migrants. However, these debates focus merely on the “acquisition of Turkish nationality” and not
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on the right to possess dual nationality. Hence, despite the intense migration flow to Turkey, no changes have taken place since 2009. That makes Turkish nationality law an entirely liberal law that prioritizes individual will with regard to dual nationality.
References Boll, Alfred M. (2007). Multiple Nationality and International Law. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Bilgin, Tiryakio÷lu (2006). “Multiple citizenship and its consequences in Turkish law” in Ankara Law Review, 3 (1): 1–16. Bülent, Çiçekli (2007). “YabancÕlar ve YabancÕ Olmayanlar: Almanya’da ve Türkiye’de Hukuki Statü” (Foreigners and non-foreigners: legal status in Germany and Turkey), in Migration und Integration, das Verhältnis von Minderheit und Mehrheit in Deutschland und in der Türkei. Ankara: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, 189–210. Rumpf, Christian (2003). “Citizenship and multiple citizenship in Turkish law”, in Rights and Duties of Dual Nationals Evolution and Prospects, edited by David Martin and Kay Hailbronner, 361–75. The Hague, London and New York: Kluwer Law International. Gö÷er, Erdo÷an (1995).“Çifte VatandaúlÕk” (Dual nationality). AHFD, 44. Nomer, Ergin (2000). “Türk VatandaúlÕk Hukukunun Genelølkeleri” (General principles of Turkish nationality law), in VatandaúlÕkve YabancÕlar Hukuku AlanÕndaki Geliúmeler (Developments in Nationality Law and Law of Aliens). østanbul: Papirüs. —. (1995). VatandaúlÕk Hukuku (Nationality Law). østanbul: Filiz. —. (1994). “Türk Devletler Özel Hukukunda Çifte VatandaúlÕk” (Dual nationality in Turkish private international law), MHB 1–2. Güngör, Gülin (2014). Tâbiiyet Hukuku (Nationality Law). Ankara: Yetkin. Ünsal, Hande (2012). “The impact of Turkish diasporic community in Germany on Turkish and German nationality laws.” Manpower Journal 48:108. Hagedorn, Heike (2003). “Administrative system and dual nationality: The information gap,” in Rights and Duties of Dual Nationals Evolution and Prospects, edited by David Martin and Kay Hailbronner. The Hague, London and New York: Kluwer Law International. Özkan, IúÕl, and TütüncübaúÕ, U÷ur (2008). “Türkve Alman Hukukunda Çifte VatandaúlÕ÷a øliúkin Geliúmeler” (Recent developments on double nationality issues in Turkish nationality law and German law). Ankara University Law School Journal, 57 (3).
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Serbesto÷lu, øbrahim (2011). “Zorunlu Bir Modernleúme Örne÷i Olarak OsmanlÕ Tâbiiyet Kanunu” (Ottoman nationality law as an example of a forced modernization). OTAM, 29. Kern, Keren (2011). Imperial Citizen: Marriage and Citizenship in the Ottoman Frontier Provinces of Iraq. New York: Syracuse University Press. Banko, Laura (2014). “The creation of Palestine citizenship under an international mandate: Legislation, discourses and practices: 1918– 1925”, in Citizenship After Orientalism: An Unfinished Project, edited by Engin Isin. London and New York: Routledge. Bilgili, Özge and Siegel, Melissa (2017). “Understanding the changing role of Turkish diaspora.” https://migration.unu.edu/publications/working-papers/understandingthe-changing-role-of-the-turkish-diaspora.html (as of 01.04.2017). Spiro, Peter and Bosniak, Linda (2007). “An emerging international citizenship.” American Society of International Law, 101: 89–94. Erten, Rifat (2008). “Türk VatandaúlÕ÷Õ Kanunu TasarÕsÕ’nÕn Türk VatandaúlÕ÷ÕnÕn KazanÕlmasÕna øliúkin Hükümleri HakkÕnda De÷erlendirmeler” (Evaluations regarding the acquisition of Turkish nationality in the draft of the Turkish Nationality Act) 4, Ankara Bar Journal, 4. Aybay, Rona (2003). VatandaúlÕk Hukuku (Nationality Law). østanbul: Aybay Publications. Donner, Ruth (1994). The Regulation of Nationality in International Law. New York: Transnational Publishers. Legomsky, Stephen (2003). “Dual nationality and military service: Strategy number two”, in Rights and Duties of Dual Nationals Evolution and Prospects, edited by David Martin and Kay Hailbronner. The Hague, London and New York: Kluwer Law International. Nuri, Suphi (…). Türk Vatandaúli÷i Kanunu. www.journals.istanbul.edu.tr/iuhfm/article/download/1023005744/102 3005268. Vahit, Do÷an (2002). Türk VatandaúlÕk Hukuku (Turkish Nationality Law). Ankara: Yetkin. Kadirbeyo÷lu, Zeynep (2007) “National transnationalism: Dual citizenship in Turkey,” in Thomas Faist ed., Dual Citizenship in Europe: From Nationhood to Societal Integration. Farnham, UK: Ashgate.
CHAPTER TWELVE BRAIN DRAIN AND TECHNOLOGIES IN THE SOCIAL JUSTICE NEW POLICIES OF ECUADOR FRANCESCO MANIGLIO
Abstract In this article, we want to denounce how the politics of the global economy of knowledge have built an inter-state-dependent geography, which reinforces unfair access to the valorization of knowledge on a global scale. National governments participate in the systemic organization of collective intelligence when dealing in intellectual property rights (whether controlling markets or favouring monopolization) and regulating education institutions, universities and research centres. The brain migration flows indicate the close complex articulations and interactions between higher education sectors, economic policies and national interests in science and technology, RandD and ICT on the one hand, and the competitive strategies and global influences of the wealthier countries on the other. In this scenario, knowledge, science and technology public policies in Ecuador rely on growth patterns, which assumes a structural cognitive deficit, complicated by globally and regionally spread cognitive unfairness. Such policies attempt to strategically relocalize the country, in hegemony terms, in the international division of knowledge. Keywords: Brain drain, Social Justice, Science, Technology, Public Policies.
Knowledge economy, university investment and new forms of inequalities Current society, usually referred to as a global society, has become more cognitive as knowledge is a key element with which to leverage the financial valorization mechanisms of capital. This is not a change from the typical industrial capitalistic polarization of knowledge ownership;
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however, it now entails the development of new mechanisms and devices whereby knowledge is becoming a command and dominion variable that differentiates humans from other beings, a new factor establishing hierarchies and ruling labour division. Ever since the nineties, OECDmember countries plan their political-economical agendas by sticking to the new growth and endogenous growth economic theories guidelines. Endogenous theory model patterns are emphasized: the scientific system, public and private research centres, and higher education institutions have become the hallmarks of a knowledge-based economy. Table 1. Analytics of the knowledge economy
The rise of the sign or symbolic economy (knowledge capitalism) based on the combined logics of abundance and dispersal
ICT diminishes the effect of distance, making possible “action at a distance in real time”
Investment in human capital and key competencies as a source of value in knowledge-based institutions, with an emphasis on knowledge being locked into systems or processes
x unlike most resources that are depleted when used, information and knowledge can actually grow through sharing, exchange and application; x capital in a symbolic form of information can be speedily transferred in deregulated 24-hour virtual finance markets, allowing international currency speculation and increased geographical spread and mobility of FDI; x displacement of manufacturing industry from its old locations in the North to selected locations in the South (in Asia and Latin America) and a dematerialisation of the industrial products (the weightless economy). x the radical concordance of image, text and sound, and development of new information/knowledge infrastructure; x the emergence of a global media network linked with a global communications network; x the emergence of a global Euro-American consumer culture and the rise of global edutainment giants in music/film/TV. x the technological transformation of “leading” science, where the major developments in informatics and modern theories of algebra, computer languages, communication theories and cybernetics, phonology and theories of linguistics, problems of information storage, retrieval and data banks, telematics, problems of translation, are significantly all language-based; x new legal, ethical and economic problems concerning knowledge creation, transmission and distribution highlighted in the emergence of international intellectual property rights regimes and the recent GATS agreements within the international knowledge system;
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x tthe promotion of o new knowleddge cultures and d k knowledge/tech hnology transferr policies through the c corporatization of the universitty, the encourag gement of n public/priv new vate partnershipps and the conceept of l lifelong education. Source: Stigliitz, 1999.
By subjecting educattion institutio ons to the prroduction reallm, these policies enccourage scholaars and scienttists to becom me entrepreneu urial, thus stressing thee structural trransformation n of knowledgge society as a whole. However, ass shown in thhe graph below w, for all the neoliberal my yth of the importance of a weak statte apparatus, national n goveernments keep p strategic power arounnd public educcation investm ment. Figure 1. Pubblic and private expenditure on n education instiitutions as a percentagge of GDP, by level l of educatiion (2013)
D, 2016. Source: OECD
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In the first place, we want to stress the fact that the investment gap in higher education is accounted for by an inter-state-dependent geography, which reinforces unfair access to and valorization of knowledge on a global scale. National governments participate in the systemic organization of collective intelligence by dealing in intellectual property rights (whether controlling markets or favouring monopolization) and regulating education institutions, universities, and research centres. The deregulation myth paves the way for new regulation forms. Governments will need more stress on upgrading human capital through promoting access to a range of skills, and especially the capacity to learn; enhancing the knowledge distribution power of the economy through collaborative networks and the diffusion of technology; and providing the enabling conditions for organizational change at the firm level to maximize the benefits of technology for productivity (OECD 1996: 6)
OECD technicians are convinced that financing higher education yields greater profits than real interest rates (Schleicher 2006). It is precisely these profits that move Stiglitz, a consultant with both the World Bank and the White House, to suggest that information economics entails something like a balance and welfare formula in Globalization and Its Discontents (2002). The standard models that economists had used for generations argued either that the market worked perfectly – some even denied the existence of genuine unemployment –or that the only reason that unemployment existed was that wages were too high, suggesting the obvious remedy of lower wages. Information economics, with its better analysis of labor, capital and product markets, enabled the construction of macroeconomic models that provided deeper insights into unemployment, models that explained the fluctuations, the recessions and depressions, that had marked capitalism since its beginnings (Stiglitz 2002: 12)
Financial profits are the actual payoff of a clockwork organization of knowledge, as described by Stiglitz as early as 1999, when he wrote the UNDP report headed Knowledge as a Global Public Good. Firstly, he emphasizes the “financial wants” that force those countries embracing neoliberal reforms to promptly engage in restructuring and expanding their university systems. This is the actual meaning of Stiglitz’s words when he states that “we now see economic development as less like the construction business and more like education in the broad and comprehensive sense that covers knowledge, institutions, and culture” (Stiglitz 1999: 2). The World Bank has shifted from financing infrastructure projects to financing
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what he calls a “knowledge bank”. State-run university financing focuses on using public expenditure to promote competitive companies, or startups, that seek to increase their value in the financial markets and definitively keep human capital costs down. This is why Stiglitz underlines the governments’ unique power to regulate capital/knowledge flows. Despite the recent wave of education reforms, the proclaimed end of the comprehensive era and the advent of new public-private partnership forms,1 state-run formal education continues to be a major form of knowledge organization. Far from weakening, the state takes on an even more strategic role – as the stakeholder of the citizens’ knowledge. Mazzucato and Dosi (2006) study how the state is still the main player in the knowledge accumulation process and, therefore, in the development of high-added-value industry. With the development of the knowledge economy, stock market participation by institutional investors has grown to strongly influence corporate leaders, and now the same interests and goals are shared by institutional stakeholders and management alike. The knowledge economy has thus undergone a change that is in line with that of the financial economy: the risks are increasingly run by the public sector while the economic gains are reaped by the private sector. In the second place, national science and technology policies reinforce state hierarchies, where the ownership of knowledge-rent establishes a peculiar international division of knowledge, labour, and wealth, which sets the basis for newer forms of dependence not only in political terms but also in economic and social ones. Third, national science and technology policies result in new cultural and material colonization and dominion forms. In fact, by quantifying and controlling knowledge flows and productions and imposing benchmark checks at admission and during the whole training process, such policies contribute to the exploitation of social relationships and the private appropriation of knowledge. In this organizational and organic revolution, the concerned institutions produce and socialize knowledge, clearly dealing in abilities, skills and creativity, producing at the same time abundance (of degrees, diplomas, certificates) and scarcity (since no degree seems to be enough) and establishing particular regional and domestic development patterns.
1
For instance, the UK Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and the Ley Orgánica de Universidades (Act 6/2001), a Spanish university-regulation act passed on December 21, 2001 during José María Aznar’s second term; or the Gelmini reform in Italy (Act IT-133/2008), which reasserts the destructuring of public education and the full convergence with the private sector.
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Brain migration inn the international divisioon of knowledge Endogenouss theory modeel patterns aree emphasized:: the scientificc system, public and private reseaarch centres, higher educcation instituttions and human capittal growth havve become thee hallmarks o f the knowled dge-based economy. T Through the analysis of international i highly skilleed people migration flows, we can describe d the consolidation c of this new geography g of inclusionn and draw thhe map of what w we call tthe spatial diivision of knowledge ((Maniglio 2016), as shown below. Map 1. Emigrration rates of the t highly-skilleed to OECD coountries, 2010/11
D-DIOC, 2010/11 Source: OECD
The incrrease in the demand d for qu ualified profeessionals has expanded e the externall recruitmentt field, creatiing an internnationally competitive tableau. Nott only war buut also new alliances and ddependence fo orms arise in which hhighly skilledd professionaal migration flows are driven d by countries, ccompanies annd universitiies through favourable migration m policies, alluuring strategiees and retentio on capacity (B Boeri et al. 201 12). Qualificaation-based migratory m disccrimination poolicies have a serious impact on thhe labour marrket and in thee public accouunts of those countries, c which adoppt selective immigration policies, esstablishing controlled c migration flows and reduucing non-qualified immigraation. As show wn in the map below,, since the 900s, in order to t meet the ddemand for taalent, the highly skilleed labour marrket has expaanded further in cross-bord der terms,
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progressively increasing the quota of highly skilled foreigners in industrialized countries and implementing international mobility programmes in the majority of universities (Stein et al. 1996). The priority worker classification has been adopted by Western countries in order to discriminate between the wanted immigration (highly skilled personnel) and the unwanted (unqualified personnel), thereby reinforcing the international knowledge and labour division. We can observe the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and the EU, whose immigration policies, especially in the 1990s, have become selective in terms of educational profiles, according to the demands of the internal labour market. In Europe, in 2007, Commissioner Frattini launched the European Blue Card initiative (Directive 2009/50/CE), by and large an equivalent to the US’s Green Card, to favour the entrance of highly skilled immigrants, harmonizing thus the measures taken by Germany, the UK and France, which had themselves followed the paths of the US, Canada and Australia.2
Second injustice: the talent gap approach and the differential immigration public policies The differential immigration public policies that favour the entrance of highly skilled people are inseparable from the national technological development policies. In the selective immigration process, governments and industrial lobbies intervene by increasing the alluring policies in the receiver countries, promoting tax incentives and superior quality investigation infrastructures. The capacity of some countries, regions and cities to attract talented people from all over the world seems enormous, and governments are always under pressure to react to such scenarios. Thus, knowledge spatial division mechanisms are amplified and inequality becomes fiercer between nations in order to retain, attract and supply 2
Australia and Canada were pioneers in adopting these types of measures, implementing, since the 60s and 70s, a visa system with points based on skills. The point system was established in Australia in 1958 with The Migration Act, based on criteria of age, titles, experience and health. In 1978, Canada adopted the same Australian model with the Immigration Act: as a consequence, , in 1997, more than half of the immigration in Canada was composed of highly skilled professionals. The USA’s system follows the previous lines, functioning by visa quota. This quota was set at 65 thousand units in the Immigration Act, and was increased during the Clinton presidency in the 1990s to 115 thousand, with the American Competitiveness Work Force Improvement Act, in line with the development of policies concerning the Information Society.
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highly skillled people flows. f Speciffically, mappiing the glob bal talent supply-and-demand grow wth gap, two co onsiderations can be made. The first one is connsistent withh the criticissm of the neo-classic economic e convergencee theories andd the technolo ogy gap approoach (Fagerbeerg 1887, Romer 19993): deficits and surplusees are here seen as sig gns of a developmenntally non-connverging know wledge econoomy. Flows of o highly qualified im mmigrants couuld easily be interpreted i as unidirectionaal, i.e., as coming up to the North frrom an ever-m more dependennt South. Map 2. The ggap between thee growth in dem mand and in suppply of talent, 20 011
urplus trend, yyellow a broad d balance. Red indicates a deficit treend, green a su w trend growthh as annual perccentages. Numbers show Source: Oxfoord Economics, 2012
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Table 2. Percentage of temporary residents receiving S/E doctorates in 2006 who were in the United States, 2007-2011, by degree field Degree Field Physical Science Mathematics Computer Science Agricultural Science Life Science Computer/EE Engineering Other Engineering Economics Other Social Science Total, all fields
Recipients 1,975 666 798 400 2,260 1,453 2,845 676 876 11,949
2007 78 75 81 55 78 82 79 50 51 75
2008 75 73 79 51 76 81 76 47 49 72
2009 72 72 78 48 74 79 73 45 46 70
2010 69 67 79 46 71 78 71 43 45 68
2011 66 65 77 46 70 76 70 42 46 66
Source: Oak Ridge Associated Universities, 2014
In fact, the technological policies of advanced capitalist countries always put the relationship between technology transfer and social learning at the top of their list, along with the resulting human capital growth. The national innovation systems (NIS) of advanced countries play a major role when it comes to determining the inflow and outflow of foreign qualified workers. In political and economic terms, inflows are greater in those industries where human capital is scarcest, i.e., computer science and the computer/EE engineering sectors. In the US, the NIS revolves around certain excellence centres that have gone beyond the national borders and operate globally. Public migratory policies regulate the entrance quotas according to their financial and industrial development. For more than a decade, these policies have linked knowledge exploitation to the development of incubators by high tech companies, the technology of the materials and the development of ICTs. According to a study by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, as early as 1999, 30% of foreign students in the universities of Northern California (UC Berkeley, Stanford, San Francisco SU and San Jose) ended up working in Silicon Valley (Mahroum 2005). This shows how the convergence between the industrial sector, the academic world and the services sector creates an extremely attractive environment for highly skilled immigration. For these reasons, the employability characteristics claimed by universities is related to academic mobility.
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Corporate national interests and global university policies Let us go back to Map 2, and the talent demand/supply growth gap, 2011 to 2021. The US, Australia and the EU share a similar talent deficit trend (US: 0.8; Australia: 0.5). However, these values cannot indicate a convergence in the development of a knowledge-based economy. On the contrary, they express multi-scale competitive strategies in higher education, science and technology arising from complex articulations between higher education governance, global economic (and especially financial) policies and state interests. Indeed, one of the strategic goals of Australia’s educational policies ever since the 1990s has been to increase the number and diversity of foreign enrolments in order to economically develop education into a specific knowledge-based industry, to which purpose it entered international agreements with student-supplying countries and generated specific immigration policies. Australia might be seen as a successful knowledge-valorization-and-exploitation case. Indeed, “from 1990 to 2003, Australia’s share of the global market in cross-border degrees grew from 1% to 9%” (Margison 2007), and by 2014, 18% of all higher education students in Australia were international students (OECD 2016). Meanwhile, US higher education and domestic research policies are aggressively undermining the global market of doctoral education. In 2014, 35% of US doctorate or equivalent level students were foreign. In sum, the United States has more foreign doctoral students than the rest of the world put together. This US leadership in the market of doctoral education can be accounted for by the capital flows that finance US universities and research centres domestically and abroad. This leadership explains how the US attracts talents from the EU: about 64%, 53% and 62% of SandE students arrive from the UK, France and Germany, respectively (PhD graduates in the USA), as estimated from the labour market force of the USA.
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Table 3. International Students Mobility and Foreign Students in Tertiary Education (2014) Share of international or foreign students by level of tertiary education
Rate of growth of the number of international or foreign students between 2013 and 2014
Total tertiary education
Short-cycle tertiary programmes
Bachelor’s or equivalent level
Master’s or equivalent level
Doctorate or equivalent level
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
Australia
18
13,3
13,1
40
34
6
United States
4
2,0
3,5
9
35
7
OECD total
6
3,0
4,9
4,9
27
5
EU22 total
8
4,5
6,1
6,1
22
4
Note: Countries using the “foreign students” definition are not taken into account in the OECD and EU22 totals. 1. Data on short-cycle tertiary education refer to foreign students;͒2. Year of reference 2013;͒3. Total tertiary education excludes doctoral students; 4. While international students include only students who moved to a country with the purpose of studying, foreign students comprise all students who have a different country of citizenship than the country in which they study; these data are not comparable with data on international students and are therefore presented separately in the table.͒ Source: OECD, 2016.
Table 4. Percentage of European temporary residents receiving S/E doctorates in 2006 who were in the United States, 2007 to 2011, by country of origin Country/Region 2001 2003 2005 Greece 110 60 55 United Kingdom 84 74 67 Germany 130 67 66 Italy 126 64 61 France 107 64 62 Romania 163 90 88 Spain 54 55 52 Other EU countries 269 55 50 Source: Oak Ridge Associated Universities, 2014
2007 53 69 61 59 62 87 44 50
2009 53 66 56 59 56 84 47 50
2011 47 64 53 57 62 83 47 48
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Thus, we have seen how the EU – along with massive immigrantselectivity policies – has elaborated a series of measures for the faster recognition of academic qualifications in order to facilitate privatization and competitiveness between the higher education centres. The goal is to “enable universities and their partners in industry to offer a more open and challenging working environment to the most talented students and researchers, thereby making them more attractive to Europeans and non-Europeans alike”. To amplify, the student mobility mechanism is one of the first causes of qualified emigration, and for this reason, higher education centres compete to attract the best students, to have the “best academics and researchers, to recruit them by flexible, open and transparent procedures, to guarantee principal investigators/teamleaders full research independence, and to provide staff with attractive career prospects” (European Commission 2006: 10). University corporatization has derived from a series of higher education system reforms which have included the enforcement, since 1995, of a number of cognitive-capital-based measures necessary for the valorization processes of capital/knowledge. The EHEA (European Higher Education Area) is a political tool of the European Commission which, promoting mobility as a motto, further stratifies the labourer’s market, leading to an increasingly uneven spatial division of knowledge and labour (Maniglio 2016). Such global strategy both fosters and intensifies interregional competition mechanisms. Member states aggressively set their research funding goals, striving to capture the best researchers, intensifying excellence and differential inclusion mechanisms, and favouring intra-European brain migration (which has been massive since the first term of the programmes Comenius, Erasmus, Leonardo da Vinci and Grundtvig). Knowledge division and the resulting economic, social, and territorial dependence in Europe is a clear consequence. The map below shows specialized RandD production sites, which are centres for the exploitation of inflowing knowledge and highly qualified professionals.
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Map 3. Intenssity of R+D in UE U
m, Denmark, Germany, G France [except Mar artinique (FR92 2), Guyana Note: Belgium (FR93) y Réuunion (FR94)],, Netherlands, Austria, Swedeen, the United Kingdom, and Iceland, 2009; Switzerland, 2008; Greeece, 2005; Maartinique (FR92 2), Guyana (FR93) and R Réunion (FR94)), 2002; Switzerrland and Turkeey, domestic lev vel. Source: Eurosstat, 2014.
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Intra-Europe PhD flows include a brain drain from the Southern regions towards the Central European countries and even out of the EU (US and UK). A recent study on the concentration of “minds” in Europe shows the case of Greece, where “73% of the emigrating people have a postgraduate degree, 51% a PhD, and most have studied abroad in some of the world’s best universities. The main destinations of current Greek emigrants include the UK (31%), the US (28%), and Germany. Italy loses many highly skilled professionals too, mainly to the US (34%), UK (26%), and France (11%), the main reasons being the lack of research funding and better economic conditions and career opportunities abroad” (Wende 2016: 79).
Science and technology policies in Ecuador: a social justice perspective In this unfair global distribution, Latin America clearly takes the subaltern part. The region growth can be diagnosed as non-converging regarding North America and the OECD European countries, whose science and technology production is 20 times as large as that of Latin America. Latin America concentrates 8.48% of the world population, 46% of the water supply, and 20% of the world’s biodiversity. However, it registers less than 2.95% of the world scientific knowledge production, barely 1% of its universities are ranked among the 500 world top ones, and has recorded as little as 0.19% of the global patents. Whereas 3651 researchers per million inhabitants exist in the OECD countries, only 495 exist in Latin America. (Belletini and Ordóñez 2013)
Nevertheless, as can be observed in the map below, even in a subaltern region like Latin America, cognitive divisions and unfair distributions also exist.
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Map 4. Geo--referenced disstribution of works w included in the Science Citation Index (SCI) pper 100,000 inhhabitants (2008)
Source: Lemaarchand, 2010
Non-connverging know wledge develo opment (the ppath to new forms of dependence)) is all the moore marked in n Ecuador. Thhis is the diagn nosis: No Ecuadorian university iss ranked amo ong the top 5500 world un niversities (Shin, Touttkoushian andd Teichler 2011), 2 and ddomestic research and developmennt investmentss used to be, until u not long aago, the secon nd lowest
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in the region.3 Therefore, from 2009, Ecuador has been developing new legislation in order to democratize knowledge so that it has a social function and serves the development of national industry. In Ecuador, this unfair global cognitive distribution has been politically counteracted by expanding the state agents’ legitimating power. Thus, Ecuador’s public policies regarding the social economy of knowledge involve analysing and intervening on a global level on the following: – Domestic and international knowledge (RandD) commercial flows, granting of licences, direct foreign investment, use of technological spillovers as intermediate inputs, etc. – Capital flows and international limitations thereto. – International movement of people. And, economically, at a domestic level: – The promotion of knowledge, capital and human flows, considering their effects on the economic structure. – The consequences of commercial restrictions and their positive or negative impacts on knowledge flows. In short, Ecuador has overcome the neoclassical growth model, which hardly considers state intervention as an investment-driving factor. The Ecuador government’s model rejects that limit by acknowledging the fact that growth, increasing innovation and new capital accumulation forms are complementary to one another. Although a primary-goods exporting (or rather resource-extraction exporting) economy, Ecuador has embarked on a series of efforts, which are expressed in the restructuration of the Secretariat of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation. Such efforts include new public policies regarding the following: – Access: Scholarships, education credit, enhanced support to universities and technical and technological institutes. 3
Roberto Beltrán Zambrano, using data from 2011, explains, “About 70 universities offer different undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in Ecuador. Only a few offer research post-graduate courses, and much fewer offer Ph.D. programs. Apart from these, there are some 360 technical and technological institutes with a highly varied, in some cases sui generis, academic offer which in a certain way are much like universities. Thus, there are about 430 higher education institutions, which should cater for a population roughly above 300,000 students”. (Bellettini and Ordóñez 2013: 65)
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– Measurement and Control: Ongoing evaluation of students, university accreditation (quality), increased salaries for professors/researchers (status). – Public Funding: Allotment of nearly 2% of the GDP to higher education. – Strategic Positioning Regarding Knowledge Economy: Building of massive projects and setting of progressive agendas, aiming at the transfer and maximum valorization of knowledge and technology (Yachay, Ikiam, Unae, Uniarte). Ecuador’s science and technology system reforms over the last 8 years have strategically focused on the valorization of the so-called intangible components in society (knowledge, know-how, education, learned practices, innovation, etc.), to step out of what is mostly a resourceextraction-oriented system. For these reasons, higher education in Ecuador is going through a radical change compared to the previous decade. In passing the Higher Education Law (LOES) in 2010, we faced the challenge of transforming society, its social, productive, and environmental structure, and enhancing our human potential so that it lives up to the needs of national development and citizenship construction. (Ramírez 2014)
The main transformation involved higher education public investment. Now, Ecuador is one of the countries that invests the most in higher education in the region, with 2% of the GDP (Argentina: 1.2%; Colombia: 1.1%; Brazil: 1.0%; Chile: 0.9%; Paraguay: 0.8%; Peru: 0.4%), compared to the OECD mean of 1.7% (SENESCYT 2013). Not only has this resulted in a rise in the main international scientific ratings, it also resulted, for instance, in an increased number of scientific publications.
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Figure 2. Groowth of cognitivve justice
Long-term traack of the yearly number of mainstream m scieentific publicatiions as per the Science C Citation Index, Social S Science Citation Index and Arts and Humanities H Citation Indexx (1973-2008). Data per millio on inhabitants. Source: Lemaarchand, 2010.
Let us ggo back to brain b migratio on studies: A considerablle rise in qualified em migration was observed in Latin L Americaa. While in 19 990 it had increased too 1.9 million people, p in 2007 it was 4.9 m million, i.e., 19 9% of the world’s qualified migrantts (OECD cou untries) (Docqquier, Lowell, Marfouk et al. 2008). It is preciselyy because of the importancee of human caapital as a strategic groowth factor thhat the Nation nal Well Liviing Developm ment Plan (2009-2013)) attempts to put p a stop to the t brain draiin and foster the t return of highly quualified Ecuaddorian men and a women byy both contro olling and intervening in migration flows. Altho ough we lackk data from sy ystematic studies on tthe repatriatioon rate of hig ghly qualifiedd Ecuadorian ns, we do know that E Ecuador has beeen a human-ccapital-friendlly country sincce 2010.
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Table 5. Growth of cognitive justice: international university degrees registered in Ecuador Higher education level Total Technical/technological
Third level
Fourth level
Ecuadorian
38,642
1,326
12,889
24,427
Foreign
38,877
1,738
26,142
10,997
Total
77,519
3,064
39,031
35,424
Source: SENESCYT - SNIES, 2016
In 2015, SENESCYT recorded 23,415 foreign degrees, which is a 48.5% increase from 2014, with 16,163. The SENESCYT report 35 logros de la revolución ciudadana en Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (SENESCYT 2013)4 reveals the radical higher education policy changes in the region. Notably, democratizing higher education access has been a fundamental and strategic step towards enhancing social policies and material justice.
4
Cf. Ecuador National Secretariat of Higher Education, Science and Technology.
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ustice in higherr education: raate of nonFigure 3. Groowth of social and material ju enrolment in higher educatioon for economicc reasons
Source: ENEM MDU, 2012
Furtherm more, a substaantial gender parity has finnally been ach hieved in higher educaation enrolmeent rates: 46.69% of the new w enrolments in March 2014 were w women compared to 53.31% of men. Inn March 2015 5, 51.82% women weree enrolled com mpared to 48.1 12% men. Figure 4. Groowth of gender justice j in higheer education: aaccess to higherr education by gender
Source: SNNA A, 2016
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The gross female enrrolment rate in higher eduucation was 30.7% in 2006 compaared to 37.4% in 2014. Otheer achievemennts in this areaa are selfevident: In 2012, only 2 out of 10 academic positiions were occcupied by women; in 2014, genderr parity was attained, a with 5 out of 10 positions being occuppied by womenn. Figure 5. Groowth of gender justice: j academ mic managers inn the world of work w
ESCYT, 2015 Source: SENE
Advancees have also been b made in class-origin-bbased differen nces. The gross enrolm ment rate am mong the poorrest quintiles was observeed to rise from 4.9% iin 2006 to 10.6% in 2014. Political P attituudes confronting global cognitive unnfairness havee played a maajor role in deemocratizing access to higher education, which is i in line the social equity policies in fo orce since 2008.
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Figure 6. Groowth of social annd material justtice: Income Giini Coefficient 2003-13
Source: Centrral Bank of Ecuuador, 2013
The com mbination of easier accesss to educatioon, and espeecially to university, aand lower povverty rates partticularly pointts to a politicaal attempt to support thhe knowledge economy from m a social staance (which is reflected in the Ecuaddorian Code of o Social Econ nomy of Know wledge, Creatiivity, and Innovation).. As a connclusion, know wledge, sciencce and technoology public policies p in Ecuador relyy on growth patterns p that assume a a strucctural cognitiv ve deficit, complicatedd by widespreaad global and regional cognnitive unfairness. Such policies attempt to strateggically reposition the countrry, in hegemony terms, in the interrnational divvision of kno owledge. Put another way y, public policies, likke the ones exxpressed in th he General B asic Educatio on reform and the Higgher Educatioon Law (2010 0), which refoormed the sciience and technology system, coonstitute the decade’s ggreat socio-eeconomic revolution oof Ecuador; inndeed, they haave driven a social and tecchnologic revolution, w which is strateegic from the country’s soccial justice perrspective. Interestinglyy enough, a law l was passed in 2006 too dispute thee political meaning of knowledge-reent and use it as a state-suppported sociall struggle weapon agaiinst the transnnational knowledge rentier cclass. Public inntervention thrrough the Cod de of Social Ecconomy of Kn nowledge, Creativity annd Innovation (INGENIOS Code) is, in thhis historical context, c a strategy connceived by thee Ecuador gov vernment tow wards the capiitalization of knowledgge, the deterritoorialization of information aand the technologization of educationn (Peters 20033).
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Setting different (social) principles on which to assess income does not preclude the valorization of the knowledge-commodity except from a social function perspective, i.e., as a guarantee of future income. By “income” we do not mean currency capital but cultural, social and relational capital. Primarily, this is a political struggle for income not to be so paltry at the social base: this is a struggle against inequality. These knowledge-social-economy development processes are essential not only in terms of knowledge property (accumulation/regulation/ patenting) and access (dissemination/production) but also, and especially, in terms of the hegemonic process entailed by the changes in the productive structure in Ecuador and its class reproduction implications. Currently, pursuing the political struggle for revolution in Ecuador means fighting for the collectivization of knowledge. Otherwise, misery will be trivialized and we will get used to unfairness, considering it as our natural and deserved fate.
References Attanasio, M. and Capursi, V. (2011). Statistical Methods for the Evaluation of University Systems. New York and Berlin: Springer. Bellettini, O., and Ordóñez, A. (2013). Ecuador: Del país recursos al país conocimiento. Quito: Grupo FARO. Benzi, D., and Zapata, X. (2013). “Geopolítica, economía y solidaridad internacional en la nueva cooperación Sur-Sur: el caso de la Venezuela bolivariana y petrocaribe”. América Latina Hoy, 63: 65–89. BID. (2010). Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación en América Latina y el Caribe. Un compendio estadístico de indicadores. Washington, DC: Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo. Boeri, Tito, Brücker, Herbert, Docquier, Frédéric, and Rapoport Hillel (2012). Brain Drain and Brain Gain: The Global Competition to Attract High-Skilled Migrants. London: Oxford University Press. Brunner, J.J. (2015). Sobre la reforma educativa en Ecuador. The Dialogue, August, 18. http://www.brunner.cl/?p=12884 [in English: https://www.thedialogue.org/blogs/2015/08/why-should-we-studyecuadors-education-reform/]. Carrion, D. (2014). “Matriz productiva, maldición de los recursos y vías de transición: una lectura desde la Crítica de la Economía Política”. Revista Economía 103: 71–96. Comisión de las Comunidades Europeas (2006). Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament delivering on
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the modernization agenda for universities: Education, Research and Innovation. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. COOTAD (2010). Código Orgánico de Organización Territorial, Autonomía y Descentralización. Quito: Registro Oficial del Gobierno de Ecuador. Docquier, F., Lowell, B.L., Marfouk, A. et al. (2008). A Gendered Assessment of the Brain Drain. Washington DC: World Bank Publications. Fagerberg, Jan (1987). “A technology gap approach to why growth rates differ”. Research Policy 16: 87–99. Finn, M.G. (2011). Stay Rates of Foreign Doctorate Recipients from US Universities. Oak Ridge, TN: Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. Lemarchand, G.A. (2010). Sistemas nacionales de ciencia, tecnología e innovación en América Latina y el Caribe. UNESCO, Oficina Regional de Ciencia para América Latina y el Caribe. Mahroum, Sami. (2005). “The international policies of brain gain: A review.” Technology Analysis and Strategic Management 17: 219–230. Maniglio, F. (2016). “La subsunción del saber: la transformación de la Universidad en la época del capitalismo cognitivo”. In La lucha por el Código. Capitalismo Cognitivo y Economía Social del Conocimiento, edited by F. Sierra Caballero. Quito: Ciespal. Muñoz Jaramillo, F. (2014). Balance Crítico del Gobierno de Rafael Correa. Quito: Ecograf. Mazzucato, Mariana, and Dosi, Giovanni (2006). Knowledge Accumulation and Industry Evolution: The Case of Pharma-Biotech. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. National Science Board. (2014). Science and Engineering Indicators 2014. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. OECD (1996). The Knowledge-Based Economy. Paris: OECD. —. (2011). Panorama de la educación. Indicadores de la OECD 2011. Informe español. Ministerio de Educación. —. (2012). Education Indicators in focus. Paris: OECD. —. (2014). Perspectivas económicas de América Latina 2015 Educación, competencias e innovación para el desarrollo: Educación, competencias e innovación para el desarrollo. Paris: OECD. —. (2015). Education at a Glance 2015: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD. —. (2016). Education at a Glance 2016: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD. Oxford Economics. (2012). Global Talent 2021: How the New Geography of Talent Will Transform Human Resource Strategies. Oxford: Oxford Economics.
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Peters, M. (2003). “Classical political economy and the role of universities in the new knowledge economy”. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 1 (2): 153-168. PNBV. (2013). Plan Nacional de Desarrollo / Plan Nacional para el Buen Vivir 2013-2017. Quito: Secretaría Nacional de Planificación y Desarrollo. Ramirez, R. (2013). “La cultura no tiene a priori más límites que los éticos.” El Telegrafo, Quito, December 13. http://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/carton-piedra/34/rene-ramirezla-cultura-no-tiene-a-priori-mas-limites-que-los-eticos Ramirez, R. (2014). “SENESCYT presenta 35 logros en educación superior”. EcuadorUniversitario.com March, 19. http://ecuadoruniversitario.com/de-instituciones-delestado/senescyt/senescyt-presenta-35-logros-en-educacion-superior/ Santos, Boaventura de Sousa. 2009. “Más allá del pensamiento abismal: de las lineas globales a una ecologia de saberes.” In Pluralismo Epistemológico, 31. La Paz: Muela del Diablo. Schleicher, A. (2006). The Economics of Knowledge: Why Education is key for Europe’s Success. Paris: OECD. Schwartzman, S. (2015). Education in South America. London: Bloomsbury. SENESCYT. (2013). 35 logros de la revolución ciudadanía en educación superior, ciencia, tecnología e innovación. Quito: Gobierno Nacional de la República del Ecuador, Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación. Shin, J. C., Toutkoushian, R.K., and Teichler, U. (2011). University Rankings: Theoretical Basis, Methodology and Impacts on Global Higher Education. New York and Berlin: Springer. Simon, Gildas. (1995). Géodynamique des migrations internationales dans le monde. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. Stein, A., Boffo, S. and Casey, T. (1996). “International education and training of scientists and engineers and their employment in European industry”. PREST Report [Report Policy Research in Engineering, Science & Technology]. Bruxelles: European Commission. Stiglitz, J. (1999). “Public policy for a knowledge economy.” Remarks at the Department for Trade and Industry and Center for Economic Policy Research, 27 (3): 3-6. —. (2002). Globalization and its Discontents. New York and London: Norton.
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UNESCO (2015). Revisión Regional al 2015 de “Educación para Todos” (EPT) en América Latina y el Caribe. Santiago, Chile: UNESCO Oficina Regional de Educación para América Latina y el Caribe. World Bank. (2005a). Brain Gain: Claims about its Size and Impact on Welfare and Growth are Greatly Exaggerated. Washington, DC: World Bank, Development Research Group, Trade Team. —. (2005b). World Development Report 2006: Equity and Development. Washington DC: World Bank Publications and Oxford University Press.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN MIGRATION: IS THERE ANY SOLUTION? UMBERTO MELOTTI
Abstract The remarkable number of people involved clearly explains why migration has become a political problem: the greatest that Europe is now facing. Moreover, migration increases social and cultural diversity in receiving countries and, hence, the risks for social cohesion and security. While many scholars continue to deny its problematic aspects and try to enhance an optimistic narrative, an increasing number of people living in the receiving countries maintain that borders must be indiscriminately closed to all newcomers, described as dangerous “invaders”, with xenophobic and racist overtones. But “helping them at home”, as some people suggest, is not always possible as the present situation is marked by wars, social and ethnic conflicts and the presence of repressive regimes in many sending countries. What is possible to do? Really satisfactory measures do not exist, but it is possible (and right and fair) to adopt some palliative measures to improve the situation both for guests and hosts. In this context critical education can play a very important role. Keywords: Migration, Europe, Education, Security, Xenophobia, Security.
Migration as a political problem International migration has become a global and epochal problem. The existing data confirm both its remarkable dimension and its rapid increase over recent decades. According to the available estimates, the number of international migrants worldwide reached 232 million in 2013, up from 175 million in 2000 and 154 million in 1990 (UNO 2013). Between 1990 and 2000, the international migrant stock grew by an average of 1.2 per cent per year, and between 2000 and 2010 by an average of 2.3 per cent, nearly doubling its annual growth rate. Since then, however, its growth has
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slowed, falling to around 1.6 per cent, probably owing to the effects of the world economic crisis of that period. In 2013, nearly two-thirds of international migrants lived in Europe (72 million), more than in Asia (71 million) and Northern America (53 million). The developed countries in the North hosted 136 million migrants, compared to 96 million in the developing countries in the South (the ten most underdeveloped countries are all in Africa). Since 1990, the North gained a larger number of international migrants than the South, although since 2000 the growth has been more rapid in the South. International migration remains highly concentrated, with half of the migrants living in ten countries around the world: (1) the United States (46 million), with 1.1 million additional migrants per year; (2) the Russian Federation (11 million); (3) Germany (10 million); (4) Saudi Arabia (9 million); (5) the United Arab Emirates (8 million); (6) the United Kingdom (7.8 million); (7) France (7.4 million); (8) Canada (7.3 million); (9) Australia (6.5); and (10) Spain (6.5 million). Italy follows, with nearly 6 million legal migrants, i.e. 9.68% of total resident population (UNO 2015 and IOM 2017), and a considerable number of illegal ones, estimated at 500,000 to 1 million. The European Union hosts more than 50 million people who were born outside the country where they now live (about 10% of its population), with about one million additional migrants per year (Eurostat 2015). With these numbers, one can understand why migration has become a political problem: perhaps the greatest that Europe is facing today. This is due not only to the number of people involved but also to the increasing social and cultural diversity it entails in the receiving countries, with concerns about security and social cohesion (Solivetti 2010, Melotti 2011). Suffice to recall the recurrent riots in the inner cities and the revolts in the banlieues (Melotti 2007, 2008), not to mention the increasing attacks carried out by terrorists with a migratory background, including secondgeneration immigrants with local citizenship. After September 11, 2001, the date of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York, we can recall the deadly attacks in Madrid (2004), London (2005, 2013, 2017); Toulouse (2012), Brussels (2014, 2016, 2017); Paris (2015, twice, in January and November, and 2017); Copenhagen (2015); Tunis (2015); Ankara (2015); Manchester (2015); Nice (2016); Munich (2016); Berlin (2015, 2016); Istanbul (2017); Saint Petersburg (2017); Stockholm (2017); Barcelona (2017) and, again, New York (2017). In spite of this evidence, many politicians, and even many scholars, have continued to deny stubbornly that immigration is, or could even become, a political problem. They repeat that migration is a demographic,
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economic and social issue but, with remarkable ideological blindness, they refuse to recognize it for what it actually is: a major political problem. Many of them maintain – or, at least, express – this view but now they appear to be divided into two different factions. An increasing number argue, with xenophobic and racist overtones, that the national borders must be indiscriminately closed to all migrants and asylum seekers, whom they describe as dangerous “invaders,” though sometimes they attempt to alleviate this claim with hypocritical invitations to “help them at home”, as if that were really possible, despite the repressive regimes, wars and ethnic, social and civil conflicts ravaging most of the sending countries. It should also be remembered the unbearable cost of an attempt of this kind, which, to have any chance of succeeding, should consider not only the already high number of people leaving their countries every year but also the much higher number of those who still live there in awful conditions. It must be recalled that only in Africa the total population, which over the last 50 years has rapidly increased, is now about 1.2 billion. In contrast, other scholars and politicians, turning a blind eye to the real situation, irresponsibly extol the “magnificent and progressive” advantages of immigration. They state that it brings unbelievable economic benefits to the receiving countries and paves the way for their transformation into idealized “multicultural societies,” which, however, they do not even try to define (for an early criticism of this stance, see Melotti 2000). As often happens, however, abstract ideological disputes have been overpowered by the facts. No one today could seriously maintain that it is possible to block immigration completely, that immigration is always and only a useful resource, and that it does not entail worrying consequences for the receiving countries, which – unlike the large host countries of the past – have their own defined profile, though, of course, this is changeable in the long run (but, in the long run, in Keynes’s words, we are all dead). Moreover, we must always keep in mind that the process we observe today n’est qu’un débout. What is happening is just an anticipation of what might happen in the future. It is a continent that has begun to move: a “sixth continent” with mobile boundaries that include important parts of neighbouring and distant countries not only in Africa but also in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America. Presently, Africa accounts only for about 15% of the migrants while Europe accounts for about 25% and Asia for about 40%. Yet the situation is changing because the African population is rapidly increasing and in 2050 it will probably represent 20% of the world’s population, which is expected to reach nearly 10 billion people. There is a considerable risk that, in Western Europe, what will form under
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pressure of the new migration flows will not be the marvellous “multicultural society” dreamt of by the finer spirits but, rather, a Babelian society (Cohn-Bendit and Schmid 1992), pervaded by conflicts, anxieties and fears, partly founded and partly unfounded, concerning a large number of social issues: gender relationships, work, disease, security, crime (including rape, sexual harassment and other acts of violence), and terrorism, not to mention the possible return of “wars of religion” that in Europe we hoped to have definitively overcome. Of course, migration, even on large scale, is not unprecedented in human history. In Europe, it has forged the social and cultural identity of important parts of the continent. Without going back to the most remote times (all of our Palaeolithic and Neolithic ancestors arrived from Africa, Asia and the Middle East in various waves), we can recall that, in historical times, migration led to the founding of Phoenician, Greek and Roman colonies all over the Mediterranean area. Afterwards, the “migrations of peoples” (Völkereinwanderungen) – as in Germany and other northern European countries they define what we usually call “barbarian invasions”, in spite of Lévi-Strauss’s (1952) warning – gave the final blow to the Roman Empire. Later, the Arab and Norman conquests, with their related settlements, deeply influenced the European culture, especially in the southern and western parts of the continent. And, in the world, migration has populated entire continents, “discovered” (and conquered) by the Europeans: America and Australia. It is legitimate to wonder whether we are now facing a similar process, just that there are no new worlds to populate. Anyway, the main causes of this movement are the astonishing demographic, economic, social and cultural gaps in and between the various parts of the world, which have become increasingly interwoven due to the ground-changing effects of globalization. In fact, everything seems to confirm that the ongoing migration is an “epochal” process: an evocative definition often used without realizing what it really means. The international organizations that should be dealing with this challenge (first and foremost the United Nations, on the global level, and the European Union, on the continental one, without forgetting the G7, G8, G20 and other similar groups) wriggle out of their responsibilities, unprepared and divided on the possible solutions, as confirmed by the rhetorical and useless “New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants” (UNO 2016), which was unanimously approved by the Member States at the UN summit on September 19, 2016. Besides, in Europe there was a rapid shift from the bombastic invocations for an indiscriminate welcome with an “easy” grant of
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citizenship to all newcomers (as was possible elsewhere, in another historical period, when there were entire continents to be populated), to rigid closures, impossible to enforce despite all the means used to repel the new arrivals: naval patrols, walls, barbed wire fences, soldiers and police officers at the borders of each country. Questionable agreements were also signed to delegate repression to unscrupulous transit countries, inured to rough-and-ready methods (such as Turkey and Libya), which detain migrants in camps that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees declared brutal and unfair (UNHCR 2017a and 2017b), in conditions that, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, are “an outrage to humanity” (UHCHR 2017). This reduced the arrival of about 30% in 2017, yet without reducing the fatalities during the attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea. I began to study international migration more than forty years ago, as soon as Italy became a receiving country after being the first European sending country over almost a century. I was obliged to conclude sadly that there are no satisfactory solutions for this problem though it is possible (and, therefore, it is right and fair) to adopt some palliative measures to improve the situation for both guests and hosts. It is exactly what doctors do when they must treat patients with an incurable condition. Of course, this cannot satisfy our aesthetic and moral sense and may seem not enough, but it is all we can realistically do. Anyhow, something is still better than nothing, as we say in Italy, and doing something is much better than waiting indefinitely for a miraculous solution that will probably never arrive. In fact, migration is one of those problems that must be addressed (in Gramsci’s words) with pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will, or, rather, with a critical mind and a sense of doubt, which is perhaps even better.
What is to be done? That said, there are some measures that can be implemented on various levels. I recall some of them here but this is, of course, only a partial list. 1) The United Nations should propose (and impose, if necessary, if they have the possibility of doing so) the distribution of high percentages of migrants to the less densely populated areas still present in some large countries, such as Argentina (Patagonia), Canada, Greenland (the world’s largest island), Mongolia and Russia (Siberia). Resettlements in these areas could be partly favoured by the ongoing global warming. The distribution of migrants should also concern other parts of the world, including the scarcely populated but inhabitable areas of Australia, a
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country almost twice the size of the European Union, though characterized by some great deserts. This would also help to prevent, or contain, the “invasion effect” (or the “invasion syndrome,” as some prefer, for the sake of political correctness) that immigration induces in the already densely populated countries in Europe. 2) The European Union should radically modify the Dublin Regulation (according to the claims already advanced by some countries and some international organizations) in order to favour the distribution of migrants among its Member States, which show increasing resistance to welcoming them spontaneously. This could also be an important step towards the implementation of a European common policy for asylum and immigration. 3) The accurate distribution of newcomers must also be carried out within each country by taking into account the specificities of the regions, cities, towns and villages involved. 4) Special attention should be paid to the distribution of ethnic groups to avoid their concentration in some parts of the territory, which could lead to the formation of ghettoes and inner cities in some towns and their suburbs, as happened with the banlieues in France, the Londonistans in England and the Chinatowns almost everywhere. This could also prevent, or reduce, migrant riots and revolts, such as those experienced in France and England, and, on a lesser scale, in Italy, Belgium, Germany and Sweden to name a few (Melotti 2007). 5) The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in collaboration with other international organizations such as the International Organization for Migration, the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, the European Union and the governments of the countries more deeply concerned, should set up migrant-processing centres in the sending countries and implement forms of safe and legal migration through humanitarian corridors at least for legitimate asylum seekers (a pioneering project of this kind has been sponsored and organized in Italy by the Federation of Protestant Churches, the Waldensian Table and the Community of Sant’Egidio, though only on a small scale: 1,000 migrants in 2017. This initiative, however, has already inspired similar projects in France and Switzerland). 6) The NGOs involved in rescue activities in the Mediterranean should be controlled (to avoid unduly connivances with smugglers and traffickers) but also helped (to reduce the risk of fatalities in the attempts to cross the sea: about 30,000 deceased over the last five years). 7) Fighting the exploitation of immigrants by criminal organizations in agriculture and industry, and the rackets that run drug-pushing, begging and hawking by migrants (activities that are now practised almost without control in many Italian towns), and organize and exploit prostitution.
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8) Fighting the criminal organizations that try to manage migrantholding centres (as was clearly proved by various judicial inquires in southern Italy). Even Pope Francis has denounced that some migrant centres in Europe recall the concentration camps in the tragic past. 9) Fighting the regimes and movements that contribute to creating unbearable conditions in the sending countries (such as the brutal dictatorships and the crazy Islamist movements raging in Africa and in other parts of the world) by exerting on them effective political, economic and, if necessary, military pressure. 10) Last but not least, preventing or eradicating wars and civil and ethnic conflicts in the sending countries, especially in the Middle East and Africa, including the former Italian colonies (Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Libya, all of which are in deep crises). We must remember that the present migration (quite different from migration in the first 30 years after the Second World War) is due much less to pull factors, such as the demand of labour, than push factors, such as internal and international wars and conflicts (Melotti 2004).
Towards a critical education In this context, there is a special role for scholars, owing to the important function carried out by research and education. But the kind of education we need is quite different from the usual rhetorical form of “intercultural education” that uncritically boasts the alleged benefits of migration without saying anything about its most worrying aspects. Education, and especially “intercultural education” (but any education worthy of this name should be “intercultural”), should spread critical knowledge about the real conditions in the sending countries and, therefore, enhance awareness and compassion without nourishing deceptive expectations destined to be self-defeating. Among the many false statements of this kind, I would recall, for instance, the affirmation that only substantial and increasing immigration will enable the national institutes of social insurance to pay pensions to retirees. In Italy, such a statement was even endorsed, despite his being an economist, by Tito Boeri (2017), the current president (by political appointment) of the INPS, the National Institute of Social Insurance. But its groundlessness was clearly proved by other scholars, including Professor Elsa Fornero (2017), a former Minister of Labour, who, during her mandate, had worked hard on the issue of pensions (her reform was harshly criticized by many people but was not changed by the three subsequent governments). Moreover, similar statements do not take into
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account the huge direct and indirect costs of immigration paid by the state and the regional and municipal institutions. Leaving aside these and other unfounded commonplace assumptions, it might be agreed that immigration could be welcomed both in the interests of openness and diversity and as an economic and cultural stimulus. Yet this thesis must not be argued on the basis of a spurious and fallacious picture of the receiving countries and their needs, but by working out a balanced assessment of its costs and benefits, taking into account all economic, social, cultural and moral aspects. Of course, education should also try to prevent, or combat, racism and xenophobia, which over the last years have considerably increased in all Europe, as well as in the United States and Australia. These mindsets have even found worrying political (or, rather, pre-political) expressions in some political parties, which have gained remarkable consensus in some populations, as their recent electoral successes in some countries (including France, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Poland) clearly show. Some surveys have also reflected this tendency. As concerns Italy, a recent study (LAST 2017), carried out in October 2017, singled out that between 2013 and 2017, welcoming attitudes and empathy have substantially decreased (6.7%), while dislike and aversion have substantially increased (11.6%). It is a worrying trend, but the best way of combating it is not by creating a “positive” narrative to oppose the “negative” ones – as even the most authoritative Italian report on immigration (IDOS 2017, 17-25) tried to do – but by telling the truth. I began to criticize both “positive” and “negative” unilateral narratives many years ago (Melotti 1996), and I cannot but confirm my criticisms of these questionable stances. In fact, what we need is a competent solidarity based on critical knowledge and, therefore, on critical learning and critical education. According to UNESCO (2015), a good education (including intercultural education) should be based on four pillars: – learning to know: to provide the cognitive tools required to improve comprehension of the world and its complexities; – learning to do: to provide the skills that would enable individuals to effectively participate in the economic and social life of the community; – learning to be: to enable individuals to develop to their fullest potential psycho-socially, affectively as well as physically, for an all-round complete person;
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– learning to live together: to expose individuals to the values underlying human rights, democratic principles, intercultural understanding and respect and peace at all levels of society and human relationships, to enable individuals and groups to live together in peace and harmony. These are the aims of what is usually called an intercultural approach. Unlike multiculturalism, which is aimed at the preservation of separate cultures, interculturalism seeks to establish linkages and common ground between different cultures, groups, communities and people, and to promote dialogue and interactions between them. However, the intercultural approach is necessary but not sufficient. What we need is a curious but realistic attitude, combining openmindedness with a willingness to talk about and negotiate all kinds of issues, including the most problematic ones. This might seem a new approach but actually it is not. It was already theorized many centuries ago, in the intercultural age of Hellenism. In fact, we can say what we need to do using almost the same words of Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BCE – c. 50 CE), a philosopher who tried to span the Greek and Jewish cultures in the then-Roman province of Egypt. We must keep our feet firmly on the ground, but, while standing on the borders (ȝİșórios), we must look at the other side and beyond, to catch and understand what is happening in the world, with deep concern and deep participation. This is the basic attitude that should characterize all social scientists, especially in such a challenging age of change and transformation. Our work should be, first and foremost, an expression of critical participation.
References Boeri, Tito. (2017). “Abbiamo più bisogno d’immigrati.” Money.it, July 5. http://www.today.it/politica/immigrati-pensioni-dati.html Cohn-Bendit, Daniel, and Schmid, Thomas. (1992). Heimat Babylon. Das Wagnis der Multikulturellen Demokratie. Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe. EUROSTAT. (2015). People in the EU – Statistics on origin of residents. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statisticsexplained/index.php/People_ in_the_EU_%E2%80%93_statistics_on_origin_of_residents Fornero, Elsa. (2017). “La Fornero sbugiarda Boeri e Boldini sull’immigrazione.” Diario del Web, July 26.
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https://www.diariodelweb.it/economia/articolo/?nid=20170726_43479 2 IDOS [Immigrazione Dossier Statistico]. (2017). Dossier statistico immigrazione 2017. Roma: Edizioni IDOS. IOM (2017). The Global Migration Flows. https://www.iom.int/worldmigration. LAST [Laboratorio sulla Società e il Territorio]. (2017). “Tra paura e solidarietà: i migranti negli occhi degli italiani.” La Stampa and Il Secolo XIX, October 30. http://www.communitymediaresearch.it/category/indagine-last/ Lévi-Strauss, Claude. (1952). Race et histoire. Paris: UNESCO. Melotti, Umberto. (1996). “Quelli che l’immigrazione…” Il Mondo 3, 1-2, 448-489. —. (2000). “Quando il multiculturalismo diventa un abbaglio,” in Umberto Melotti, ed., L’abbaglio multiculturale, pp. 11-58. Roma: Seam, 2000 (proceedings of the conference “L’abbaglio multiculturale,” La Sapienza University, 18 November 1998). —. (2004). Migrazioni internazionali, globalizzazione e culture politiche, Milano: Bruno Mondadori. —. (2007). Le banlieues. Immigrazione e conflitti urbani in Europa. Roma: Meltemi. Synthesis of the part on Italy: https://www.academia.edu/7202469/Immigrazioni_e_conflitti_urbani_i n_Italia —. (2008). “Migration, political cultures and urban conflicts in Europe,” in The New Boundaries between Bodies and Technologies, edited by Bianca Maria Pirani and Ivan Varga, pp. 106–123. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. —. (2011). “Immigration and security in Europe: A look at the Italian case,” in The Frontiers of Europe. A Transatlantic Problem? edited by Federiga Bindi and Irina Angelescu. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. Solivetti, Luigi. M. (2010). Immigration, Social Integration and Crime: A Cross-National Approach, Abingdon and New York, Routledge. UHCHR [United Nations High Commissioner Human Rights]. (2017). Refugees and Migrants. November 14. Press Release. http://refugeesmigrants.un.org/libya’s-detention-migrants-‘-outragehumanity’-says-un-human-rights-chief-zeid UNHCR [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] (2017a). Press release, September 17. http://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2017/9/59b7b0c24/unhcr-stepsefforts-towards-alternatives-detention-libya-solutions-vulnerable.html
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UNHCR [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] (2017b). Libya: Refugees and Migrants Held Captive by Smugglers in Deplorable Conditions, October 17. http://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing/2017/10/59e5c7a24/libyarefugees-migrants-held-captive-smugglers-deplorable-conditions.html UNESCO (2015). The Four Pillars of Learning. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/networks/globalnetworks/aspnet/about-us/strategy/the-four pillars-of-learning/ UNO [United Nations] (2013). “The number of international migrants.” Population Facts, 2. New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. https://esa.un.org/unmigration/documents/the_number_of_international _migrants.pdf UNO [United Nations] (2015). Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Trends in International Migrant Stock: Migrants by Destination and Origin. United Nations database, POP/DB/MIG/Stock /Rev.2015. New York: United Nations. http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/esti mates2/estimates15.shtml UNO [United Nations] (2016). New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants. New York: United Nations. http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/71/1
POST-SCRIPT NEW CULTURE FOR A NEW HUMANISM TOWARDS A SOCIAL INTEGRATION JAVIER FIZ PEREZ
Immigration laws are relatively new. These man-made laws were instituted long after countries and national boundaries were already in existence. When there were no immigration laws, people moved freely from one place to another. Famines, wars, natural disasters, plagues, poverty, personal problems, economic reasons political oppression, etc. are the usual reasons for migration. Today, even with immigration laws, people are still leaving their home countries for the same reasons. They bravely risk their lives and safety, are often exploited, tolerate extreme weather conditions and face strange cultures, discrimination and local hostilities. They cope with loneliness and alienation. They go through all kinds of difficulties, sustained only by the hope that somehow they might find a better life. Emigration is often a hidden drama. The story of the son that has left remains secret until news of success can be told. Other families still expect to hear from their child who has been missing for more than a decade, clinging to the hope that one day the news that he is alive will reach them. No one can claim to be indifferent to the new forms of slavery imposed by criminal organizations which buy and sell men, women and children as forced labourers in construction, agriculture, fishery or in other markets. How many minors are still forced to fight in militias as child soldiers? How many people are victims of organ trafficking, forced begging and sexual exploitation? From this perspective, it is important to view migrants not only on the basis of their status as regular or irregular but also, above all, as people whose dignity is to be protected and who are capable of contributing to progress and general welfare. This is especially the case when they assume their obligations towards those who receive them, gratefully respecting the material and spiritual heritage of the host country, obeying its laws and
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helping with its needs. Migrations cannot be reduced merely to their political and legislative aspects, their economic implications and the concrete coexistence of various cultures in one territory. All these facets complement the defence and promotion of a human being, the culture of encounter and the unity of peoples. Migration is as old as Africa itself. People have always moved in search of a better life. The economic crisis in Africa, fuelled by development policies imposed on the continent by the World Bank, IMF and other donors, is one of the factors forcing some Africans to undertake a dangerous journey to Europe in an attempt to improve their lot. For decades, African people have taken their destiny in hand. When states deserted their social responsibilities, under pressure from Western countries and international financial institutions, community development became a matter for emigrants. It is they who built schools, health-centres and wells or funded drilled water-towers. Those who take the path of exile today have the same hopes. They see a neighbour or a cousin “get their mother out of poverty” with the money earned by the emigration and they only have this leitmotiv in their minds when they embark on the desert road, through Libya or Morocco, that ends in Europe. Most of them have a starting point. They do not know their destination. They will settle where solidarity offers them asylum. A lot of them will be lost on the way, die of thirst in the desert or drown in the waters of the Mediterranean. But none think about leaving and returning with empty hands. They would rather die than have to face those they left behind empty-handed. Migrations have shaped African countries and are part of their history. The first movements from state to state started with independence. Departures were mostly internal. From West African countries, the main destinations were the Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) in Central Africa. Today, two-thirds of African migration is still within Africa, directed to the oil-producing countries such as Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, where the “black gold” still entices, despite raids and deportations. Our societies are experiencing, in an unprecedented way, processes of mutual interdependence and interaction on a global level. While not lacking problematic or negative elements, these processes are aimed at improving the living conditions of the family, not only economically but politically and culturally as well. Each individual is a part of humanity and, with the entire family of peoples, shares the hope of a better future. In this context The Challenge of Cultural Difference: Empowered Bodies and Symbolic Legitimacy takes place as a strong stimulus for a new culture and a new humanism in an era where we see migrant bodies in search of a
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place every day. Emigration today means a time to think about the meaning of life. Who are we? What are we, us humans, looking for? Walls protect us but also divide us. Shouldn't it be possible to talk to each other? The definition of migration to Europe over the past two decades as a mixed migration puts the accent on what, on one hand, could constitute a richness for receiving countries and, on the other, renders the implementation of protection and management difficult. Mixed migration refers to a movement of people with different motivations and protection needs, associated by their travelling on the same routes, with the same transport and through the same smuggling networks. Humanity continues to struggle to find its identity and ensure survival. There have never been more scientists on our planet than today. They have never had more resources and never produced more discoveries. Yet, even though the world currently spends $2.3 trillion on research to produce around 2 million research articles every year, about 90% of our science results are locked away behind expensive pay walls, not widely available to the public, companies and even many researchers themselves. But research is not enough anyway. If there is no will, there is no way. Current society, usually referred to as a global society, has become more cognitive inasmuch as knowledge is a key element to leverage the financial valorization mechanisms of capital. This is no change from the typical polarization of knowledge ownership by industrial capitalism though it now entails the development of new mechanisms and devices whereby knowledge is becoming a variable command and dominion that differentiates humans from other beings, a new factor establishing hierarchies and ruling labour division. We cannot choose where we come from but we can choose where to go from there. The positive correlation between ethnic identity and self-esteem suggests that investing resources to build a strong and stable ethnic identity is an important task for every immigrant. This new publication about immigration has a constant message: “Don’t make yourself small.” This is a phrase that every human being should repeat to themselves in order to have their eyes open in this historical time of intense and heavy confusion. Numerous studies have shown that the construction of ethnic identity is a remarkable social phenomenon in the adaptation of immigrants in the host society. Immigrants come and interact with the host society, with their attitudes about their own cultural origins, and receive levels of acceptance towards them. The “(re)discovery” of their cultural heritage during their acculturation into the host society comes with the subjective (re)construction of their ethnic identity.
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Migration is a crucial issue not only for Europe but for all the world, and it is going to dominate policies and political agendas for the coming decades. Migration has been presented –both in public and expert discourse –as a challenge that requires coordinated responses, involving all the international institutions. Despite the recent so-called “crises” that called for emergency responses, the European Union has been building a comprehensive migration policy, based on the principle of granting freedom of movement, for almost twenty years. Although Europe will remember 2015 as the year of the refugee crisis, other parts of the world have been facing this phenomenon for a longer period of time and with much more significant intensity. The so-called refugee crisis has questioned some of the fundamental values and pillars upon which the European cultural project is based. Until the beginning of the so-called crisis, migration to Europe was considered one amongst other issues, not an absolute priority. Despite the obvious connection between migration and human rights, development and security, migration continued to be of marginal concern at the European Union level and was an issue to be resolved internally by member states. The significant changes that have taken place in migratory dynamics refer to the modification of routes and trajectories. This has always occurred in migrations, with routes changing according to geopolitical events or new strategies of contrast put in place by the countries of transit and destination. Let’s remember that happiness, stability and personal realization do not depend only on what we have or do but also on our level of consciousness. Some ingredients for our personal and social life are interconnection, social identity relational transparency, projection, responsibility, etc., but none of these aspects can be present in real life without first resolving the many basic problems that millions of human beings are suffering right now. We hope to never lose this healthy realism. Today it’s a must to create this new, positive way-of-thinking button. Positive people create positive institutions, new politics, new organizations and new life. This is not only a question of intelligence. It’s above all a question of goodwill and cultural intelligence, putting together knowledge, cross-cultural skills and mindfulness; an international approach in a global world where collectivism should predominate individualism. A collectivist culture, called “we” and “us” cultures, rank shared goals higher than individual desires and goals. There is no doubt that culture, education and integral formation are the most effective ways for the social promotion of our societies – “What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the human soul” (Joseph Addison). Carl Rogers reminds us that “the only person who is educated is
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the one who has learned how to learn and change”. The reality of migration, given its new dimensions in our age of globalization, needs to be approached and managed in a new, equitable and effective manner; more than anything, this calls for international cooperation and a spirit of profound solidarity and compassion. Cooperation at different levels is critical, including the broad adoption of policies and rules aimed at protecting and promoting the individual. This volume is a voice of hope in a world that often gives the impression that international agreements are more important than human rights. World history has been shaped by migration. For centuries, merchants, craftsmen, intellectuals and the desperate have crossed lands to practice their trades or start new lives. We should also consider every crisis as an opportunity to revitalize states. In this sense, no country should shoulder the refugee crisis alone. We need to come to terms with our mistakes and learn from them. As Pope Francis (2013) said for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees: “Dear migrants and refugees! Never lose the hope that you, too, are facing a more secure future, that on your journey you will encounter an outstretched hand, and that you can experience fraternal solidarity and the warmth of friendship!” Let’s avoid the globalization of indifference by honoring human dignity, building solidarity and creating a culture of encounter, starting with education, an education that begins with the consideration of historical mistakes in order to not repeat them. As Jean Piaget said: “The principal goal of education is to create individuals who are capable of doing new things, and not simply of repeating what other generations have done.” International institutions and politicians should show their concern for human life in society, aware that the quality of social life –that is, of the relationships of justice and love that form the fabric of society –depends in a decisive manner on the protection and promotion of the individual, for whom every community comes into existence. In fact, at play in society are the dignity and rights of a person, and peace in relationships between people and between communities of people. These are goals that the social community must pursue and guarantee. All social life is an expression of its unmistakable protagonist: the individual. Far from being the object or passive element of social life, the individual is rather, and must always remain, its subject, foundation and goal. The origin of social life is therefore found in the individual, and society cannot refuse to recognize its active and responsible subject; every expression of society must be directed towards individuals, recognizing and affirming their centrality in every sector and expression of society.
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History attests it is from the fabric of social relationships that some of the best possibilities for ennobling the individual arise, but it is also there that the most loathsome rejections of human dignity lie in wait. The mass media, and especially the news media, has an unequivocal position in society when it comes to establishing and disseminating common cultural references, having an influence on people's attitudes as well as our common knowledge but not always in the expected and desired ways. The way the mass media represents, focuses and gives voice to different actors and incidents in society could have the unintentional result of strengthening racist discourse instead of fighting it. Mass-media reporting is especially sensitive when it comes to ethnic, cultural and religious relations in our society. As such, it is important to promote positive thinking in education, politic, the mass media and all the protagonists of this new “good globalization” in which the individual is at the centre of every initiative and social development programme. In this volume, there are some keys to promoting a better social and personal life in the specific context of the globalization of migration and it would be interesting to develop them further in future reflections. x Unity and interconnection between all human beings looking for a personal and social lifestyle where things depend on causality instead of casuality. At this level of consciousness we can experiment that destiny is a choice. Each human being can create personal and collective reality: thoughts, emotions, perceptions, relationships, situations, the level of happiness and well-being, both internally and externally. x Responsibility at all levels. New leaders are able to accept full responsibility for their existence. Ability to respond that requires the will to express high values in new creative forms contextualizing with coherence. x Positive thinking and mindfulness to stimulate autonomy of thought and common good. In this sense, it is important to promote an integrative approach to stimulate hope and projection in our societies. Feedback to remember our history and feed-forward to create a network of hope. Human beings need positive traits such as humanity, courage, justice, temperance, wisdom and knowledge if we are to achieve real international and social development. x It is necessary to respond to the globalization of migration with the globalization of responsibility and cooperation in such a way as to make the conditions of migrants more humane. Solidarity with migrants and refugees must be accompanied by the courage and
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creativity necessary to develop, on a worldwide level, a more just and equitable financial and economic order as well as an increasing commitment to peace, the indispensable condition for all authentic progress. x A humanized education, therefore, does not just provide an educational service but deals with its results in the overall context of the personal, moral and social abilities of those who participate in the educational process. It does not simply ask the teacher to teach and students to learn but urges everyone to live, study and act in accordance with the reasons of fraternal humanism. It does not aim to create division and divergence but rather offers places for meeting and discussion to create valid educational projects. Humanity needs a new integral humanism capable of creating a new social, economic and political order, founded on the dignity and freedom of every individual, to be brought about in peace, justice and solidarity. This humanism can become a reality if individual men and women are able to cultivate moral and social virtues in themselves and promote them in society. This is truly essential. The central role of human dignity in human rights is not negotiable. When human dignity loses its place at the core, human rights become just another set of discussed and agreed-to standards between stakes. If human dignity is seen as the benchmark of behaviour and actions that are morally unacceptable, below which humanity is at risk, then human dignity can be viewed as a normative concept. It is not clear if the drafters had this in mind; in fact, the phrase “a violation of human dignity” was used officially in the 1993 Vienna Conference on Human Rights to describe extreme situations in which human rights are not upheld. It was enshrined in Article 25 of the Vienna Declaration, which states: “The World Declaration on Human Rights of 1993 affirms that extreme poverty and social exclusion constitute a violation of human dignity.” Human dignity is a normative principle of a particular type since it can only be endowed with meaning within a particular setting. In extreme situations the concept of human dignity can be a useful analytical tool to help us understand if and what irreducible standards have been surpassed in a given situation. Put another way, human dignity can be seen as that which allows what is unacceptable to emerge. It is about giving a voice to the vulnerable and the victims, those who need it most. It is no exaggeration to assert that migration and the issues surrounding immigration are defining features of the 21st century. More people live outside their country of birth than in any other period of human history,
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and estimates of worldwide migration indicate that approximately 3% of the world’s population–more than 200 million people–can be defined as migrants (IOM 2009). These levels are expected to continue to rise in the future, with an estimate of 230 million people living outside their country of birth by the year 2050. This migration is driven by demographic trends, economic disparities between developing and developed countries, civil and international conflicts, communication and transportation networks linking all regions of the world, trade liberalization promoting a more mobile workforce and increasing trans-nationalism (IOM 2009). In recognition of the growing importance of human migration, in 2006 the UN General Assembly held its first-ever plenary session on migration issues. Worldwide migration is changing not only in terms of scope but also in terms of goals, and the immigration and integration strategies required in destination countries. Historically, migration tended to favour low-skilled, relatively uneducated workers who sought to improve their life circumstances in a new country; these newcomers were primarily employed in farm work, manufacturing and construction. During the last few decades, however, there has been a marked shift in immigration recruitment to focus on attracting highly skilled labour to fill positions in advanced economies (Martinez-Herrera 2008, Shachar 2006). Highly skilled workers are a valuable asset for developed countries in that they provide a competitive advantage in the knowledge-based global economy (Shachar 2006). This newfound “race for talent” – competition among nations for skilled labour – means that most industrialized countries have now almost uniformly built into or added to their immigration policies a provision for attracting skilled workers (Martinez-Herrera 2008, Shachar 2006). As a prime example of the current emphasis on attracting skilled workers, the European Union (EU) Blue Card directive, adopted in May 2009, is specifically designed to attract highly skilled immigrants from other countries to the EU, based on the claim that the EU will require over 20 million skilled workers over the next two decades (Council of the European Union 2009). Put into effect in 2012 (though not by all member states), the Blue Card allows highly skilled immigrants to fill positions within EU economic sectors that are suffering from skill shortages, allows them mobility within the EU and makes it easier for these workers to bring their families and acquire long-term resident status. This system does not supplant existing immigration policies in member states but instead provides an additional channel for attracting skilled immigrants to the EU (Doomernik et al. 2009, European Parliament 2008). Thus, it is clear that
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skilled immigrants are now considered a valuable commodity by developed nations. But what will happen to non-skilled workers? Psychologists have important contributions to make in this domain in terms of their expertise in areas such as determinants of policy support, intergroup relations, discrimination, multiculturalism, migration motivations, adaptation and acculturation, plus ethnic and national identity. They address key issues of both responses of members of host societies and the experiences of immigrants, and add an important dimension to the multidisciplinary analysis of immigration. We cannot reduce the study of this argument only to the perspective of work life or the black and white relationship. The subject is much more complex and articulated, and the main argument is the sense of life and the meaning of quality of life for the human being. Psychological arguments such as immigrants’ life satisfaction, acculturative stress, identity and development will never be of capital interest in our societies without the right cultural perspective and policies. Xenophobic rhetoric has political effects on immigrants and societies. The relationship between identity development in a host culture and adaptation to a new culture is also moderated by a number of additional factors, including age at the time of migration and generation of migration along with antecedent conditions, acceptance or rejection in host culture, and the similarity of cultural assumptions between culture of origin and host culture (Phinney et al. 2001). Individuals upon migration to a new culture must adapt to new contexts, and this leads to changes in their original cultural identity. Psychological acculturation and adaptation refers to the psychological changes and eventual outcomes in a new setting (Berry 1997). Successful acculturation implies mental and physical health, psychological satisfaction with life, high self-esteem, competent work performance and good grades in school for younger immigrants (Liebkind 2001). The nature of the acculturation process and the identification of factors predictive of effective cultural adaptation have been of substantial interest to researchers. Research on psychological adaptation to acculturation has identified a distinction between psychological and socio-cultural adaptation (Searle and Ward 1990). Psychological adaptation alludes to internal psychological outcomes, i.e., a clear sense of personal and cultural identity, good mental health and the achievement of personal satisfaction in life and work in the new cultural context; socio-cultural adaptation refers to external psychological outcomes that link individuals to their new context, including their capability to deal with daily problems, particularly in the areas of family life, work and school. But how is it possible to speak
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about this without a new humanism? There is no real social and human development without good anthropological and political thought. An empowered body is the place where social cohesion can become something real. This ability to get along well with others and get them to cooperate with you should apply to all people and not just migrants managing conflict and change. This is our history. Millions of years of walking around, looking for a better place to stay and live. The current immigration in Europe and the Mediterranean area is not new. What should renew is the way social policies and academic disciplines (sociology, anthropology, neurophysiology, experimental psychology and law) work together to study and improve the way we interact with our bodies in our society. Certainly, terrorism is one of the most powerful arguments in politics and social studies today, but sometimes the best solution is a question of common sense. Why not start thinking about social integration as the best way to prevent and avoid terrorism? It’s not possible to promote social quality of life and development without the promotion of social integration. The ways in which individuals move from being frustrated or angry to accepting violence as a legitimate course of action are far from well understood. Radicalization can be understood as a process through which individuals are persuaded that violent activity is justified and eventually become determined to engage in violence. However, it is probably more useful to understand it as a process through which people embrace opinions, views and ideas that may or may not lead to acts of violence – essentially a phenomenon resulting from a complex interaction of factors that does not necessarily lead to violence. Identification with a social group is probably one of the most important determinants of social behaviour. Social relationships are increasingly important in the early stages of radicalization, and peak when people accept a violent ideology. The exact same is true of the process of socialization and acculturation into a delinquent gang. Identity is defined not only in terms of self but also in terms of social association and membership. The centrality of group participation in identity is quite obvious. Group participation plays an important, although temporary, role in identity formation. Studies have shown the strong facilitative effects of active gang membership on antisocial as well as violent behaviour. That’s why the promotion of social integration is vital at this turbulent time. Social inclusion is another thinly defined and hotly debated concept. It is often defined in terms of access to services and the other advantages and benefits society can offer. It is related to social and economic factors and the ability of individuals and groups to access resources through their
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social network or institutions. Its opposite, social exclusion, generally refers to the limitations individuals experience in participating in activities (production, consumption, civic engagement, political participation) or integrating structures, social groups or structures. It is seen as directly related to discrimination, racism, class and other factors placing an individual or a group at a disadvantage in comparison to others. Cultural violence occurs when symbolic processes are used to justify and legitimize inequitable power relations in political and economic systems. Cultural violence and hierarchical structures are mutually reinforcing, highly resistant to change and operate at the individual level of analysis where scripts that guide behaviour are internalized and at the aggregate level where shared narratives support hierarchical social arrangements. Social psychological constructs that weigh on cultural violence include the meritocratic ideology, a set of beliefs that support the proposition that rewards should be commensurate with one's contribution to society. This ideology provides the value scaffold for the capitalist notion “to each according to his merit.” In turn, the capitalist ethos has built into it an acceptance of inequality and the continuous struggle for power within and between states, along with justifications for the use of force in the interest of domestic and international order. The duty of solidarity requires us to seek ways to share fairly because there is a dramatic inequality between those who have too much and those who have nothing, those who discard and those who are discarded. Only the path of integration between peoples can lead humanity to a future of peace and hope. Principles born together with sovereign national states (or the so-called welfare states) guaranteeing elementary human rights are still given as conductive lights of the contemporary world, although life is compromised for some, especially for immigrants. If there is one issue today that affects the dignity of individual persons and society, cries out for justice, requires solidarity and calls for coordinated action that promotes the common good at national and international levels, it is that complex of experiences we call “migration.” Dignity, solidarity and the common good should be social principles in a world where often dramatic movements of people are everyday realities. Every individual has an inalienable right to life and the activities needed to sustain and develop it. Obviously, when these rights are continually impeded, people have a right to go where they hope to start again to live humanely. The protection of human dignity and life itself becomes evident in the more dramatic forms of migration, especially in the case of refugees.
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In our time, migration is growing worldwide. Refugees challenge individuals and communities and their traditional ways of life; at times, they upset the cultural and social horizons they encounter. They are increasingly the victims of violence and poverty. After leaving their homelands, they are exploited by human traffickers on their journey to the dream of a better future. If they survive the abuses and hardships of the journey, they then have to face latent suspicions and fear. In the end, they frequently encounter a lack of clear and practical policies regulating the acceptance of migrants and providing short or long-term programmes of integration respectful of the rights and duties of all. Migrants are our brothers and sisters in search of a better life, far from poverty, hunger, exploitation and the unjust distribution of the planet’s resources, which are meant to be equitably shared by all. Don’t we all want a better, more decent and prosperous life to share with all humanity? At this moment in human history, marked by great movements of migration, identity is not a secondary issue. Those who migrate are forced to change some of their most distinctive characteristics and, whether they like it or not, those who welcome them are also forced to change. How can we experience these changes not as obstacles to genuine development but rather as opportunities for genuine human, social and spiritual growth, a growth that respects and promotes those values that make us ever more humane and help us to live a balanced relationship with every human being? The presence of migrants and refugees seriously challenges the various societies that accept them. Those societies face new situations which could create serious hardship unless they are suitably motivated, managed and regulated. How can we ensure that integration will become mutual enrichment, open up positive perspectives to communities, and prevent the danger of discrimination, racism, extreme nationalism or xenophobia? It is ironic that modern man has achieved important goals through knowing the forces of nature, science and technology yet lacks ideas for adequate coexistence within society so as to give everyone an acceptable and dignified existence. What perhaps has been missing so far is the joint development of civic opportunities with an education plan that promotes the reasons for cooperation in a united world. The social question is now an anthropological question, which involves an educational component that can no longer be deferred. For this reason, one needs to have a new trajectory of thinking in order to arrive at a better understanding of the implications of our being one family; interaction among the peoples of the world calls us to embark upon this new trajectory so that integration can signify solidarity rather than marginalization.
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Education is the way; an education that is sound and open, pulls down the walls of exclusivity, promotes the richness and diversity of individual talents and extends the classroom to embrace every corner of social experience in which education can generate solidarity, sharing and communion. Education in fraternal humanism must make sure that learning means becoming aware of the ethical universe in which the person acts. In particular, this correct notion of the ethical universe must open up progressively wider horizons of the common good so as to embrace the entire human family. The university should be the main breeding ground for forming people to cooperate in academic research, so that–within the framework of fraternal humanism–there is a preference for establishing joint research in all areas of knowledge, the results of which can be confirmed by academic objectivity in the application of suitable logic, methods and techniques as well as by the researchers’ own experience of solidarity. It is a question of encouraging the formation of integrated research groups among teachers, young researchers and students, which also calls for cooperation among academic institutions operating internationally. Cooperation networks should be established between educational subjects and subjects of other kinds, for example, from the professions as well as from the arts, commerce, business and all the organizations within society where fraternal humanism needs to be advanced.
References Berry, John W. (1997). “Immigration, Acculturation and Adaptation.” Applied Psychology 46 (1): 5–68. doi: 10.1111/J.1464-0597.1997.TB01087.X Liebkind, Karmela (2001). “Acculturation, ” in Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Intergroup processes, edited by R. Brown & S. Gaertner, 386–406. Oxford: Blackwell. Martinez-Herrera, M. (2008). Attractive immigration policies. A worldwide fight for skilled workers. Available at: http://upf.edu/iuslabor/012008/EEUUManuelMartinez.pdf Phinney, Jean S., Romero, Irma, Nava, Moncia, and Huang, Dan (2001). “The Role of Language, Parents, and Peers in Ethnic Identity among Adolescents in Immigrant Families.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence 30 (2): 135–53. Pope Francis (2013). Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (August 5, 2013). https://zenit.org/articles/pope-francismessage-for-world-day-of-migrants-and-refugees/–
CONTRIBUTORS
Anastasia Amirkhanian is a researcher in the field of migration and medical sociology. She graduated from St. Petersburg State Maritime Technical University, Faculty of Sociology and now she is working on PhD thesis "Integration Strategies of Labor Migrants in Primorsky Krai: an Example of Chinese Migrants" at the Saint Petersburg University. She is interested in the analyisis of migration patterns, migrants’ health care needs, access to services, and awareness about available health care resources. She has strong research experience on HIV prevention researches among vulnerable groups in Saint Petersburg including labor migrants. At present time she is a researcher at the project “Social Risks of the International Youth Migration in Contemporary Russia”, supported by Russian Science Foundation. Olga Borodkina is a professor of Saint Petersburg University, Russia. She obtained Doctor Degree in Sociology, in the field of “Social structure, social institutions and processes”. Her research interests are connected with field of social problems, social policy, migration. Olga Borodkina has broad international experience and was a guest professor and researcher in Helsinki University, University of Bielefeld, Innsbruck University and others. Also she was at Yale University, School of Epidemiology and Public Heath, as Fogarty Fellowship Holder. She teaches at the Saint Petersburg University few courses, including "Theory of social work", "Social state and civil society", "Social issues of HIV/AIDS prevention". At the present time she is a principal investigator of project "Social risks of the international youth migration in contemporary Russia " that is supported by Russian Science Foundation. Dr. Francesca Conti is originally from Rome, Italy, but she studied and lived for more than a decade in the United Kingdom. She graduated from SOAS, University of London, in History and Social Anthropology in 2004, she moved up to Cambridge University for an MPhil in Social and Political Sciences (2007) and to the University of Sussex, where she completed her doctorate in Sociology in 2012. Her main fields of interests are: identities, belonging, decision-making processes, migration, sport and health.
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Nicola Maria Coppola is a PhD Candidate in Applied Social Sciences at La Sapienza – University of Roma. He has an Inter-Universities Second Level Master in “Methodology and Social Research”, with a thesis on the “multiple migrations” in the Mediterranean. He is the General Secretary l of the independent no-profit organization EPOS International Mediating and Negotiating Operational Agency, operating in the field of conflict resolution and prevention. EPOS in all its activities on field and in its strong theoretical reflections, analyses and explores new ways of conceiving negotiation in practice and methodology, aiming at the definition of true innovative strategies in the framework of conflict prevention. He is the project coordinator of “My Future”, an innovative project by EPOS that aims at the rebuilding of the Syrian civil society. He has participated in the realization of two documentaries filmed by Prof. Del Re in Iraq on the situation of the Yazidi and the Christian communities in the aftermath of the arrival of Daesh. Emanuela Claudia Del Re is currently tenured professor at ‘NiccolòCusano’ University in Rome and co-coordinator of the Master Migration and Development at ‘La Sapienza’ University. In 2016 she has been elected National Coordinator of the Sociology of Religion Section of the Italian Sociological Association. Research Director at the Military center for Strategic Studies (CeMiSS) of Rome (1998-2008). Chair and founder of EPOS Intl. Negotiating Agency active in conflict areas (Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Ukraine), she has created projects to rebuild the civil society in war-torn societiesfunded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (“My Future” project for the Syrian Refugees) and by the European Commission. She is board member of the Forum for Cities in Transition (FCT) and of the Global Alliance for the Marginalized and Equality (GAME). Consultant of leading international social, political and academic Institutionsin the world; She has vastly published (volumes, essays, articles) on the themes of her researches:Pursuing Stability and a Shared Development in Euro-Mediterranean Migrations, Rome:Aracne (2017), Gendering the European Borders: the role of femalerefugees and migrants, in: S. Shekhawat, E. C. Del Re, A. Mahapathra, (eds.) (2017) Border, Violence and Gender, London:Taurist Javier Fiz Perez Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at the European University of Rome, where he cooperates also as Delegate for the International Research Development. He is Co-Director of the Laboratory of Applied Psychology in the field of Organizational Psychology (Business and Health Lab). Graduated in Philosophy, Psychology and
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Social Bioethics, getting also an specialization in Executive Business Administration (EMBA) after the PhD He’s a Member of the Advisory Board of the Academic Senate of the Accademia Tiberina. Professor Fiz Perez is the Coordinator of the Scientific Committee of The International School of Economics and Ethics (Italy) and collaborates with the International Academy for Economic and Social Development (AISES) of which he has been Vice President for Spain and Latin America. He is also the Scientific Research Director of the European Institute of Positive Psychology at Madrid (IEPP) being also a Member of the Scientific Committee of International Institute Jacques Maritain. He is also a Member of several Committees of Scientific Journals and the Director of the International Network for Social and Integrated Development (INSID). Professor Fiz Perez has more than 150 national and international pubblications. He is also the Chief Editor of “Sviluppo Integrale” (Persiani Editori Bologna). Actually he collaborates also with “Core Values International” as Director of International Development in the Educational field. Daria Forlenza is a researcher in the field of migration and ethnicity, she is interested in the analyisis of migration patterns, ethnic neighborhoods, and transnational communities. She obtained a PhD in “communication, interculturality and complex organizations” from Lumsa, University of Rome with a thesis on “Immigration and Integration: the ethnic press in the cities of Rome and London”. She completed her study in her hometown, at the university Federico II of Naples; she obtained a bachelor’s degree in Political science and International Relationship and a master’s degree in European studies, with full marks. She is very keen on journalism and she worked both as a journalist for many years and was hired as intern at the communication and press department of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kejie Huang, born in China in 1986, has finished master study at the sociology department of Peking University in China and the PhD study at the Humboldt University of Berlin in Germany in 2017. She is starting her post doctor fellowship at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China. Based on her in-depth field work on ethnic minorities’ integration in Germany during PhD study, she pays special attention about Germany’s development as a non-traditional immigrant country. Further she focuses on the cultural acculturation and the immigrants’ strategies to get integrated and upward mobility in the certain host society, which is determined by the specific historical, social and economic contextual
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factors. Her current research is about the development of China’s immigration law and China’s process of becoming a migration-receiving country. Maria João Guia is researcher of the University of Coimbra Centre for Legal Research andAssociate Researcher in IusGentiumConimbrigae – Centre for Human Rights of the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra, specialized in the field of Sociology of Law and Criminology, on the specific topics of Immigration, Crime and Crimmigration, the criminalization of the Immigration, Human Trafficking, Immigrant Detention, Prison Issues. She obtained her PhD in “Law, Justice and Citizenship in the 21st century” at the University of Coimbra. She is an expert of the European Migration Network, European Commission External Expert in the area of “Security, Liberty and Justice” (2014), Founding Member and Director of the international group CINETS (Crimmigration Control International Net of Studies) www.crimmigrationcontrol.com. Francesco Maniglio is Research Director at the International Center for AdvancedStudies in Communications of LatinAmerica (CIESPAL) in Quito (Ecuador). He holds a PhD in Communication and Cultural Criticism at the University of Seville (Spain) and a Master in Philosophy of Law at the University Pablo de Olavide (Spain). He is an associate researcher of the Interdisciplinary Study Group on Communication, Politics and Social Change (COMPOLITICAS) at the University of Seville and in the Laboratory of Critical Studies of Discourse (LabEC) at the University of Brasilia. Among his latest publications we highlight El gobierno del General Intellect (Ed.Ciespal, 2016); To lead without governing in the knowledge society (Discourse and Society, 2015). Umberto Melotti was Professor of Political Sociology at “La Sapienza” University of Roma, where he also taught Sociology of Ethnic Relations. He taught Sociology at “Brera” Academy, Milan, Cultural Anthropology and History of Sociological Thought at the University of Pavia, and Sociology of Migration at SIMI (Scalabrini International Migration Institute), Rome. He was the founder and editor of the journal “Terzo Mondo” (Third World) and a member of the editorial board of the “International Review of Education” (Unesco, Paris and Hamburg). Among his books: Marx and the Third World (Macmillan, London, and Humanities Press, Atlantic Highland, NJ, 1982), also available in Italian, Spanish and Chinese; L’immigrazione: una sfida per l’Europa (Edizioni
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Associate, Rome, 1992); Migrazioni internazionali, globalizzazione e culture politiche (Bruno Mondadori, Milano, 2004). He also published many papers in journals and edited books in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Serbo-Croatian and Spanish. Marco Omizzolo carries out research on migration with special attention to international trafficking of human beings for labour and sexual exploitation and organized crime. He received his PhD at the University of Florence with a thesis on the Sikh community in the Province of Latina, which he studied with direct participation by working as a day labourer. He is a lecturer for the master class “Immigration and Social Transformations” at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice and teaches in the specialization course “Protecting the Rights of Migrants” at the University of Pisa. He wrote several essays on the severe exploitation of foreign labourers in agriculture. He is a member of the editorial board of the reports Agromafie e Caporalato, published by Flai CGIL, and Agromafie, published by Eurispes, of which he is a researcher. He is technical director of the In Migrazione coop, which deals with the reception and integration of migrants, the fight against organized crime in agriculture and training courses for social and legal professionals in Italian reception centres. He is the president of Tempi Moderni, a centre for studies in communications and scientific research. He was a visiting professor at Guru Nanak University and Lovely University in India. Among his published works Migranti e territori (with Pina Sodano), Ediesse, 2015, Migranti e diritti, Tempi Moderni and Simple Publishing, 2017, and La Quinta Mafia. Radici Future, 2016. In 2016 he was one of the leading figures in the occupation of farmland in the Province of Latina during the strike of the Indian day labourers. Ladan Rahbari is a social anthropologist, affiliated with the Centre for Research on Culture and Gender (CRCG-UGent), and Centre of Expertise on Gender, Diversity and Intersectionality (RHEA-VUB). She is currently conducting a joint doctorate research project in ‘Gender and Diversity’ in Ghent University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. This research ‘Gender, Sexuality and the Moral Body’ which explores the concept of Harmful Cultural Practices is a sub-research under a broader project ‘A Critical Analysis of Cross-Cultural Discourses and Moral Understandings of Gender, Sexuality and Embodiment’ (2015-2019) which is funded by Flanders Research Foundation (FWO). Rahbari has teaching experience in several BA and MA programs of anthropology, art studies and social sciences in different universities. Her research interests include gender
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politics, discourses of sexuality, sociology/anthropology of space, study of body, gendered harm and violence, with a general focus on the context of the Middle East, and within the frameworks of radical and postcolonial feminist theories. Her most recent publication is a chapter in the edited volume Equestrian Cultures in Global and Local Contexts (2017-Springer International Publishing). Veronika Sieglin is fulltime professor of sociologyat Autonomous University of Nuevo León Faculty for Social Work and Human Development in Monterrey, Mexico. She works on organizational cultures, power and workers’ subjectivity and explores specifically body language in oppressive work environments. She obtained her PhD in sociology from the University of Marburg, Germany. Luigi M. Solivetti is Professor of Sociology at the Department of Social Sciences and Economics of the Sapienza University of Rome. He conducted fieldwork in Sub-Saharan Africa and research work in collaboration with London School of Economics and Political Science, Italian Ministry of Justice, National Centre for Prevention and Social Control (Milan), University of Sokoto (Nigeria), European Social Science Research Group on Drug Issues, Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat), and Swiss Government (Federal Office for Public Health). He published numerous works in the fields of Social Control, Social Change and Development, and Immigration. Fellow of the International Institute for the Sociology of Law, Oñati. Fellow of the Mannheim Centre for Criminology, London. He works as referee for international journals such as The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, International Sociology, Genus, Revue Internationale de Sociologie - International Review of Sociology, Africa (Roma), Oxford Development Studies, The European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, Punishment & Society, Rassegna Italiana di Criminologia, The Social Science Journal, and The European Journal of Criminology. Among his main publications regarding immigration: Immigrazione, integrazione e crimine in Europa, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2004; Immigration, Social Integration and Crime: A Cross-National Approach, Abingdon and New York, Routledge, 2010; Immigrazione, società e crimine, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2013. Hande Ünsal is an academic specialized in private international law. She has obtained her law degree from Ankara University Law School. She got her PhD degree from Ankara University Law School with her thesis titled “Jurisdiction Issue in investment Disputes and the Applicable Law to the Substance”. Her thesis is rewarded with Doctoral Thesis Award by
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Economic Research Foundation in 2016. She is serving as an academic member in OndokuzMayÕs University, Samsun in the department of Political Science and Public Administration. Bianca Maria Pirani (editor), Professor of Sociology of Cultural Networks at the Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Political Sciences, Communication, and Sociology, “Sapienza”, University of Rome, is President and Program Coordinator of the Research Committee 54 “The Body in the Social Sciences” of the International Sociological Association. http://www.isa-sociology.org/en/research-networks/researchcommittees/rc54-the-body-in-the-social-sciences/ She is a Member of the Editorial Board of “Current Sociology Monograph” and of the Board of Research Advisors for the Journal Global Sociology. She is also Member of EAG on Political Communication at Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Her research field focuses on the ways in which biologically experienced time in a technologically shrinking world interacts with cultural traditions, with social systems, with social innovations, with new technologies, with embodied memory and with human and community bonds. She has published widely on the ever increasing insights into the relations between human bodies and social knowledge as frst editor and author of the following publications: Bodily Order. Mind, Emotion and Social Memory, “Current Sociology”, vol. 53 n. 2, 2005, Sage; —. (2008), Bianca Maria Pirani (ed.), The New Boundaries between Bodies and Technologies, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle; —. (2009), Bianca Maria Pirani, Ivan Varga, (eds.) Acting Bodies and Social Networks. Volume I: The Body as Social Icon. Volume II: Mapping Bodies in Networked Space. University Press of America, Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Lanham MD20706, USA; —. (2011) Bianca Maria Pirani, Ivan Varga (eds.), Learning from Memory: Body, Memory and Technology in a Globalizing World, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle, NE5 2JA, UK; —. (2013) Bianca Maria Pirani, T.S. Smith (eds.), Body and Time; Bodily Rhythms and Social Synchronism in the Digital Media Society, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle, NE5 2JA, UK; —. (2014) Bianca Maria Pirani Beyond the Skin The Boundaries between Bodies and Technologies in an Unequal World, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle, NE5 2JA, UK; —. (2016) Bianca Maria Pirani (ed.), Embodiment and Cultural Differences, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle, NE5 2JA, UK.