Immigrant Society Research Articles

‘Citizenship from below’: integration as assemblage for immigrant young people volunteers in Canada

ABSTRACT One prominent issue facing Canada as an immigrant society pertains to the social and cultural integration of immigrant young people, who are often criticised in academic and popular discourse as passive citizens. Adopting an explanatory sequential mixed method approach, this study examines the civic engagement and participation of immigrant young people, via volunteering, as a ‘citizenship from below’. The concept of assemblage as a theoretical framework allows for an understanding of social integration as practices of ‘citizenship from below’ and social formations that are affective, relational and configured. One layer of social integration views immigrant young people volunteering as an assemblage that provides them with agency evolving over time as they mature and move more towards a deeper connection to community to effect change as a form of lived citizenship. Second, developing a sense of belonging and identity with Canada illustrates an affective dimension or layer in the assemblage of social integration. The study also suggests that young people volunteering-as-assemblage is an integral part of social integration and citizenship that is endlessly being socially produced and assembled. The findings challenge the diffuse negative perceptions about immigrant young people as passive citizens and extant knowledge about the relationships among immigration, integration, citizenship and belonging.

Differences in economic consequences of union dissolution across gender and ethnic groups in Belgium and Israel

ABSTRACT Given increased ethnic diversity in Europe and Israel in recent decades, coupled with high union dissolution rates, the study compares two case studies exemplifying diverse ethnic and immigrant societies – Belgium and Israel. We examine differences between ethnic, migrant, and gender groups in each country, and the intersections between them, regarding the economic outcome of union dissolution, as well as the effect of reemployment on these consequences. The study adds to the broad discussion on union dissolution and inequality in the dimensions of ethnicity, migration and gender and their intersections across countries. Growth models were applied to data from two longitudinal sources: the Data Warehouse on Labor Market and Social Security for Belgium and administrative data from tax authorities with the National Insurance Institute database for Israel. Results show that change in income upon separation is gendered and varies between ethnic/migrant groups in both countries. Cross-country differences were found in the effect of reemployment mainly among women, as it increases the income of minority-group women in Belgium but not Israel. The study emphasizes the importance of the intersectionality perspective in comparative studies, revealing the interplay between ethnicity, gender, and country in how ex-partners cope with the financial consequences of union dissolution.

Religion and Social Trust: Evidence From Chinese Christians in New Zealand

Social trust is vital for immigrant societies with diverse backgrounds, as it bridges differences, fosters mutual understanding, and facilitates collective actions. While most studies on the relationship between religion and social trust focus on North America and Europe, little is known about this dynamic in New Zealand. This paper examines Chinese New Zealander Christians to explore how religion fosters social trust. The findings were derived from an interpretive analysis of 47 Chinese New Zealander Christians from mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Most interviewees exhibited low general trust in strangers because of the complex and untrustworthy post-pandemic social environment. Believing in Christianity did not mitigate this negative impact. Interviewees’ particular trust in fellow congregators varied. Social network theory offers a plausible explanation for this phenomenon. Most interviewees cultivated trust in fellow congregators through frequent informal interactions outside churches. Regular face-to-face religious activities and a shared religious identity had little impact on forming particular trust in other Christians. Furthermore, Chinese Christians were internally divided based on their homelands and dialects, hindering them from constructing a shared identity. The findings enhance our understanding of how religion affects social trust among ethnic minority immigrants and their identity construction within religious communities.

Chinese Christian Community in Modern Singapore: The Case of the Jubilee Church, 1883–1942

The Chinese Christian community occupies an essential position in the pluralistic religious landscape of modern Singapore, which is known as a multicultural and multiracial immigrant society. Despite being a minority compared with Buddhists and Taoists in Singapore, the historical formation and contemporary existence of the Chinese Christian community in Singapore not only embodies religious diversity, but also contributes significantly to Singapore’s social development. This paper zooms into the founding and evolution of the Jubilee Church to see how Chinese Christians contributed to the revolutionary cause, took part in the anti-opium movement, and advanced educational activities in Singapore. Particularly, by establishing the Singapore Reading Room, participating in the founding of the Anti-Opium Society and the Chinese Kindergarten, the Jubilee Church played an important role in Singapore’s history, contributing to the modernization of Singapore in terms of advancing ideas, improving social order, and promoting education. We aim to shed light on how Chinese Christians were engaged in social activities, taking up significant roles in the transformation of the Chinese diaspora in Singapore. More importantly, we argue that these varied social engagements significantly impacted the development of Christianity. Through a detailed historical case study on the Jubilee Church, this paper proposes that social functions and religious evangelization are mutually constitutive, thus complicating our understanding of the entangled relationship among Chinese diaspora, Christianity, and motherland China.

What Explains Voting for DENK: Issues, Discrimination or In-group Favouritism?

ABSTRACT Why do ethnic and religious minorities vote for DENK? DENK is the first pro-Turkey and pro-Islam party represented in Dutch parliament, led by Turkish- and Moroccan-origin politicians who openly profess to practicing Islam. Drawing on an original survey (N= 905) among Dutch voters in which we oversampled those with Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese roots, we put three possible explanations to the test: issues, discrimination and in-group favouritism. Each subsample is religiously mixed and includes Muslims and/or Christians and voters who are not religious. While ethnic in-group favouritism, feelings of belonging in the Netherlands, experiences with discrimination and issues sometimes explain voting for DENK, Muslim in-group favouritism is the decisive factor. These findings contribute to understanding voting behaviour in increasingly religiously diverse European immigration societies.

Descendants of the dragon: racialized mixed Chineseness in immigrant China

ABSTRACT Following China’s rise as an economic powerhouse, the country’s immigrant population has quickly increased and diversified, leading to an increase in romantic relationships between foreign and Chinese citizens. This article analyzes the racialization of belonging and citizenship of Chinese nationals born into Chinese-foreign families living in China. Drawing on data gathered through analyzing online debates and media reports, supplemented by interviews and fieldwork observations, the article investigates how discussions about the identity of vloggers, pop stars, and athletes of mixed Chinese-foreign descent shed light on rising Chinese racial nationalism at a time when China has become a destination for international migration and a new frontier for racial knowledge production. We argue that this process is characterized by a tension between China’s emergence as an immigrant society and the hardening boundaries of its national identity.

Ethnic socialisation profiles and depression among ethnic minority adolescents in China: a person-centred approach

BackgroundEthnic socialisation plays a vital role in the development of ethnic minority adolescents. However, the generalizability of research findings beyond the context of immigrant societies in the United States remains unclear.MethodsUtilising a person-centred approach, this study analysed a sample of 2,600 ethnic minority adolescents in China (55.8% female, Mage = 14.93 ± 1.82) to explore ethnic socialisation patterns, and their correlations with depression.ResultsLatent profile analysis revealed four distinct ethnic socialisation profiles: low-frequency, moderate-frequency, high-frequency and proactive integration orientation. Adolescents with the high-frequency profile displayed the highest levels of depression, followed by those with the moderate-frequency profile, whereas adolescents with the low-frequency and proactive integration orientation profiles showed a lower risk of depression.ConclusionsWithin the sociocultural context of China, ethnic minority families’ ethnic socialisation practices demonstrate unique characteristics. Various ethnic socialisation messages are integrated in diverse patterns to exert influence on adolescents.

A study of college students' perspectives on marriage immigration: Relationships of multicultural acceptance

AbstractThe objectives of this study were to explore the multicultural acceptance of college students toward new immigrants and its influencing factors, the cognitive discrepancy between college students and new immigrants, and the reasons why college students exhibit prejudice, stereotypes, and social distance toward new immigrants. The questionnaire survey approach was applied for data collection. It was found that the stereotype of college students toward new immigrants was relatively positive. College students recorded a high multicultural acceptance toward new immigrants. However, in addition to the stereotype of college students toward new immigrants, there were significant differences regarding the cognition of college students and new immigrants. The results of this study confirmed the hypothesis that stereotype, prejudice, and social distance have significantly negative influence on multicultural acceptance. The findings of this study revealed that Taiwan is an immigrant society, and there should be greater tolerance and respect for married immigrants, to prevent conflicts between different ethnic groups. A good multicultural education would help Taiwan society accept new immigrants and establish social harmony.

Linguistic hostility, social exclusion, and the agency of African migrants in Hong Kong

Abstract Long an immigrant society, whether Hong Kong welcomes ethnic minorities remains debatable. Combining Wesselmann and colleagues’ (2016) social exclusion framework, raciolinguistics, and interview data, this study investigates the social exclusion experience of Hong Kong's African economic and student migrants. The findings show that African immigrants who lack linguistic capacity are ostracised in different areas of life. Impolite language usage stigmatises them as poor and ghost-like and stereotypes them as refugees. Taking a raciolinguistic perspective, however, this study finds that race, rather than language, is the root cause of social exclusion. Lastly, the study shows that African migrants manifest agency in ameliorating marginalisation through various activities, revealing the bidirectional nature of social exclusion. Overall, this study empirically enriches the current understanding of Africans’ social exclusion experiences in Hong Kong through the lens of language. It theoretically contributes to the current discussion on raciolinguistics by extending it to the Asian context. (Social exclusion, Hong Kong, African immigrants, verbal rejection, non-verbal rejection, racism, raciolinguistics)*

HERITAGE LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY IN RELATION TO EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT, MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MALAYSIAN CHINESE (MAHUA)

Emotional attachment (EA) to the community's language reshapes speakers' identities and aids in maintaining that language in most immigrant societies. Language also serves the social purpose of identifying identity characteristics and significantly impacts social identity development. However, more research is still needed on how Chinese Heritage Language Learners (CHLLs) form their identities, particularly when examining the relationship between this identity construction and language learning (Zhou, 2016). Therefore, this study uses a quantitative approach to explore the correlations between EA and CHLL's motivation and attitudes and the Malaysian CHLL's Chinese language proficiency (CLP) in relation to EA, motivations and attitudes. It also draws on the Chinese Identity Theory (Wang, 1985) and Gardner and Lambert's (1972) psychosocial model. The study found that participants in Malaysian public and private secondary schools showed high CLP in listening, speaking, and reading (over 80%), relatively low scores in writing (around 77%) and positive attitudes toward learning Chinese, high integrative motivation, and low CHL classroom anxiety, according to the study; the distinction is that, while Chinese cultural identity and attitudes toward Malaysian Chinese are thought to be the best predictors of CLP for the public school group, traditional Chinese dress, eating, housing, and transportation are considered to be the best predictors of CLP for the private school group.

A Study on Legislation for the Influx of Foreign Human Resources: Drawing Insights from Japanese Cases

In December 2018, the Japanese government introduced “Initiatives to Accept Foreign Nationals and for the Realization of Society of Harmonious Coexistence.” This initiative aimed at a more robust and comprehensive approach toward accepting and integrating foreign talents. The Japanese government also developed the Roadmap for the Realization of a Society of Harmonious Coexistence with Foreign Nationals. This roadmap delineates policies to achieve a symbiotic society and outlines the vision for an environment where foreigners coexist harmoniously with Japanese nationals. With an anticipated rise in the foreign population in Japan, the Japanese government designated the Ministry of Justice as the central authority for overseeing the acceptance and integration of foreign talents across governmental levels. In Japan, this was acknowledged as pivotal for the nation’s future rather than solely addressing labor shortages and the plan involved a comprehensive, longterm policy review. South Korea also faces various societal challenges due to a declining birthrate, making the acceptance of foreign immigrants indispensable. Japan’s pursuit of a gradual transition to an immigration society while promoting acceptance and coexistence of foreign talent presents significant implications for Korea, which is seeking to introduce a new immigration policy.

Adult Migrants’ Language Training in Austria: The Role of Central and Eastern European Teachers

Language has gained increasing importance in immigration policies in Western European states, with a new model of citizenship, the <em>ius linguarum</em> (Fejes, 2019; Fortier, 2022), at its core. Accordingly, command of the (national) languages of host states operates both as a resource and as an ideological framework, legitimating the reproduction of inequalities among various migrant and non‐migrant groups. In this article, we analyse the implications of such processes in the context of state‐subsidised language teaching for refugees and migrants in Austria. Specifically, the article aims to explore labour migration, namely that of Central and Eastern European (CEE, including EU and non‐EU citizen) professionals—mainly language teachers who enter the field of adult language teaching in Austria seeking a living and career prospects that they cannot find in the significantly underpaid educational sectors of CEE states. This article shows that the arrival of CEE professionals into these difficult and precarious jobs is enabled first by historical processes linking the CEE region to former political and economic power centres. Second, it is facilitated by legal, administrative, and symbolic processes that construct CEE citizens as second‐order teachers in the field of migrant education in Austria. Our article, based on ethnographic fieldwork and qualitative interviews, highlights nuanced ways in which historically, economically, and politically embedded language geographies contribute to the reproduction of hierarchies of membership, inclusion, and exclusion in present‐day immigration societies.

Czech Sacred Places in Texas as the Key Element for Preserving Czech Identity

The process of Czech and Moravian immigration to Texas is a well-known phenomenon. Since 1848, tens of thousands decided to cross the ocean to seek a better future in the “Lone Star state.“ Although their history is well documented, there are still themes to be explored. Their religious activity and the connection it has created with their metropolis is one of them. The church and its institutions sent priests to America to attend to the immigrants in their mother tongue and helped them preserve their cultural identity. Furthermore, they organized the construction of their sacred places that would remind the parishioners of their home country. One example could be the famous painted churches still present in Texas today.
 This topic has not received proper attention from historians because it requires studying sources on both sides of the Atlantic. The presented contribution tries to change this unflattering fact using the microhistorical approach. Its aim is threefold. First, explain the historical dimension of the religious connection between the Czech and Moravian immigrants in Texas with their metropolis. Second, describe the sacred places of the immigrants, how they were built, what role they played in their everyday life, and how they established a bond with their country of origin. Third, what importance did the sacred places of the Czechs and Moravians have in preserving their language and cultural identity? The microhistorical approach demands the use of various and fragmented sources, and this study will be no exception. It will use archive material from Austria and the Czech Republic, principally the funds of the religious organizations that supported the immigrants in Texas, such as the Leopoldine Society. Furthermore, the article will use published contemporary personal recounts and secondary literature. The content of these sources will be critically analysed to answer the research questions and hopefully contribute to the theme of religion and its invaluable role in an immigrant society.

The formation of the international immigrantsociety in modern Singapore

In exploring the formation of the international immigrant society in modern Singapore, we delve into the intertwiningfactors that have shaped its unique social structure. We begin by examining the historical context, tracing the waves ofmigration that have influenced the nation’s identity. We then consider the effects of Singapore’s immigration policiesand how they’ve opened avenues for diversity. Moving forward, we dissect the influences of multiculturalism, which arevisibly ingrained in everyday life in Singapore. Lastly, we examine the economic drivers that make the city-state attractiveto immigrants. Throughout our analysis, we highlight the key roles of the government’s promotion of multiculturalismand its strategy to attract talent, affirming these as major contributors to the richness of Singaporean society...

Bringing migrants' perspectives in ‘migration as an adaptation strategy’ discourses

AbstractOver the last few years, migration is increasingly being framed as an adaptation strategy to deal with climate change, to move away from apocalyptic representations of migration in debates on climate change. While acknowledging the merit of this discourse, this commentary calls for more attention to include migrants' perspectives in debates on environmental migration and reflecting on how such discourses work out in practice. As most studies have focused on regions of origin being impacted adversely by climate change, and the ability/willingness to migrate, the perspectives of migrants themselves and how they feel about their migration and integration, whether internally or internationally, facing slow‐onset or sudden climate impacts, have not been discussed thoroughly. This point of view is needed to grasp the preconditions of success for such discourses, as migrants occupy vulnerable positions in immigrant societies, but are pressured to have a ‘double engagement’ towards both the region of origin and destination.

The Intermediary Role of Women Workers for the Inclusion of Women Migrants SOGIESC: Between Recognition and Reflexivity

AbstractThe intermediary role of women workers in NGOs is very important when lesbian, bisexual and queer migrant women apply for international protection in immigration countries. They are more exposed to multiple forms of discrimination when experiencing the intersection of multiple elements of vulnerability (gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, social class, etc.). Applying the technique of narrative interviewing to women NGO workers in Italy, on the one hand, we will try to understand the role of intermediaries that these women assume in taking care of migrant women who are distinguished by Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) and, on the other, to understand whether these women’s activities constitute an opportunity to construct new gendered and sexual imaginaries to the extent that they themselves live a web of experiences that are in some ways similar to those of migrant women. Intermediation enables women workers to acquire a critical capacity with respect to their personal investment in the cause of SOGIESC persons and with respect to the procedure itself for obtaining international protection. Achieving this awareness allows women workers to suggest actions that, inspired by an intersectional perspective, are more appropriate in responding to the multiple vulnerabilities experienced by SOGIESC migrant women in the immigration society.

A capital theory approach to migrants' views and engagement with climate adaptation in the region of origin: A qualitative study in Belgium

AbstractCombining insights from migration and climate adaptation studies, this study examines how migrants living in Belgium contribute to climate adaptation in their region of origin, based on 29 qualitative interviews with migrants in Belgium. The findings varied considerably, depending on the region of origin, the main driver of migration and the possibility of returning. The results show that both the knowledge and capacity to contribute to climate adaptation in the region of origin depends on the forms and degrees of capital individuals have, both in the immigrant country and region of origin. Migrants with more cultural capital in the region of origin had more transnational bonding and bridging ties, resulting in more opportunities to contribute to the development of the region. However, as many of the interviewees originated from urban areas, their actions were oriented more towards waste, pollution and life domains other than climate adaptation. This contrasts with migrants with less formal cultural capital. Due to specific living conditions, they were more familiar with local climate impacts. Their transnational bonding social ties increased this knowledge and familiarity with the need for climate adaptation. Nevertheless, the high costs of integration into the immigrant society and a lack of cultural and economic capital limits this group's capacity to contribute to climate adaptation initiatives in the region of origin. Bringing the concept of ‘migrant capital’ into the study of climate adaptation fills a gap in the literature on environmental migration, and especially engages with discourses that frame migration as an adaptation strategy.

Postcolonialism and postmigration: Re-mapping the topography of the possible

The term postmigration was developed in Europe and has also received attention beyond the German-speaking context in recent years. It covers various aspects and allows for a discussion of social, political and cultural contexts, which can generally be described as counter-hegemonic knowledge production. It re-interprets and re-contextualizes historical, as well as current developments in immigration societies. Since postmigration has certain analogies with the discourse on postcolonialism, we will first deal with Eurocentric ideology related to postcolonialism. Subsequently, we will present the basic concepts of postmigration and address their relevance for critical and contemporary research in migration studies and social analysis. Thus, postmigration, through an aesthetic, material and affective intervention in the practical field, opens up new possibilities for political modes of resistance and subjectification beyond hegemonic interpretations of belonging.

Rethinking frame analysis ‘from the margins’: A decolonial-intersectional epistemology to studying immigrants’ rights claims

In this article, I explain how I use frame analysis in my research on immigrants’ rights claims in receiving society. My theoretical approach relies on two core aspects. First, I use a decolonial-intersectional epistemology to conceptualize my methodology and conduct my empirical research. This approach allows to bring into focus the analysis of ideology and power dynamics to understand how immigrants are constructed by different political actors and how immigrant activists respond. Second, I adopt an actor-oriented approach and combine ethnographic research with frame analysis to make sense of how pro-immigrant actors and immigrants themselves frame their approach to migration and the ways in which they translate their framing into specific strategies to integrate immigrants in society and promote their rights. As an example, I discuss how I have applied the theoretical approach to my research on immigrant activism in Italy. Beyond my work, this article emphasizes that a decolonial-intersectional approach can improve current research on frame analysis of rights claims of marginalized groups, by addressing how these groups expose and challenge structures of oppression in their own terms.

Exploration of Urban Aesthetics Governance: The Case of Taipei City

城市美學治理是哲學，也是科學，因為它不僅反映市民美學的意識、素養與價值，也是城市追求善治的社會學習、公共選擇與城市治理的過程。台北面對全球化新自由主義的浪潮、快速變遷的移民社會與多元文化差異的現實，存在著複雜的美學意識與衝突的價值體系，要尋求台北城市美學的集體共識顯然是艱困與長期的挑戰。本文探究與建立城市美學治理的假說與邏輯架構，發展出一套包含五個漸進式的循環步驟，期待作為推動城市美學治理的程序性操作建議，並以台北市政府城市美學專案辦公室之運作進行實證案例研究。研究發現此一城市美學治理的架構與假說，可作為檢視、評估與精進城市美學治理的理論架構與實務運作之參考，另基於實證研究結果，也提出未來城市美學治理的制度性與操作性計16項具體建議，期能發揮承先起後的作用。Urban aesthetics governance is both philosophy and science, because it not only reflects the awareness, quality and value of citizens' aesthetics, but also the process of social learning, public choice and urban governance in the city's pursuit of good governance. Facing the tide of global neo-liberalism, the rapidly changing immigrant society and the reality of multicultural differences, Taipei has complex aesthetic consciousness and conflicting value systems. It is obviously difficult and long-term to seek a collective consensus on Taipei's urban aesthetics challenge. This article explores and establishes the hypothesis and logical framework of urban aesthetics governance, and develops a set of five progressive cyclical steps, which is expected to serve as a procedural operational suggestion to promote urban aesthetics governance, and is carried out with the operation of the Urban Aesthetics Project Office of the Taipei City Government empirical case studies. The research found that this framework and hypothesis of urban aesthetics governance can be used as a reference for examining, evaluating and improving the theoretical framework and practical operation of urban aesthetics governance. In addition, based on the results of this empirical research, it is proposed that the future urban aesthetics governance of Taipei City Institutional and operational specific recommendations. In addition, based on the results of this empirical study, sixteen specific suggestions for institutional and operational aspects of urban aesthetics governance in the future are put forward, hoping to play a role of succession.