Anna Maria Birindelli, Analysis of integration: changes and continuity

In this article we attempt to put into some sort of order the currents of thought and political management strategies adopted in the course of the twentieth century but as it was stated from the outset, it would not be a systematic account of everything produced by the literature on integration. The procedure therefore used broad guidelines, looking for some of the elements that made up the pre-1970s texture of the subject and going on in the more recent period to identify themes that can be considered the natural continuation of what had been previously created, how new sources of reflection were developed inside the questions concerning integration itself, or were externally introduced.

Patrick Simon, Challenging the ‘French model of integration’: discrimination and the labour market case in France

French integration policy regarding immigrants has recently encountered a shift from assimilation to a fight against discrimination. This new objective on the political agenda can first be accounted for by the emergence of the issue of the «second generation », i.e. the children of immigrants who arrived in France in the ’60s and ’70s. According to the French model of integration, the offspring of immigrants – a vast majority of whom are French – should follow the same trajectories in schools or labour market as those from the same social class. The persistence of unequal treatment of immigrants and the “second generation” in the school system and on the labour market proves that such equality has not been obtained. We provide a synthesis of data on the position of immigrants and second generation in the labour market, which reveal many obstacles on the path to integration. Discrimination casts a shadow on the promises given by the “model of integration” and forces us to reconsider its contents.

Claudia Diehl, Sonja Haug, Assessing migration and integration in an immigration hesitant country: the sources and problems of data in Germany

This article aims to survey the existing data on immigration and integration in Germany, as well as the difficulties that users of such data often face. It begins by introducing the evolution of immigration, the characteristics of foreign-origin population, and the basic features of German reception and integration policies. It follows an overview of existing official and unofficial aggregate and individual level data on immigration, emigration, and the size and characteristics of the immigrant stock. Finally, the article summarizes several exemplary studies that draw upon such information, and briefly discusses the shortcomings of the various data sources.

Karen Phalet, Marc Swyngedouw, Measuring immigrant integration: the case of Belgium

Belgium, like its neighbours, has received pre- and post-war European and non-European labour immigrants and their families, whose children are forming an emerging second generation. Likewise, Belgium attracts an increasingly diverse inflow of refugees, asylum seekers, undocumented migrants and EU free movers. As a multination state, however, Belgium is also unique. Specifically, it stands out by the late and diffuse implementation of its official integration policies, with considerable discrepancies in policy practices between the semi- autonomous regions of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. This review presents the main national data sources on the integration of immigrant communities in the 1990s, including the 1991 census and a series of special surveys. The main part of the paper discusses exemplary measures and findings pertaining to socio-economic, cultural and political dimensions of immigrant integration. The analyses document contextual variation in enduring socio-economic disadvantage, along with cultural pluralism and multiple identities in ethnic relations between immigrants and hosts. We conclude that the Belgian case has wider comparative relevance, as it demonstrates that the varying contexts of immigration and settlement, and the more or less conflicted ethnic relations between immigrant and host communities, make the difference between integration and exclusion.

Justus Veenman, The socioeconomic and cultural integration of immigrants in the Netherlands

Like many other Western European countries, the Netherlands became an immigrant country in the second half of the 20th century. Most of the immigrants belong to population groups with an average disadvantaged socioeconomic position. In the Netherlands these groups, called ‘ethnic minorities’, are the target of social policy to combat social deprivation. Unfortunately, this policy is not very effective. Three categories can be distinguished: ‘classical’ groups of labour and (post)colonial immigrants, ‘new’ refugee groups, and immigrants from industrialized countries. The latter are the best integrated into Dutch society. The ‘classical’ and the ‘new’ groups on the other hand have a disadvantaged position in education and in the labour market. This can be explained with the help of a general model, in which the (objective) opportunity structure, the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion, and the immigrants’ resources are the determinants of the immigrants’ socioeconomic position. From the Dutch experience it seems that the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion play a dominant role. They help to explain the restricted effectiveness of social policy, since this policy too is infected by a ‘cultural bias’ which makes it rather difficult for immigrants to fully participate in the receiving society. It needs what is called a ‘Baron Von Münchausen’ approach to really improve social policy and also the immigrants’ socioeconomic position.

Nicoletta Cibella, Domenico Gabrielli, Salvatore Strozza, Enrico Tucci, Measuring immigrants’ integration in Italy on the basis of official statistics

This contributions analyses the problems involved in the creation of a system of indicators for the integration of immigrant communities in Italy utilising the official statistics. In the first section, the evolution of foreign immigration in Italy is reconstructed since the 1980s, focusing in particular on the past decade. This rich and complex portrait, however, increases the difficulties of the analysis, due to the considerable differences in almost all the profiles of the immigrant communities in Italy. In the second section, aspects and measurements of integration process are identified considering the definitions of integration adopted at the political level or discussed in the scientific debate. The reference spheres of the integration process are considered to be the migration characteristics, demographic aspects (in terms of characteristics and behaviour), economic aspects (work and income), social aspects (relations with the receiving and sending countries, housing, health and deviance), and cultural aspects (education and language knowledge). The last section of the article examines the ways in which the available statistics enable us to analyse some of the features of integration identified previously. Attention is focused on the social and demographic aspects enabling us to make a general portrait of the characteristics of the main foreign communities, and on the insertion in the labour market, a fundamental condition for achieving a full integration in the host society. An examination of the data shows a growing immigration with an increasingly complex structure.

Corrado Bonifazi, Maria G. Caruso, Cinzia Conti, Salvatore Strozza, Measuring migrant integration in the nineties: the contribution of field surveys in Italy

In Italy, field surveys have been an essential tool for knowledge on immigration, since this phenomenon first started in the early 1980s. Great attention has been paid to the sampling procedures to be used for a basically unknown or unidentified reference population. This contribution describes the main features of this process, in particular, with reference to field surveys that are more focused on the quantitative aspects of immigration. The paper concentrates on the outcomes of two specific and relatively recent surveys: the one conducted in 1997 by the IRP-CNR on a national sample of Ghanaian and Egyptian immigrants. and a second one conducted in Rome in 2001 by “La Sapienza” University of Rome on Filipinos, Moroccans, Peruvians and Romanians. The results of first survey highlighted the relevance of the duration of the stay in determining the outcomes of immigration, particularly in terms of integration in the receiving country. The survey has likewise shown the differences of models, projects and intentions characterising the variegated world of immigration. In the second survey, the duration of stay in Italy remains the core variable in defining the living conditions of immigrants. In fact, the longer is the period of stay, the more the level of integration improves and the percentage of irregulars decreases. From the employment point of view, compared to the other three communities, Filipinos appear to be rather well off (they have been in Italy for a number of years, with a much lower percentage of illegal immigrants). However, Filipinos (particularly women) record the highest rate of occupational segregation. Surveys collected specific and analytical information on important aspects of immigrants’ life that are not provided by the available official sources.

Vicente Gozálvez Pérez, The integration of immigrants in Spain

The number of legal foreign residents in Spain stood at 1.1 million in 2001, or 2.7% of the country’s population. However, the rate of increase was one of the highest in Europe for the period 1991-2001, 8.1% annually for the totality of foreigners, 15.4% annually for developing country nationals, who are the large majority. The latter increase results from numerous extraordinary regularisations of non-community workers. Africans comprise the largest, fastest-growing group and also the one that seems to have the more difficulties in integrating into the Spanish society. Foreigners concentrate in Madrid and the Mediterranean coast. Immigration policies were initiated in 1985 and reformed in 1991, 1996, 2000 and 2001, in order to regulate illegal migratory flows and to facilitate the integration of immigrants already resident in Spain. Discrimination against immigrant integration has been studied using indicators obtained from surveys of Spaniards and the immigrants themselves. Whilst immigrants’ “readiness” to become more integrated appears to have risen, Spaniards recently ostracise immigrants more, or at least view them as a “burden”.

Ismo Söderling, Integration of migrants in Europe: the case of Finland

Traditionally, Finland has been a country of emigration. The situation has changed since 1990 and today the number of immigrants is 104,000, 2% of the total population. The Finnish immigration policy has been quite restrictive. Gradually, the withdrawal of the large postwar age groups from the labor market has led to demands for change in the migration strategy – with the new concept being “an active migration policy”. Integration approach has been implemented in three phases: a) the laissez-faire phase (1973-1985), b) the preliminary integration period (ca. 1986-1996) and c) the integration phase (1997 onward). The first Integration Act (still in force) was passed in 1999. The model carried out in Finland resembles to a great extent that practiced in Sweden. It has been found in both countries that attempts to emphasize the initiative of the immigrants often fail because they have been supported for too long by public social networks. Several specific reasons were seen for so little progress in implementing the Integration Act. First, the municipal programs are diverse and their achievement may vary in practice. Second, integration programs are work-based – there is an obvious lack of general education or training in social issues. The third remark is related to the fact that these programs focus very little on family members. The fourth and most problematic obstacle is perhaps that, in practice, the integration plan is often just another piece of bureaucratic paper and many immigrants do not even know what it means. The Finnish authorities are aware of these obstacles and comprehensive reforms are being prepared. Research on integration is also being strongly promoted by the Government and the Academy of Finland.