scholarly journals Seeking political inclusion : the case of South Asian political representation in Peel Region

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Andrew Matheson
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Racial Minority ◽  
Political Opportunity Structure ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structure ◽  
City Councils ◽  
Political Office ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
The City

Analyzes the patterns of racial minority political representation in the Greater Toronto Areas and sets out to answer three general questions: Why are the rates of racial minority political representation higher in the suburban centres of Mississauga and Brampton than in the City of Toronto? Why have South Asian politicians succeeded in achieving political office at greater rates than other racial minority politicians? And why are the city councils of Toronto's surrounding suburbs still suffering from greater rates of racial minority underrepresentation? This study concludes that a variety of variables have led to a more favourable suburban political opportunity structure: the faster growth rates and higher residential concentration of South Asian communities, higher rates of affluence among South Asian communities, lower incumbency rates, the 'colour coding' of Peel's federal electoral districts, high concentrations of ethnic civil organizations, and the fear of being labeled terrorists.

scholarly journals Seeking political inclusion : the case of South Asian political representation in Peel Region

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Andrew Matheson
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Racial Minority ◽  
Political Opportunity Structure ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structure ◽  
City Councils ◽  
Political Office ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
The City

Analyzes the patterns of racial minority political representation in the Greater Toronto Areas and sets out to answer three general questions: Why are the rates of racial minority political representation higher in the suburban centres of Mississauga and Brampton than in the City of Toronto? Why have South Asian politicians succeeded in achieving political office at greater rates than other racial minority politicians? And why are the city councils of Toronto's surrounding suburbs still suffering from greater rates of racial minority underrepresentation? This study concludes that a variety of variables have led to a more favourable suburban political opportunity structure: the faster growth rates and higher residential concentration of South Asian communities, higher rates of affluence among South Asian communities, lower incumbency rates, the 'colour coding' of Peel's federal electoral districts, high concentrations of ethnic civil organizations, and the fear of being labeled terrorists.

Hollow parties and their movement-ization: The populist conundrum

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 1084-1105
Author(s):  
Jean L. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Opportunity Structure ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Constitutional Democracy ◽  
Opportunity Structure ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Western Democracies

This article focuses on the relationship between social movements and political parties in the context of populist challenges to constitutional democracy. There are many reasons for the current plight of democracy but I focus here on one aspect: the decline of mainstream political parties, the emergence of new forms of populist movement parties and the general crisis of political representation in long consolidated Western democracies. This article analyses the specific political logic and dynamics of social movements – the logic of influence, and distinguishes it from that of political parties – the logic of power. It addresses transformations in movements, parties and their relationships. It looks at the shifts in movement and party types that constitute the political opportunity structure for the emergence of new populist movement party forms and relationships, focusing on the hollowing out and movement-ization of political parties. Contemporary populist movement parties are not the cause of the hollowing out or movement-ization of political parties. Rather they are a response to the crisis of political representation exemplified by hollow parties and cartel parties. But it is my thesis that thanks to its specific logic, populism fosters the worst version of movement party relationships, undermining the democratic functions of both.

‘Non siamo clandestini. Siamo i nuovi cittadini'. Le mobilitazioni dei migranti tra percorsi di cittadinanza e istanze di riconoscimento

2013 ◽  
pp. 21-45
Author(s):  
Ilenya Camozzi
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Subjective Perception ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Political Opportunity Structure ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structure ◽  
Internal Dynamics ◽  
The City ◽  
Shed Light

In the last few years there has been a significant increase in studies on migrants' associations and political participation. These analyses generally focus on the macro- social aspects of migrants' associations and political participation: scholars combine this phenomenon with the study of social capital and networks on one hand, and the concepts of civic community and political opportunity structure on the other. Nevertheless there is still a lack of attention to both the internal dynamics of migrants' associations, and the conflictual aspects of their mobilizations. The paper presents the results of an empirical study conducted in the city of Milan examining specific forms of migrants' associations claiming citizenship and political rights. The narratives of the migrants involved in these associations shed light on their subjective perception both of mis-recognition as humans from Italian institutions and paternalistic support from Italian activists. These conflictual elements are the reason they establish associations and embark on forms of mobilization. Special attention is devoted to an impressive protest that saw migrants occupying the top of a disused industrial chimney in November 2010. The protest - which came about against the outcome of the 2009 amnesty described by migrants as ‘fraudulent', and at the same time aimed to relaunch the mobilization of migrants in Italy after many years of inactivity - failed after 2 months. Internal divisions within the Immigrants' Committee on the way to conduct the protest was one of the main reasons for its failure.

scholarly journals From words to actions: potentials of the ethnographic method for the study of integration policies

1970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco José Cuberos Gallardo
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Political Opportunity Structure ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structure ◽  
Associative Networks ◽  
Latin Americans ◽  
Municipal Council ◽  
Integration Policies ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

Many institutions all over Europe have been working to create forums with the objective of fostering the active participation of immigrants and strengthening their associative networks. The political opportunity structure (POS) concept can help us understand the impact these measures have on the process of integrating immigrants. However, doing so means using an investigative methodology that also picks up on the undesired effects of these policies and analyses their transcendence. This project's main objective is to measure the potentials which the ethnographic method offers in this regard. To this end the authors present an analysis of the city of Seville's (Spain) Municipal Council for Immigrant Participation (CMPI) and its effects on the associative networks of Latin Americans who live in the city.

How Students on College Campuses Created Opportunities for Workers in Sweatshops

Contention ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-52
Author(s):  
Matthew S. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Opportunity Structure ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structure ◽  
College Administrators ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Apparel Companies ◽  
A Chain

Political opportunity structure (POS) refers to how the larger social context, such as repression, shapes a social movement’s chances of success. Most work on POS looks at how movements deal with the political opportunities enabling and/or constraining them. This article looks at how one group of social movement actors operating in a more open POS alters the POS for a different group of actors in a more repressive environment through a chain of indirect leverage—how United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) uses the more open POS on college campuses to create new opportunities for workers in sweatshop factories. USAS exerts direct leverage over college administrators through protests, pushing them to exert leverage over major apparel companies through the licensing agreements schools have with these companies.

Mobilizing Under the Gun: Theorizing Political Opportunity Structure in a Highly Repressive Setting

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eitan Alimi
Keyword(s):  
Research Program ◽  
Contentious Politics ◽  
Political Opportunity Structure ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structure ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Political Events ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures ◽  
Different Levels

Although episodes of contentious politics in undemocratic regimes constitute the lion's share of contentious political events worldwide, the theorizing of political opportunity structures is based largely on contentious episodes in democratic/liberal political settings. This anomaly hampers recent attempts to redefine the boundaries among episodes of contention across time and place. Employing the case of the first Palestinian Intifada (1987-1992), I critically examine three theoretical aspects of political opportunity structures (POS): (1) how the link between POS, strateg, and tactics is forged; (2) how different levels of POS interact; and (3) the ability of multiactor movements to cope with the shifting nature of POS. I conclude by briefly illustrating the relevance of my findings to other structurally similar cases, and discuss the implications of my analysis for further sensitization of the Dynamics of Contention research program.

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