Integration Policies and Public Perceptions of Immigrants in Europe

National mechanisms of migrant integration into the host society and the wider social context in which migration occurs may affect the construction of public attitudes towards migrants regardless of their origin or status. By combining the data of two international studies: the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) and the European Social Survey (ESS), this paper examines national policies regarding migrant integration and the public perception of migrants in the host society in selected European countries. This analysis highlights especially the shifts in public attitudes as possible consequences of the 2015/2016 European “migration crisis”. The data from 27 European countries that participated in the last waves of both MIPEX2020 and ESS2018 were analysed according to the four-dimensional MIPEX categorisation: 1) Comprehensive integration, 2) Equality on paper, 3) Temporary integration, and 4) Immigration without integration (Integration denied). These categories of states’ migration policies were then combined with the public perceptions of immigrants examined by the ESS. Multilevel regression models demonstrated that the respondents from countries with well-developed integration policies express a more positive attitude towards immigrants and acknowledge their contribution to all areas of the host society. A higher proportion of non-EU-27 immigrants in the country correlates with a more negative perception of immigrants’ impact on the host country. Even though the MIPEX score does not reflect clearly the shift in migration policies affected by the European “migration crisis”, it could be considered a stable, though relatively weak predictor of anti-immigrant prejudice. In conclusion, this study's findings suggest that better-developed policies of political participation and immigrant inclusion foster more positive attitudes towards immigrants.

Gender and the Role of Emotional Regulation in Intercultural Communication

This article addresses the question as to why female migrants are more negatively affected than male migrants when confronted with unfamiliar traits in communication in the host country, but they are nevertheless more willing to adapt to the foreign style of communication. To answer this question, the different management of emotional regulation (Thayer et al. 2003) by both genders was investigated. A broad survey conducted among Spanish migrants in Germany led to the conclusion that the female migrants actually perceive the investigated traits more frequently and are also more negatively affected by them. But, in comparison to the males, they have an increased ability to recognize and understand their emotions although they also display an increased tendency to ruminate. However, most of the women counteracted this tendency with a heightened ability to regulate their emotions through antirumination emotional repair strategies. According to the data, this abilityseems to lead to a greater willingness to understand the views of the natives and thus possibly to being more disposed to integrate into the host society.

Long-Term Plans and Potential for Social and Cultural Integration of Migrants (Example of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia))

The article, based on the data of a survey of migrants conducted in 2020 in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), analyzes the statistically valid relationship of variations in long-term plans of migrants with variables reflecting socio-cultural aspects of their integration potential. The analysis showed that migrants who are focused on settling in a host society (as compared to those who are focused on temporary employment) more often express their desire to settle in the neighborhood with representatives of the local population and more often live in the neighborhood of local population. They are more likely to work in teams where migrants and locals are approximately equally represented. Hence, they are more included in the space of primary socialization in the host society. More often they have friends among the local population, with whom they spend their leisure time. This category of migrants is characterized by a high degree of identity with the host community, but without loss of identification with the communities of the country of departure (country, ethnic, religious, etc.). As a result, it is concluded that migrants who have plans to settle in the host environment have a higher integration potential.

ACCULTURATION OF ARMENIANS IN RUSSIA: ROLE OF SOCIAL IDENTITIES AND DIASPORA ACTIVITY

The Armenian diaspora is one of the largest in Russia and in the world. The Armenians living in the Krasnodar Territory are a large and active group, thus, an investigation into the problem of their acculturation is of scientific and practical importance. Based on the theory of social identity, the theory of acculturation, and the regional socio-cultural context, the study focused on the role of ethnic, regional and Russian national (civic) identities and diaspora activity in the acculturation of the Armenians in the Krasnodar Territory. The study used the scales from the MIRIPS project questionnaire (Mutual Intercultural Relations in Plural Societies). The sample consisted of 181 respondents. Using structural equation modeling, the ethnic and Russian national identities of the Armenians living in the Krasnodar Territory were revealed as factors that contributed to their integration, and regional identity—as factors that fostered assimilation. Diaspora activity was determined by both ethnic and regional identity and predicted the Armenians’ attitudes towards integration and separation. Also, diaspora activity of the Armenians in the Kuban region facilitated the interconnection of ethnic and regional identities with the separation strategy. In general, the study revealed that all identities (ethnic, regional and Russian national) contribute to a certain degree to the acceptance of the host society culture by the Armenians in the Krasnodar Territory. At the same time, diaspora activity can be an effective mechanism for the adaptation of migrants or a source of problems associated with increased impenetrability of diaspora’s borders, the migrants’ exclusive focus on their ethnic group and their decreased desire for sociocultural integration into the host society. It is important to take this into account when shaping the regional interethnic relations policy.

THE ADAPTIVE CAPACITY OF YOUNG MIGRANTS FROM KYRGYZSTAN IN MOSCOW

The significant numbers of migrants from Kyrgyzstan in Moscow and the difficulties in adapting to the new conditions recorded by our research highlight the need to explore the adaptive capacity of young Kyrgyz. The lack of scientific knowledge about the potential adaptive capacities of different groups of young Kyrgyz hinders the creation of optimal conditions that would allow them to internalize norms, values, and rules of behavior, increases the potential for conflict in the Moscow community, makes the life of migrants less comfortable, and complicates integration processes in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The purpose of this study is to characterize the adaptive capacity of young people from Kyrgyzstan in Moscow that helps them fit into the social environment, allows them to overcome the discomfort caused by the contradictory social context and unfamiliar living conditions, and influences their success in the host community and their attitudes to integration. The analysis presented in this article rests on empirical data obtained from a structured interview with 823 migrants, citizens of Kyrgyzstan aged 17 to 30 years, conducted in 2020. The novelty of the study lies in a systemic examination and comprehensive assessment of the social adaptation capacity of this social community, because up to now publications on this topic have considered only some aspects of the phenomenon. In this article, “adaptive capacity” refers to the set of individual characteristics of migrants that ensures their inclusion into the host society, a change in previous norms and models of behavior, and the socialization of new behavior models emerging in the process of interaction between the individual and the new socio-cultural conditions of life and work as the synergistic effect of the relationship and interaction between the adaptive capacity of the individual and that of the environment. Its analysis is based on a description of expectations, perceptions, and social attitudes; the level of empathy, openness and complementarity with regard to the host community; and the degree of tolerance for people of other nationalities and identities. The article shows how migrants evaluate the adaptive capacity of the environment as resulting from coordinated, concerted, and friendly action by all stakeholders: government, employers, and local population. It also analyzes the associations that arise in connection with Russia. The study reveals the impact of migrants’ adaptive capacity on their attitudes to integration processes in the EAEU. It was shown that notions about the nature of the interaction between Muscovites and migrants that is necessary to harmonize the individual and the environment (assimilation, bicultural adaptation or separation) determine the depth and direction of the activities of young migrants and their assessments of concrete social reality, while their strategic preferences with regard to the cultural norms and values of other peoples determine the adaptation attitudes and strategies that largely characterize their adaptive capacity. These strategies are as follows: marginalization of young Kyrgyz in the Moscow community, complementarity, and internalization of dominant norms. The research conducted suggests the need for measures to improve interaction between migrants and the host society and provides grounds for the Eurasian Economic Commission and social institutions in Russia and Kyrgyzstan to develop measures designed to create conditions for adaptation, as well as to determine the appropriate instruments and mechanisms for this purpose. This research paves the way for developing a theory of social adaptation of migrants, for empirical research into migration processes in the post-Soviet space, and for a better understanding of the specific features of social adaptation of young people from Kyrgyzstan.

The Role of Family in the Construction of Traditions among Second-Generation Chinese Immigrants in Hungary

Previous research conducted in Hungary has shown that second generation Chinese immigrants construct a complex, multicultural identity which contains elements from the cultural environment created by the host society, the migrant diaspora, the family of the migrant and the country of origin as well. This paper presents the findings of an interview-based research project conducted in Hungary with the involvement of 20 second-generation Chinese immigrants and seeks to examine the complexity of their cultural identity, focussing especially the role of the family in the construction of traditions. According to our findings we argue that in the family setting, there is constant negotiation between generations regarding norms and traditions, which reveal different priorities. In this article I show that those areas where the most negotiations occur also overlap with the fields of increased parental interest and control, namely: education, dating/marriage, and language. I also discuss how holidays celebrated by the family show a high degree of flexibility and mixed solutions, involving cultural elements from both the host society and the country of origin.

The Place of Modernity: German Entrepreneurship in Western Siberia in the late 19th – early 20th Centuries

The study focuses on the issues related to the process of adaptation and economic behavior of German entrepreneurship in Western Siberia in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. The construction of the Siberian Railway and migration processes changed the economy, social structure and cultural practices of “old” Siberia. The “yesterday’s outskirts” became a “place of modernity”. The paper aims at presenting economic practices and strategies of German entrepreneurship adaptation in the conditions when the socio-spatial structures of the imperial periphery. were experiencing transformation. On the basis of representative resources, the mechanisms and methods of German entrepreneurs’ adaptation to the local community are shown. The structure of the market space and its segmentation as well as economic niches and economic strategies of German entrepreneurship are defined. The author comes to the conclusion that German entrepreneurs acted in the region as a “market ferment” changing Siberian society, and they could be regarded as actors of socio-economic, cultural modernization of the Siberian space. At the same time, the German merchants themselves experienced external influence from the host society. The research is based on the combination of macroanalytical strategies and microhistorical approach. The concept of “entrepreneurial minority” is a methodological basis for the study presented in the paper. The materials of the paper are addressed to the experts in the field of the history of Siberia as well as to the professional corporation of the researchers interested in the history of ethnic entrepreneurship and in the issues of various ethnic groups’ adaptation to the conditions of a non-ethnic host environment.

The dialectics of invisibilization in Syrian female refugees in Turkey

This article deals with how Syrian female refugees are intersectionally invisibilized in Turkey as refugees and as women. The main aim of this study is to understand the dialectics of (in)visibilization of Syrian female refugees. Therefore, using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), we analysed discourses in social media as well as popular discourses by Turkish and Syrian women in Ankara. We concentrate on the relation between the discourses produced in the host society and the particular way of how Syrian female refugees are portrayed and invisibilized. We wanted to know how powerful these discourses are in the host society when it comes to the (in)visibilization of Syrian women and their bodies. Furthermore, we wanted to understand the intersectionality of discrimination and invisibilization of Syrian female refugees. This study shows how discriminatory discourses are internalized and circulate also among women. Moreover, we show how different forms of invisibilization are usually related to marginalization, but in some cases can even be used as a means to escape discrimination.

Who are Our National Heroes beyond National Borders?

The focus of this article is on monuments to national heroes built at the initiative of the Bulgarian nation state, political party or migrant community beyond the national borders. Three analytical perspectives are presented: geographical, cultural and social, given that monuments are both physical objects and represent non-physical relations. The place of a monument is essential in the interpretation of its function, reflecting intercommunity negotiations and the views of community elites regarding the place of the in the host society. Another basic issue is who Bulgarian national heroes are abroad, who has selected them, and what means and procedures brought them there. Our hypothesis connects the core of the national celebrations (both pantheon and calendar) within the national territory with its periphery in what is a dynamic system. These reflections are illustrated with three case studies: Botev’s monument in Beijing, Vazov’s bust in Moscow and Levski’s memorial plate in Yeniköy (Romania). An inventory and a map of all the monuments dedicated to these three figures are attached.

Situational ethnicity and identity negotiation: “indifference” as an identity negotiation mechanism

PurposeWhile the literature on migration highlights the reshaping of host and immigrant population in countries, there is a paucity of research in marketing investigating the evolving dynamics for acculturation. The purpose of this study is to further the understanding of the emerging phenomenon of acculturation and identity negotiation.Design/methodology/approachThree experiments examined situational ethnicity, self-construal and identity negotiation in home and host culture work and social settings. Study 1 and Study 2 were conducted in the United Kingdom (UK), where the host country is the majority population. Study 3 was conducted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the host country is the minority population. Study 4 utilized qualitative interviews in both countries.FindingsResults from all four studies show that ethnic consumers deploy “indifference” as an identity negotiation mechanism when the host society is the majority population (UK) and when the host society has the minority population (UAE).Originality/valueThe authors offer new insights into identity negotiation by ethnic consumers when the host society is the majority population as well as the minority population. “Indifference”, i.e. preferring to neither fit in nor stand out as an identity negotiation mechanism, is deployed in work and social settings of home and host societies. The authors also advance the existing literature on acculturation by examining whether independent and interdependent self-construal influence identity negotiation.