Lusophony Pentecostal Churches in Berlin: Religious Identities Between Integration and Transatlantic Boundaries

Although migration is a constant in human history, current trajectories have new quantitative and qualitative features with religious implications, which are addressed in this article. What is new and paradoxical about what is commonly referred to as globalization is the diffuse nature of worldwide migration and the mobility of people, ideas, and goods. This article therefore explores how members of Brazilian Pentecostal congregations in Berlin use specific functions and patterns of interpretation communicated or generated by discourses of the churches to cope with the lack of social capital in a new social and cultural environment and how their interpretations and orientations shape everyday actions. This article is an attempt to capture the ambiguous role of religious resources in the process of migration and social integration as well as the actions of community members. Although a growing body of literature explores the influence of migrant organizations on its members, new church actors of Christian migrants in Germany are rarely considered as drivers of religious pluralization. Therefore, this article reflects on the different functions of Brazilian Pentecostal congregations for the integration of Lusophone Pentecostal migrants in Berlin. In order to identify the functions of Pentecostal organizations, a theoretical framework is determined and related to the statements of the interview partners and to findings from observations. To answer the research question, this article draws on field research conducted between November 2019 and June 2020. The empirical analysis uses data from four narrative interviews and over 40 participant observations in four different transnational congregations belonging to a Brazilian Pentecostal network of churches. The results show that individual religiosity and belonging to a particular religious group not only provide social relationships and a network of solidarity for individuals, but also reinterpret the social exclusion and marginalization of migrants.

Prenatal care of Venezuelans in Colombia: migrants navigating the healthcare system

OBJECTIVES To explore the experiences of irregular (undocumented) Venezuelan migrants in accessing prenatal health services in Colombia and to examine the economic, social, and cultural resources mobilized by them to gain access to care. METHODS Data was retrieved from the qualitative component of a multi-method research conducted with pregnant immigrants in Barranquilla, Colombia, between 2018 and 2019, and triangulated with a review of regulations established by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection. RESULTS Having limited economic capital, participants use social capital from personal networks and migrant organizations. They obtain cultural health capital in the form of information on the health system and use their cultural competencies to interact with this system. CONCLUSIONS Migrants exert their agency through the use of capitals, although with certain constraints. Policies aimed at this social group should consider the strengths of migrants.

Beyond symbolic policy making: The Copenhagen School, migration, and the marked-unmarked analogue

This article problematizes the securitization of migration through symbolic policy discourse. Policy as discourse is not innocent. It creates not only instrumental outcomes, but can also signal deeply ideological and profound, symbolic meanings. This study discusses Germany’s controversial ANKER Center policy as a form of such symbolic signaling. Distinguishing between negative and positive securitization, this article then brings into focus the non-linear, non-fixed, political, and social construction of these two forms of securitization in the context of migration. Framed in part by the author’s ongoing field work with migrant organizations and volunteer groups in southern Germany, this article draws specific attention to a discursive marked-unmarked asymmetry. It then applies the sociologists’ method of ‘marking everything’ as a strategy to ‘write against’ securitization’s negative logic—toward a positive, more inclusive migration agenda.

„Społeczeństwo równoległe”? Organizacje polonijne w Irlandii

After the 2004 enlargement of the European Union, some countries opened their labour markets to citizens from the then new member states. This opportunity to seek gainful employment abroad eventually resulted in having the Polish diaspora become the largest ethnic minority in Ireland. That they were economic immigrants notwithstanding, some of the Poles who came to live in Ireland also got engaged in social activism. Many Polish newcomers’ first contact with the diaspora took place via the existing Polish migrant organizations and the Polish chaplaincy. The currently much larger and diverse sector of diaspora organizations keeps undergoing dynamic changes. The aim of this paper is to identify which model of self-organizing is enacted by this sector and whether it differs from the rest of the Polish community on the island as well as from the civic entities in Poland and Irish charities. Methodology-wise, the paper is based on an analysis of existing studies coupled with participant observation. It concludes that participation in institutionalized self-organization abroad differs from civic engagement in Poland and from Irish charities. Unlike the Polish community in this country, Polish grassroots entities in Ireland engage in diaspora activism.

Associativity and social capital in the multicultural context of Chilean migration 2014-2017 Social networks in the immigrant response?

This article discusses Putnam’s (2007) proposal about the possibility that intercultural heterogeneity may negatively affect social capital creation in the short term while also negatively affecting associativity. This issue will be discussed in relation to the case of collective political action by migrant organizations, namely MovimientoAcciónMigrante (MAM) and Coordinadora Nacional de Inmigrantes (CNI) in Chile during the 2014-2017 period. From a social network perspective, this article describes the context of the Chilean socio-political integration model, by both characterizing these groups and exploring the existence of—or lack thereof—politicization and social capital. This exercise seeks to elucidate whether these groups may or may not be considered social networks. By using a mixed-methods approach that included interviews and social network analysis techniques, the researchers accounted for here explores the question: Which are the politicization strategies used by socio-political networks composed by multicultural migrant organizations in the Chilean public sphere? From a combined perspective of political science and network analysis, this article addresses politicization and collective action of these collectives in Chile.

The 3x1 Program for migrants in Mexico: Boom, decline, and the risks of the disappearance of transnational institutionalized philanthropy

During 2002 the 3x1 program is established at a national level for migrants of community projects based on collective remittances from migrant organizations and the three levels of the Mexican government, which allowed the institutionalization of the migrant Mexican philanthropy and the impulse for the growth of those organizations in the United States and the funding of over 29,000 community projects with basic infrastructure (water, electricity, sewer system, streets, roads, clinics, schools, and scholarships) from 2003 to 2019. In this paper, we will study the evolution of the program, the debate in what refers to its functioning, as well as its impact, and the possible consequences of its budget exclusion during 2020 with the disappearance of transnational institutionalized philanthropy, through this program, analyzing recent research in several Mexican states.

Diasporas as Agents That Sometimes Make States

Chapter 7 links patterns of diaspora-making to repertoires of migrant engagement and the extent to which they reinforce or challenge the state’s narratives and agendas. With a few notable exceptions, it finds that Dominicans and Mexicans are more likely to follow the lead of homeland authorities, which translates into partisan mobilization in the Dominican Republic and nonelectoral engagement in Mexico. By contrast, Turkish and Filipino migrants are more likely to challenge the state’s diaspora-making projects, although for different reasons. In the Turkish case, migrants from minority groups not only vote from abroad but also engage in counter-mobilizations outside the electoral arena. In the Philippine case, migrant organizations regularly challenge the depoliticizing discourse of the state by forming their own political parties and, like their Turkish counterparts, using the nonelectoral arena to advocate for change.

Local Organizations and Education Sector

This chapter elaborates on the overall educational infrastructure in India and argues that the country cannot effectively deliver educational opportunities to the many remote and disadvantaged groups across the country. The chapter demonstrates how local migrant organizations are providing educational opportunities across the country: building schools, colleges, and universities; supporting academic research and collaboration; offering awards and scholarships for meritorious as well as needy students; and running many other special programmes for disadvantaged groups. In this way they are enhancing life chances in urban and rural India.