Welcoming communities and immigrant integration in Newfoundland and Labrador

The term 'welcoming community' has arisen within the field of immigration studies as a concept that seeks to address ways in which communities welcome and integrate immigrants. This paper explores the concept of a welcoming community and its impact on the social integration of immigrants to smaller centres, specifically to the City of St. John's in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, using a social inclusion framework. Through an examination of the integration policies and programs undertaken in the Province and how immigrants interact with these services. I find the elements of a welcoming community exist in St. John's and that immigrants' frequency and intensity of contact with institutions that directly support settlement is high in St. John's. However, it is premature to conclude, given the recent implementation of the immigration policy in the Province and low numbers of contacts made with other institutions, that St. John's is a welcoming community and that this translates into successful social integration.

Welcoming communities and immigrant integration in Newfoundland and Labrador

The term 'welcoming community' has arisen within the field of immigration studies as a concept that seeks to address ways in which communities welcome and integrate immigrants. This paper explores the concept of a welcoming community and its impact on the social integration of immigrants to smaller centres, specifically to the City of St. John's in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, using a social inclusion framework. Through an examination of the integration policies and programs undertaken in the Province and how immigrants interact with these services. I find the elements of a welcoming community exist in St. John's and that immigrants' frequency and intensity of contact with institutions that directly support settlement is high in St. John's. However, it is premature to conclude, given the recent implementation of the immigration policy in the Province and low numbers of contacts made with other institutions, that St. John's is a welcoming community and that this translates into successful social integration.

Defining the Field of Immigration Studies: A Preliminary Study of Research Contributions

This is a study that in a preliminary way explores the boundaries of immigration as a field of study. It does so at two scales - the national and the local - by examining a sample of articles published in the Journal of International Migration and Integration and Michael Doucet's Bibliography on Immigration and Settlement in the Toronto Area, Third Edition. The implications of findings are then discussed in the light of concepts such as multidisciplinarity, authorship and knowledge production.

Defining the Field of Immigration Studies: A Preliminary Study of Research Contributions

This is a study that in a preliminary way explores the boundaries of immigration as a field of study. It does so at two scales - the national and the local - by examining a sample of articles published in the Journal of International Migration and Integration and Michael Doucet's Bibliography on Immigration and Settlement in the Toronto Area, Third Edition. The implications of findings are then discussed in the light of concepts such as multidisciplinarity, authorship and knowledge production.

“Parallel Societies” and a Turn Towards Soft Assimilation

The article presents an overview of theoretical discussions about the content and formats for the use of the term “parallel societies” in social and humanitarian discourses and political debates on immigration. Based on the previous immigration studies (of the Chicago sociological school, T. Meyer in Germany, etc.), a number of authors point out negative connotations associated with this term due to phobias of Islamic radicalism. Other researchers propose to abandon the term "parallel society". They insist on the hollowness of this concept, which just reflects the fears of a certain part of European society. However, the majority of specialists pay attention to the ambiguous nature of segregation as the basis for the development of “parallel societies”, acting for immigrants as a protection mechanism against discrimination and facilitates their integration. Furthermore, the researchers provide empirical evidence of a link between the deterioration of social and economic conditions and the growth of anti-immigrant sentiment. The study highlights the paradoxical conclusion that immigrant communities with a strong influence of religion lack public “parallel” structures that represented their interests in the majority society. Meanwhile the states do not have the appropriate tools to establish a dialogue with religious immigrant organizations and to oppose the promotion of their life style. In conclusion, the article emphasizes the growing tendency to abandon the strategy of multiculturalism and return to a soft variant of assimilation and integration.

IMAGINANDO SÃO PAULOS NO IMPÉRIO ALEMÃO: PERSPECTIVAS SOBRE IMIGRAÇÃO (1890-1905)

Para analisar algumas percepções populares alemãs sobre a imigração para São Paulo na virada para o século XX, este artigo utiliza duas fontes relativamente desconhecidas do público atual: o conto infanto-juvenil “Die Ansiedler von São Paulo” de Edgard Reinhold (1897) e um ensaio sobre as comunidades alemãs em São Paulo de Carlos Frederico Scheler (1905), publicado no almanaque “Erstes Jahrbuch für die deutschsprechende Kolonie im Staate São Paulo”. O artigo demonstra a persistência das visões negativas sobre São Paulo na Alemanha ainda na virada para o século XX, fruto principalmente das experiências com trabalhadores rurais endividados, empregados sob o sistema de parceria em meados do século XIX. Outros temas relevantes discutidos pelos autores incluíam: (i) a insegurança dos direitos de propriedade na aquisição de terras e (ii) as dificuldades de acesso à justiça brasileira pelos estrangeiros. Reinhold e Scheler apresentam visões antagônicas sobre estes pontos – o que se explica pela natureza dos textos, suas fontes e públicos esperados. No entanto, ambos adotam uma perspectiva homogeneizante para abordar a presença alemã no estrangeiro; tem-se nos dois a formulação do arquétipo dos “alemães do estrangeiro” (Auslandsdeutsche), conforme pensado para servir aos interesses do Império Alemão. Finalmente, o artigo discute a regionalização dos estudos de imigração no Brasil e propõe paralelos entre o sul e o sudeste, conforme discutido por Reinhold e Scheler.Palavras-chave: Imigração. Comunidades alemãs. São Paulo.ABSTRACTThis paper studies some popular German perceptions about immigration to São Paulo at the turn to the twentieth century by making use of two sources that are relatively unkown to modern audiences: the story “Die Ansiedler von São Paulo” from Edgard Reinhold (1897) – a tale for the youth – and an essay about the German communities of São Paulo by Carlos Frederico Scheler (1905) published in the almanac “Erstes Jahrbuch für die deutschsprechende Kolonie im Staate São Paulo”. This article demonstrates the persistence in Germany of some negative views about São Paulo at the turn to the twentieth century, a consequence mainly of the experiences with indebted rural laborers employed under sharecropping contracts by the mid-nineteenth century. Other relevant themes discussed by the sources include: (i) the insecure property righs on landownership and (ii) problems that foreigners faced to access the Brazilian justice. Reinhold and Scheler have antagonic understandings about these points – which is comprehensible considering the nature of these two texts, their own sources and their expected readers. However, the authors adopt a homogenizing perspective to deal with the German presence outside Germany; we perceive in both texts the creation of an archetypical “German living abroad” (Auslandsdeutsche), conceptualized to serve the interests of the German Empire. Finally, this article debates the regionalization of immigration studies in Brazil and proposes tracing more parallels between the southern and southeastern regions, as also discussed by Reinhold and Scheler.Keywords: Immigration. German communities. São Paulo.

Giving voice to migrant children during reception and asylum procedures. Illustrations on the implementation of Art. 12 CRC in Greece and Belgium

According to a children’s rights’ approach, asylum-seeking children are entitled to special protection. However, reality dictates that as soon as they enter a host country irregularly, they are often criminalised, thus becoming part of the crimmigration debate and as a result they are further deprived of basic human rights including the right to be heard, as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This paper starts from a discussion on the fact that children on the migratory pathway need to be granted a central and active role in research, especially in times when new theoretical concepts in the field of juvenile justice and migration policing are introduced. We continue by delving into both an illustration from Greece and Belgium on how the right of the child to participate and to be heard is applied during reception and asylum procedures. We draw attention to the existing peculiarities of rights-based research methods in immigration studies, whilst arguing for holistic approaches that aim to move beyond the decorative concept of voicing children and towards a positive change concerning asylum processes for migrant minors.

Enikö Dácz (Hg.): Räumliche Semantisierungen. Raumkonstruktionen in den deutschsprachigen Literaturen aus Zentral- und Südosteuropa im 20.-21. Jahrhundert. Regensburg: Verlag Friedrich Pustet 2018 (Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für deutsche Kultur und Geschichte Südosteuropas an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Band 135). ISBN 978-3-7917-2899-5.

In this conference volume, edited by Enikö Dácz, scholars from Germany, Croatia, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, and the United States analyze German-speaking literature from Central and South-Eastern Europe within the theoretical framework of regional and immigration studies.