TIRES - The University of Minnesota

IMMIGRANT POLITICS:
A POLITICS OF CITIZENSHIP AND BELONGING
Helga Leitner, University of Minnesota

Introduction
This module draws attention to the fact that immigrants are not just subjects of, and subject to immigration and citizenship policies, but are active political actors in different spheres of life both in the receiving as well as sending countries, and at different geographic scales. In the receiving societies immigrants have attempted to make their voices heard through electoral power and presence in political parties; through partcipation in consultative immigrant councils, work councils and in unions; the formation of their own political parties; the establishment of immigrant organizations; alliances with other non-governmental organizations; and last, but not least through organizations of strikes, protest marches, etc. and other forms of contestations and negotiations. At the same time immigrants maintain close transnational ties with and are increasingly involved in their home societies. Thus immigrant politics in the contemporary period transgresses national boundaries, with migrants operating at multiple sites and across multiple geographic scales from the local to the global. The goal of the module is to begin construction of a better understanding of the various forms and characteristics of immigrant politics and their spatiality, what drives immigrant politics, and challenges faced in immigrant politics. The lecture will first outline major issues and then focus on immigrant organizations.

Activity 1: Before you start with the module, jot down on a piece of paper a list of things that come to mind when you think of immigrants as political actors.

LECTURE OUTLINE - MAJOR ISSUES PLUS EXAMPLES

Migrants as political actors
Examination of migrants as political actors in different spheres of life - participation in the formal political process as well as participation in civic institutions and civic actions.

Immigrant politics transgresses national boundaries
Immigrant politics in the contemporary period transgresses national boundaries, with migrants simultaneously operating at multiple sites (in receiving countries as well as countries of origin) and at multiple geographic scales, from the local neighborhood scale to the supra-national scale.

Immigrant politics - reaffirmations and contestations
Immigrant politics as a response to conditions they face in the receiving society - economic, political, social/cultural spheres - discrimination, xenophobia and racism, as well as preservation of cultural identities.

Immigrant politics as a response to issues and opportunities in the home country (e.g. attempts to influence politics in home country, investment in the home country)

Forms of immigrant politics
Participation in formal political process and civic institutions, as well as civic actions:
- Electoral power and presence in political parties
- Consultative immigrant councils
- Work councils and in unions
- Formation of their own political parties;
- Immigrant associations/organizations
- Alliances of immigrant organizations with other non-governmental organizations; and last, but not least
- Strikes, protest marches, etc. and other forms of civic actions, contestations and negotiations

Goals of immigrant organizations well exemplify the complex nature of the politics of citizenship and belonging.

IMMIGRANT ORGANIZATIONS
Political organizing and institution building separate from, or with support from the state, charities and other NGOs..

Multiple goals and functions of immigrant organizations
- Provision of social services (e.g. assistance and support in job search, provision of housing, religious institutions, community centers)
- Provision of and cultural facilities - for the preservation of cultural heritage and identity
- Lobbying and claims-making towards the state and employers, and more generally for improving citizenship rights of immigrants in the receiving countries
- Fighting discrimination and racism
- Lobbying and claims-making in receiving countries

Single identity/interest immigrant organizations
Immigrant organizations are generally based on common single-identities and interests and rely on social networks - along ethnic/national, religious (e.g. mosque organizations), gender (immigrant women's organizations), generational lines (first and second generation immigrant organizations), class-based (NRIs - see Lessinger article), and place-based organizations (e.g. hometown associations).

Multi-cultural immigrant organizations
Involving different immigrant groups with different cultural backgrounds and multi-cultural institutions, involving both different immigrant groups and members of the host society.

Examples:
Alma Mater, Turin, Italy
Multi-cultural women's organization and center for women immigrants' in Turin; organized by women immigrants' in cooperation with Italian feminist organizations and with support from local government and the EU; provides training courses for women, work cooperatives, center for cultural mediation, theater group, etc.; attempts to exert international influence on such issues as genital mutilation in Somalia; maintains active communication networks with countries of origin.

The Council of Immigrant Associations in France (CAIE)
Brings together a wide range of immigrant organizations; emphasizes inclusiveness over doctrinal purity; attempts to defuse the political competition among different immigrant associations. Has emphasized class inequalities and class struggle over ethnic/cultural identities; has formulated a set of major demands for improving citizenship rights of immigrants.

SOS-Racisme
Originated in France. Multi-ethnic generational movement (budy generation) rather than a class-based or exclusively immigrant movement. Symbol: plastic lapel pin shaped like on open hand inscribed with message: "Hands of my buddy". Eclectic agenda: Cultural expressions, defense of young people's rights, demands for equal rights for all immigrants in the EU regardless of their national origin; "European Charter Against Racism".

Trans-national, supra-national immigrant associations
Extension of immigrant organizing across national borders - creation of transnational networks of immigrant organizations and Europe-wide immigrant associations.

Examples:
Council Of Immigrant Association in Europe (CAIE)
2500 immigrant associations in some 14 receiving countries (includes national immigrant coordinating organizations (e.g. CAIE), single nationality immigrant federations (e.g. the European Council of Moroccan Associations, the Assembly of Portugese Associations in Europe). Major concern - European integration and its ramifications for immigrants; critical of European Union citizenship; filed complaints with EU authorities whenever a member country enacted legislation or administrative procedures that seemed to violate EU standards or other national conventions.

SOS Racism at the European scale
Establishment of SOS Racisme in many European countries; development of trans-European contacts. Pursuit of Europe-wide initiatives. Adoption of a"European Charter against Racism" defining the rights of immigrants. Formal request to the EU demanding equal rights, free movement of non-EU nationals within EU, easier naturalization procedures and voting rights for all resident immigrants in municipal elections.

Issues in immigrant organizing
Immigrant politics in Europe continues to be delicate - ideological differences regarding the bases of mobilization:
Emphasis on class inequalities and class struggle
Emphasis on citizenship rights
Emphasis on ethnic/cultural identity
Emphasis on defense of economic interests

Ideological differences result in tensions among different organizations and constitute obstacle for cooperation.

Activity 2: View the feature film "Bread and Roses" and write a one page reaction paper summarizing what you consider the major issues addressed in the film. You might also want to visit the following websites that provide background information about "Janitors for Justice" and commentaries on the film:

http://www.seiu.org/building/janitors/about_justice_for_janitors/bread_and_roses.cfm

http://www.seiu.org/j4j/about/breadroses.cfm

Activity 3: Read through the questions posed below and keep these in mind when you proceed to do the required readings. Read the required readings and keep notes on a piece of paper how you would answer these questions.

Questions for Readings:
1. What do the readings tell us about
- different forms of immigrant politics?
- the spatiality of immigrant politics?
- what motivates immigrant politics?
- challenges in immigrant organizing?
2. How do the readings
- theorize - help us understand and explain - immigrant politics?
- conceptualize immigrant- state relations?
3. What do you think of the arguments advanced?

REQUIRED READINGS:
Ehrkamp, P. and H. Leitner, 2002. Beyond national citizenship: Turkish immigrants and the (re)construction of citizenship in Germany. Forthcoming in Urban Geography.
Portes, A. and Rumbaut, R.G., 1990. Immigrant politics today. In Immigrant America: A Portrait. Los Angeles: University of California Press. Chapter 4: From immigrants to ethnic - identity, citizenship and political participation, 109-142.
Ireland, P. R., 1994. The Policy Challenge of Ethnic Diversity - Immigrant Politics in France and Switzerland. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, Conclusion: 245-272.
Dwyer, C., 1993. Constructions of Muslim identity and the contesting of power: the debate over Muslim schools in the United Kingdom. In P. Jackson and J. Penrose (eds.) Constructions of Race, Place and Nation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press: 143-162.
Laguerre, M. S., 1999. State, diaspora, and transnational politics: Haiti reconceptualised. Millenium. Journal of International Studies, vol. 30, #2: 633-651.

Supplementary Readings:
Ramakrishnan, S. Karthick and Thomas J. Espenshade 2001. Immigrant incorporation and political participation in the United States. International Migration Review 35:3.
Schein, L., 1998. Importing Mia brethren to Hmong America: A not-so'stateless transnationalism. In Cosmopolitics - Thinking and Feeing Beyond the Nation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press: 163-191.
Lessinger, J. 1992. Investing or going home? Transnational strategy among Indian immigrants in the United States. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 645: 53-80.
Koopmans, R. and Statham, P., 1999. Challenging the liberal nation-state? Postnationalism, multiculturalism, and the collective claims making of migrants. and ethnic minorities in Britain and Germany. The American Journal of Sociology, Nov 1999 v105 - available on the web.
Mitchell, K., 2001. Trasnationalism, neo-liberalism, and the rise of the shadow state. Economy and Society, 30, 2: 1`65-189. (SUCCESS, Vancouver)
Mitchell, K., 1998. Reworking democracy: contemporary immigration and community politics in Vancouver's Chinatown. Political Geography, 17, 6: 729-50.
Liu, H. 1998. Old linkages, new networks: the globalization of overseas Chinese voluntary associations and its implications. China Quarterly, September (155): 582-609.

Activity 4: Write a three-page summary of your answers to questions 1-3 listed above (double spaced, 12 point font). If necessary, re-read papers.