Ethnocentrism in the Low Countries: a comparative perspective
Jaak Billiet, Rob Eisinga and Peer Scheepers
Abstract This study explores differences of
ethnocentrism and related phenomena in The Netherlands and Flanders on the
basis of two comparable surveys conducted in 1990 and 1991. The explanatory
models derived from theories of ethnocentrism are largely confirmed. People in
Flanders subscribe more strongly to both components of ethnocentrism (i.e. to
an unfavourable attitude towards out-groups and to a favourable attitude
towards the in-group) as well as to a number of its predictors such as
authoritarianism, anomie, and social cultural localism. The interpretations of
these findings involve historical processes, intergroup tensions, economic
fluctuations, and the organisational embeddedness of right-wing extremism in
The Netherlands and in Flanders.
Occupational and social integration of new immigrant groups in
Germany
Wolfgang Seifert
Abstract Mediterranean immigrants still hold the lower
positions in the German labour market. Their employment profile is clearly
different from that of German wage earners and salaried employees. The
proportion of immigrants employed as unskilled or semi-skilled workers in 1993
was 60 per cent. Between 1984 and 1994 the occupational mobility of immigrants
was relatively low. The situation of the second generation of immigrants has
clearly improved. In small proportions they even found access to attractive
jobs in the service sector. Compared to Germans of the same age group their
occupational success is still limited, however. The social situation of
immigrants is characterised by increasing segregation. The Mediterranean
immigrants have prepared for a permanent or long-term stay in Germany but
identify as members of their own ethnic community rather than as Germans.
Immigrants who have entered into Germany in the 1980s and 1990s have higher
qualifications than Mediterranean immigrants. The access to and the position in
the West German labour market depends strongly on the immigrants' legal status.
Prospects appear to be best East Germans with access to the labour market being
more difficult for ethnic Germans and for foreign immigrants. The period of
entry is also significant in terms of the labour market integration. Conditions
are worse for the most recent arrivals.
Challenging orthodoxies: Cypriot entrepreneurs in the London garment
industry
Prodromos I. Panayiotopoulos
Abstract The issues of minority enterprise and the 'enclave
economy' have been subjected an on-going and vigorous debate on both sides of
the Atlantic. This article traces the evolution of some of the concepts applied
in the analyses of minorities and their economic activities. Evidence is
offered from a study of Cypriot entrepreneurs in the highly ethnically
heterogeneous London garment industry. It is argued that this sectoral focus
may be of more significance in defining economic activity than any particular
characteristic associated with ethnic identity. It is also argued that the
conceptualisation of ethnic capital as either a collective 'survival-mechanism'
in the face of disadvantage or as an 'effective vehicle' for the upward
mobility of an ethnic group, may result in the adoption of a community
compliance model and an insensitivity to tensions inside ethnic communities. An
alternative approach is presented which investigates processes of economic and
social differentiation in the relationship between the London garment industry
and the positioning and re-positioning of an immigrant group.
The resettlement experiences of refugees in the UK: main findings from an
interview study
Karen Duke
Abstract This article is based on research commissioned by the
Home Office Research and Planning Unit on the settlement of refugees in the UK
(Carey-Wood et al. 1995). The study was the first systematic national
assessment of the experiences of non-quota refugees or those who arrive in the
UK before seeking asylum. The research entailed interviews with 263 refugees of
different nationalities, resident in various locations throughout Britain. It
was carried out in full consultation with refugee community groups and the
major agencies dealing with refugees. The survey focused on the extent to which
refugees had been successful in obtaining employment, using educational and
training opportunities, and securing suitable accommodation. In addition, it
explored the general problems refugees experience in adjusting to their new
social and economic environment. This article will highlight and discuss the
main findings of this study.
The 'strangest of minorities': the shifting visibility of South African
post-war migration to Britain
Mark Israel
Abstract The debates about immigration to the United Kingdom,
although couched in numerical terms have generally been about the quality or
'race' of the immigrants. Research into race and racial relations has bought
into this racialised discourse and has ignored migration from the Old
Commonwealth. This has distorted our understanding on the effect of British
immigration policies. The discourse has allowed South African migrants to be
signified as non-immigrants. In general, this has enabled them to evade the
censures and the restrictions that have been targeted at would-be and actual
immigrants. Where this social invisibility has been thwarted, a strong
political presence has allowed a resourceful, educated, informed group to evade
immigration restrictions often with the connivance of British immigration
bureaucrac.
European Migration Report
John Salt and James A. Clarke
Opportunities, obligations and the market imperative
Folke J. Glastra and Petra E. Schedler