What Determines the Embeddedness of Forced‐Return Migrants? Rethinking the Role of Pre‐ and Post‐Return Assistance1

Return migration is not always a process of simply “going home.” Particularly when return is not fully voluntarily, returnees face severe obstacles. This study argues that such return can only become sustainable when returnees are provided with possibilities to become re‐embedded in terms of economic, social network, and psychosocial dimensions. We analyze the return migration experiences of 178 rejected asylum seekers and migrants who did not obtain residence permit to six different countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sierra Leone, Togo and Vietnam. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis, we identify several key factors that influence prospects for embeddedness, such as individual and family characteristics, position in the migration cycle, and the role of pre‐ and post‐return assistance. We find that the possibilities for successful return are highly dependent on the living circumstances provided in the host country: returnees who were enabled to engage in work, had access to independent housing and freedom to develop social contacts proved to be better able to exercise agency and maintain self‐esteem. Post‐return assistance by non‐governmental organizations will be particularly helpful when financial support is combined with human guidance and practical information to enhance a more sustainable return process.     

Do the Constructs of the FACES IV Change Based on Definitions of “Family?” A Measurement Invariance Test

The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale (FACES) IV does not provide instructions about which family members respondents should think about while answering questions. This study examined which family members respondents thought about while completing the FACES IV, and if this changed measurement invariance and population heterogeneity of the measure. Using a sample of n = 511 individuals, a latent class analysis showed three distinct classes: Nuclear Family, Family of Origin, and All of the Above. The FACES IV demonstrated measurement invariance across classes on the majority of subscales; however, population heterogeneity tests suggested that the means and variances of the subscales varied across classes. The findings suggest further examination of how the measure functions with unique family constellations is warranted.     

Design Contradictions in the ‘New Architecture of Aid’? Reflections from Uganda on the Roles of Civil Society Organisations

This article considers how changing trends in patterns and modalities of aid are affecting the roles of civil society organisations. It draws on research carried out in Uganda in 2001 to argue that donors are adopting an oversimplified conception of the roles of CSOs. In particular, by separating ‘service delivery’ from ‘advocacy’ roles, donors fail to appreciate a situation in which organisations play several roles simultaneously, and the vital synergy that can be created between roles. Furthermore, there is a danger that the changes in funding modalities will force a new dependence on government which will restrict CSOs’ ability to carry out the very role that donors are trying to enhance — that of ‘holding government to account’.     

Are postgraduate qualifications the ‘new frontier of social mobility’?

We investigate the relationship between social origin, postgraduate degree attainment, and occupational outcomes across five British age‐group cohorts. We use recently‐available UK Labour Force Survey data to conduct a series of logistic regressions of postgraduate (masters or doctorate) degree attainment among those with first degrees, with controls for measures of degree classification, degree subject, age, gender, ethnicity and national origin. We find a marked strengthening of the effect of class origin on degree‐ and occupational attainment across age cohorts. While for older generations there is little or no difference by class origin in the rates at which first‐degree graduates attain postgraduate degrees, those with working‐class‐origins in the youngest age‐group are only about 28 per cent as likely to obtain a postgraduate degree when compared with their peers from privileged origins. Moreover, social origin matters more for occupational destination, even among those with postgraduate degrees, for those in younger age groups. These findings demonstrate the newly important, and increasing, role of postgraduate degrees in reproducing socio‐economic inequality in the wake of the substantial expansion of undergraduate and postgraduate education. Our findings lend some support to the Maximally Maintained Inequality thesis, suggesting that gains in equality of access to first‐degrees are indeed at risk from postgraduate expansion.     

India: ‘Brain Drain’ or the Migration of Talent?

2 views on "brain drain" exist: 1) LDCs lose their enormous investments on higher education when skilled people migrate to other countries and 2) LDCs are exaggerating the problem and only a few skilled people migrate at 1 time. India does not completely lose its investment in education when professionals migrate, since the migrants still contribute to knowledge and also send remittances to relatives in India. Unemployed educated people would cause a greater drain on India's resources than educated migrants. The author prefers the phrase migration of talent to brain drain, since the former indicates a 2-way movement. Most migrants from LDCs are students. About 11,000 university graduates leave India every year for advanced study and/or work. A conservative estimate is that 2500 will remain abroad permanently. Most professionals who migrate go to the US and Canada. Factors promoting migration include 1) unemployment, 2) immigration rules, 3) colonial links, 4) financial incentives and material benefits, 5) pursuit of higher education, 6) improvement of working conditions and facilities, 7) avoidance of excessive bureaucratic procedures, and 8) compensation for the mismatch between Indian education and employment. Reasons for returning to India include 1) deference to wives who were unable to adjust to a foreign way of life, 2) contributing to Indian development, and 3) racial discrimination. It will probably not be possible to lure back migrants who left for material reasons. Attractive job offers could entice back those who left for advanced training. To encourage the return of those who left to pursue high quality research, India must 1) increase expenditure on research and development, possibly through the private industrial sector, 2) promote travel to other countries for professional enrichment, and 3) improve conditions of research work. The article concludes with an analysis of migration of talent from 3 perspectives: 1) the individual, 2) the nation-state, and 3) the world as a whole.     

Deserving citizenship? Exploring migrants' experiences of the ‘citizenship test’ process in the United Kingdom

Since the early 2000s several European countries have introduced language and citizenship tests as new requirements for access to long‐term residence or naturalization. The content of citizenship tests has been often presented as exclusionary in nature, in particular as it is based on the idea that access to citizenship has to be ‘deserved’. In this paper, we aim to explore the citizenship tests ‘from below’, through the focus on the experience of migrants who prepare and take the ‘Life in the UK’ test, and with particular reference to how they relate to the idea of ‘deservingness’. Through a set of in‐depth interviews with migrants in two different cities (Leicester and London), we show that many of them use narratives in which they distinguish between the ‘deserving citizens’ and the ‘undeserving Others’ when they reflect upon their experience of becoming citizens. In so doing, they negotiate new hierarchies of inclusion into and exclusion from citizenship, which reflect broader neo‐liberal and ethos‐based conceptions of citizenship.     

The Size of the Irregular Migrant Population in the European Union – Counting the Uncountable?

It is difficult to estimate the size of the irregular migrant population in a specific city or country, and even more difficult to arrive at estimates at the European level. A review of past attempts at European-level estimates reveals that they rely on rough and outdated rules-of-thumb. In this paper, we present our own European level estimates for 2002, 2005, and 2008. We aggregate country-specific information, aiming at approximate comparability by consistent use of minimum and maximum estimates and by adjusting for obvious differences in definition and timescale. While the aggregated estimates are not considered highly reliable, they do -- for the first time -- provide transparency. The provision of more systematic medium quality estimates is shown to be the most promising way for improvement. The presented estimate indicates a minimum of 1.9 million and a maximum of 3.8 million irregular foreign residents in the 27 member states of the European Union (2008). Unlike rules-of-thumb, the aggregated EU estimates indicate a decline in the number of irregular foreign residents between 2002 and 2008. This decline has been influenced by the EU enlargement and legalisation programmes.     

‘Girls Who Do Boys Like They're Girls’? Exploring the Role of Gender in the Junior Management of Contemporary Service Work

This article attempts to explain the clustering of women managers at junior managerial grades in the service sector by focusing on the structuring and organization of work in a call centre. The article is based on an ethnography of an organization and seeks to contribute to the ongoing debate in gender research by exploring and documenting the requirement for the enactment of masculinities at work for successful managers. Central to our account is the role of team leader which, as a junior management position, occupies a key role in understanding and accounting for the gendered hierarchical terrain of contemporary service‐based organizations. In exploring the role of team leader, a position that tends overwhelmingly to be held by female staff, we draw attention to the perception of the gendered nature of the role by subordinate members of the organization, the team‐leaders themselves and more senior managers. The position is also brought into sharp relief in comparison with the subordinate role of the ‘problem manager’, a position overwhelmingly held by men.     

“The GCR and the Role of Development Actors with Refugees: A Game‐Changer,or More of the Same?”

This article considers the Global Compact for Refugees (GCR) in light of the increased role of development actors with refugees. It questions whether the GCR is a “game changer” in how it engages development actors in refugee situations, or more of the status quo, whereby development actors are involved with refugees in ad hoc and indirect ways. The article argues that the GCR is a potential game changer because it initiates changes relating to financial, rhetorical and coordination mechanisms that further engage development actors in refugee situations. While it is too early to judge the effectiveness of the GCR fully, the article highlights examples where progress has been made and identifies other areas for potential progress. The article also underscores challenges, noting that the GCR is not designed to respond to all of these obstacles, and that behaviours engrained in development and humanitarian actors may impede potential progress.     

Who will change the “baby?” Examining the power of gender in an experimental setting

We conduct an experiment designed to test the impact of a gender-loaded frame on the distribution of labor between care and market work. In an unframed tre     

Are the Consequences of Experiencing Discrimination the same for Immigrants of Differing Socio‐Economic Status in Japan?

Scholars have identified the negative effects of discrimination on immigrants’ well‐being by focusing on the nature of discrimination. However, whether the social status of immigrants influences the effects of discrimination on well‐being remains unclear. To answer this question, this study extends current research by focusing on how immigrants’ occupational status moderates the effects of discrimination on well‐being. Based on two sets of survey data, the results show that skilled immigrants are more likely to be negatively affected by discrimination than are unskilled immigrants. This phenomenon might be explained by the immigrants’ comparisons of discrimination experiences prior to migration. The findings suggest that to explain the mechanism underlying discrimination's negative effect on immigrants’ psychological well‐being, researchers should pay more attention to immigrants’ characteristics and their experiences before migration. The results of this study have important implications for immigration policy in Japan and other ethnically homogeneous countries, such as South Korea.     

Free floating in the cosmopolis? Exploring the identity‐belonging of transnational knowledge workers

In this article I explore what I call the ‘identity‐belonging’ of transnational knowledge workers, a diverse group of serially migrating career professionals who have spent extended periods of time in at least three countries, usually following career opportunities. Unlike most recent writing on transnationalism, which focuses on enduring connections of migrants with their ‘home’ countries/places, here I explore a transnationalism that may transcend the national, and generally the territorial, principle, with repercussions for identity‐belonging. In this context, how transnational knowledge workers position themselves towards belonging to a nation and towards the idea of cosmopolitanism is of particular interest. From data collected through in‐depth interviews in Australia and Indonesia, I conclude that their globally recognized profession forms the central axis of their identity‐belonging, alongside a weak identification with their nation of origin. The feeling of belonging to and identifying with particular locales and local communities was articulated flexibly and instrumentally in association with professional and wider social networks, while no primordial territorial attachments could be identified.     

Calling social capital: An analysis of the determinants of success on the TV quiz show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”

This paper analyzes the determinants of successful participation of candidates on the well known television quiz show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”. Our study includes a survey of 660 contestants who participated in the German version of the show between 1999 and 2007. We are particularly interested in two hypotheses. The first hypothesis refers to the assumed advantage of social capital. Contestants on the show have the option of calling a friend (the phone-a-friend lifeline) whom they select from their personal networks. The person chosen to be the phone-a-friend lifeline should be especially helpful if the contestant has a large network of able contacts from which to choose. Second, according to human capital theory the participants’ education should increase the chances of success and should lead on average to higher payoffs. Since contestants on the show can answer questions correctly mainly on the basis of their knowledge and since other characteristics of the candidates are irrelevant, estimates of the human capital effect are not affected by other possible causes suggested by signaling theory. Thus, our analysis is an assessment of the effects of social capital and human capital on the show.     

“It must be me” or “It could be them?”: The impact of the social network position of bullies and victims on victims’ adjustment

It was examined in this study whether the association between victimization and psychological adjustment (depression and self-esteem) is moderated by the classroom network position of bullies and victims. Multivariate multilevel regression analysis was used on a large sample representative of grades three to five in Finland (N = 7192 children from 376 classrooms). Consistent with the person-group (dis)similarity model and attributional mechanisms, it was found that victims were better adjusted in classrooms when others shared their plight and when they could attribute the blame to bullies. The results indicate that victimization consequences might be partly generated by person–environment interactions.     

Unintended? The effects of adoption of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act on nonprofit organizations

This article investigates the benefits and costs to nonprofit organizations emanating from the adoption of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act (2002). The act was intended to stem financial malfeasance in the for‐profit sector; nevertheless the article finds that about half the surveyed nonprofits adopted provisions of the act and experienced effects in proportion to the level of adoption. About one in four of the nonprofits attributed benefits of better financial controls and reduced risk of accounting fraud to the adoption of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act. More than one‐third of the nonprofit organizations reported increased fees for external audit, and about 15 percent cited “reallocation of resources from program to administrative expenses.” This article discusses the unintended positive and negative effects of public policy on nonprofit organizations.     

Are Inter‐Minority Contacts Guided by the Same Mechanisms as Minority–Majority Contacts? A Comparative Study of Two Types of Inter‐Ethnic Ties in the Netherlands

Research on inter‐ethnic contacts in European countries has mainly focused on the interaction between ethnic minorities and the native majority. Our contribution is to examine inter‐minority contacts and compare them to minority–majority contacts. Drawing on a theory of preferences, opportunities, and third parties, we expected some determinants of contacts with natives to relate similarly and others differently to inter‐minority contacts. Using data on four non‐Western minorities in the Netherlands, we found that education, Dutch language proficiency, and outgroup size are positively associated with both inter‐minority and minority–majority contacts. Further, occupational status relates positively to contacts with natives and negatively to contacts with other minorities, whereas ingroup identification is positively associated with inter‐minority contacts and negatively with contacts with natives. These diverging findings underline the importance of studying interaction between minorities as a separate phenomenon.     

Changes of soil organic carbon stocks and CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> emissions at the early stages of urban turf grasses’ development

Urbanization coincides with remarkable expansion of turf grasses and their increasing role in environmental processes and functions, including carbon (C) sequestration. Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in turf grass soils are substantial, however, an intensive soil respiration is also likely. Therefore C sequestration in turf grasses remains uncertain, especially at the early stages after development, when C uptake and CO₂ emissions are unbalanced. We analyzed changes in SOC stocks and CO₂ emissions at the experimental turf grasses in Moscow megapolis during the three years period after establishment. An influence of the three contrast depths of organic layers (5, 10 and 20 cm) on soil and biomass C and on the ornamental functions of turf grasses was studied. Total CO₂ emission from the turf grasses during the observation period exceeded C uptake in grass and root biomass by two to three times. Therefore the turf grasses at the early stages of development are important source of biogenic C. Although the C losses were substantial, CO₂ emission decreased and C uptake in biomass increased by the end of the observation period. The highest ratio of sequestered and emitted C was obtained for the thick turf grass soil constructions with a 20 cm organic layer. The highest ornamental value, indicated by the projective cover and sprout density, was also obtained for the thick turf grasses, which is essential to consider for developing the best management practices and sustainable turf grass soil constructions.     

AIN'T I A FILIPINO (WOMAN)?: An Analysis of Authorship/Authority Through the Construction of “Filipina” on the Net

In this article, I examine the process by which Filipino women's identity was articulated, reified and renegotiated on soc.culture.filipino, a newsgroup community on the Internet that, as a hub, sustains a flux membership of 20,000 registrants. By observing several online debates, I witnessed the process by which members of the diaspora negotiated the meaning of Filipino women's identity with people in the Philippines and how they atempted to forge a cultural identity for the community itself. In this article, I show that articulated stereotypes of Filipino and Asian women were intimately connected to racial empowerment, anti-colonial, and nationalist projects. In doing Internet research, I was able to document the intersection between postcolonial studies and computer mediated communication theories on studying identity in flux and was able to analyze the role of the Internet in decentering identities as well as the possibility of dismantling Grand Narratives.     

The “New” World of Prosumption: Evolution, “Return of the Same,” or Revolution?

While strong arguments can be made that prosumption today can be seen as a primal phenomenon and an evolutionary process, the strongest argument is that it involves a revolutionary set of developments producing a dramatically new world of prosumption. While those developments can be seen in both the material and digital worlds (although they augment one another), they are clearest in the digital world, especially the Internet. Among the forces that are creating this new world of consumption are new means of prosumption (e.g., IKEA, massive online open courses, automated teller machines) which are made possible by a variety of new technologies (the computer, the Internet). However, overarching these and other changes is the emergence of a new form of capitalism, “prosumer capitalism.” In addition to exploiting often low‐paid commodified workers, prosumer capitalism increasingly prioritizes the exploitation of largely uncommodified prosumers who are generally unpaid. Prosumers offer the capitalist many other advantages (e.g., no long‐term obligations such as high‐cost benefit programs). There are few, if any, obligations to prosumers with the result that they fit well with today's reigning neoliberal philosophy. The new world of prosumption could have been a more positive development had it not been usurped by capitalist interests.