Socio‐cultural Adaptation of Second‐generation Afghans in Iran

The long‐term settlement of Afghan immigrants in Iran, along with their high fertility, has produced an important shift in the composition of their population with the emergence of a “second generation”. This article aims to examine how second‐generation Afghans have adapted to the host society and to what extent their adaptation patterns have correlated with demographic and contextual factors. The data is drawn from the 2010 Afghans Adaptation Survey which covered 520 second‐generation Afghans. Results revealed that second‐generation Afghans have a variety of adaptation patterns. Integration is the most prevalent pattern of adaptation and acculturation (which is observed among 35.8 per cent of respondents) followed by separation (33.3%), assimilation (17.1%) and marginalization (13.8%). Our multivariate analysis showed that such socio‐demographic factors as gender, education, ethnicity, perceived discrimination, family context, neighbourhood characteristics, length and city of residence are associated with their adaptation patterns.

Policy Implications

• Successful implementation of policies and durable solutions for Afghans in Iran rests on the diversity of the adaptation patterns of their second‐generation.
• Restriction on employment opportunities has led to downward assimilation and marginalization of some of the Afghans in Iran. Improvement in labour laws would promote the integration of Afghans in the society.
• Afghan females have relatively better access to a gender‐equitable environment in Iran than they do in Afghanistan, and are less willing to return to their homeland. The Government of Afghanistan should improve service and security provisions for women to ensure their voluntary repatriation.

     

Giving gifts (and then taking them back): identity,reciprocity and symbolic power in the context of Athens 2004

The paper identifies discursive tropes that informed the official Greek rhetoric of the Athens Olympiad. It is argued that in order to understand these tropes, which place emphasis on the Olympics as an aspect of Neohellenic heritage, we must re‐consider the impact the Orientalist movement had on the formation of a distinctively modern Greek identity. The version of Orientalism that informed the Greek rhetoric was based on the Eurocentric belief that Hellas is the cradle of civilisation. The Western conviction that the modern Greeks (or Neohellenes) are not worthy of “their Hellenic heritage” because they are more Oriental than European is coupled with Greece’s economic and political dependency on Western resources. However, in the context of 2004 Greeks contested this power relationship with “the West”, both European and American. The Greek argument was grounded on the equation of Greek‐Hellenic cultural, with Western economic‐political, capital. Tensions characterised the Greek argument: on the one hand, the Olympics were regarded as a relational (universal) value that ought to circulate in an international reciprocal system; hence, their return to their “cradle” was deemed a form of recognition of the Hellenic (and by right of heritage, modern Greek) contribution to human civilisation. On the other hand, Greeks demanded exclusivity in their organisation. This paper follows this debate, maintaining that we can trace its foundational principles in the Greek moral, cosmological, order.     

“Discrimination” versus “Unfair Treatment”: Measuring Differential Treatment and its Association with Health

There is consistent evidence of the health‐harming effects of discrimination. However, it remains unclear whether discrimination contributes to persistent racial and ethnic health disparities. One hindrance to documenting the association between discrimination and health disparities is ongoing methodological issues, particularly the role of question wording in assessing self‐reports of discrimination. Using two nationally representative surveys, we investigate whether the prevalence, distribution, and mental and physical health consequences of differential treatment vary by question wording—”discrimination” versus “unfair treatment.” We find that “unfair treatment” yields greater reports of everyday forms of differential treatment relative to reports of “discrimination,” while the latter yields greater reports of major forms of differential treatment. In addition, the negative effect of “unfair treatment” on mental health is stronger than that of “discrimination,” while the latter has a stronger negative effect on physical health. However, the effect of question wording on reports of differential treatment and its association with health is largely unique to non‐Hispanic whites. We conclude that unfair treatment and discrimination reflect distinct concepts that should not be used interchangeably.     

Take Me “Home”: Return Migration among Germany's Older Immigrants

This paper examines the determinants of return migration as foreign‐born men approach old age in Germany. Return migration in later life engages a different set of conditions from return migration earlier on, including the framing of return as a possible retirement strategy. Using 23 years of longitudinal data from the German Socioeconomic Panel, this paper investigates how social and economic resources of immigrant men influence decisions to return “home.” Results suggest that immigrants from former guest worker recruitment countries within the European Union are more likely to return than non‐EU immigrants. In addition, return migrants are “negatively selected” so that those with the least education and weakest attachments to the labor force are more likely to emigrate. However, findings vary greatly depending on the immigrant's age and country of origin. Results from this paper highlight the heterogeneity of older immigrants and the factors that motivate their return “home”.     

“Whom to blame?” The Culture of Loss Following Crisis: Culture Shifts in the Bereaved Parents‐State Relationship

This article delineates three models of public behavior exhibited by parents of fallen soldiers in Israel:

1. the “hegemonic bereavement model” that emerged after the War of Independence (1948);

2. the “political bereavement model” that appeared in the wake of the Yom Kippur War (1973);

3. the “no‐confidence model” that materialized following major accidents and revelations of negligence during the 1990s.

These paradigmatic behaviors emerge in the wake of crisis situations that took a heavy toll in military dead and wounded. The article traces the public initiatives of those bereaved parents who, following their personal tragedy, became social and media activists and formulators of public consciousness. It opens with a review of relevant theoretical literature in the field of culture and state pertaining to cultural codes and the impact of crises on them. The initial model exhibits a conformist code that reproduces state‐sanctioned behavior for representative mourners in national commemorative endeavors. This is followed by two behavioral codes that are essentially counter‐establishment, one directing its critique towards incompetent military implementation and the second charging the formulators of government policy for the tragedies of the fallen. The concluding section presents some generalizations on the topic of time and bereavement in Israel.     

Refugees in Greece: Facing a Multifaceted Labyrinth

The years after 2015 were remarkable for the reception and accommodation schemes of refugees fleeing Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The EU‐Turkey common statement of March 2016 and, most of all, the sealing of the Balkan corridor, blocked the flow of refugees towards central Europe through Greece, testing the readiness of the Greek authorities to take action to meet a series of urgent needs (accommodation, nutrition, asylum procedures, health) and social integration processes (education, training, access to labour). Approximately 45,000 refugees are settled in refugee camps or urban settlements all over the country. Those entrapped in the Eastern Aegean islands should be returned to Turkey, which is considered a “safe third country”. The purpose of this article is to shed light on a phenomenon that is ongoing and challenges a series of policies and legal principles both in Greece and the EU.     

INVESTMENT CHOICE ARCHITECTURE IN TRUST GAMES: WHEN “ALL‐IN” IS NOT ENOUGH

While many economic interactions feature “All‐or‐Nothing” options nudging investors towards going “all‐in,” such designs may unintentionally affect reciprocity. We manipulate the investor's action space in two versions of the “trust game.” In one version investors can invest either “all” their endowment or “nothing.” In the other version, they can invest any amount of the endowment. Consistent with our intentions‐based model, we show that “all‐or‐nothing” designs coax more investment but limit investors' demonstrability of intended trust. As a result, “all‐in” investors are less generously reciprocated than when they can invest any amount, where full investments are a clearer signal of trustworthiness. (JEL C72, C90, C91, D63, D64, L51)     

Japanese Education in an Era of Internationalization: A Case Study of an Emerging Multicultural Coexistence Model

Abstract: Responding to the pressure of internal internationalization, some local communities and schools in Japan started to generate and practice a new philosophy known as “multicultural coexistence” (tabunka kyousei). Based on a long‐term ethnographic research in one of the most progressive multicultural communities and elementary schools in Japan, this paper elucidates the shape of an emerging “multicultural coexistence” education model in Japan and provides some implications for its further development. By focusing on returnee and newcomer students enrolled, the paper argues the transformation of school culture, which will be delineated as an interaction among different agencies at the school: “the margin”, “the top”, “the outside” and “the inner core”. From these ethnographic findings, the paper draws five main features of the emerging model—three that are positive and two that are potentially problematic:

• 1 community‐based school reform movement,
• 2 teachers as decision makers, learners, and cooperators,
• 3 students’ knowledge and experience as a shared resource,
• 4 country‐oriented approach in difference/similarity framework,
• 5 treating all differences equally same.

Referring to the critiques of multicultural education in the United States of America, the discussion suggests that the issue of social justice should be addressed more in the model by highlighting the issue of ethnicity in Japanese society. Changing teachers’ attitudes toward such direction is vital and the paper proposes that coherent set of institutional changes, which centre around social justice, are necessary to raise teachers motivation.     

Giving from the Heart or from the Ego? Motives behind Remittances of the Second Generation in Europe

The aim of this article is to investigate the remittance behavior of host country‐born children of migrants – the second generation – in various European cities. We address the following question: Are second‐generation remitters driven more by altruism or by self‐interest? Data from “The Integration of the European Second Generation” (TIES) survey are utilized and encompass individuals with at least one migrant parent from Morocco, Turkey, or former Yugoslavia. Using logistic models, we test different classical theories on microeconomic determinants of remittances and add some additional expectations for the second generation. The results show that those second‐generation Moroccans, Turks, and former Yugoslavs who send money are motivated by two main reasons: Emotional attachment to their parents' home country (altruism motive) or to pay people who look after their investments or other material assets that are likely to be part of their preparation for “returning” (self‐interest – exchange motive). These two motives are not necessarily exclusive: As part of a well‐prepared return, to integrate easily once back “home,” it is not only relevant to ensure that people take care of one's investments and other material assets, but also to strengthen social ties and be well informed about the situation in the country of origin. This interpretation fits closely with the return model, which deserves more attention in the theoretical literature on remittances.     

What Can Migration Policymakers Learn From Legal Frameworks on National Minorities? National Minorities and Migration in Armenia and Belarus

The dissolution of the USSR resulted in massive depopulation of the republics and unprecedented migration flows, including national minorities. Citizens of a once indivisible country were suddenly divided into “those of our kind” (natives) and “outsiders” (national minorities/ immigrants). The latter were often not guaranteed citizenship and were denied basic rights. Many national minorities became forced migrants and refugees, leaving neighbouring states because of discrimination or fearing violence. This article focuses primarily on the interconnection of minority and migration issues, two topics which are often discussed separately. It investigates the interrelation between migration and the minority regimes adopted by Armenia and Belarus, and the extent to which certain policies and rights for national minorities can be meaningfully extended to new migrant minorities. It also asks what lessons can be learnt from the treatment of national minorities as far as future migration legislation is concerned.

Policy Implications

• Migrants' participation policy is always based on implicit political models of participation that should always be made explicit and examined before implementation.
• There is always a plurality of political preferences, for different models of participation in the migrant population, that should be explored and accommodated.
• The number of associations in existence should not be used as an indicator of a strong civil society as much as it is at present.

     

Returnees' Perspectives on Their Re‐migration Processes

The return of refugees and migrants back to their country of origin is an important topic on the agenda of Western European governments, as return is considered as the most “durable solution” for the “refugee problem”, and as an instrument with which to tackle “illegal” migration. However, these migration policies generally lack a clear evidence base, as little studies have focused on returnees' current living situations and on their perspectives on the re‐migration process. In this paper we therefore try to listen to returnees' voices, through in‐depth interviews with four Nepalese migrants both before (in Belgium) and after (in Nepal) their return, and with 16 returnees after their return to Nepal. The interviews show how most returnees start with a disadvantageous “point of departure” to realize a “successful” return: mostly, they do not really depart “voluntarily”, and they only have limited possibilities for preparing their return and setting realistic expectations. But also, back in the “home country”, most returnees judge their current economic, social and political living situation as bad, meeting little of the expectations that they set before they returned. The participants consider the support they received through the NGOs' return programmes as minimal, because they are mostly limited to a small amount of financial support, and thus of little significance in these returnees' efforts to rebuild their lives in their “home” country. If return programmes want to make a difference in returnees' lives, they should have two extensive components in the “home” and the “host” country, incorporating in both components an integral approach, including economic, political, social and psychological aspects. Viewing these findings, it is not surprising that most interviewees eventually evaluate their return as unsuccessful, and many returnees consider re‐emigration, all of which clearly questions the current basis of worldwide migration policies.     

“You Just Don't Understand Me!” Determinants of Second Generation Asian and Latino Youth Self‐Esteem

To understand the integration of second‐generation Asians and Latinos, we study the association between acculturation and self‐esteem, an aspect of psychological wellbeing and belongingness. Using data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS), we find that Asians have lower self‐esteem than Latinos. Females, youth who are from lower socioeconomic status families, have been in the US for less than five years, have lower grade point averages, experience discrimination, or experience more family conflict, are at risk for lower self‐esteem. For Asians, identifying as American is associated with higher self‐esteem than identifying by nationality or having a hyphenated identity, but it does not provide a similar benefit to Latinos. Both groups benefit from being fluently bilingual, whereas English‐language dominance is protective only for Asian youths’ self‐esteem. Our analysis nuances the role that acculturation factors play in adolescent self‐esteem, signalling that future research should consider interactions between acculturation and race/ethnicity.     

‘We took a bath with the chickens’: memories of childhood visits to the homeland by second‐generation Greek and Greek Cypriot ‘returnees’

Drawing on a wider study of 90 second‐generation Greeks and Greek Cypriots who have relocated to their ancestral homeland, in this article we focus on the significance of childhood visits to the homeland. Freedom – how children were allowed to roam free and stay up late – is the key trope of such memories, in contrast with the strict spatio‐temporal parenting they received in the host country. Different, sometimes less pleasant memories, however, emerge when the visits took place during later, teenage years. We explore the connections between childhood visits and adult relocation. Adult returnees find that settlement in the homeland produces a new set of challenges and reactions that differ markedly from childhood experiences and memories. They engage a second narrative trope, nostalgia, reflecting on the loss of the ‘authentic’ nature of the homeland and its customs and values. Instead, they highlight the materialism and xenophobia of Greek and Cypriot society nowadays. However, they see the ‘homeland’ as a safer place in which to raise their own children.     

Post‐Return Transnationalism and the Iraqi Displacement in Syria and Jordan

The article explores the relationship between return and transnationalism in the case of the post‐2003 Iraqis' protracted displacement in Syria and Jordan. Based on field observations and interviews with Iraqi returnees, the article argues that transnational mobility and livelihoods constitute a precondition for their sustainable return. In this refugee context, return is rarely a one‐way physical movement followed by permanent integration back home. It is a complex process that takes time and entails various degrees and modalities of transnational mobility, social networks and livelihoods connecting host and home societies. The international refugee regime in contrast is predicated on the assumption that refugees will not re‐migrate after return. Stopping returnees' mobility may hamper the independent transnational livelihoods and development opportunities that the Iraqi people have pursued in the absence of permanent solutions to their predicament.

Policy Implications

• International donors and regional states should harmonize their asylum and migration policy agendas and develop an integrated framework for durable solutions to the Iraqi protracted displacement.
• Relevant agencies should consider ways to incorporate legal transnational mobility opportunities into policy frameworks for the protection of refugee populations in the Middle East.
• Existing voluntary assisted return policies need to be revised to reflect the often non‐sedentary and non‐permanent nature of refugee returns to conflict‐affected societies.
• More research on returning refugees' transnational livelihoods is required to inform policy interventions facilitating the safe and sustainable return of refugees.

     

The Occupational Integration of Male Migrants in Western European Countries: Assimilation or Persistent Disadvantage?

This paper looks at the migrants' occupational integration process. Two main theoretical perspectives are tested: the first one (assimilation view) claims that in the short‐run migrants are penalized, but as they settle in the receiving country they get integrated into the host society; the second one (segmented assimilation view) claims that disadvantages persist in the long‐run. EU‐LFS and ESS data are described and modelled, in order to compare the labour market performances of migrants in four European old‐receiving countries (Germany, France, Great Britain and Sweden) and in two new‐receiving countries (Spain and Italy) both in a short‐term and in a long‐run perspective. We find that a) in the short‐run, migrants' labour market condition is worst with respect to the natives; b) this gap decreases with older migrants; c) the ethnic penalty disappears with the second generation, when they achieve a level of education comparable to that of the natives.

Policy Implications

• Labour market policies appear to face a trade‐off: policies oriented towards the flexibilization could improve migrants’ occupational integration, but such policies are also likely to increase the risk of poverty for the natives.
• In the case of the Southern new‐receiving countries, a similar tradeoff could emerge for policies aiming at stopping the underground economy.
• Concerning integration in the long run, our results definitely point to the importance of education. We would suggest policies oriented towards a full educational integration of the migrants’ offspring, since such policies could eliminate the gap separating them from the natives.

     

Working for Legality: Employment and Migrant Regularization in Europe

Recent programs to regularize undocumented migrants suggest the increasing role of employment as a requirement for foreigners to legally reside in Europe. Taking as illustrations the cases of Spain, France, Austria, Belgium and Germany, this article examines how regularization policies frame work. Employment provisions follow a civic‐performance frame that breaks with the criterion of vulnerability. While secure forms of employment paying standard wages are privileged, the crisis has made such jobs even less accessible to migrants seeking to regularize or maintain their status. Residence permits granted through legalization have become increasingly temporary and conditional, often involving repeated transitions in and out of illegality. A vicious circle of “disintegration” thus threatens to set in where employment precariousness becomes both the source and the consequence of legal precariousness.

Policy Implications

• The article shows how employment provisions are tightly linked to policies of “earned legalization”.
• The article shows that employment can be part of a broader regularization policy emphasizing ties to the host country.
• The article brings attention to potential conflicts between access requirements based on migrant vulnerability, and those based on migrant integration.
• The article warns against the exclusionary workings of employment‐based regularization in times of economic downturn.

     

The Emergence of Lifestyle Reasoning in Return Considerations among British Pakistanis

This article discusses the growing popularity of lifestyle reasoning in return considerations among Pakistani migrants and their children in Britain. Although lifestyle arguments are by no means new to scholarship on return migration, I argue that British Pakistanis' settlement history has led to return reasoning beyond purely economic considerations. Changes in status, power, and position, with respect to both countries of origin and settlement, have translated to a more confident capacity to aspire, and therefore to think along lifestyle considerations, whether the decision is to settle or to return. Lifestyle reasoning can therefore to be considered a sign of British Pakistanis' change in confidence about their position in the country of settlement.

Policy Implications

• If the UK wants to engage with Pakistani returnees, it needs to recognize the variety of returns beyond the economic: political, lifestyle and relationship returns are all present in the array of typologies enacted by British Pakistanis
• Any UK policy about return should consider that both pull and push factors influence return decisions, and those are articulated around economic, political, lifestyle, and relationship considerations.
• Policy makers should consider lifestyle return reasoning a symptom of the maturation of British Pakistani citizenship in the country of settlement, rather than systematic evidence of their alienation.

     

Culture,Intermarriage, and Immigrant Women's Labor Supply

We examine the impact of culture on the work behaviour of second‐generation immigrant women in Canada. We contribute to the literature by analysing the role of intermarriage in intergenerational transmission of culture and its effect on labour market outcomes. Using female labour force participation and total fertility rates in the country of ancestry as cultural proxies, we find that culture affects the female labour supply. Cultural proxies are significant in explaining number of hours worked by second‐generation women with immigrant parents. The impact of culture is significantly larger for women with immigrant parents who share the same ethnic background than for those with intermarried parents. The weaker effect of culture for women raised in intermarried families stresses the importance of intermarriage in assimilation process. Our findings imply that government policies targeting women's labour supply may have differential effects on the labour market behaviour of immigrant women of different ancestries.

Policy Implications

• The result that culture has statistically significant impact on second‐generation immigrant women's labour supply has policy implications in terms of the government programmes and benefits that target the labour supply of women and immigration policies in general.
• Our findings imply that government policies targeting women's labour supply may have differential influence on the labour market behaviour of second‐generation immigrant women of different ancestries.

     

Trends in Latin American Skilled Migration: “Brain Drain” or “Brain Exchange”?

During the last half of the twentieth century the Latin American sub‐continent, historically a region of immigration, became one of emigration characterized by intra‐regional movements and movements towards the developed world, particularly the US. The emigration of highly skilled resources was a new phenomenon in the 1960s and debate on “brain drain” took a significant place in academia and in international organizations. In recent years, within the context of intensification of the globalization process and by virtue of the drive for technological development and the subsequent demand for specialization, the issue has returned to both the arena of political debate and to the academic world. This article presents an analysis of trends in Latin American migration in the context of the new situation. It discusses whether there is a continuation of the “brain drain” phenomenon or the emergence of a trend towards “brain exchange” or “brain circulation”, as appears to be occurring in other parts of the world.     

Immigrant Populations and the Labour Market in Greece at the Beginning of the Twenty‐First Century

Our purpose in undertaking this research is to methodically map the labour market circumstances of the main immigrant groups in Greece. We classify all of the Districts of Greece into three categories (Diverse, Mixed and Unmixed) according to the ethnic composition of each District. We measure how the employment status of the immigrants varies (1) according to the ethnic group and sex of the immigrant, and (2) according to the ethnic composition and economic structure of a District. In general, the majority of immigrants exhibit lower unemployment and higher economic activity rates than the indigenous Greeks. Three immigrant groups (Albanians, Bulgarians and “Other”), which make up two‐thirds of the foreign‐born population of Greece, have lower unemployment rates than the national average, and lower rates than Greeks as well. The poorest labour market outcomes are observed in Unmixed and Mixed Districts, whereas Diverse Districts are better off. At the regional level, the most disadvantaged Geographical Department is the Ionian Islands, since it presents the highest unemployment rates for the general population for both sexes. With regard to sex‐differential unemployment across immigrant groups, we found that women exhibit higher unemployment than men in almost every ethnic group.