Immigration and Settler-Colonies Post-UNDRIP: Research and Policy Implications

It is now common to identify a policy convergence around migration which is eroding the longstanding distinction made in the migration literature between “traditional” countries of immigration (like Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States) and other Western states. Taking the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as instructive, this article focusses on the case of Canada, arguing that its settler-colonial foundation has impacted and continues to impact three areas relevant to the comparative study of migration: 1) national discourse; 2) land and forms of social power; and 3) politics and forms of solidarity. The implications of settler-colonialism for the study of international migration are broader than the case of Canada and suggest the need to link considerations of Indigeneity systematically in migration studies, and to address the particularities of settler-colonial states in relation to other Northern states by being attuned to “divergence within convergence.”     

The Retention of Newcomers in Second‐ and Third‐ Tier Canadian Cities1

The federal government of Canada and several provincial governments are anxious to promote a more balanced distribution of immigrants across the country. Currently, 89 percent of all newcomers settle in large cities, 75 percent in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal alone. This study examines the internal migration of refugees destined to second‐and third‐tier cities in Alberta. Their decisions to stay in or leave these communities have significant policy implications. The economic vitality of urban centers, the existence of compatriot communities, and the recognition of immigrant skills and educational credentials all contribute to the retention of newcomers in second‐ and third‐tier cities.     

The Adolescent Peer Group in Cross-Cultural Perspective*

Cette etude se penche sur la question suivante: quelles sortes de relations sociales entretiennent entre eux et la societe des adultes, les adolescents qui vivent dans deux societes dont les degres de complexite sont differents ? Les donnees proviennent de deux etudes comparables d'adolescents americains et libanais. Les resultats indiquent que les jeunes americains sont plus orientes vers les groupes d'age que ne le sont ceux du Liban. Les jeunes libanais, au con-traire, sont plus influences par les valeurs familiales et scolaires que le sont les adolescents des Etats-Unis. Ces resultats s'expliquent a partir des differences dans les fonctions de la famille et des groupes d'age aux Etats-Unis et au Liban et a partir egalement des differences dans les empechements socio-structurels a l'autonomie des groupes d'age. On discute la signification de ces resultats pour la recherche. This study examines the question of how youth in each of two societies at different levels of structural complexity relate themselves to each other and to the adult community. Data were obtained from two comparable studies of American and Lebanese youth. The results show that American youth are more oriented to youth peer groups than are their Lebanese counterparts. Contrariwise, Lebanese youth are more oriented to the family and to school related values than are their American counterparts. These results are explained in terms of societal differences in family and peer group functions, as well as differences in social structural impediments to peer group autonomy. The research implications of the study are discussed.