(SOM4d) Sociology of Migration: Social and cultural integration of immigrants

In immigration research, integration refers to how parts of the immigrant experience come together and facilitate the incorporation of immigrants into their new society.  Emphasis often is on how cultural and social integration intersect – eliciting questions such as: how is the participation of immigrants in the major institutions influenced by existing beliefs, behaviours, and material goods (and vice versa) and by the changes in these cultural characteristics? This session focuses on the dynamics of cultural and social integration, calling attention to 5 papers that study: 1) the impacts of four environments during COVID on economic hardship; 2) the importance of cultural orientation on the social integration of immigrants; 3) the importance of different levels of assets, ranging from the individual level to a larger environmental scale; 4) differences between immigrant generations in dwelling satisfaction, with a specific focus on South Asians and other groups such as the Chinese and whites. Tags: Migration and Immigration, Policy

Organizers: Lisa Kaida, McMaster University, Lori Wilkinson, University of Manitoba, Monica Boyd, University of Toronto; Chair: Max Stick, Mount Saint Vincent

Presentations

Baran (Abu) Fakhri, Simon Fraser University

Stuck in the 'game': The multiplicities and subjectivities of Afghan 'irregular' migration journeys to Europe

The ‘game’ has become a common term among migrant communities from the Middle East to describe their attempts to cross borders ‘illegally’ in their migration journeys to Western Europe. The ‘game’ experience and practices are subject to borders, terrains and landscapes, possible modes of mobility, and different roles of people (smugglers and migrants) involved. In this paper, I take the case of ‘irregular’ Afghan migrants and look into what constitutes and reinforces their precarity in their ‘irregular’ migration journeys to Europe, and how they experience and navigate through their ‘illegality’ and perilous ‘game’ attempts. This paper draws on my ethnographic research among Afghan migrants who lived and worked in Istanbul, Turkey, and were attempting or already attempted the ‘game’ during the time of the research (May 2022 – January 2023). I used different qualitative methods, including ethnographic fieldwork, participant observation, in-depth interviews, and digital ethnography to follow them in their journeys. My research focuses on those vignettes from khod-andaz (meaning self-launched in Farsi) ‘game(s).’ In such ‘game’ attempts, migrants prepare and take their long, risky and fragmented journeys mostly on their own with little or from smugglers or their associates. A growing scholarship explores the ‘game’ through the Balkans or the “Balkan route.” This line of work finds the ‘game’ as spatial tactics enacted by migrants where they actively “reinvent” the routes in response to the changing borderscapes (Minca and Collins, 2021; Augustová, 2023). I am in conversation with these works on the ‘irregular’ migration in Europe in understanding the ‘game’ as the geographies of (border) control and counter-geographies enacted by migrants. In my research, I extend the scope of the research on the ‘game’ in three major ways: first, including those stages, spaces, and practices of the ‘game’ before reaching the ‘Balkan route;’ second, attending the heterogeneity of ethnic and social lines where different social groups—here Afghans—have different migratory experiences and trajectories; and third, how various modes of the ‘game’ with new or pre-established routers, hubs, or practices, make the ‘game’ experience different. I link the ‘game’ to migration governance and border regimes en route or what the pertinent scholarship describes as “governing through mobility” (Tazzioli, 2020). However, I show what unique, ‘game’ subjectivities are formed throughout the journey. I take Martina Tazzioli’s (2019) concept of “multiplicity” in understanding temporary, mobile, non-homogenous formations of migrants that act collectively and have unique subjectivities with moral and political claims. I follow my participants describing their lives and journeys as “wherever we go, they get entrapped,” pointing to a juxtaposition of spatial and social (im)mobility or restricted mobility. Their ‘game’ subjectivities consist of compound temporal expulsion and prolonged uncertainty. This is also about the iterative nature of the ‘game’ with high pushback, detention, or deportation chances. This makes the ‘game’ where they can get “stuck in mobility” and anticipate back to square one after each attempt. Nonetheless, their narratives highlight diverse and ambivalent experiences of time and hope in the course of the ‘game.’ To them, the ‘game’ can also be imbued with certain narratives of self, life, and political and moral claims. Blurring the boundaries of agency and control, to these migrants, the ‘game’ is not completely selected out of necessity, but can be an extension of their project of the self, showing their self-resilience and self-investment. It is where they show care for their bodies, can express their capacity to survive or save themselves from social and spatial immobility, uncertainty, and prolonged waiting that entraps them in their migration journeys. My ethnographic research also shows how the ‘game’ is a space where these migrants form networks of trust and solidarity, reform and strengthen their national, ethnic, and gender identities through the course of preparing for, attempting the ‘game,’ and failed attempts (pushbacks). It is as well where national, ethnic, and racial tensions can resurface, diverge and lead to conflict. My research contributes to this literature by pushing further the understanding of this specific mode of ‘irregular’ migration, which can give new insights into the complex nature of the ‘irregular’ migration experience, migration governance and border control.

Harkiran Singh, York University

Is Immigrants' Social Integration Influenced by Source Country? Examining the Relationship Between Social Integration and Individualism-Collectivism in Canada

The social integration of immigrants in Canada has been debated by researchers; few studies, however, have looked at the implications of cultural orientation backgrounds of immigrants’ source countries on social integration outcomes. Frideres (2008) and Wu, Hou, Schimmele (2010) describe social integration as “the participation of immigrants in the institutions of the host country”, leading to their adaptation to the norms and social practices of Canadian society. Reitz et al. (2009) have explored some variety of immigrants’ various source country attributes, like religious background or ethnic identities, that may influence immigrants’ social integration and social connectedness. Few studies, however, have looked at the influence of cultural orientation backgrounds to the process of social integration. Okeke-Ihejrika and Salami’s (2018) analysis provides insight into the importance of cultural orientation of immigrants, showing that immigrants are experiencing lower levels of social cohesion and trust with the host society because of both a lack of ‘cultural’ connectedness and a clash in values orientation with Canadian society. Thus, immigrants in Canada may be experiencing barriers in their social integration beyond their religious and ethnic backgrounds, such that their trust building with the host society, and therefore participation in social institutions, may be influenced by the differences in cultural or values orientation with Canadian society. By acknowledging these cultural differences in attitudes and values that diverse groups of immigrants have, Canadian society can work towards immigrants’ social integration and provide a better life for immigrants. This paper proposes the influence of cultural orientation as a new element to expand the understanding of social integration of immigrants originating from diverse backgrounds. Analyzing the data from the Ethnic Diversity Survey (2002), combined with the information on cultural orientation from the GLOBE project (2004), this analysis seeks to understand the effect of immigrants’ values orientation (individualist/collectivist) on their general trust of Canadian society. Results show that immigrants originating from highly collectivist backgrounds have lower odds of trusting native-born Canadians as compared to immigrants originating from low collectivist backgrounds. Insight into the influence of cultural orientation of immigrants improves the understanding of social integration, one that extends beyond factors such as ethnicity and religion that have been examined in previous research.

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Non-presenting author: Yoko Yoshida, Western University

Sumi Sasudevan, McMaster University

Dwelling Satisfaction among South Asian Immigrants and Immigrant Offspring in Canada

Although immigrants’ success in the labour market contributes to the receiving country’s prosperity and economy, it is equally important to consider migrants’ integration. Integration to the receiving country not only contributes to immigrants’ well-being but ensures the retention and permanence of immigrants to their adopted country (Berry and Hou 2016). Spatial assimilation, one of the dimensions of immigrant assimilation, deems the spatial distribution of certain racial and ethnic groups as a reflection of their resources and the state of their economic and social assimilation (Gordon 1964; Massey and Denton 1985). Life satisfaction is extensively studied in migration research in Canada, where immigrant high life satisfaction levels have stayed consistent for decades (Frank et al. 2014; Chow 2007). Studies also examine life satisfaction in relation to homeownership and housing characteristics where the homeownership and residential choice represents perceived control and self-esteem (Mahmood et al. 2011; Rohe and Stegman 1994). I argue dwelling satisfaction is linked with life satisfaction, as satisfaction with the home represents agency and control, which in turn impacts life satisfaction. However, dwelling satisfaction, which is linked to aspects of life satisfaction, are understudied in migration research. I extend immigrant life satisfaction research by considering dwelling satisfaction as a more local perspective of life satisfaction. The purpose of this study is to 1) analyse the differences in dwelling satisfaction between immigrant/ immigrant offspring generations in Canada with a specific focus on South Asians and other ethno-racial groups such as Chinese and Whites, 2) compare the regional differences in dwelling satisfaction between generations among South Asians and other ethno-racial groups in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta, and 3) assess the impact of housing tenure on dwelling satisfaction based on generational status among South Asians and other ethno-racial groups. This study will contribute to the field of migration in three ways. First, it updates the existing literature on spatial assimilation in Canada, which has stalled since the mid-2000s. Second, it provides a new way to capture a more local level of life satisfaction, dwelling satisfaction, by bridging urban studies and migration research. Finally, this study focuses on South Asians, which is the largest visible minority group in Canada. Quantitative research on South Asians is lacking in Canada, with limited studies on their general integration patterns. Using the 2021 Canadian Housing Survey (CHS) data, I conduct regression analysis to assess variations in dwelling satisfaction by immigrant generations among South Asians and other ethno-racial groups such as Chinese, Blacks and Whites. The CHS data contains information on Canadians’ relationships to their dwelling, including housing conditions and satisfaction. My population of interest are three ethno-racial groups: South Asians, Chinese, and Whites divided by generational status (1st generation immigrants, 1.5 generation immigrants and the Canadian born). My main dependent variables are overall dwelling satisfaction, and two scale dwelling satisfaction variables that were created using factor analysis: dwelling satisfaction based on energy efficiency/infrastructure, and dwelling satisfaction based on comfort of the home. The main independent variables are ethno-nativity status, housing tenure and provinces. Preliminary results indicate satisfaction varies by region and tenure, but there is also some variation by ethnicity and generational status. South Asians have similar levels of dwelling satisfaction to the mainstream Whites, compared to Chinese, who have the lowest dwelling satisfaction among the three groups. However, there is little variation among generations within these ethno-racial groups. South Asians in British Columbia are generally satisfied with their dwelling compared to those in other provinces and other ethno-racial groups. However, Chinese and Whites are more satisfied in Alberta than their counterparts in Ontario and BC. When housing tenure is controlled for, homeowners are generally more satisfied than renters. However, some exceptions exist; South Asians are more satisfied with the energy efficiency of their rented dwelling in Alberta compared to their homeowner counterparts. Similarly, 1.5 generation Chinese who rent in Ontario are more satisfied with their dwelling than their homeowner counterparts. For future analysis, I will examine how the relationship between satisfaction, tenure and province varies by controlling for demographic variables such as household income, gender, marital status, family structure, and neighbourhood contextual variables, such as neighbourhood services, community satisfaction, and sense of belonging.