Re-thinking urban citizenship for immigrants from a policy perspective: the case of Barcelona

This article proposes that the role of cities in immigrant integration be reconsidered through the prism of urban citizenship, looking at how local policies co-regulate immigrants’ status, rights and identity. It argues that urban citizenship connects two dominant understandings of citizenship, as city governments are under pressure to reconcile the normative perspective of formal membership of the state with the claims for rights expressed by excluded parts of the urban citizenry. A case study of an inclusive way of regulating citizenship in Barcelona illustrates how a citizenship perspective can cast light on the specific ways in which cities regulate immigrant citizenship in interaction with higher levels of government, and highlights some of the levers cities possess to modify the boundaries between inclusion and exclusion of immigrants locally.     

Placing sons and daughters in the church: Strategies used by the gentry of Central Catalonia to maintain social status in the 17th and 18th centuries

This study analyses strategies for placing sons and daughters used by Notaries, Doctors of Law and Honorary Citizens of Manresa in the 17th and 18th centuries. Reconstructions of several family trees show that all of the sons, except the heir, went into the church and many of the girls remained single or went into convents. The consistency of this behaviour has led to an interpretation in terms of how these families maintained their social status, given their particular way of gaining access to resources. This study traces the way the younger generations entered the church and how they returned resources to the families they came from. Celibacy excluded many sons and daughters from inheriting the family patrimony and opened the way to combining patrimonies with other families. This happened if the heir had no children and the inheritance went to the eldest daughter married to the heir of another family. Combining patrimonies was one of the strategies used to deal with the problem of declining incomes suffered by these families.     

Policy framing and denizen enfranchisement in Portugal: why some migrant voters are more equal than others

The enfranchisement of non-citizens across different democracies has been mostly approached at with macro-explanations that propose national traditions of citizenship or transnational influences as remote causes, leading researchers to explain variation through some fuzzy balancing of the two. This article joins the more recent literature focusing on the meso-level, particularly on political discourses on denizen enfranchisement, to examine the deviating case of Portugal, based both on strict reciprocity and on differentiating clauses that divide non-citizen migrants into different universes of voters and non-voters. Such a case allows theoretical refinement of process-based and discursive approaches on denizen enfranchisement and shows that it succeeded in Portugal when parliamentarians framed it as a symbolically generous but practically restricted move that promised prestige gains vis-à-vis Europe and Portuguese emigrants.     

Intersections,Immigration, and Partner Violence: A View From a New Gateway—Baltimore,Maryland

This article reports on the results of exploratory surveys with immigrant women regarding their observations of intimate partner violence and criminal justice practices in their communities in the emerging immigrant gateway of Baltimore, Maryland. Using an intersectional/interlocking theoretical framework, it asks how nativity interacts with other social locations in the experiences of partner violence through surveys of women representing 5 language groups. The study found high levels of awareness of the problem of partner violence in immigrant communities and strong awareness of many U.S. criminal justice approaches to the problem. Although the women preferred informal sources of support in a situation of abuse, they strongly supported government intervention. We found low levels of awareness of the Violence Against Women Act as well as little support for the higher levels of prosecution for batterers, even though arrest was sometimes approved. The article calls for sensitive policies and practices that take into account the particular vulnerabilities of the foreign-born, especially in localities where national diversity is relatively novel.     

建筑业“面心实”活动应重在满足青年职工和青年农民工的实际需求

青年职工与青年农民工，现已成为各建筑项目的主体力量。前者渴望享受带薪休假，渴望扩大交友圈子，渴望解决婚恋问题，渴望得到与领导直接交流的机会，渴望及时获知与企业发展和个人成长相关的信息，渴望参加新颖、活泼、高雅的文化活动；后者则渴望获得较充分的专业培训，渴望得到参加社会活动的机会，夫妻同在工地打工的还渴望能与配偶住在一起。“面心实”活动就应着力解决他们这类实际需求。     

Governance by Proxy: A Comparative Policy Analysis of the Mainstreaming of Immigrant Integration Governance

Abstract

This paper assesses mainstreaming as a governance strategy that potentially addresses the call for a more integral governance response to wicked policy problems. Our comparative qualitative policy analysis of the mainstreaming of immigrant integration governance contributes to the governance and mainstreaming literature by emphasizing the importance of strong horizontal and vertical coordination mechanisms and the distinction between universal and proxy targeting in mainstreaming. Although policy programmes indeed seem to broaden to a universal mainstreamed approach, in practice they often operate by “proxy”. Furthermore, horizontal coordination structures tend to be weak or not in place at all, again obstructing the embedding of immigrant integration as a mainstreamed cross-cutting governance issue.     

农民工劳动权益保护制度的法律构建

农民工这一特殊社会群体，已成为支撑我国工业化发展的重要力量。但现行法律体系对其合法权益保护力度并不够。平等法治理念的缺失、城乡二元制度的存在等，造成其合法权益屡遭侵害。因此必须在平等就业权、劳动条件权、社会保障权诸方面，加强农民工劳动权益保护制度的法律构建。     

A Framework for Immigration

Abstract

This paper presents a framework for immigration, regardless of country of origin or of destination. It identifies factors that precipitate emigration and those that affect immigration, providing a background for understanding the immigration experience.     

Strengthening Intergenerational/InterculturalTies in Immigrant Families (SITIF)

Abstract

Intergenerational/intercultural conflict is a significant stressor in immigrant families that occurs because of differential acculturation between migrant parents and their children. In spite of its negative mental health consequences, few empirically tested interventions address this problem. Strengthening Intergenerational/Intercultural Ties in Immigrant Families (SITIF) is a culturally-sensitive, community based intervention that aims to strengthen the intergenerational relationship. It promotes immigrant parents' emotional awareness and empathy for their children's experiences, cognitive knowledge and understanding of differences between their native and American cultures, and teaches behavioral parenting skills with the objective of enhancing intergenerational intimacy. SITIF was tested with a group of 16 middle class and 14 working class immigrant Chinese parents. Using objective and subjective assessment tools, the findings provide empirical support for SFTiF's effectiveness in enhancing parenting skills and strengthening the inter-generational relationship in immigrant Chinese American families.     

A Framework for Visualizing the Process of Immigrant Absorption

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a schematic framework to assist in the visualization of the goals and processes involved in the absorption of immigrants. It is intended to help those engaged in working with immigrants to individualize persons and groups of immigrants in terms of various attitudes, values and behaviors, and to determine the goals, models and time-frames suitable for strengthening, and/or supporting and/or changing these aspects. The inter-relationship among some of the aspects is examined, and the paper includes examples of absorption, melting-pot and cultural-pluralism in various countries.