The political potential of migrants is often overlooked in discussions around integration

This is an electronic reprint of the original article. This reprint may differ from the original in pagination and typographic detail. Author(s): Title: Year: Version: Please cite the original version: All material supplied via JYX is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, and duplication or sale of all or part of any of the repository collections is not permitted, except that material may be duplicated by you for your research use or educational purposes in electronic or print form. You must obtain permission for any other use. Electronic or print copies may not be offered, whether for sale or otherwise to anyone who is not an authorised user. The political potential of migrants is often overlooked in discussions around integration Pirkkalainen, Päivi; Wass, Hanna; Weide, Marjukka Pirkkalainen, P., Wass, H., & Weide, M. (2016, 8.3.2016). The political potential of migrants is often overlooked in discussions around integration. Democratic Audit UK. http://www.democraticaudit.com/?p=20134 2016 ByDemocraticAuditUK08/03/2016   Thepoliticalpotentialofmigrantsis oftenoverlookedindiscussionsaround integration Inarecentstudy,HannaWass,PäiviPirkkalainenandMarjukkaWeidedrewonthe SomalicommunityinFinlandasacasestudytoconsiderimmigrantsasapolitical resource.TheyfoundthatturnoutamongSomali‐bornvoterswasonlyslightlylowerthan nativecitizens,andthattheirengagementincivicassociationsishighlydynamicand diverse.Theresultsdemonstratethatpoliticalpotentialofimmigrantsisoftenoverlooked andhighlightthateconomicandsocialinclusionarecloselyintertwinedwithpolitical inclusion.  Liningupfor2008localelectionsineastHelsinki.Credit:TammistoCCBY‐NC‐ND2.0 Europeiscurrentlywitnessinganincreasingnumberofimmigrantswhoaremostly asylumseekersfromwar‐torncountriesoutsidetheEU.Asaconsequence,migration hasbecomeoneofthetopissuesontheEuropeanpoliticalagenda,butitisalsooneof themostcontested.Intermsofaccommodationofdiversityandsocialinclusion,the contemporaryEuropeancontextfacesseveralchallenges.Thesocietalatmosphereis characterisedbygrowingxenophobiaandanti‐immigrantsentiments,representedby populistandradicalrightpartiesandvariousactorsincivilsociety.Inpublicdiscussion onimmigration,muchattentionispaidtosecuritythreatscausedbyimmigrants,their vulnerabilityduetomarginalisation,andtoradicalisationasapossibleoutcome. Therearealsomorepositivevoices,emphasisingthehumanrightsofthenewcomers,as wellasthosepointingouttheeconomicpotentialofmigration.Accordingtothelatter view,acceleratedimmigrationcouldbalancethedependencyloadinrapidlyaging Europeansocieties.Yet,thecurrentdebatehasalmostcompletelydisregarded immigrationasapoliticalresource.Whenpoliticalinclusionofnewcomersisaddressed, theperspectiveisusuallyanegativeone,highlightinglowerturnoutamong enfranchisedimmigrants,fewermobilisationattemptsbypoliticalpartiesandunder‐ representationofnewethnicminoritiesamongcandidatesandlegislators. OurrecentstudyexaminingtheSomalisinFinlandtakesnoticeoftheoftenoverlooked politicalpotentialamongimmigrants.[i]TheSomali‐speakingminorityhasaround 16,000membersandisthemostvisibleandwidelyknowngroupwithbackgroundin humanitarianmigration.AccordingtoanEU‐MIDISreport,italsoexperiencesmore ethnicdiscriminationthanotherforeign‐borngroupsinFinland,suchasRussiansand Estonians. Weconcentratedontwotypesofpoliticalparticipation,i.e.votinginmunicipalelections andactivityincivicassociations.Thefirstanalysiswasbasedonindividual‐leveldataon turnoutinthe2012Finnishmunicipalelections.InFinland,foreignresidents(other thanNordicandEUcitizens)areentitledtovoteand/orrunasacandidateinmunicipal electionsiftheyhaveadomicileinFinlandcontinuouslyfortwoyearsand51daysprior toanelection.Thedatawerecompiledfromthoseelectoralwardsthatutilised electronicvoterregister(n=585,839).Thedata,administratedbytheMinistryofJustice, werereleasedtoStatisticsFinlandaftertheelections.InStatisticsFinland,the informationonwhetherapersonvotedornotwaslinkedtovariousindicatorsofthe individual’ssocioeconomicstatusandmigrationhistorywiththehelpofpersonal identificationnumbers.Altogether,thedataincluded492votersborninSomalia. OurresultsshowthatturnoutamongSomali‐bornvotersinthe2012municipal elections,at40%,wasonlyslightlylowerthanamongvotersborninSwedenandclearly toppedparticipationamongEstoniansandRussians.Interestingly,Somalimenwere fractionallymoreactivevoterscomparedtowomen(40%vs.39%).Thisobservation challengesstereotypeofmigrantwomen,oftenportrayedasmorevulnerableandmore politicallypassivethanmenofthesameorigin. ElectoralparticipationamongSomali‐bornvotersis,however,negativelyinfluencedby theirsocioeconomicstatus,whichislowercomparedtonativecitizensandother foreign‐borngroups.Somalisoftenfacedifficultiesinfindingwork,especially opportunitiesthatwouldcorrespondtotheirlevelofeducation,whichleadstolower levelofincome.Inturn,economichardshipcanlimitbothresourcesandmotivationfor politicalengagementaswellasunderminethesenseofpoliticalinclusion.Asshownin Figure1,whenvariousindicatorsofsocioeconomicstatus(education,occupational class,incomeandhomeownership)aretakenintoaccount,votingpropensityamong Somali‐bornwasactuallyhigherthanamongnativecitizens.   Figure1Estimatedturnoutprobabilitybycountryoforigininthe2012Finnish municipalelections.  Note:Theturnoutprobabilitieswereestimatedonthebasisoflogisticregressionmodels. InscrutinisingSomali’sinvolvementincivicassociations,weusedinterviewdatawhich weregatheredasapartofPäiviPirkkalainen’spreviousresearch.Theresultsindicate thattheorganisationalstructureofassociationsishighlydynamicanddiverse,ranging fromactivitiesrelatedtosupportingintegrationintotheFinnishsociety,suchas languagecoursesandemploymenttraining,toleisureactivitiesandchildren’safternoon clubs. Theassociationsareoftenmaintainedbyahandfulofactivistsandtheirpersonal networks.Thustheassociationalfieldisinconstantfluxassomeorganisationsare disbanded,forinstanceduetoterminationofprojectfunding,whilenewonesare simultaneouslyformed.Inadditiontospecificethnicassociations,manySomalisare activeinnativeFinnishormulticulturalorganisations. Somali‐bornvotersconstitutearevelingexampleofaccumulatingcharacterofpolitical engagement.Activityinethnicandothertypesoforganisationsoftenincreases institutionalandsocialtrust,whichpavesthewayforpoliticalparticipation.Itmayalso reduceexperiencesfromdiscrimination,whichisparticularlyimportantinthecaseof SomalisinFinland. TherearecertainfactorsthatcontributetopoliticalactivityamongSomali‐bornvoters. Somalifamilieshaveoftenseveralchildren.ApreviousstudybyWassatal.,basedon thesameindividual‐levelregisterdatafromthe2012Finnishmunicipalelections, showsthattheparenthoodofminorchildrenincreasesvotingpropensityamong foreign‐bornvoters.Thisseemslogicalasregularcontactwithschoolsformsasocial bondbetweentheparentsandthepublicinstitution,whichmayincreasealsotrustin politicalinstitutionsinnewhomecountry.Moreover,Somalistypicallylivethecapital areaandspecificneighborhoods.AsthestudiesconductedintheUKhavedemonstrated (Cuttsetal.2007;Sobolewskaetal.2013),regionalconcentrationnotonlyenhancesthe internalmobilisationamongacertainethnicgroupbutalsomakesitmoreidentifiable forpartiesasapotentialconstituency. Theimplicationsofthesefindingsaretwo‐fold.First,theyunderlinethepolitical potentialamongnewcomersthatsofarhaveremainedlargelylatent.Forinstance,there arestillrelativelyfewforeign‐borncandidatesrunninginelectionsandevenfewer becomeelected.Dependingontheirownpoliticalidentityandprofile,suchcandidates canbringoutissuesmeaningfulfornotonlytoethnicminoritiesbutnativevotersalike. Increaseddiversityonthepoliticalagendawouldhavepositivedemocratic consequencesbyenhancingrepresentativenessofthesystem. Second,asourresultsdemonstrate,economicandsocialinclusionareclosely intertwinedwithpoliticalinclusion.Thecausalchainbetweenthesethree,ishowever, notself‐evident.Politicalengagementcanenhancewidersocietalaccumulationin severalways.Itwouldbevaluabletorecognisethisaspectinpublicdiscussionon migrationandvariousintegrationprograms. __ ThispostrepresentstheviewsoftheauthorsandnotthoseofDemocraticAuditUKorthe LSE.Pleasereadourcommentspolicybeforeposting. __ PäiviPirkkalainenisapost‐docresearcherintheDepartmentofSocial SciencesandPhilosophyattheUniversityofJyväskylä.Hercurrentresearchanalyses theroleofmigrantyouthorganisationsintheFinnishthirdsector.Herworkhasbeen publishedinjournalsuchasJournalofEthnicandMigrationStudies,NordicJournalof AfricanStudiesandFinnishJournalonCivilSociety.  HannaWassisanacademyresearchfellowanduniversitylecturerintheDepartment ofPoliticalandEconomicStudiesattheUniversityofHelsinki.Hercurrentproject “Equalityinelectoralparticipationandvotechoice”,fundedbytheAcademyofFinland, examinesturnoutandrepresentationfromvariousperspectives.Sheisamemberofthe steeringcommitteefortheFinnishNationalElectionStudy,andtheco‐convenorofthe ECPRstandinggroup“PublicOpinionandVotingBehaviourinaComparative Perspective”.HerworkhasbeenpublishedinjournalssuchasElectoralStudies,the EuropeanJournalofPoliticalResearch,ParliamentaryAffairsandPoliticalResearch Quarterly.Sheisaco‐authorofthebook“Healthandpoliticalengagement”,forthcoming inRoutledgein2017. MarjukkaWeideisadoctoralcandidateintheDepartmentofSocial SciencesandPhilosophyattheUniversityofJyväskylä.Sheconductsherdoctoral researchasapartoftheproject“Superdemocracy:acriticalassessmentofthe participativeturn”,fundedbytheAcademyofFinland. __ Note [i]TheoriginalstudyisavailableonlyinFinnish.  CreativeCommonspolicy AllofDemocraticAuditUKarticlesarealsopublishedundertheCreativeCommons licence,(CCBY‐NC‐ND2.0)andotherblogsandpublicationsarefreetousethem,with attribution.Ifyoudonotwishforyourarticletoberepublishedanywhereelse,please letusknow. 