Unit 3, Unit 5
http://minorities.fsv.cuni.cz/
1. Racism, discrimination & policy
response
2. Equal oportunity – from law to
practice
3. Migration-Asylum Nexus
Unit Structure
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•
•
•
•
•
Racism, discrimination
Inclusion, rights, equity
EO: From law to practice
Activities on discrimination
AQCI on Brubacker
Migration- asylum nexus
QUIZ: Just one question to
torture your memory…
Referring to the reader
what is the difference
between multicultural and plural
societies?
Furnivall in all three texts
Racism & isms
……… sexism, disableism, ageism, homophobia
Neil Thompson
Racism can be defined as
• an attitude (ideology) or action (behaviour) that
disadvantages individuals or groups
• on the basis of their “racial” inferiority*, mainly
by means of
• limiting their access to scarce resources.
*Racial difference or racial inferiority is often perceived
or constructed in terms of different culture, ethnicity,
religion, language, etc.
Discrimination/isms:
Personal – Cultural - Structural
Neil Thompson
P
C
S
Explanations of racism:
1. Psychological ”Some people are like that”
2. Lack of knowledge, ignorance
„To know is to love“
3. Intergroup relations ”Birds of a feather”
4. Individuals are racists because the structures,
practices, and values of our society are racist.
”Its the system”
Racisms – cont.
•
•
•
from violent attacks or scapegoating
to paternalistic crypto-racist assistance to m.
tendency to deny racism (unacceptable)
two main meanings:
1) ideology (beliefs) about racial superiority
2) “the whole complex of factors which produce
racial discrimination” and sometimes also
“those which produce racial disadvantage”
Cashmore
Racism as ideology
1. the so called “scientific racism of the 19th century”,
manifested for example in the publication by
Herrnstein, Murray, 1995
2. “popular” racism or “common sense” racism that is
based on ethnocentrism, a tendency to believe
that one´s own cultural paradigm is universal,
neutral and superior to any other culture
In other words…
Racism
1. denies all difference in the name of
universality of the human nature, but
unconsciously it takes back this universality
to the dominant model;
2. uses the obvious differences to turn them
into instruments of domination, exploitation,
condemnation, exclusion, or extermination.
Racisms- cont.
„Racism, in short, involves
(a)stereotypes about difference and inferiority
(b)use of power to exclude, discriminate, subjugate“
The Parekh Report, 2000
Attitudes
Behaviour
Structures
Prejudice
Discrimination
Inequality
Racisms – cont.
Prejudice
Discrimination
Exclusion
Assimilation and Racism (Bauböck)
assimilation is possible
yes
no
yes
compulsory
assimilation
racist
double-bind
no
pluralism
segregation
assimilation
is required
assimilationist policies
inclusiveness
Assimilationist model
DIFFERENCE
DEFICIT
ASSIMILATION
COMPENSATORY PROGRAMMES
Does the individual fit
into the System or ‘Institution’?
Curriculum (Multiculturalism)
model
Cultural Effects
CULTURES
LIFESTYLES
ATTITUDES
PLURALIST
TOLERANCE AND HARMONY
Does the organisation of this ‘institution’
recognise Diversity ?
Equity/Rights Model
Social and Political Effects
EQUITY
PARTICIPATION
ANTIDISCRIMINATORY
LIFE CHANCES
Are people enabled in this ‘institution’?
Do the structures allow for
achievement, growth and opportunities?
2. Equal oportunityFrom Law to Practice
i. Notes on the EO concept available here
ii. Development of EU law
iii. Activities
Equal Opportunities
1.
2.
3.
4.
Equal opportunities for men and women
Race equality in the United Kingdom
Positive action
Paradoxes of equal opportunities
European legislation
• The Treaty of Rome,
1957
 Article 119
• EEC:
 1975 Directive 117
 1976 Directive 207
 1979 Directive 7
 1986 Directives 378 +
613
 1992 Directive 85
European Court of Justice
•
•
•
•
Defrenne vs Sabena
Jenkins vs Kingsgate
Marshall vs Southampton
Bilka and Kaufhaus vs Weber
1976
1981
1986
1986
Definitions
• Direct discrimination:
People in the same situation are treated
differently.
• Indirect discrimination:
People in different situations are treated the
same but this has an adverse impact on one
group.
Equality for women
= a model for race equality
-> « minority rights » vs citizenship rights
Both = labour market related!
Legislation in the UK
• Race Relations Act 1976:
-> Commission for Racial Equality
• White paper on the Commission for
Equality and Human Rights 2003
(CRE + EOC + CD)
Conclusion to EO
Citizenship rights + humanitarian obligations
= not an absolute right but applied with qualified
amendments.
Group work : Case Studies (ERRC)
Case study 1 - Access to public services
Case study 2 - Access to employment
Case study 3 - Education
3. The Migration-Asylum Nexus
Definition and significance
South (sending, mig. producing countries)
macro-, micro- level
Receiving (transit) countries
macro-, microForced vs Economic? Or Forced and Economic?
Future prospects
Case of Germany
What is the 'migration-asylum'
nexus
• Growing difficulty in separating between
forced and economic migration
• Closely related causes of forced and
economic migration
• Increasing similarities in the migratory
process for both categories
• Common responses: lack of differentiation
between asylum seekers and irregular
migrants
'Category jumping': Examples
• Portuguese workers in France - 1960s
Refugees from fascism
Use of people smugglers
Regularisation as workers
If workers are needed, employers and
governments don't care if they are refugees
• Burmese in Thailand
• The Roma in Europe (asylum seekers from
Slovakia)
A global problem:
forced migration (2003-4)
Refugees (1951 Convention definition)
9.7 million (recognised by UNHCR)
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
25 m (13 m of them in Africa)
Development Induced Displacement
10 million a year (World Bank)
Environmental change and disasters
Numbers unknown
UHNCR
Towards a political economy of
forced migration
• Globalisation: the North-South Gap
• Selective inclusion and exclusion in global
economy: 'disconnection'
• Trade, investment and development
• Trade in small arms, conflict diamonds etc.
• 'Reconnection' of South and North through
”unwanted' flows and networks
• Migration as a form of 'reconnection'
The migration-asylum nexus in
the South: macro-level
• Links between poverty, weak states, human
rights abuse and conflict
• Complex emergencies lead to many types of
displacement
• Internal displacement often means
impoverishment - and further migration
• Conflict prevents development - causes
economic migration
• Many migrants have multiple motivations
Political economy of forced
migration in the South: micro level
Approaches:
Commodity chain analysis
Livelihood studies
Examples:
Conflict diamonds in Sierra Leone
Cobalt mining in DR Congo
Afghanistan: survival in enduring conflict
The role of arms trafficking
The MAN in Countries of first
asylum and transit
Thailand: new industrial country with:
labour emigration and immigration
refugee inflows
Malaysia:
Indonesian and Filipino labour - often really
refugees
Tanzania: less-developed country with:
Long-standing and diverse refugee population
Strains of long-term support
The migration-asylum nexus in
the process of mobility
• Category jumping as a rational strategy
• Policies as 'opportunity structures'
• Migration barriers (visas, carrier sanctions,
safe third countries, buffer zones) - create
demand for the 'migration industry'
• The importance of migration networks
• Irregular movement may lead to long-term
irregularity
The nexus between asylum and irregular
migration in receiving countries - macro
• Deterrent measures create incentives for
irregular employment and residence
• Irregular entry helps create networks for
irregular work and life
• Unmet labour demand for low-skilled workers
encourages informal sector
• Media-driven asylum panic leads to
hypocritical asylum policies
The micro-level: how does
asylum affect local communities?
• Local conflicts about asylum centres
• Fears of 'cheap labour' in areas of social
exclusion
• Welfare challenges (e.g. assisting
unaccompanied minors)
• Destitution as challenge to local authorities
• Dispersal, concentration and potential ethnic
conflicts
Migration from Sri Lanka (UK)
•
•
•
•
•
Elite/professionals
Students
Refugees and asylum seekers
Labour migration
Family reunion/foundation
Tamils in the UK
• Post independence 1948: professionals
• From 1960s, discrimination and hardening
ethnic nationalisms: students
• From 1980s: conflict refugees and asylum
seekers
• 1990s: acceleration of asylum migration
• From 2002: decline in asylum migration
• Family reunion
• From 2000: regrouping/relocation/secondary
migration
Consequences of the MigrationAsylum Nexus
• Diversified migrant populations in host countries
• Diversified migrant destinations: diasporisation
• Proliferation and diversification of transnational
linkages
- Households at home have a portfolio of transnational
resources
- Diaspora households have a portfolio of obligations
The future of
the migration-asylum nexus
• Era of asylum migration to affluent countries drawing to close
• Asylum migration to middle income countries?
• Other legal channels will continue: limited labour migration,
family reunion, high skilled, students ...
• Irregular migration will continue
• Regrouping: eg movement from continental Europe to the UK
• Containment of 'mixed migration' in regions of origin
• In- region migration management: sorting migrants in regions
of origin
• Effects on diaspora formation, transnational links, and the
global political economy?
Case of Germany
http://www.proasyl.de/
GERMANY’S IMMIGRATION LAW MARKS ONE
YEAR
http://www.icare.to/article.php?id=1292&lang=en
ASYLUM SEEKER NUMBERS IN GERMANY FALL
BY 18PC
http://www.icare.to/article.php?id=1351&lang=en
http://www.icare.to/
Additional info
• Article on Asylum trends is available here