IMISCOE sardinha This book sheds light on the integration processes and identity patterns of Angolan, DISSERTATIONS Brazilian and Eastern European communities in Portugal. It examines the privileged position that immigrant organisations hold as interlocutors between the communities they represent and various social service mechanisms operating at national and local levels. Through the collection of ethnographic data and the realisation of 110 interviews with community insiders and middlemen, culled over a year’s time, João Sardinha Immigrant Associations, Integration and Identity provides insight into how the three groups are perceived by their respective associations Immigrant Associations, and representatives. Following up on the rich data is a discussion of strategies of coping with integration and identity in the host society and reflections on Portuguese social and community services and institutions. Integration and Identity João Sardinha is a researcher at the Centre for the Study of Migrations and Intercultural Relations (cemri) at Universidade Aberta (Open University) in Lisbon. Angolan, Brazilian and Eastern European Communities in “This book makes a substantial contribution to our understanding of the role immigrant associations play in migrant integration processes and identity formation. João Sardinha provides rich new empirical evidence on Portuguese immigrant communities spanning three continents.” Portugal Maria Lucinda Fonseca, Director and Senior Researcher Centro de Estudos Geográficos, University of Lisbon joo sardinha “A rich blend of theoretical insight and extensive field research, this book by João Sardinha shows that immigrant associations both foster ethnic identity and act as a channel for integration to the Portuguese host society.” Russell King, Professor of Geography, University of Sussex and Editor, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies isn 978 90 8964 036 9 asrda nirsi rss · .a.n Amsterdam University Press Immigrant Associations, Integration and Identity IMISCOE International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion The IMISCOE Network of Excellence unites over 500 researchers from European institutes specialising in studies of international migration, integration and social cohesion. The Network is funded by the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Commission on Research, Citizens and Governance in a Knowledge-Based Society. Since its foundation in 2004, IMISCOE has developed an integrated, multidisciplinary and globally comparative research project led by scholars from all branches of the economic and social sciences, the humanities and law. The Network both furthers existing studies and pioneers new research in migration as a discipline. Priority is also given to promoting innovative lines of inquiry key to European policymaking and governance. The IMISCOE-Amsterdam University Press Series was created to make the Network’s findings and results available to researchers, policymakers and practitioners, the media and other interested stakeholders. High- quality manuscripts authored by IMISCOE members and cooperating partners are published in one of four distinct series. IMISCOE Research advances sound empirical and theoretical scholarship addressing themes within IMISCOE’s mandated fields of study. IMISCOE Reports disseminates Network papers and presentations of a time-sensitive nature in book form. IMISCOE Dissertations presents select PhD monographs written by IMISCOE doctoral candidates. IMISCOE Textbooks produces manuals, handbooks and other didactic tools for instructors and students of migration studies. IMISCOE Policy Briefs and more information on the Network can be found at www.imiscoe.org. Immigrant Associations, Integration and Identity Angolan, Brazilian and Eastern European Communities in Portugal João Sardinha IMISCOE Dissertations Cover design: Studio Jan de Boer BNO, Amsterdam Layout: The DocWorkers, Almere isbn 978 90 8964 036 9 e-isbn 978 90 4850 673 6 nur 741 / 763 © João Sardinha / Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam 2009 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. Table of contents Acknowledgements 9 List of figures and tables 13 Abbreviations 15 1 Introduction 19 1.1 Framing the research: Three questions 22 1.2 Choosing the groups to be studied 25 1.3 Outline of the thesis 26 2 Integration and identity: Theoretical concepts and approaches 31 2.1 Frameworks of integration 32 2.2 Immigrant integration and government forms 39 2.3 Citizenship, the politics of participation and mobilisation 45 2.4 Identity, ethnicity and the age of transnationalism 50 2.4.1 Ethnic identities and ethnic group formation 51 2.4.2 Ethnic mobilisation 56 2.4.3 Ethnic identity options and the creation of multiple identities 57 2.4.4 Transnationalism and identity 61 3 The phenomenon of migrant associations 65 3.1 Communities, voluntary associations and aspects of social cohesion: A theoretical review 66 3.1.1 Tocqueville’s three-sector model 69 3.1.2 Civil society and social capital 71 3.2 Immigrant associations: Roles and motivations 76 3.3 Immigrant associations, integration and identity 81 3.4 Immigrant associations and nation-states 87 6 IMMIGRANT ASSOCIATIONS, INTEGRATION AND IDENTITY 4 Characteristics and consequences of immigration to Portugal 97 4.1 Portugal’s position in the international migration cycle 97 4.2 Immigration history and demographic developments 99 4.3 Geographic and labour market distribution 104 4.3.1 Geographical distribution 104 4.3.2 Labour market distribution 109 4.4 Politicising immigration and integration 112 4.4.1 State-based integration policies and institutional settings 112 4.4.2 Municipal institutional settings and initiatives 119 4.5 Immigrant association movements in Portugal 123 5 Setting the scene: Research design and fieldwork methodology 129 5.1 Research aims and methodology: An overview 129 5.1.1 Interview schedule, subject selection and conducting the interviews 130 5.1.2 Data management and analysis 132 5.1.3 Secondary sources: Literary data and participant observation 133 5.2 Mapping the fieldwork: The organisations and their locations 135 6 The associations: A typology 145 6.1 Association histories 145 6.1.1 Angolan associations 146 6.1.2 Brazilian associations 152 6.1.3 Eastern European associations 157 6.2 Organisational structures, membership and the populations served 162 6.3 Scope of activities and primary areas of intervention 167 6.4 Material, economic and human resources 171 6.5 Organisational networks and forms of cooperation: ‘Bridging’ and ‘bonding’ 176 7 The associations, integration and identity: Strategies for coping? 183 7.1 Community integration: Processes and problems 183 7.1.1 The Angolan community 184 7.1.2 The Brazilian community 188 7.1.3 The Eastern European community 191 7.2 Differentiation of groups: Self-identification and host-society acceptance 193 7.2.1 The Angolan community 193 7.2.2 The Brazilian community 197 TABLE OF CONTENTS 7 7.2.3 The Eastern European community 200 7.3 Identity strategies: Assimilation vs. preservation 203 7.4 The positions of the associations on integration and identity 210 7.5 The associations as transmitters of identity strategies 216 8 The associations and Portuguese social and community services 223 8.1 Regularisation and the Foreigners and Borders Services 223 8.2 ACIME and the National Immigration Plan 228 8.3 Employment, training and qualification recognition 231 8.4 Housing 237 8.5 Family reunification 242 8.6 Immigrant descendents and education 247 8.7 Health 252 8.8 Associations and civic participation 256 9 Conclusion 267 9.1 The immigrant associations in time and space 268 9.2 Between the migrants and the host society 271 9.3 Included, yet different: Integration, identity and citizenship 274 9.4 Determinates to integration: Policies and social services 278 9.5 ‘Only the future will tell …’ 280 Epilogue 287 Appendix: List of interviewees 289 Notes 295 Bibliography 319 Acknowledgements My interest in immigrant associations originates from my very own up- bringing – being raised the son of an immigrant association leader amongst the celebrations and camaraderie, on one hand, and the tur- moil and politics, on the other, of a Portuguese immigrants’ association in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. These were my first glances into a world that would, in years to come, inspire my life as a social science researcher. The curiosity of wanting to learn about other similar organisations, however, beyond the one that I had gotten to know ‘from the inside’ in Canada, came about in Portugal. My initiation into the immigrant asso- ciative world in the Portuguese context came via my work with the Cape- verdean community in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area for my MA thesis. Here I got to experience and learn about different realities and actions; associations driven by different objectives, representative of people with different characteristics. This, in turn, sparked further interest and re- search on the associative situations of other communities in Portugal. The result is this book that looks at Angolan, Brazilian and Eastern Euro- pean associations in Portugal. For this research the financial backing of two institutions has been crucial. First, a grant from the Fundação