Race, Intergroup Relations, and Immigrant Integration in Madrid
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Noticeably Invisible: Race, Intergroup Relations, and Immigrant Integration in Madrid The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Tollette, Jessica Danielle. 2017. Noticeably Invisible: Race, Intergroup Relations, and Immigrant Integration in Madrid. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:41142038 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Noticeably Invisible: Race, Intergroup Relations, and Immigrant Integration in Madrid A dissertation presented by Jessica Danielle Tollette to The Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of Sociology Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts March 2017 ! © 2017 Jessica Danielle Tollette All rights reserved. ! Dissertation Advisor: Professor Mary C. Waters Jessica Danielle Tollette Noticeably Invisible: Race, Intergroup Relations, and Immigrant Integration in Madrid Abstract At the end of the twentieth century, immigration rates to Europe increased dramatically. In Spain alone, the foreign-born population grew from less than four percent of the total population to almost 14 percent. Following this rapid demographic shift, Spain implemented an intercultural model of integration geared towards interaction, dialogue and exchange across groups. At the same time, immigrants struggled to express their culturally distinct identities while simultaneously integrating into their adopted society. Although research has explored the consequences of Spain’s immigration policies on the broad social inclusion of immigrants, the ways in which race influences immigrant integration remains largely unexamined. My dissertation brings together an American focus on race with a European focus on culture and religion to paint a more complete picture of immigrant integration and intergroup relations in Spain. Using qualitative data from 105 in-depth interviews with immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Nigeria, and Morocco, Spanish natives and immigration experts in Madrid, as well as participant observation data, I investigate the lived experiences of immigrants from these three countries and the pathways and roadblocks to their sociocultural integration into Spanish society. I also explore native Spaniards’ understanding of new racial, cultural and religious diversity and the policies created to address it. iii In the dissertation, I explore respondents’ definitions of immigrant integration and how integration works from both a policy perspective and the on-the-ground experiences of natives and immigrants in Madrid. I also investigate intergroup relations looking specifically at neighborhoods and social networks. I examine how immigrants and natives in Madrid define race and think about the racial identity of themselves and others. Finally, I use respondents’ definitions of race to better understand how they think about racism and discrimination and how race affects immigrant integration. I find that in many ways, Madrid has excelled at immigrant integration. There are few right wing political parties, neighborhoods are ethnically mixed, and the immigrants that I spoke to are mostly happy with their lives in Spain. The government has implemented a forward- thinking integration model of interculturalism that takes diversity and cross-cultural interaction seriously but it falls short around issues of race. Contrary to widely held European beliefs: race matters. Race complicates immigrant integration in unexpected ways and plays an important role in shaping experiences and opportunities for immigrants in Madrid. I conclude that Spain is at a key inflection point where they have the chance to take ownership of a fundamentally different approach to race to steer their country away from growing European populism and prejudice towards stronger collaboration, coexistence, and celebration of its increasingly multiracial and multicultural landscape. iv Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ vi List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... viii Chapter One: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 Chapter Two: Background and Theoretical Framework .............................................................. 14 Chapter Three: Data and Methodology......................................................................................... 27 Chapter Four: Madrid: The Silicon Valley of Integration? .......................................................... 66 Chapter Five: What Type of Integration Are We Talking About? ............................................... 86 Chapter Six: “They Tend to Stick to Themselves”: Neighborhoods and Intergroup Relations in Madrid ............................................................................................ 112 Chapter Seven: We Don’t Have Race in Spain .......................................................................... 142 Chapter Eight: Racism with No Races: An Exploration of Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination ..................................................................................................... 166 Chapter Nine: Conclusion—Where Do We Go From Here? Integration, Intergroup Relations, and Changing Dynamics of Difference in Spain ..................................... 207 Appendix A: Demographic Data from Spain.............................................................................. 225 Appendix B: List of Respondents ............................................................................................... 231 Appendix C: Interview Guide for Experts and Government Officials ....................................... 236 Appendix D: Interview Guide for Immigrants............................................................................ 240 Appendix E: Interview Guide for Natives .................................................................................. 245 Appendix F: Recruitment Materials............................................................................................ 249 Appendix G: Spanish Immigration Policies and Politics ............................................................ 250 References ................................................................................................................................... 253 ! v List of Figures Figure 1. Percent Foreign Born (CAM–Jan 2016)........................................................................ 30! Figure 2. Foreign Population Distribution by Continent (CAM–Jan 2016) ................................. 32! Figure 3. Foreign Population Distribution by Continent (Madrid Capital–Jan 2016) .................. 34! Figure 4. Percent Foreign Born (Madrid Capital–Jan 2016) ........................................................ 35! Figure 5. Continental Representation by District and Neighborhood (Madrid Capital–Jan 2016) ............................................................................ 36 Figure 6. Map of Municipalities with Colored Dots Where Respondents Live ........................... 37! Figure 7. Sampling Rationale ....................................................................................................... 41! Figure 8: What is Race? .............................................................................................................. 147! Figure 9. Defining Racial Categories in Spain ........................................................................... 149! Figure 10. Racial Self-Identification........................................................................................... 153! vi List of Tables Table 1. Top Immigrant Sending Countries in CAM………………………….………………...32 Table 2. Largest Foreign-Born Immigrant Groups by Nationality in the CAM and Madrid Capital………………………………………………………………………………36 Table 3. Districts with the Greatest Sample Representation within Madrid Capital………….…39! Table 4. Immigrant Demographics. ……………………………..………………………………45! Table 5. Native Demographics. ……………………..…………………………………………..47 Table 6. Integration Models……………………………………………………………………...88 Table 7. Concepts and Definitions……………………………………………………………...168 ! vii Acknowledgements I should confess; the acknowledgements section is my favorite part of every dissertation and many of the books I have read. There is something very powerful about expressing gratitude to the people, places, and things that motivate and inspire us, however crazy we may be, to take on the work that we do as academics. In my case, there are not enough pages in a book to say all my “thank yous” because this undertaking is so much bigger than me. It has taken many villages, across countries and continents