Finnish Journal of Ethnicity and Migration
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Finnish Journal of Ethnicity and Migration Vol. 4, No. 2 / 2009 www.etmu.fi Publisher Contents • The Society for the Study of Ethnic Relations and International Migration Editorial (ETMU) 2 Peter Kraus and Petteri Pietikäinen: Reshaping Europe: Migration and • This journal is available online Its Contexts in Austria and Finland at http://www.etmu.fi /fjem/ Articles • ISSN 1796–6582 4 Christiane Hintermann: Migration and Memory: Representations of Editorial Staff Migration in a Reluctant Immigration Country • Editor-in-Chief: Tuomas Martikainen 17 Teppo Kröger & Minna Zechner: Migration and Care: Giving and (Åbo Akademi) Needing Care across National Borders • Assistant Editors: Maarit Forde 27 Saara Koikkalainen: Young Educated Finns in the European Union (University of the West Indies), Labor Market • Book review editors: Laura Hirvi 39 Karin Sohler, Herbert Langthaler, Selma Muhič Dizdarevič and Helene (University of Jyväskylä), Trauner: Refugees and Asylum Seekers as Civic and Political Actors in • Desktop Publishing: Jouni Korkiasaari European Asylum Regimes (Institute of Migration) Research Reports Editorial Board 53 Ursula Karl-Trummer, Sonja Novak-Zezula and Birgit Metzler: Managing • Kris Clarke (California State University, a Paradox: Health Care for Undocumented Migrants in the EU Fresno), Elli Heikkilä (Institute of 61 Marjukka Weide: Finnish Integration Policy and Political Participation of Migration), Vesa Puuronen (University of Immigrants Kuopio), Teppo Sintonen (University of 68 Laura Hirvi: Conference Report: Diasporas, Migration and Identities Jyväskylä), Ismo Söderling (Population Research Institute/Väestöliitto), Camilla Book Reviews Nordberg (University of Helsinki), Arno 70 Carine A. Cools: Samantha Currie (2008) Migration, Work and Tanner (University of Helsinki), Marja Citizenship in the Enlarged European Union Tiilikainen (University of Helsinki) 72 Jarmila Rajas & Adriana Sandu: Kathleen Valtonen (2008) Social Work Partner Institutions and Immigration: Immigrant and Refugee Settlement and Integration • CEREN, Institute of Migration, Population 75 Andrey Y. Lukyanov: Lucassen Leo, Feldman David and Oltmer Jochen Research Institute/Väestöliitto (eds.) (2006) Paths of Integration: Migrants in Western Europe (1880– 2004) Contact • All correspondence to Tiina Kanninen, About the Journal tiina.kanninen@uta.fi The Finnish Journal of Ethnicity and Migration (FJEM) is devoted to the high quality study of ethnic relations and international migration. Published biannu- Guidelines for Contributors ally by the Society for the Study of Ethnic Relations and International Migra- • Internet: www.etmu.fi /fjem/ tion (ETMU), this peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, open-access journal pro- vides a forum for discussion and the refi nement of key ideas and concepts in the fi elds of ethnicity and international population movement. Although inter- national in its scope of interests and range of contributors, the journal focuses particularly on research conducted in Finland and other Nordic countries. Opinions expressed in the FJEM articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily refl ect the views of ETMU. ISSN 1796-6582 Finnish Journal of Ethnicity and Migration Vol. 4, No. 2 / 2009 Editorial www.etmu.fi Reshaping Europe: Migration and Its Contexts in Austria and Finland Introduction Peter A. Kraus and Petteri Pietikäinen In September 2008, the Academy of Finland and the Austrian Some economies would simply collapse without foreign Federal Ministry for Science and Research co-organised a workers. In the United Arab Emirates, for instance, about seminar on the topic ‘Reshaping Europe: Migration and Its 85% of the resident population are migrants. While becom- Contexts’. There had already been some previous collabora- ing more ubiquitous, migration is also becoming more fl uid, tion between the two institutions with regard to their respec- producing increasing numbers of ‘pendulum migrants’, who tive research programmes on power and democracy. When split their time between two different countries (e.g. Estonia the idea of a joint seminar came under discussion, migration and Finland, or Poland and the UK). emerged as a theme that both parties considered to be of cen- Men and women do not only move for economic rea- tral importance for Austria and Finland, as well as for the sons. We also have to take into account the large groups of European Union (EU) as a whole. asylum-seekers and refugees, who by defi nition are escap- The starting point for the organisers was the fact that Fin- ing from persecution. According to the refugee agency of the land and Austria, as affl uent EU-countries, are increasingly United Nations, around 10 million people fell under this cat- dependent on foreign labour. Whereas the infl ux of migrant egory in 2006. Asylum has become a disputed policy issue all workers to Finland is a recent phenomenon, Austria, located over Europe. In contrast with some of their neighbours in the in the heart of central Europe, has a record of protracted immi- EU, neither Finland nor Austria are characterized by having gration over the last decades. The seminar addressed the fol- developed particularly generous asylum regimes. All in all, lowing key questions: What are the specifi c approaches dif- migration is becoming more and more complex everywhere, ferent social and political actors, including the media, adopt and there is an increasing demand for in-depth comparative when they deal with issues related to immigration in the con- studies. As the landscape of migration is continuously chang- text of the two countries? And what is the impact of immigra- ing, researchers, policy-makers, NGO activists and citizens tion as a phenomenon that is reshaping the EU in general on all need up-to-date information as well as dispassionate anal- two relatively small EU member states? yses of what is actually going on in different parts of Europe, Immigration has become a shared West European expe- where people move from one place to another in search of rel- rience. Since 1990, Ireland, Greece and Spain, former emi- ative security, work and a better life (that may also be repre- gration countries, have attracted numbers of immigrants in sented by the sunshine that pulls Northern pensioners to the proportions that used to be characteristic of traditional immi- Mediterranean area). gration societies, such as the USA and Australia. Albeit hesi- It is our assumption that casting a comparative perspec- tantly, and to a much more modest degree, Finland seems to tive on immigration issues in Austria and Finland makes be joining the trend. In most cases, the last wave of migra- additional sense because of the interesting commonalities tion to Europe refl ects economic motives: those who move in the political development of the two countries. Both are, from poor to rich countries can expect to see their income although in quite different ways, ‘products’ of World War I rise by 500 percent or more. This poses a problem to low- and and of the breakdown of imperial rule the confl ict entailed. middle-income countries, as they face chronic shortages of Both countries experienced high levels of political polar- skilled workers. In a sample drawn from 52 million migrants ization and a civil war. After 1945, they developed as West- in 20 rich countries, the World Bank found that more than one ern style democracies, yet maintained a status of neutrality third (36 %) of them had a college education. between East and West. For a long time, consensus played a 2 central role in their internal politics and was seen as a consti- highly interesting laboratories for assessing the magnitude tutive element of their political culture. While this still largely and impact of intra-European migration fl ows. holds for the case of Finland, the consensus period has come Five thematic areas were covered by the presentations at to an end in Austria. the seminar: memories and realities of migration; integration One can now speculate to what extent such common fea- and participation; immigration and the labour market; family, tures are relevant when it comes to dealing with immigration. health and well-being; and images of migration in the media. There is certainly not a one to one correspondence between The topics discussed in the sessions ranged from the status the two countries. As already mentioned, in Austria we fi nd of migration in the construction of collective memory to the the high levels of immigration that are nowadays typical of role of immigration associations, precarious labour markets, most West European democracies. In this respect, Finland, the economic integration and political participation of immi- with its low immigration fi gures, is a striking exception. At grants. A selection of the papers discussed in the seminar is the same time, immigration is a heavily politicized issue in offered in this volume. the Austrian context, and right-wing populists have been relying on an anti-immigration discourse to mobilize polit- Peter A. Kraus ical support. Thus far, the populist response to immigration Research Director, CEREN has been far less salient in the Finnish case; it is still surpris- University of Helsinki, Finland ing, however, how immigration, in spite of its rather modest peter.kraus@helsinki.fi dimensions, has become a matter of intense public debate in Finland too. Finally, we should be aware of the geo-politi- Petteri Pietikäinen cal factors that may make for some Austro-Finnish common- Programme Manager alities regarding immigration: being situated