Do Integration Policies Affect Immigrants' Voluntary Engagement? An Exploration at Switzerland's Subnational Level

This paper investigates whether integration policies influence immigrants' propensity to volunteer, the latter being an important element of immigrants' integration into the host society. By distinguishing different categories of integration policies at Switzerland's subnational level and applying a Bayesian multilevel approach, our results suggest varying policy effects: while policies fostering socio-structural rights enhance immigrants' propensity to volunteer, we observe a negative curvilinear relationship between cultural rights and obligations and immigrants' volunteerism implying that a combination of cultural entitlements and obligations is most conducive to immigrants' civic engagement.

Von der Bewegung her denken: Migration als soziale Bewegung im eigentlichen Wortsinne

Ein Grund der Krise der Migrationsforschung liegt daran, dass ihre vorherrschende Blickrichtung vom Staat aus auf Migration gerichtet ist. Während der Staat naturalisiert wird, erscheint Migration als die störende Bewegung. Exakt diese Kritik ist in der Losung „We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us!“ des Immigrant Rights Movement aus den USA enthalten. Nur eine Umkehrung der Perspektive kann aus der Sackgasse führen, in welche Konzepte wie „Integration“ geführt haben, indem Fragen neu gestellt werden können: Was passiert, wenn Effekte von Staat und Staatlichkeit in die Bewegung der Migration eingeschrieben werden? Prototyp dieser Einschreibung ist die Grenze, die sich aber nicht auf deren geopolitische Manifestation beschränkt, sondern verschiedenste Grenzkontrollpraktiken (Datenbanken, Migrationsprogramme und -verträge zwischen Staaten, Rückübernahmeabkommen von abgewiesenen Asylsuchenden) umfasst, die oftmals deterritorialisiert und relokalisert sind. Ausgehend von der Kritik des Methodologischen Nationalismus skizziert der Beitrag, wie ein Ansatz der Migrationsforschung aussehen könnte, der von der Bewegung aus denkt, wie es etwa in der Idee der Autonomie der Migration angedacht ist. Am Beispiel des laufenden Projektes „How Does Border Occur?“, das unter anderem die sogenannt freiwilligen Rückkehrprogramme für tunesische Migrantinnen untersucht, stellt der Beitrag schliesslich zur Diskussion, wie ein solches Forschungsprogramm konkret aussehen könnte.

The Personal Foundations of Political Tolerance towards Immigrants

In this paper, we expand previous research on the psychological foundations of attitudes towards immigrants by evaluating the role of the Big Five personality traits with regard to the formation of political tolerance. Following the literature, we elaborate tolerance as a sequential concept of rejection and acceptance to uncover differentiating effects of personality on both immigrant-specific prejudices as well as on the assignment of the right to vote as a pivotal political privilege to this group. Using a representative sample of the Swiss population, with its distinctive history related to the immigration issue, our two-step Heckman selection models reveal that extroverts and people who score low in agreeableness exhibit negative attitudes towards immigrants. At the same time, only openness to experience is significantly connected to the likeliness of granting immigrants the right to vote.

European Immigrant Integration after Multiculturalism

This paper takes the recent abdication of multiculturalism by the leaders of Europe’s most powerful nations (Germany, France, and Britain) as hub for a reflection on common themes in Europe’s crisis of multiculturalism. The most obvious common theme in this crisis is Islam and problems of Muslim integration. Accordingly, this paper addresses the role of religion and Islam in Europe’s multiculturalism crisis, and elaborates on the “muscular liberalism” or “civic integration” policies that have appeared in lieu of a discarded multiculturalism. In a final step, I tackle, in a forward-looking mode, some “critical issues” that will shape European immigrant integration after multiculturalism: the need to fight discrimination despite multiculturalism’s ebb, a greater concern for majority culture, the importance of robust debate and democracy as medium of integration, the often-neglected factor of immigrant selection, and a recognition that institutions matter more than policy in the process of integration.

The potential of female immigrants' integration into sport by intercultural clubs in Switzerland

Sport participation means a privileged access to participate in the sport system and the opportunities of actual integration into sport (Seiberth et al., 2013). The access to sport activities is often restricted for female immigrants. The function of sport participation concerning exercise offers of social associations is not a common theme in research on migration or on sports-related integration. Research on boundaries (Lamont & Molnár, 2002) suggest that gender-related and ethnic boundaries are stable behavioural and cognitive patterns leading to unequal social opportunities. The present study examined the potential of a Swiss intercultural club regarding female immigrants’ integration into sport by focussing on gender-related and ethnic boundaries. Ten interviews with female immigrants and conductress of an intercultural club plus a group discussion were held. Using qualitative content analysis and documentary method, findings reveal multifaceted, interwoven boundaries, e.g. maternal devotion, exclusive exercise offers for women, language learning devotion, religious need of headscarf. Otherwise resources to overcome boundaries are provided: Deploying competent employees; offering childcare, exercise offers suited to mothers‘ time schedule and language lessons; equitable, on integration focussed club-life. Thus, intercultural clubs might help to overcome boundaries and facilitate access to exercise for female immigrants and integrate them more successfully into sport than many sport clubs. A boundary focus and present data may open new perspectives for sport organisation and integration research. Further investigations of social associations offering exercise are advised.

Mobilität und Migration seit 10’000 Jahren. Auf den Spuren eines uralten Phänomens

Die prähistorischen Epochen lassen sich praktisch nur über materielle Hinterlassenschaften rekonstruieren. Nur in den letzten Jahrhunderten vor der Zeitenwende tauchen auch schriftliche Zeugnisse auf. Im Kurzreferat wird aufgezeigt, welche Formen von Mobilität und Migration mit archäologischen Methoden nachweisbar sind und welches Bild wir uns heute machen können. Der Bogen spannt sich von der Neolithisierung Europas bis zu historisch überlieferten Migrationen helvetischer Gruppen.