This article analyses the political engagement of immigrant organisations in Milan. Theoretically, I discuss three types of resource which may affect this engagement: institutional, group-related and network resources. By using data on 46 immigrant organisations, I examine the role of network resources and how they affect the contacts that immigrant organisations build with Italian political institutions. The study shows that networks among organisations increase the number of political contacts organisations build. However, not all links are significant. While links with autochthonous organisations are relevant, links with immigrant ones are not. Comparing my results with the literature developed in other contexts, I suggest that the political context may affect the type of organisational structure which develops and the network resources with which immigrant organisations are endowed. In contexts where ethnic differences are recognised, immigrant organisations seem to have enough resources to organise and act autonomously in the political sphere. In contrast, where social organisation around ethnicity is not encouraged, immigrant organisations' possibilities for mobilisation seem to derive from resources mediated by autochthonous organisations which largely prevail in the field of immigration.

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ABSTRACT

Different European nation-states use the most diverse statistical constructions of foreign origin or ethnic minority populations. Several countries traditionally even shun from producing such data. This makes international comparison a very difficult endeavour. Anyone wanting to perform comparative Int. Migration & Integration (2009) research on immigrants or (immigrant origin) ethnic minorities in Europe is unavoidably confronted with the most diverse types of national statistical data and has to opt for ad hoc solutions. Attempts at international comparison can thus be very tricky due to data characteristics. It is important that researchers are aware of these problems and do not simply accept data (especially in comparisons) at face value. In this article we embark on a comparative explorative study of the way in which immigrant background and immigration related ethnicity is taken stock of by national statistical institutes in a set of European nation-states.Résumé Les États-nations européens utilisent des constructions statistiques très diversifiées afin de compter leurs minorités ethniques ou leurs populations issues de l'immigration. Plusieurs pays s'interdisent même de produire de telles données. Ceci entrave largement la comparaison internationale. Ceux qui veulent faire de la recherche comparative portant sur la situation des immigrés ou des minorités ethniques (issues de l'immigration) en Europe, seront confrontés à une grande diversité de données statistiques nationales qui sont peu comparables. Pour cette raison, la comparaison internationale sera toujours difficile, voir risquée. Il est important que les chercheurs soient conscients des limites et des risques liés à ce problème. Dans cet article nous entamons une étude comparative exploratoire des différentes stratégies de catégorisation ethnique utilisées par les instituts nationaux de statistiques dans une série d'États-nations européens.

This article investigates networks and political actions by migrant organisations in five European cities. It examines how political opportunity structures moderate the impact of organisational networks on organisations' political contacts and protests using data from organisational surveys undertaken between 2005 and 2008 in Budapest, Lyon, Madrid, Milan and Zurich. Results suggest that the political context moderates the role that different types of networks have on mobilisation. It is found that migrant organisational networks may be sources compensating for the lack of contextual opportunities, thus fostering the use of protest by migrant organisations. However, migrant organisational networks can also favour the creation of political subcultures, marginalised from mainstream politics. Finally, migrant networks are likely to foster migrant organisations' political integration in multicultural contexts through conventional as well as non‐conventional politics.