Does citizenship always further Immigrants’ feeling of belonging to the host nation? A study of policies and public attitudes in 14 Western democracies

Simonsen, Kristina Bakkær

doi:10.1186/s40878-017-0050-6

Cited by 35 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…However, immigrants have long been seen as a temporary workforce in Iceland, representing numbers so small that they could be neglected in official policy making. Hence, Iceland has been lagging behind in the theoretical and practical debates surrounding the civic integration of immigrants, which has long been a priority in Western Europe (Joppke 2017) and in the Nordic countries (Borevi et al 2017;Simonsen 2017). Only in the last decade, with the rise of the immigrant population in Iceland, have there been policies in place concerning the integration of immigrants into Icelandic society (Félagsmálaráðuneytið 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The politics of diversity: Social and political integration of immigrants in Iceland

Einarsdóttir¹,

Heijstra²,

Rafnsdóttir³

2018

irpa

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The ethnic diversity of modern states raises the question of where successful countries are in terms of immigrant inclusion. The number of immigrants in Iceland has increased significantly since 2004, and by the end of 2016, immigrants made up around 10% of the population of Iceland. Research reveals a gap between immigrants and natives in terms of social and political inclusion. This paper examines the social and political integration of male and female immigrants in Iceland via comparisons with the native population. We ask how native Icelanders and people with a non-Icelandic background experience their social position and political participation within Icelandic society. We focus on political efficacy, ideas about what makes a good citizen, and subjective status position as indicators of the degree of social and political integration. We use data from the 2014 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) on Citizenship, which is based on a random sample of 2,000 individuals and random samples of 600 individuals each targeting two of the largest immigrant groups in Iceland—Lithuanians and Poles—as well as the largest Asian immigrant group: Filipinos. Although the findings show integration of immigrants up to a certain extent, the differences between Icelandic and non-Icelandic participants are apparent and include certain disadvantages for participants with a foreign background. Although other variables—such as income, education, paid employment status, and age—play a larger role in social and political status than foreign nationality, the findings of this study suggest that there is room to improve the integration of immigrants in Iceland.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The politics of diversity: Social and political integration of immigrants in Iceland

Einarsdóttir¹,

Heijstra²,

Rafnsdóttir³

2018

irpa

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“…Also, there might be somewhat higher pressure to assimilate in Norway (cf. Simonsen, 2017). In the official integration program of Norway, immigrants are expected to show high Norwegian proficiency and good understanding of the society (MIPEX, 2015), while in Finland, integration is officially portrayed as a mutual, two-way process (Government of .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They found this pattern of results only in France and Germany, where a certain degree of cultural assimilation has traditionally been required from new citizens. Context also played a role in a Simonsen's (2017) study in 14 Western countries: While citizenship appeared as an important marker of national belonging for national majority members in all countries studied, the largest difference was between Norway and Finland. The importance of citizenship was the least pronounced in Finland, while in Norway, the role of citizenship was stressed more than in any of the other European countries (Simonsen, 2017).…”

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confidence: 99%

Citizenship and socio-political integration: A person-oriented analysis among Russian-speaking minorities in Estonia, Finland and Norway

Renvik

Manner

Vetik

et al. 2020

J. Soc. Polit. Psych.

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This survey study utilized a person-oriented approach to explore the patterns of socio-political integration among Russian-speaking minority group members in three neighboring countries in the Baltic area: Estonia (n = 482), Finland (n = 252), and Norway (n = 215). Three profiles were obtained in all countries: critical integration, separation, and assimilation. In the whole sample, critical integration was the most common acculturation profile. After the profiles were established, they were examined vis-à-vis citizenship and integration context to see, whether and to what extent, the objective (i.e., citizenship) and subjective (i.e., perceived social status and sense of belonging) socio-political integration of Russian-speakers corresponded with each other. Critical integration and separation were the most common profiles among participants holding national citizenship of the country of residence, while foreign citizenship was not related to any specific profile. Separation was rare among participants holding dual citizenship, but it was the most common profile among participants with undetermined citizenship. Also, intergroup context was associated with socio-political integration: critical integration and separation were the most common profiles of Russian-speakers in Estonia, critical integration and assimilation profiles in Finland, and assimilation profile in Norway. The results are discussed in relation to previous variable-oriented research and official integration policies of the countries studied.

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“…In fact, 'if the number of groups is small, and even if the group sizes are large, estimates of the variance component and of their SEs are imprecise and likely to be biased downwards' (Bryan & Jenkins, 2016, p. 7). Although the mean immigrant sample size per country was rather high (Simonsen, 2017), six countries were not enough to avoid unbiased results (Bryan & Jenkins, 2016;Mills & Präg, 2016;Stegmueller, 2013). Given these considerations, I opted for a cluster-robust analysis and therefore for a logistic regression model with cluster-robust standard errors.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immigrant citizenship status in Europe: the role of individual characteristics and national policies

Paparusso

2019

Genus

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The acquisition of citizenship status in the new country of residence may depend on (1) the individual immigrant's characteristics, (2) the structural characteristics of both the origin and the destination countries and (3) institutional factors in the destination country including policy factors, specifically the national citizenship policies. Although almost all European countries have shifted from a 'nationalist' to a more 'multiculturalist' citizenship policy, thus formally liberalising the access to citizenship rights, in Europe the opportunities for obtaining citizenship status in the new country of residence are still quite limited for many immigrants and their descendants. In addition, the conditions under which immigrants become naturalised citizens vary widely between countries. Indeed, there are many differences in policies on the right to citizenship in terms of the residence requirements for naturalisation, citizenship by birth, acceptance of dual citizenship and language requirements. The aim of this paper is to examine, through a logistic regression model with cluster-robust standard errors, the effect of both individuallevel characteristics and measures of national citizenship policies on the likelihood of citizenship status amongst young and adult immigrants living in six European countries, i.e. Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain, using data from the Immigrant Citizens Survey (ICS). The results show a considerable effect of individual characteristics on citizenship status. However, the effect of policy factors is also important. In particular, a lower residence requirement for naturalisation and a more inclusive environment favour immigrants becoming citizens of the new country of residence.

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Does citizenship always further Immigrants’ feeling of belonging to the host nation? A study of policies and public attitudes in 14 Western democracies

Cited by 35 publications

References 24 publications

The politics of diversity: Social and political integration of immigrants in Iceland

The politics of diversity: Social and political integration of immigrants in Iceland

Citizenship and socio-political integration: A person-oriented analysis among Russian-speaking minorities in Estonia, Finland and Norway

Immigrant citizenship status in Europe: the role of individual characteristics and national policies

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