Irene Bloemraad

Who Claims Dual Citizenship? The Limits of Postnationalism, the Possibilities of Transnationalism, and the Persistence of Traditional Citizenship

The dynamics of globalization, especially international migration, challenge traditional frameworks of citizenship and prompted scholars to develop new models of membership: transnationalism and postnationalism. All three – the traditional, transnational and postnational – explicitly or implicitly address the controversial topic of dual citizenship, or multiple membership. Lack of statistical data, however, has made it difficult to adjudicate between these models or to undertake a broad empirical assessment of dual citizenship, either over time or between people from different countries and socioeconomic backgrounds. This article outlines the testable implications of traditional, transnational and post-national frameworks and evaluates these hypotheses using a unique statistical data source that asked respondents to report multiple citizenship, the 1981, 1991 and 1996 20% Canadian census samples. The data offer little evidence that immigrants adopt a strict postnational view of citizenship, but they reveal the possibilities of transnationalism and the continued relevance of traditional frameworks. Over time, we observe a rapid increase in the aggregate level of reported dual citizenship from 1981 to 1996. We also find that those with higher human capital, rather than the economically marginalized, are more likely to embrace dual citizenship. After controlling for individual attributes, important contextual or group effects nonetheless remain: self-reports of dual citizenship vary significantly by birthplace and are higher if an immigrant lives in Quebec. Since naturalization levels seem to rise in tandem with reports of dual citizenship, this research suggests a certain paradox: while multiple belonging undermines some aspects of conventional state sovereignty, dual citizenship might be a means for countries to promote immigrants’ political and legal attachments.

The Limits of de Tocqueville: How Government Facilitates Organisational Capacity in Newcomer Communities

I argue that state intervention can foster immigrants’ and refugees’ ability to establish and to sustain community organisations. Drawing on 147 qualitative interviews and documentary information from the Portuguese and Vietnamese communities in metropolitan Boston and Toronto, I show how settlement and multiculturalism policies provide material and symbolic resources that immigrants can use to build a large and diverse organisational infrastructure. These findings challenge arguments inspired by de Tocquevilles image of self-sufficient and self-started civic associations. Instead, my evidence suggests that migrants benefit from government involvement. One important implication is that, by facilitating community building, host societies can encourage migrants’ participatory citizenship in their new home.

It's a Family Affair

Up to a million children and teenagers participated in the 2006 immigrant rights marches. Why do young people engage in protest politics, and how are they mobilized into such activities? A longstanding literature on political socialization suggests that young people learn from their parents, acquiring political attitudes and interests from older generations. This article argues that for immigrant families processes of political learning and mobilization also occur in the reverse: Younger family members can use English language skills and differential access to political information to inform and mobilize parents. The authors make the case for a model of bidirectional political socialization and show how intergenerational communication and interaction can increase a whole familys political engagement by pooling different information sources and networks: from schools and new technologies among teens, and from workplaces, churches, and ethnic media among parents. We build our argument on 79 in-depth interviews with Mexican-origin teens and parents living in Richmond and Oakland, California, who are U.S.-born citizens, naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents, or undocumented migrants.

It's a Family Affair Intergenerational Mobilization in the Spring 2006 Protests

Up to a million children and teenagers participated in the 2006 immigrant rights marches. Why do young people engage in protest politics, and how are they mobilized into such activities? A longstanding literature on political socialization suggests that young people learn from their parents, acquiring political attitudes and interests from older generations. This article argues that for immigrant families processes of political learning and mobilization also occur in the reverse: Younger family members can use English language skills and differential access to political information to inform and mobilize parents. The authors make the case for a model of bidirectional political socialization and show how intergenerational communication and interaction can increase a whole familys political engagement by pooling different information sources and networks: from schools and new technologies among teens, and from workplaces, churches, and ethnic media among parents. We build our argument on 79 in-depth interviews with Mexican-origin teens and parents living in Richmond and Oakland, California, who are U.S.-born citizens, naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents, or undocumented migrants.

Immigrant and Ethnic Minority Representation in Europe: Conceptual Challenges and Theoretical Approaches

This article introduces the symposium on the representation of immigrant-origin and ethnic minorities in Europe. It argues for the importance of research on this topic, noting the large, established populations of immigrant-origin citizens and their descendants across Western European countries and these minorities’ underrepresentation in elected bodies. Current research gaps concern both empirical knowledge and the theoretical conceptualisation of immigrant and ethnic minority political involvement. The article argues that existing research on representation needs to be extended to suit the cases of immigrants and ethnic minorities. It ends by providing a brief overview of each contribution to the symposium.

Accessing the Corridors of Power: Puzzles and Pathways to Understanding Minority Representation

Three major constraints hinder cross-national comparisons: a lack of data on the immigrant origins of political candidates and elected representatives, incomplete public data on the immigrant origins of national populations or electorates, and cross-national differences in the definition of the minority population. This article addresses these methodological difficulties and the conceptual challenges of studying minority representation. Using public data for a number of West European countries and three ‘Anglo-settler’ immigration countries, it elaborates an index to evaluate representational equity and to compare women’s and minorities’ presence in national legislatures. The index reveals the limits of a ‘national models’ or simple ‘electoral rules’ framework. Future research should focus on dynamics of group mobilisation, ideological contexts and the recruitment practices of political parties.

“Utter Failure” or Unity out of Diversity? Debating and Evaluating Policies of Multiculturalism

Across immigrant-receiving democracies, “multiculturalism” has come under assault by political decision-makers and commentators. The academic debate, while less fiery, is also heated. We start by outlining the multiple meanings of “multiculturalism”: a term for demographic diversity; a political philosophy of equality or justice; a set of policies to recognize and accommodate ethno-racial and religious diversity; or a public discourse recognizing and valorizing pluralism. We then review the existing empirical literature and offer some new statistical analyses to assess what we know about the harm or benefits of multicultural policies, focusing on sociopolitical outcomes. We conclude that multicultural policies appear to have some modest positive effects on sociopolitical integration for first-generation immigrants and likely little direct effect, positive or negative, on those in the second generation. On the question of majority backlash, the limited scholarship is mixed; we speculate that multiculturalism works best in places where both minorities and majority residents see it as part of a common national project. We end by considering the conditions under which this happens and whether there are distinctions between “Anglo-settler” and other countries.

Funding Immigrant Organizations: Suburban Free-Riding and Local Civic Presence

The authors argue that taken-for-granted notions of deservingness and legitimacy among local government officials affect funding allocations for organizations serving disadvantaged immigrants, even in politically progressive places. Analysis of Community Development Block Grant data in the San Francisco Bay Area reveals significant inequality in grants making to immigrant organizations across central cities and suburbs. With data from 142 interviews and documentary evidence, the authors elaborate how a history of continuous migration builds norms of inclusion and civic capacity for public-private partnerships. They also identify the phenomenon of “suburban free riding” to explain how and why suburban officials rely on central city resources to serve immigrants, but do not build and fund partnerships with immigrant organizations in their own jurisdictions. The analysis affirms the importance of distinguishing between types of immigrant destinations, but argues that scholars need to do so using a regional lens.

Migrants, Minorities and the Media: Information, Representations and Participation in the Public Sphere

Scholars of political communication have stressed the critical role of the media in modern liberal democracies (Bennett and Entman 2001; Chong and Druckman 2007; Koopmans and Statham 2010; McCombs 2004; Norris 2000). The media inform the public, provide a communicative bridge between political and social actors, influence perceptions of pressing issues, depict topics and people in particular ways and may shape individuals’ political views and participation. Despite this critical role, students of migrants and minorities have rarely used systematic media analysis in their scholarship. We believe that the time is ripe to review how a focus on the media can help advance a field that traditionally has been explored with other types of data. In this special issue, we showcase a diverse set of new research to illustrate the ways in which media analysis advances our knowledge about migrants and minorities in the public sphere. Understanding the factors that shape media coverage of migrants and minorities, as well as the effect of that coverage on public attitudes, policy outcomes or social relations, has a modest but growing foundation. To further advance our knowledge, this special issue is oriented around a comparative approach. Media coverage may be copious or minimal, positive or negative, social or political. These axes of difference can be examined across time; across regions, countries or cities; between media outlets of different types, political stripes or economic ownership structures; and with reference to a wide range of migrant or minority groups and issues, spanning asylum to security, integration to racial discrimination. Comparative analysis connects

Assessing the Scope of Immigrant Organizations: Official Undercounts and Actual Underrepresentation

We examine the official scope and actual coverage of immigrant civil society in seven California cities using a widely employed 501(c)3 database. First, we code immigrant organizations in official data and compare their number and proportion with population statistics; we find substantially fewer immigrant organizations than we would expect. Second, we measure the organizational undercount of immigrant civil society by calculating the number of publicly present immigrant organizations not captured in official data. We do this for four immigrant-origin communities (Indian, Mexican, Portuguese, and Vietnamese) using 160 key informant interviews and extensive examination of directories and media (ethnic and mainstream). We find a notable undercount, which varies by city and immigrant group. Considering both underrepresentation and undercounts, Mexican-origin organizations seem at a particular disadvantage. Our findings carry important implications for resource inequalities and advocacy capacity in minority communities, underscoring the need for further research on the vitality of immigrant civil society.