Östen Wahlbeck

The role of (transnational) social capital in the start-up processes of immigrant businesses: The case of Chinese and Turkish restaurant businesses in Finland

The article focuses on the business start-up process of Chinese and Turkish restaurant owners in Finland. Of particular interest are the role of social capital in establishing restaurant businesses and how variations in access to bonding and bridging social capital can explain differences between the two groups. The study is based on two sets of research: one which concentrates on Chinese restaurant owners and the other on the owners of Turkish, kebab fast-food outlets in southern Finland. Regardless of the general similarities of the groups, a closer look at the start-up processes and business activities reveals distinct patterns and processes associated with the entry pattern in Finland: that is, who entered Finland, why they entered the country and how. The two studies indicate that relevant social capital can be accumulated in different ways depending on the migration pattern of the group.

Debating Multiculturalism in the Nordic Welfare States

Like numerous other Western democracies, the Nordic countries — each in their own distinctive ways — have embarked on what Will Kymlicka (2010: 257) has characterized as ‘experiments in multiculturalism’ in an attempt to find new ways of incorporating ethnic minorities into the larger society, sometimes explicitly as state-sponsored policies, sometimes as grassroots initiatives, sometimes as a combination of the two. The ‘experiment’ (or what might more appropriately be called strategy or policy) has been variously embraced enthusiastically by some politicians and sectors of the public, haltingly by others and resisted vigorously by yet others. As will be clear in the case studies presented in this book, multiculturalism in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden always competes with other modes of inclusion, with assimilation constituting the polar opposite. And given the fissures in public opinion as well as among political decision-makers, multiculturalism as an ideal type needs to be distinguished from ‘real’ multiculturalism, which tends to be compromised, limited in various ways, intertwined with competing modes of inclusion and tailored to the specific historical trajectories of each nation.

The Kurdish Refugee Diaspora in Finland

The Kurdish diaspora has been influenced by various political developments, including wars, genocide, and forced migration, which have occurred in the Kurdish regions of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria— referred to by the Kurds as ‘Kurdistan’. Since the 1960s, large numbers of refugees have been forced to flee Kurdistan and, today, many Kurds live all over the world. Outside the countries of origin, the largest numbers can be found in several European countries (Hassanpour & Mojab, 2004; Wahlbeck, 2007a), especially in Germany (Ammann, 2004). The Kurds have been the focus of much research over the years (Meho & Maglaughlin, 2001), but there is still a need for research on Kurdish experiences in the diaspora. In general, we do not know much about the development of Kurdish diaspora communities over time, including the processes of economic and social integration into the societies of settlement.

The Finnish and Swedish Migration Dynamics and Transnational Social Spaces

Abstract This article contributes to debates about the long-term development of migration dynamics. The argument is based on a study of the transnational dynamics of the migration flows between Finland and Sweden. The two countries provide a good case for studying the long-term development of migration patterns, since there has been a full freedom of movement and the migration patterns are well documented. The article argues that the postwar labor migration from Finland to Sweden created a transnational social space that still today facilitates migration between the two countries. Although Finnish citizens dominate the migration flows in both directions, the number of Swedish migrants has steadily increased. This new pattern can be explained by the development of the transnational social space involving an increasing number of mixed families.

Multicultural Finnish Society and Minority Rights

This chapter provides an insight into practices and public debates about minority rights in Finland. The theory of multicultural citizenship outlined by Will Kymlicka (2010; 2001a; 1995) provides a framework for this presentation. In his widely influential publications in political philosophy, Kymlicka has distinguished between the minority rights of two different types of minorities in modern nation-states: on the one hand, old national minorities, and on the other hand, new minorities that have emerged as a consequence of immigration. This dichotomy provides an analytical tool for discussions about minority rights. In this chapter, the cases of Swedish-speaking Finns and Kurdish immigrants in Finland are presented and discussed in the light of this analytical dichotomy. The chapter discusses the different needs and rights of these two minorities from a general sociological point of view. Furthermore, in the last part of the chapter, the support for a backlash against multicultural policies coming from populist and far-right parties is exemplified with the case of the minority rights statements of the political party called the True Finns.

To Share or Not to Share Responsibility? Finnish Refugee Policy and the Hesitant Support for a Common European Asylum System

ABSTRACT This article outlines the policy of the Finnish government in relation to the development of a Common European Asylum System (CEAS). Finland has traditionally displayed a strong commitment to international cooperation. Yet, during the European so-called refugee crisis, when Finland experienced a 10-fold increase in the number of asylum seekers, some politicians hesitated to support the decision to relocate asylum seekers within the European Union. The article contributes to the analysis of Europeanization by describing how a Eurosceptic opposition to EU asylum policy can also emerge in member states that have an interest in supporting common asylum policies.

True Finns and Non-True Finns

ABSTRACT This article analyses minority rights discourse in statements of the populist radical right party called the True Finns, which has become a major political force in Finland in the 2010s. A framework for the analysis is provided by research about the development of political approaches to multiculturalism in Western democracies. Kymlicka (2010) argues that a backlash against multicultural policies has mainly occurred in relation to the acceptance of ethnic-cultural diversity among immigrant groups. Support for a backlash is found in the minority rights statements of the party. However, the political rhetoric of the party is not mainly about policies relating to immigrants, but basic principles of group-specific rights for minorities are also disputed. The article argues that the populist rhetoric has to be understood as related to fundamental discourses about majority and minority rights in developed welfare states.

Reflections on the Future of Multicultural Inclusion in the Nordic Countries

Multiculturalism, it needs to be stressed, is a mode of inclusion that in modern liberal democracies is predicated on the core values of those societies, not the least of which is a respect for the integrity of the individual. It is not a means for promoting group self-segregation, for advancing an ‘anything goes’ sort of cultural relativism or for hardening group boundaries. Multiculturalism differs from assimilation, at its most basic level, insofar as it is predicated on the moral assertion that societal solidarity can be achieved and simultaneously difference can be valorized (Gressgard 2012; Modood 2007; Kivisto 2002; Kymlicka 1995). Critics of multiculturalism who opt for the assimilative alternative are suspicious of this value commitment, contending instead that societal solidarity calls for the overcoming of difference. Advocates of assimilation see difference as a threat to solidarity at the national level, while multiculturalism’s spokespersons contend that difference and solidarity need not be antithetical but, on the contrary, can be mutually constitutive. The debates between proponents and critics have been going on for over a quarter of a century at both the philosophical/theoretical and policy levels, as well as in the realm of public opinion.