ESRC Seminar Series - Briefing Paper 5 - Swansea University

categorises them as functions of immigrant associations as developed by John Rex. Rex
identified five functions which immigrant associations carry out for their members:
• Pastoral and social work;
• Overcoming social isolation;
• Goal attainment;
• affirmation of culture, beliefs and values; and
• maintaining links with the homeland.
In presenting her findings, Alexa identified very strong evidence that the RCO in her case
study provided opportunities for bonding social capital in terms of both new and existing
connections. With regard to linking social capital, there was strong evidence of this at an
organisational level. The evidence for bridging social capital was however less clear. Equally
there was evidence of resources in terms of the five functions, with the exception
maintaining links with the homeland, for which there was limited evidence.
In conclusion, Alexa suggested that the evidence showed that the RCO presented in the
case study provided its members with opportunities that they would not of otherwise had
and that this in itself created social capital that often resulted in resources of the type
identified by Rex. Alexa ended her presentation with a cautionary note regarding the impact
of the precarious nature of the funding that RCOs receive.
PANEL 2 Hearing ‘the migrant voice’
Chair: Don Flynn, Migrant Rights Network
‘Stories from the inside: using insider knowledge to make a difference?’ -
Marcianne Uwimana, University of Birmingham
Marcianne Uwimana presented her work as a community researcher for ‘Making a
difference’, a project undertaken by Birmingham University and funded by the Joseph
Rowntree Foundation. In collaboration with RCOs, the project identified four core themes
where evidence was needed in order to achieve change at the policy level, these were:
• Skills, work experience, qualifications and aspirations;
• Experiences of ESOL;
• Mental health and well being; and
• Young people and education.
The aims of the project included:
• Building the capacity of researchers and RCOs to collect reliable evidence;
• Gathering evidence around the themes; and
• Using the evidence to lobby for change.
In keeping with the stated aims, sixteen individuals were identified by the RCOs and
underwent a programme of accredited training to become community researchers (CRs) for
the project. Marcianne suggested that CRs have specialist knowledge and bring the following
benefits to a project by virtue of being an ‘insider’. These benefits include:
• Shared experiences that enable them to understand what migrants are trying to say;
• Special access to communities because they are trusted;
• Knowledge about how the needs and experiences of migrants can be known;
• Language and cultural knowledge that can break down barriers; and
• The ability to tell the story of migrants in migrants own words.