Conference Programme (PDF, 1019KB) - Trinity College Dublin

abstracts by stream and session
I focus on the case of Spanish immigrant organisations to build a comprehensive analytical framework that can help us to understand
the interplay between state intervention, ecological dynamics amongst organisations and the development of social capital among
immigrants themselves. In doing so, I draw on several sources, especially a set of elite interviews with leaders of immigrant
organisations, as well as on the contributions of the literature on social movements, on ethnic mobilisation and on social capital. It is
shown that, in the Spanish case, the relationships between immigrant organisations and public powers are not balanced by a dense interorganisational
network, nor are they harmonised by an active participation of their members, to the detriment of a true civil society in this
domain. All this has negative implications for the associations’ capacity to act as creators of social capital and to integrate immigrants,
which eventually questions the adequacy of strong public support of immigrant organisations.
Integration from below: A historical analysis of migrant-led organisations in Ireland
Ronit Lentin, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
This paper discusses migrants’ responses to settlement and integration policies in their new Irish destination. One response has been
the creation of migrant-led organisations and networks, the subject of the Trinity Immigration Initiative Migrant Networks Project (www.
tcd.ie/immigration/networks/). The paper critically evaluates the short history of migrant-led networks in the Irish context by examining
several such organisations theoretically and empirically.
Following the three-pronged trajectory used to analyse migrant women’s networks (Dr Tona and Lentin, forthcoming), this paper
historicises the development of migrant-led organisations in Ireland along three developmental stages, paralleling the transformation of
Ireland’s migration regime. It suggests that while the first stage in the development of migrant-led associations denoted the spontaneous
establishment of networks and organisations in response to the vagaries of migration, the second stage was one of cooptation and
inclusion, in which the state and the NGO sector united in supporting, but also appropriating migrants’ independent voices.
After a theoretical discussion of migrant-led organisations, representation and resistance, building on Fanon’s notion of ‘lived experience’
as the basis for antiracism, the paper looks at the history of migrant-led organisations in Ireland, using four examples of migrant-led
organisations and campaigns, ARASI – the Association of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Ireland, the Irish Association of Minority Ethnic
Women (IAMEW), AkiDwA – the African and Migrant Women’s Network, and the Coalition against Deportation of Irish Children (CADIC).
With the recession, the third stage in the development of migrant-led organisations in Ireland – competing for scarce funding with Irish
NGOs – illustrates, as Kensika Monshengwo expressed it, that Irish migrant support NGOs are reverting to a colonial charity model of
‘I know better than you what you want’ resulting in the demise of a migrant-led antiracism movement. However, based on interview
data with leaders of migrant-led organisations operating in contemporary Ireland, this paper concludes by arguing that a new model of
integration from below is developing, as migrants are actively working towards their own integration on their own terms.
Overcoming Isolation and Exclusion: (New) Migrant Political Entrepreneurs’ Strategies and Practices
Fidele Mutwarasibo, University College Dublin, Immigrant Council of Ireland & Africa Centre, Ireland
Immigration is, without doubt, one of the most salient social transformations in Ireland in the last decade. A paradox of isolation
and inclusion has been the hallmark of officials’ response to immigration. Many policies developed by officials in response to the
unprecedented immigration experience resulted, in effect, in the exclusion and isolation of migrants. Asylum seekers’ dispersal and direct
provision policies and the introduction of habitual residence condition in 2004 are some of the examples of exclusion of the migrants. The
2004 citizenship referendum, initiated to ‘combat citizenship tourism’, in many ways, reified the non-‘Irish’ national category ascribed to
migrants. In terms of inclusion, there were a number of initiatives including: Know-Racism, the National Action Plan Against Racism and
the establishment of the Office of the Minister for Integration in 2007. Migrant political entrepreneurs have been developing responses to
the paradox of inclusion and isolation. The visible forms of activism evolved from asylum seekers’ networks to home country associations;
the third phase involved running for political office and campaigns for structural change. Based on biographical research, involving eight
information rich case studies, undertaken between October 2005 and December 2008, this paper explores values underpinning changes
in migrant political entrepreneurs’ strategies. Unlike traditional ethnopolitical entrepreneurs who engage in ethnic politics, (new) migrant
political entrepreneurs are involved a continuum of conventional and infra-political activities aimed at promoting holistic inclusion.
Humanness is at the heart of the philosophy of creative resistance that underpins their strategies and actions.
SESSION 3a Migrant Networks from Formal to Informal
The role of migrant networks in Spain: From vulnerability to the recognition of diversity
Elisa Brey, Universidad Complutense de Madrid & Université de Liège, Spain & Belgium
While the migration balance of Spain was positive until the middle of the eighties, nowadays immigration from other countries is one of
the main factors of social change. Moreover, the number of migrants increased in a very short period of time, and the diversity of origins
is relatively important due to globalization. Immigration brought new challenges to the Spanish society and its institutions, so migrants
arrived in a new environment which was not necessarily prepared to face their demands, although it sometimes benefited from the
experience of other European countries with a longer immigration history.
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