Suomen Akatemia VALTA-OHJELMAN HANKKEIDEN TULOKSET

courses. Additionally, immigrant women’s associations offer assistance to women who have
encountered violence by providing counseling and in some cases access to shelter. The data shows
that there is an ever growing need to pay heed to the well-being of women, children and elderly
immigrants.
The participation of immigrant associations in the municipalities’ integrative issues takes place
mainly through cooperative projects. Until the end of the 1990s there had not been much
cooperation. The problem with the projects was that they had mainly been managed by civil
servants, whereas members from immigrant associations had remained in a more passive position.
Representation of immigrant associations in councils is weak. Immigrant associations are included
in the multicultural councils of Espoo and Vantaa, but only in the planning stages. The municipality
of Helsinki does not include immigrant associations due to the large number of organizations,
which causes problems in finding fair, democratic representation. At the national level, the
‘Advisory Board for Ethnic Relations’ (ETNO) didn’t initially chose its members on the basis of
membership in ethnic associations, but on the basis of ascription to one of the larger language
groups spoken by the foreign population in Finland. Since ETNO’s third period (2005-2007), the
representatives of immigrant associations and ethnic minority groups have been chosen from
proposed candidates.
Niklas Wilhelmsson 11
Social capital and the political integration of immigrants
The objective of Wilhelmsson’s research was to explore how the political opportunity structure is
framing the opportunities of immigrants to participate in politics. The research was a case study
involving a comparative approach focusing both on local and national opportunity structures in
Finland and by comparing Finland with the Nordic countries from a social capital and political
opportunity approach.
The main research questions were: 1) How do government institutions frame the participation
opportunities of ethnic minorities? 2) Is there a risk for unequal participation opportunities for
ethnic minorities due to their cultural and / or religious background? 3) Is the Nordic welfare model
well equipped to accommodate the voices of minorities?
The study combined the political opportunity approach with theoretical insights from social
movement and social capital theory. The data material consisted of survey material, statistics and
documentation. Within the study, the theory on social capital was linked to political participation.
The theory was tested among Russian, Estonian, Somali and Vietnamese immigrants in Finland.
Social capital was measured through organisational involvement and other social connections.
The results of the study support the hypothesis that social capital forms a resource for political
participation. Notably, political participation was higher for immigrants who participated in civil
society organisations and held active social connections, than amongst those that did not. The
results also support the hypothesis that immigrant organisations in general are beneficial for
political participation. One notable finding is that the amount of organisational involvement and
social connections seems to be a more important explanatory factor for political participation than
the type of social connection.
11 Funded 1.4-30.9.2007.