Abstract
The different historical periods, post-colonial connections and migration policies that have framed the arrival of Latin American migrants to European cities have influenced the extent and characteristics of their integration processes. In this chapter, the integration and transnational practices of Latin Americans in Amsterdam, London and Madrid will be analyzed based on empirical data collected during fieldwork. The experiences and opinions of migrants, scholars and civic actors regarding integration policies and integration issues will be examined with the purpose to assess the extent to which integration processes have been encouraged and facilitated by policy frameworks and institutional structures, or alternatively through the efforts of organizations, community leaders and immigrants themselves. The effectiveness of these policies is limited and migrants are more influenced by informal social and civic networks and trajectories that are created by the migrants themselves than by the formal policies designed to integrate them. These represents alternative forms of experiencing citizenship.
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Notes
- 1.
Casa Migrante was established in the 1960s and began as a support center for Spanish labor migrants. In the 1970s Latin Americans began to arrive and the organization took care of these newcomers to the city. Casa Migrante was founded by Father Theo Beusink, and works in connection with the St. Nicholas church situated in the heart of Amsterdam. Its activities focus on logistical support, translation and language courses (English and Dutch), psychological and legal counseling for migrants. Likewise, Casa Migrante is an open space to perform workshops, meetings and conferences. It is also called “open house” (casa abierta) because it is a place of socialization and everyone who comes there can, for example, drink coffee, read newspapers and magazines in Spanish, talk to others and consult the internet.
- 2.
Noticias is a nonprofit media organization that was conceived as an independent source of information between Latin America and the Netherlands. The website was created in 2001 and has since become the digital platform on Latin America in the Netherlands. The webpage, www.noticias.nl includes news, interviews, essays, forums, information networks, organizations and cultural, political and social events related to Latin America. As described by its director: “It is a media project that produces information about Latin America in the Netherlands… a communication agency that came out of ‘Radio Heart’ (Radio Corazón), a station about the lives of Latin Americans in the Netherlands. Thus, Noticias began producing information for Latin Americans and years later transformed to produce information about Latin America for the Dutch and Belgian public and share information with Dutch international cooperation organizations active in Latin America. Since 2000, we are giving importance to immigration issues and cooperated with other groups and cultural organizations, contributing to the community visibility” (Amsterdam, 2009).
- 3.
Since January 2013, immigrants must organize and pay for courses and examinations themselves. The government offers the opportunity to lend money. These changes began with the new law ‘inburgering’ in 2007, where some of these costs were transferred to immigrants. Also, it was applied in cases where courses must be followed in the country of origin.
- 4.
This foundation was established in 2002 as an NGO dedicated to integrating and empowering the Spanish-speaking immigrant community in Amsterdam. All activities offered at the CCH are socio-cultural and educational in nature and are related to education, information, and meeting personal and social growth. Among the services offered are Dutch and English language courses, computer and internet lessons, particularly for the elderly, organization of cultural and festive events, themed gatherings for the elderly, women, sexual minorities or for specific communities and art workshops, such as music, dance, theater, painting, ceramics and photography.
- 5.
“Amsterdammer” is how the Dutch refer to people from Amsterdam.
- 6.
A phenomenon analyzed by the dual labor market theory since the 1970s, which highlight the economy division in a primary and a secondary sector following different factors (Doeringer and Piore 1971).
- 7.
In the population census of 2011, the following ethnic minorities were categorized: Mixed/multiple ethnic groups: White and Black Caribbean, White and Black African and any other mix; Asian/Asian British: Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese and any other Asian; Black/African/Caribbean/Black British: African, Caribbean and any other Black/African/Caribbean background; Other ethnic groups: Arab, any other ethnic group. There is also the category ‘White’, but not understood as an ethnic minority.
- 8.
The CLAUK is composed by 14 organizations: ESFORAL, IRMO, Latin American Disabled People’s Project, Latin American House, Latin American Support Network, Latin American Women’s Aid Refuge (LAWA), LAWRS, Latin Elephant, London United Football Club, The Ecuadorian Movement in the UK (MERU), Naz Latina, Teléfono de la Esperanza UK, The Prisma and CASA Latin American Theatre. This coalition has been very active in lobbying for access to health services and labor rights.
- 9.
Author’s translation.
- 10.
Rosa Aparicio is a recognized research professor on contemporary international migration at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas and the Instituto de Investigación Ortega y Gasset in Madrid. Actually, she is the President of the Foro para la integración social de los inmigrantes, a governmental agency which advises in matters concerning integration of immigrants and refugees in Spain.
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Pardo, F. (2018). Latin Americans Confronting Integration Policies. In: Challenging the Paradoxes of Integration Policies. Migration, Minorities and Modernity, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64082-2_12
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