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Political and Labour Market Inclusion of Migrants in Finland

  • Chapter
Contesting Integration, Engendering Migration

Part of the book series: Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship Series ((MDC))

Abstract

Is Finland as migrant-friendly a state as it has been thought to be in many European comparisons? (see MIPEX, 2011, pp. 10–11). We suggest that, when the actual political inclusion of migrants is con- sidered, Finland is not a model country: new residents are poorly represented in formal decision-making bodies.1 The same applies to the other Nordic countries, which, like Finland, presently confront chal- lenges to their long-term commitment to implementing human rights (Kvist et al, 2012). The Nordic welfare regime is one of many in the European Union, and in Finland in particular it was formulated well before migration began to increase, which took place as late as the early 1990s. In other words, new migrant-settlers have needed to adapt them- selves to a ‘ready-made’ model. Proper representation and integration in decision-making are still only a vision: the norms and policies seem to be formulated for the migrants and not with them (Saarinen and Jäppinen, 2010a; see also Sum and Skjeie, 2008). Consequently, it is nec- essary to put the issue of political inclusion on the agenda as a matter of urgency. In this context we discuss the current economic and social challenges faced by the Finnish-Nordic regime.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aleksanteri Institute — Finnish Centre for Russian and Eastern European Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland

    Aino Saarinen (Aleksanteri Associate)

  2. Department of Social Research (Social Work), University of Helsinki, Finland

    Maija Jäppinen M.Soc.Sc, BA, PhD

Authors
  1. Aino Saarinen
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  2. Maija Jäppinen M.Soc.Sc, BA, PhD
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of East London, UK

    Floya Anthias (Professor of Sociology) (Professor of Sociology)

  2. University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Mojca Pajnik

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© 2014 Aino Saarinen and Maija Jäppinen

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Saarinen, A., Jäppinen, M. (2014). Political and Labour Market Inclusion of Migrants in Finland. In: Anthias, F., Pajnik, M. (eds) Contesting Integration, Engendering Migration. Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137294005_8

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