Migration, Ethics and Civil Society

This project will consist of an inter-disciplinary enquiry into current issues in Irish society in the related fields of migration; integration; diversity; racism and civil society. It will seek to establish the extent to which changing legislative, policy and institutional frameworks, north and south of the border, are creating conditions for a more inclusive society, tolerant of and supportive of diversity. It will also explore the extent to which Irish experiences of culture contact and cultural identity preservation in other countries may suggest lessons for the future in both parts of Ireland.

Name of project leader and names of participants in project;

Executive summary of project

Objectives

Background

Among the major changes which have occurred in the Irish political and social landscape in the past decade, a number of common themes have emerged. In the south, there has been a shift from a society of emigration to one of net immigration since 1996. The strong public and political focus on the issue of asylum seekers and refugees has largely neglected other changes, including the substantial growth of EU immigration into Ireland, the modest but rapidly growing numbers of permanent non-EU migrants and the widespread use of short-term permits for non-EU migrant guest-workers. In Northern Ireland, the Belfast Agreement has led to a new emphasis on respect for difference and the development of new models of intercultural cooperation. These developments have been accompanied by new policy, legislative and structural initiatives, north and south of the border, for the promotion of diversity, the elimination of various forms of discrimination, and the fostering of new forms of inclusivity, recognising the two-way nature of the process of integration of disparate groups within the broader civil society [1].

All of these developments are taking place against a backdrop of recent EU initiatives, notably the post-Tampere emphasis on migration control, integration of third country nationals, coordinated policies on asylum and the development of new policies favouring economic migration.

There would appear to be an assumption behind Government initiatives in this area, north and south, that public opinion, policy and practice can be developed in an evolutionary way towards the creation of new inclusive, ‘multicultural’ Irish civil societies, using the twin approaches of promotional stick and legislative carrot. Taken together, the approaches proposed appear to fall somewhere between the 'Anglo-Saxon' approach, i.e. the elimination of discrimination combined with a largely liberal and laissez-faire approach to integration, with a strong bias towards the validation of ethnicity as a significant social vector, and a more prescriptive continental approach in which legislative strategies are used to drive the creation of a new consensus. The balance would currently appear to be in favour of the UK model.

Although there are clearly some common threads of finding ways of transcending traditional hegemonic models of identity within monolithically conceived civil societies, some important differences of emphasis may be noted in these various initiatives. Irish anti-racist initiatives have proceeded largely from a voluntarist perspective, aiming to create new pro-integration consensuses through educational and promotional campaigns. On the other hand, anti-discrimination legislation and associated initiatives represent a definite shift towards the development of caselaw and practice based on a rights-driven perspective anchored in enforceable and prescriptive notions of equality. Yet an underlying failure to define basic terms and modalities appropriate to a multicultural or intercultural approach relevant to Irish conditions and experience characterises both approaches, on both sides of the border.

Moreover, there has as yet only been sporadic work on identifying the nature and specificity of Irish racism, on the one hand, and to identify specific local cultural and political factors which might be used to develop new and creative approaches to integration and diversity, on the other.

The integrated study within a multidisciplinary framework of migration, ethnicity, ethics and civil society is common in mainstream European and other multicultural societies. In the Irish case the very recent nature of the shift towards substantial net immigration and the traditional lack of reliance on interdisciplinary approaches has meant a certain reluctance to adopt this type of framework. Yet the landscape has changed so radically in recent years that such an approach is now not only timely but essential in order to achieve an understanding of social change within Irish society. This project seeks to identify barriers to integration within Irish society (how does an immigrant ‘become Irish’ while maintaining his/her own identity? What changes are needed in the host society to facilitate this?). At the same time it seeks to explore the extent to which new legislation, policies and structures in both parts of Ireland might actually facilitate this process.

Strand One: Policy Review and Analysis

Identifying current policy on or relevant to diversity, analyzing it from an ideological and comparative perspective. Concurrent with this strand will be the analysis from secondary sources of policy in equivalent areas from selected countries. Once this is complete, the establishment of evaluation criteria and the collection of data on selected policy/policies will go ahead.

Strand Two: Attitudinal Analyses

A prerequisite of successful transition to a more inclusive and diverse society is the collective adherence to core values around which public opinion can be mobilised. Simply put, people have to agree on some level that the changes being embarked upon are satisfactory and will result in tangible improvements. Failure to conclude such implicit covenants may well lead to backlash, resentment and the growth of far-right xenophobic populist politics. These can be viewed as more general forms of rejection of broad democratic values and practices.

The project seeks to understand the dynamics of long-term attitudinal shifts of the scope envisaged by authorities involved in creating the conditions for a more inclusive society. This will involve looking first in qualitative and quantitative terms at the ideas held by people in relation to the broad concepts utilised in the discourse generated by political and legal measures. What meanings do people attach to terms such as 'human rights', 'equality', 'race' and 'difference'? How do they make sense of them in the course of their diverse experiences?

Thousands of Irish nationals have returned over the last five years. Does experience acquired in the Irish diaspora (of differing forms of governance and from - sometimes conflictual - contact with fellow migrants from other continents) filter back into Ireland? In what ways does this process bolster xenophobia, and to what extent does it establish the foundations of a more open society? If the language of inclusion is interpreted too differently by the various stakeholders, it will become correspondingly more difficult to elicit support for the goals articulated at the upper levels of authority (notably EU and national).

Strand Three: Multicultural Governance ‘SWOT’ Exercise

Interviews with key actors; civil servants, policy advisors, civil society institutions, gathering perspectives and identifying values, shared understandings, and points of potential conflict. The object is to map the ways in which institutional actors construct the notions of equality, multiculturalism, governance, etc., and identify factors prioritised by them in initiatives, and those neglected or downplayed. The distance between the findings here and those of the focus groups in the attitudinal strand (above) should point to areas in which values ought to be clarified and the search for shared ones concentrated.

Strand Four: Dissemination

The material will be made available, as is all of the other work of the ICMS, using the Centre’s website. The ICMS’ extensive audio and textual resources are uniquely accessible [2]. There will be an ongoing seminar series and a set of dissemination outcomes targeted on specific groups; the policy-making community, public service; academia; the general public, using distinct media.

Expected outcomes of project

Research work programme to include milestones and deliverables or phases

Phase 1 October 2003 – December 2003

Phase 2 January 2004 – September 2004

Phase 3 October 2004 – September 2005

Phase 4 October 2005 – September 2006

Information on success in the past in raising finance for this research area

[1]Among the noteworthy initiatives are; the introduction of new legislation such as the Race Relations Act (Northern Ireland) 1997, the Northern Ireland Act 1998, Employment Equality Act (Ireland) 1998, Equal Status Act (Ireland) 2000. New legislative and policy initiatives in the fields of immigration and asylum such as the Refugee and Integration Agency (Ireland). The Human Rights Commissions north and south of the border. The establishment of the Equality Authority and the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism in Dublin and the Equality Commission in Northern Ireland. The a new broad-based campaign, Know Racism, to raise awareness on racism and discrimination, and promote integration and the establishment of the North-South Language Body.

[2]Moreover, the ICMS is also involved in cutting edge research (PRTLI 1 and proposal in PRTLI 3, both part of Documents of Ireland proposals and in conjunction with the Department of Computer Science) to make such materials more easily searchable and accessible.