The last decade has seen a spectacular rise in concerns about national identity in much of Western Europe. In European countries with a tradition of multiculturalism, a nationalistic backlash has followed sensational murders and public debates on Islam and the integration of the second generation (The Netherlands) or bombings and anxiety about fragmentation along ethnic community lines (UK). Debates on national identity and the failure of integration have also taken place in more assimilationist countries like France and Germany. The debates have been problematized as a “civic turn” by Joppke (2007), a “return of assimilationism” by Brubaker (2001), and a backlash against multiculturalism by Vertovec and Wessendorf (2010). The emphasis on national identity and values in western European societies is taking place against a background of a steady increase in ethnic and racial diversity and a substantial immigrant and second-generation population which, in many ways, is transforming mainstream society. Fears and anxieties about the “lack of integration” of immigrants and the second generation have been reinforced by concerns about the emergence of a European Islam which is viewed as challenging basic norms and values associated with modern western democracies.

Across the Atlantic, in light of massive contemporary immigration, nativist fears have bubbled to the surface again. Latinos, especially the undocumented, are often seen as a threat to the American nation. And post 9/11 prejudice against Muslims has contributed to increased hostility towards Islam. In Canada, especially in Quebec, there have been passionate debates on “reasonable accommodation” of religious practices and rituals. Even so, there is not the same level of fear or anxiety about national identity in the United States and Canada that is found in Western Europe.  What has remained stable is the confidence in Americanization as an irresistible process.

The meeting organised by Patrick Simon from INED and Nancy Foner from The Russell Sage Foundation explores the differences between North America and Europe against this background. What consequences do different national discourses and policies have for the participation of immigrants and the second generation in political and social life? How – and to what extent —  do national policies try to stimulate the development of national identity among new citizens? And how are policy makers, planners, and scholars attempting to measure national identity?

Ruby Gropas will participate at this meeting and will present a paper co-authored with Anna Triandafyllidou entitled: “Migrant Integration and the nation in southern Europe: between social toleration and political exclusion.”  Nasar Meer will also present a paper co-authored with and Tariq Modood (Sociology, Bristol University) on “Muslims and Nationhood in Britain and the U.S.”

The meeting will take place at The Russell Sage Foundation in New York, 9-10 December 2011. For more information visit the project website.

Abstract

This article explores the policy responses and conceptual underpinnings of intercultural education in Greece. In the past two decades, and as a result of migration, Greece has seen its demography significantly and irreversibly altered in social, cultural, economic, ethnic, racial, and religious terms. Faced with an increasingly diverse student population, novel education policies are required. This article addresses the following questions: How has intercultural education been designed in Greece in response to growing immigration? What are the main objectives of Greek educational policy as regards contemporary Greek society overall and the immigrant population in particular? Are these changing, and if so in what direction? Is intercultural education perceived differently on the part of the various stakeholders? Based on our empirical research we highlight the connection between education policy approaches, practices and national identity discourses in order to explore the conceptual confusion of intercultural vs multicultural education approaches and the importance of the national context. We also raise a number of issues that we consider merit further examination both in policy and research terms in order to expand and enrich intercultural education in Greece

Since November 2011 the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) is the national editor for Greece for the European web site on integration. This Web Site is an initiative of the European Commission under the responsibility of the Directorate-General Home Affairs. It provides policy makers and practitioners working on integration in Europe with a tool for the exchange of information and good practice.

Below you will find a selection of the items posted on the web site with reference to Greece. For more information please contact Anna Triandafyllidou and Marina Nikolova.

News
Public Call for One-Year Research Projects for the year 2012
Cultural mediators for migrants in hospitals
Immigration focus at Kozani’s storytelling fest
National Pupils’ Competition of creativity ‘Refugees’

Good practices
‘Immigrant Women Workers and Equality:Prospects for an Inclusive Society’
Migrant Skills Transfer in Aquaculture and Fisheries: The case of Greece and Egypt

Events
Islam in Greece: Religious identity and practice among indigenous Muslims and Muslim immigrants
‘Political Asylum and Immigration: Challenges for Greece and Europe’
14th International Conference on ‘Intercultural Education – Immigration – Conflict Management and Education for Democracy’
Crossroad of languages and cultures: learning beyond the classroom
MIPEX III National event – Round Table: Integration of Migrants: from Employment to Citizenship – Athens
Gender, Migration and Intercultural Interactions in the Mediterranean and South-East Europe: Public policy meeting and final conference of the GEMIC project
Conference ‘Intercultural health care and immigrants’

Documents:
Multi-annual Programme of the European Integration Fund 2007- 2013: Hellenic Ministry of Interior
National Report 2010 of the Information & Documentation Centre ‘Antigone’
Albanian return migration: migrants tend to return to their country of origin after all – Lois Labrianidis and Panos Hatziprokopiou
The Integration of Immigrants in Athens: Developing Indicators and Statistical Measures – Martin Baldwin-Edwards

The multiculturalism debate is long with many twists (for a US perspective click here). And is convincingly argued by one of the EMILIE project partners, Professor Tariq Modood, from the University of Bristol in The Guardian: indeed Multiculturalism is not in retreat. It is rather re-organising and improving. And what’s more: we need a multiculturalism of hope – of positive thinking – not one of fear (of one another).

Having said this, one clarification is in order: Germany has NEVER had any type of multiculturalism. Quite the contrary. Until year 2000, Germany adhered to an ethnic conception of citizenship, within which migrants were invited to hold onto their culture and language of origin because they would be encouraged to leave the country after some years of residence and work to return to their country of origin (Deutschland ist kein Einwanderungsland). After year 2000, with the change of the citizenship law which partly embraced a ius soli principle allowing for second generation children to obtain German citizenship but still not allowing for dual citizenship (German and of the country of origin), the discourse in Germany, and the policies have changed. Alas not in a multiculturalism direction. The dominant paradigm adopted was that of integration. Integration became the key concept, the policy principle, the buzzword. However, integration was not understood in a direction of reconsidering and pluralizing German identity, opening it up to multicultural influences and hence creating a multicultural citizenship, in the British sense. Rather integration has meant socio-economic insertion: making sure that immigrant children finish school (usually vocational training) and get a job. Ethnic or religious diversity, the cultural capital that immigrant children brought with them were not seen as added value. Actually such concerns were a luxury that only middle class (indeed predominantly ethnic German) schools could afford (if at all) (see also the EMILIE policy brief and report on German education policies). It needs thus to be made clear that Multiculturalism has never lived in Germany for it to die in it.

On June 24-25, the Federal Agency together with Fundation Bertelsman organised a workshop on the specific challenges raised by diversity in Europeans cities regarding citizenship education. The event took place in Barcelona and brought together researchers, activists and policy makers.

The EMILIE project findings were presented with a focus on the case study of education policies. It gave insight on the challenges brought by the increasing diversity of school population in old and recent country of immigration. The discussion with the workshop participants led to envision issues of diversity and eduction in the specific setting of urban areas.

The workshop outcome was to make recommandation for the subsequent NECE conference in the city of Trieste: “Chances for Cultural Citizenship Education in the Context of the Development of Cities and Urban Spaces” (September 2010).

To download the programme click here

To download the EMILIE presentation click here

Barcelona, Spain

The future of society will be decided in cities. It is there where economic, social and cultural developments are concentrated and condensated. Cities appear as “catalysts” of deep-reaching negotiation processes between tradition and innovation, between break and continuity.

Individuals and groups from different milieus, origins, ethnicities encounter each other. They encounter the different, the foreign, different lifestyles, ways of behaviour and ideologies. Fears and hopes, opportunities and risks: Urbanity in the 21st century is closely linked to identity processes and challenges for citizenship education.

Social justice is the core of urban politics. In the cities, basic needs such as belonging, home, possibilities to participate and develop become questions of vital significance – not at last for cities themselves. These social challenges are not the only urban-political tasks to be solved.

Actors in cities are confronted with a wickerwork of effects which is entirely new in its complexity.

• economy-affecting globalisation effects
• demographic shifts
• migration
• trends towards segregation
• development of retail trade
• new expectations to the city as a space of living, working, leisure time.

How could citizenship education at the European level appropriately react to this and also initiate new models of participation? This is supposed to be the topic of the workshop. The participative concept of the workshop is reflected in the intense discussions with all invited experts that follow the short introductions of each topic by one or two inputs.

For the programme of the workshop click here

For more information on the workshop click here

The GFMD is a process wherein governments participate voluntarily, informally and not binding. Policymakers from all over the world participate to share experiences, identify the best practices and encourage cooperation among nations to use migration for the benefit of development. The first GFMD was carried out in July 2007, in Brussels, the second one in Manila (October 2008) and the third one in Athens (November 2009). The Civil Society Days are a forum for the Civil Organizations to discuss the relationship between migration and development through an informal and not binding process.

The application process for NGOs to participate in the 2010 Civil Society Days has opened. For more information go to: http://www.gfmd2010mexico.org/gf_page.aspx?dir=formas&page=formas

The EMILIE Project was one of four EU funded projects to be presented to a gathering of journalists from the written (16) and audiovisual (7) press, coming from all EU 27 countries.

A member of the French EMILIE team, Angéline Escafré-Dublet, presented the project  findings with a focus on the educational challenges in the nine countries studied by the EMILIE team. Journalists asked numerous questions about the project, including: What is the difference between intercultural and multicultural education? What are the kind of inclusive approaches to education that could be identified? How was the fieldwork conducted?

During the discussion, it was noted that it is important to recognise the particularities of each national contexts that make each experience useful and pertinent, but not necessarily transferable to another national context. The aim of this project was to understand the logic, dynamics and influential factors that define the different approaches, rather than to give “bad points” or “good points” to certain countries based on their experiences and policies. However, some issues require to be approached a certain way, for instance the necessity to approach language learning by both promoting the language of the country of origin as much as the language of the host country and the necessity to have a holistic approach towards diversity (not only focused on or targeting one group) is relevant and necessary for all national.

The point about language learning raised interest and a journalist from TVÉ in Ireland asked further question during an interview, along with a journalist from Italy (RAI 1) and Austria (Der Standard).

After the presentation of the four EU funded projects (EMILIE, EDUMIGROM, INLUD-ED and YUPPIE), the group of journalists and researchers were invited to visit the Montserrat Madre Deu Primary School outside Barcelona in order to observe various particularly interesting activities organised for children of immigrants and their parents : Catalan classes for immigrant mothers, reading groups, etc.

For the presentation on the Emilie project findings click here
For the agenda click here

To find out more about this event, please click here

To read the EC Commission News Alert, please click here

Pluralism and cultural diversity are among Europe’s most valuable assets. In the past couple of decades, the EU’s heterogeneity has increased further and at very fast paces. Opportunities and challenges posed by migration-related diversity have become increasingly apparent.

The EU member states studied in this project (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Spain and the UK) have undertaken different approaches in integrating groups with migration backgrounds into their education systems, labour markets and their political processes.

Cultural and religious diversity in European classrooms remains a challenge, even if intercultural education is not a new issue in the European education policy agenda. Though EU directives on racial equality and employment have been in place for nearly a decade, discrimination against migrants and minorities in the labour market is still widespread. Lastly, while some progress has been made toward multicultural citizenship, most migrant and minority groups remain politically voiceless.

The EMILIE Final Report presents the overall findings of the project. It includes concise summaries of all national case studies as well as the theoretical work undertaken in this project; it provides references and links to project reports, project policy briefs, and other project working papers, presentations and forthcoming publications by all the EMILIE Consortium members.
The EMILIE project ran from July 2006 to September 2009 and was funded by DG RTD, 6th Framework Programme.