Trinity Immigration Initiative
Migrant Networks - Facilitating Migrant Integration
Mapping of Migrant Organisations
By Carla De Tona, Ronit Lentin and Elena Moreo
Click here to download Mapping of Migrant Organisations Document
Definitions Catagories Development Fluidity
Using documentary analysis, ethnographic work and internet research (see list of main web sources in the download document), we have identified 436 migrant organisations and networks currently active in the Republic of Ireland. Our main purpose is to show-case the wealth and variety of migrants’ activism, and to provide a resource tool for civil society and other stakeholders, to facilitate the circulation and sharing of information, as well as maximising opportunities for networking. Our work is aimed to complement already existing directories and lists of migrant-led associations (for example, the 2009 Immigrant Council of Ireland http://www.immigrantcouncil.ie/images/9108_MLODirectory0509.pdf and other sources listed below). In order to avoid unnecessary overlapping, we have also excluded migrant-led churches and religious groups included in the 2009 Directory of Migrant-led Churches and Chaplaincies, produced by All-Ireland ChurchesConsultative Meeting on Racism (http://www.irishchurches.org/files/DirectoryOfMigrantLedChurchesAndChaplaincies2009.pdf. We We have included however other religious groups not present in the directory. Finally, we conceive of this list as an ‘ongoing’ and ‘collaborative’ research project: therefore we call for interested parties, groups and individuals to contribute with suggestions, updates and corrections. In the process of compiling this database, we have encountered several conceptual challenges which we discuss below.
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Defining networks and organisations
We refer to networks as well as organisations to account for the degree of fluidity, flexibility, and structural adaptability displayed by migrant associationism; the sometimes informal or semi/informal nature of migrant groups; and the centrality of particular individuals within associations/networks in creating opportunity for associational growth and vitality. Keeping this caveat in mind, it is also important to note that it is not possible to formulate a clear-cut distinction between organisations and networks because associations do often display network-like characteristics and modes of operation and are part of a wider network made up by other migrant associations, Irish NGOs, Irish services providers, religious and cultural institutions and local municipalities etc.
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The politics of location: the groups’ categories and activities
Through lobbying, advocacy, outreaching, information and support, the organisations and networks we have identified do not only provide essential services but also participate in policy debates around issues that affect migrants; implement strategies of cultural adaptation and resistance; create opportunities for individual and community advancement; and provide a platform for disadvantaged segments of the population to become visible. The migrant-led organisations and networks in this list all aim at facilitating migrants’ integration and their process of settlement in Ireland and/or display a community oriented focus. We have included commercial, sport and arts groups when we felt that there was an ‘integration’ element in their work, be it through providing child care, promoting business or cultural opportunities.
While many of these groups reproduce ‘integration’ and ‘intercultural’ discourses and emphasise their role in favouring migrants’ integration, the aim of these organisations and networks is multifold and multilayered. Through a variety of activities and interests (arts, culture, advocacy, sport, education, etc), these organisations and networks are rarely only ‘ethnic’ or ‘cultural’ and it is not possible to ascribe them to a single category or type. However, for analytical purposes, in some cases we have indicated the type of activities or categories which best describe the remit of an association/network (for example, migrant newspapers are under the rubric ‘media’). It is also worth noticing that although many associations/networks are purposely based on ethnic and national affiliations, there is significant crossover as many groups constitute of multinational and multiethnic affiliations or affiliations based on locality as well as class, gender or religious solidarities.
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From informal to formal: phases of development
We have included both formal and informal associations as the degree of formality or informality is often more a variable dependant upon the group’s stage of development, or amount of resources available, rather than an indication of the level and relevance of its activism. More established migrant-led networks seem to display a common development pattern characterised by three stages of increasing institutional and formal ‘structuring’. Migrant networks thus go from a first informal stage - where networking primarily represents a response to the vagaries of migration - to a second stage when they start seeking funding and recognition, develop more specific functions, and often become officially registered associations with an elected board and advisory committee. Once gained formal recognition and a higher level of structural formalism, organisations enter a third stage where they start to multiply their linkages with groups whose aims are similar, extend their space of civic and political intervention, and ultimately gain recognition by the State as legitimate interlocutors in matters relating to migration. Not all migrant groups go through these organisational stages: many remain informal as is the case of migrants’ social networks revolving around friendship, pastimes, sports etc. Some of these groups operate in the grey territory between the formal and the informal: they may not have official statutes or board of directors but they may be publicly active, give their mode of association a name, and display a degree of self-representation. All such groups which we have predominantly encountered during research in the field, have been included in our list.
In relation to informal networking, social networking web-sites represent a fast developing arena. We have opted to leave out the main web-based groups such as Facebook, Twitter, Meet-up, Expat-blog etc, precisely because of the sheer amount of such groups (and the impossibility of finding out about them without becoming a member). However we have included other independent and web-based sites and portals which are accessible to non-members. These web-based resources testify not only the variety of web-based venues for networking but also migrants’ resourcefulness in maximising the potential of the web to their favour.
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Fluidity and problematic definitions
Because of the transient nature of migrant organisations and networks, the panorama of migrant associationism is ever-changing and fluid: groups form and dissolve every day; they may be very active at one time and then become dormant; associations merge, change names, and are torn apart by internal differences and disagreements. We are aware that this list is inherently incomplete and should thus be regarded as a snapshot of migrant mobilisation in Ireland at a certain period of time and from a particular research perspective.
We are also aware that the definition of terms such as ‘migrant’ and ‘migrant-led’ is problematic and that some clarifications as to how these categories have been employed throughout the research process are necessary. We use the term ‘migrant’ to refer to individuals who have migrated to Ireland in their own lifetimes; those who define themselves as migrants, new-comers, and members of new communities; and in relation to associations whose aim is to assist migrants. We employ the term migrant-led to encompass both associations founded by migrants and groups or initiatives that, albeit not necessarily initiated by migrants, are independently run and managed by migrants. It is interesting to note that many of the national and local indigenous organisations dealing with migrants (migrant support NGOs, intercultural groups, local partnerships, etc.) have a significant proportion of staff who are refugees or migrants themselves, often making it difficult to distinguish between them and migrant-led and independent migrant activism. Many existing refugees groups (see for example Residential Committees in the Provision Centres) are not listed here, precisely because of the institutional confusion surrounding them that ultimately depends on refugees’ ambiguous status and their limited power of action and representation. Ultimately, we have resolved to include in our list associations/networks that were set up by migrants and those led by migrants, irrespective of whether they might or might not have been initiated by migrants themselves. We aim to publish at a later stage a list of ‘migrant supporting’ groups and refugees groups.
Whenever possible we have indicated the year the association/network was established; the number of members involved (sometimes specifying the number of ‘core’ members). Please note that ‘membership’ is intended here as a descriptor of social participation rather than as an official category of belonging. Membership is therefore indicative of the number of people involved, both at the formal (i.e registered members) and informal levels within a specific migrant network. Attentive to the ethics of research, we have omitted personal information, such as telephone numbers and persons’ names; relied on information already publicly accessible on the web; and asked for consent in those cases where information was provided through personal contact.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank for their support and help in collecting some of the data included here the Migrant Networks Project team: Ying Yun Wang, Alessia Passarelly, Isla Setsu Nakano and Erica Dobbs.
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