Territory and treatment of diversity: The case of the Communities of Cantabria,Asturias, Andalusia,and Valencia (Spain)

The presence of culturally diverse students in the classrooms of educational centers suggests that the autonomous communities with educational powers in Spain address the issue in a rather complex way. The case that concerns us in this text centers on the legislative and organizational analysis of four autonomous communities in Spain: Cantabria, Asturias, Andalusia, and Valencia. Each of the territories analyzed has distinct characteristics in terms of the approaches taken in relation to this type of student body, derived not only from the number of such students present in the classrooms, but also from other criteria of an ideological nature and educational or pedagogical positioning given this reality. We move from a macro analysis to a more concrete one that tries to define what, who and how the autonomous communities and the educational centers coordinate this process.This leads us to the consideration of at least three elements that are related to this decision-making process: the legislation that results from this reality, the specific organization of the educational centers, and the structures that have been created ad-hoc to respond to diversity.The process must be understood from a broad view of the situation that goes beyond that which is exclusively school-based. We must not forget that this is a matter of human rights, of democratically agreed-upon values, and of establishing appropriate conditions so that rights and values can be made possible within educational contexts. Without forgetting this macro perspective, the analysis includes the way in which communities present the cultural project and how this is manifested in the official curriculum in the form of practices that are determined by the construction of an image of childhood.     

Integration in Canada: A systematic review of the youth experience

Although there is substantial research examining adult perspectives of immigration and integration, there is notably less data on youth attitudes and experiences. When youth are surveyed, a preliminary review of the existing literature reveals that non-immigrant voices are very rarely included. This systematic literature review (a) identifies the major themes and summarizes the findings of existing research; (b) determines gaps in the existing literature and; (c) proposes recommendations for future integration research, policy, and interventions. Ultimately, this paper finds that integration policy and research in Canada tends to focus on the changes required by immigrant youth but rarely discuss the cultural adaptation and inclusion required by settled Canadians. A paradigm shift in research, settlement practice, and policy is necessary to better reflect the bi-directional cultural exchange and the mutual responsibilities of integration.     

Acculturation,discrimination and wellbeing among second generation of immigrants in Canada

This study examines the acculturation, experiences of discrimination and wellbeing of a representative sample of over 3000 adult second generation of immigrants in Canada; 43% were born in Canada, while 57% immigrated before the age of 12 years. Four acculturation profiles were created using two sense of belonging questions: those who have strong sense of belonging to both Canada and own ethnic group (integrated); those who have a strong sense of belonging to Canada only (assimilated); those who have strong sense of belonging to own ethnic group only (separated); and those who have weak sense of belonging to both Canada or own ethnic group (marginalised). In the study sample, 75% are in the integration group, 15% in assimilation, 6% in separation, and 5% in marginalization. Wellbeing is assessed with two questions about life satisfaction and self-rated mental health. Those in the integration group have a significantly higher level on both measures of wellbeing. The experience of discrimination is significantly associated with being in the separation group. The effect of discrimination on wellbeing varied by acculturation profile: marginalization amplifies the effect of discrimination, while assimilation mitigates it. Social and demographic factors also affect wellbeing, particularly having low levels of education, income and employment. Implications for the settlement process are suggested.     

Social dominance orientation and differential affect toward immigrant origin groups: Evidence from three immigration-receiving countries

Recent evidence suggests that majority group members in immigration-receiving societies express differential levels of prejudice and stereotyping toward various immigrant origins. However, there is little research on whether this tendency to differentiate between more vs. less liked immigrant groups is informed by essential psychological motivations and systematically related to individual differences. In this paper, I test whether majority group members’ propensity to express greater differences in affect toward immigrant origins is associated with social dominance orientation. Using survey studies carried out in the Netherlands, the United States, and Britain, I demonstrate that majority group members’ tendency to express differential affect toward immigrant origins holds across national contexts. I also show that individual-level inclination to differentiate between more and less liked immigrant groups is consistently related to social dominance orientation in all three countries. Overall, my findings confirm the group-specific character of anti-immigration attitudes and highlight the role of social-dominance motivations in prejudice toward immigrants.     

Investigating direct and indirect globalization-based acculturation

Cultural globalization affects most people around the world in contemporary, modern societies. The resulting intercultural contact have been examined using the theory of globalization-based acculturation. However, little is known about possible differences and similarities in processes underlying the effects of direct (e.g., through contact with immigrants) and indirect (e.g., engagement with cultural elements through media) forms of new cultural exposure. Drawing on the contact hypothesis, social identity theory, and symbolic threat theory, we examined whether perceived intercultural threat and local and global identities would explain whether both forms of contact result in multicultural acquisition or in ethnic protection. In Study 1 (N = 402), indirect, but not direct, intercultural contact was positively associated with multicultural acquisition; and both types of intercultural contact were negatively linked with ethnic protection. Global identity significantly mediated the association of both direct and indirect intercultural contact with both multicultural acquisition and ethnic protection, whereas perceived cultural threat only significantly mediated the associations of direct intercultural contact with multicultural acquisition and ethnic protection. In Study 2 (N = 424), higher levels of ethnic protection, and lower levels of multicultural acquisition, emerged in the experimental group primed with indirect, versus direct, intercultural contact. Furthermore, intercultural threat was negatively, and global identity positively, associated with multicultural acquisition, while intercultural threat was positively, and global identity negatively, associated with ethnic protection. Results are discussed in relation to similarities and differences across direct and indirect intercultural contact, providing a nuanced understanding of contemporary intercultural contact and globalization-based acculturation among majority populations.     

Use of evaluative devices by youth for sense-making of culturally diverse interpersonal interactions

Building upon recent research that defines psychological development as a continuous process of sense-making situated within a cultural and historical context, this paper explores how culturally diverse youth growing up in New York City use evaluative language to enact relational complexity as they make sense of technologically mediated interpersonal interactions with their peers. Forty-four individuals (ages 15–20) participated in a quasi-experimental research workshop that engaged them in the process of sense-making by asking them to write projective narratives toward a vignette depicting text-massage mediated interpersonal interaction embedded among monocultural and bicultural group of peers. Data analyses focus on evaluative devices used by youth and manifest the relational flexibility of sense-making by immigrant youth and their U.S. born peers across diverse relational dimensions. Results suggest that immigrant youth are able to coordinate diverse ways of interpreting interpersonal interactions across relational dimensions, manifest by varied use of logical/hypothetical, causal and affective evaluative devices. In contrast U.S. born youth largely use same frequency of evaluative devices across two relational dimensions. Statistical analysis highlights the use of affect in projective narratives by exploring a discursive learning hypothesis: that higher use of emotions in the process of sense-making by U.S. born youth gradually scaffolds the use of emotions in narrative by immigrant youth.     

The Congressional Debates on the 19th Amendment: Jurisdictional Rhetoric and the Assemblage of the US Body Politic

Through its analysis of the rhetorical means by which the US Congress overcame jurisdictional objections to federal action on the issue of woman suffrage, this essay argues that the stasis of jurisdiction operates as a mode of assemblage of discourses, institutions, and populations. In Congress, the woman suffrage issue helped re-organize federal and state prerogatives over the management of racial and ethnic relations at home and US leadership abroad. Thus, from a governmental perspective women did not emerge as constituents but as tools of public policy. As a legislative precedent, the 19th Amendment debates prompt critical attention to the particular constraints that the discourses of state institutions pose for feminist political change.     

Identity Gaps of Contemporary U.S. Immigrants: Acknowledging Divergent Communicative Experiences

Through the lens of the communication theory of identity (e.g., Hecht, Collier, &; Ribeau, 1993 Hecht , M. L. , Collier , M. J. , &; Ribeau , S. A. ( 1993 ). African American communication: Ethnic identity and cultural interpretation . Newbury Park , CA : Sage . [Google Scholar]), this study examines how immigrants living in the United States negotiate multiple dimensions of their identities. A thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with 17 immigrants from 16 countries explores what identity gaps exist for immigrants in the contemporary United States. Findings suggest that several identity gaps permeate immigrants' lived experience, including personal-enacted, personal-relational, enacted-relational, communal-relational, personal-communal, and enacted-communal gaps. Specific attention is paid to how these gaps are expressed differently by different immigrants.     

Nothing but a Fairy Tale: A Qualitative Study of Marriage Migration,Second Language Learning,and the Ideal Self

This article explores how the global trends of marriage migration and tightening of immigration policies in the West interconnect with second language learning motivation. Specifically, this article considers how social positions, governmental regulations, and everyday contexts come together to complicate the expectations of language learning that underlie much public discussion on “integration.” Applying narrative analysis to excerpts from interviews and conversations, I investigate the case of Mulenga, a younger Zambian woman who moved to Denmark to marry an older Danish man. Framed by the L2 motivational self system, the analysis reveals a self-discrepancy between her ideal self (hopes of a better life) and her actual self (lived reality in Denmark) and highlights how motivation and images of self traverse, combine, and reconfigure different cross-temporal experiences. The findings stress the importance for language educators to pay more attention to personal narratives and experiences outside the classroom when attempting to understand learner motivation.