The public discourses that present immigrant men as dangerous towards women has intensified in Finland especially after the “refugee crisis” beginning in 2015. The discourse that posits immigrant men as dangerous to women simultaneously places responsibility on women, which often leads to monitoring of women’s conduct. This thesis aims to analyze how two individuals who position themselves as Finnish partners of immigrant men construct their interethnic relationships and their immigrant partners, and what subject positions they negotiate for themselves and their partners. The theoretical and methodological frameworks for this thesis are social constructionism and critical discursive psychology. Specifically, this thesis studies the interpretative repertoires and subject positions used and negotiated while accounting for interethnic relationships and immigrant partners. The data consist of two online forum discussion threads that have been initiated by individuals who position themselves as Finnish partners of immigrant men. The discussions have been written in Finnish, and the excerpts in the analysis have been translated to English by the author of this thesis. The results of the analysis show that while accounting for the interethnic relationships and the immigrant partners, the discussants drew on three different interpretative repertoires: the culturalist, individualistic and romantic repertoires. With these repertoires, the discussants were able to present their relationships and partners positively, and particularize them apart from other, allegedly patriarchal immigrant men. The discussants positioned their partners as the loving partner, equal partner, assimilated immigrant, Christian, good *Middle Easterner, and good asylum seeker, whereas immigrant men in general were positioned as patriarchal *Middle Easterners, Others, dangerous asylum seekers, and individuals. The sharp differences between these subject positions show that the most important way for the discussants to present their partners positively was to differentiate them from other men with foreign backgrounds. The discussants adopted the subject positions of the cautious realist, anti-victim, and equal partner, which all highlighted personal agency and control, and functioned as warding off the allegations of “wrong” kind of behavior in relation to immigrant men. One of the most important functions of the interpretative repertoires and subject positions was to present the partners as “good immigrant men” and normalize the relationships. The discursive construction of the partners as “good immigrant men” involved exclusion from the category of the “dangerous immigrant man” and the dispelling of the partners’ cultural backgrounds; and inclusion in the category of “us” by highlighting the partners’ Finnish-like features, values, and religion. By emphasizing their partners’ Finnish-like features, the discussants drew a dichotomous and hierarchical order between the allegedly modern and gender equal Finnish culture, and the allegedly conservative and patriarchal “foreign” cultures, thus complying with the hegemonic discourse about the incompatibility between the cultures. However, the discussants also resisted the culturalist discourse by drawing on the unique differences between individuals, and by legitimizing their relationships with highly idealized imagery of love and romance.

Abstract Introduction. International migration is one popular and challenging issue in Central Europe for decades, especially after the collapse of the communist bloc. This thesis explores, how international migration correlates with the level of economic development in six Central European countries (Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia) during the years 1995-2019. In this context international migration is divided into two types: immigration and emigration. This thesis aims to help policymakers to determine the international migration policy by understanding the correlation between international migration and economic development better. Methods. This study explores the correlation between international migration and economic development in Central European states and reflects it against the historical, political, and economic context. National-level migration and macroeconomic data related to Central European states were collected from the World Bank, Eurostat, OECD, UNCTADstat, WIID, UIS, UNHCR and ETH Zurich databases in the period 1995-2019. The endogeneity issues in panel data analysis were noted. Macro-econometric models and spatial autoregressive models were conducted through Stata. Results. The empirical analysis confirmed the following hypotheses: (1) an increase in immigration correlates with a higher level of economic development in receiving countries. (2) An increase in emigration correlates with a lower level of economic development in sending countries. As expected, the empirical results further displayed a positive (negative) correlation between female immigrants (emigrants) and the economic development of receiving countries (sending countries). Conclusion. This thesis presents that (1) an increase in immigration strongly correlates with a higher level of economic development in receiving countries; (2) an increase in emigration significantly correlates with a lower level of economic development in sending countries. This study also emphasises the correlation between female migration and economic development in Central Europe.

This Master’s thesis is concerned about the political and normative consequences that rise from viewing migration and refugees as a security threat. The issues of migration and asylum cross thresholds of state sovereignty and human rights. It has been found that liberal democratic states offer moral justifications for controlling entry of aliens, however this is ethically problematic. The unit of analysis is the European Union because the current refugee crisis has challenged the role of the EU as a promoter of human rights and questioned the whole European integration project as well as the meaning of the EU as a community of values. This thesis attempts to answer the following research question: how the European Union has securitized its migration and refugee policy in the Common European Asylum System. Copenhagen School’s securitization theory serves as theoretical framework of this thesis because the deepened and widened understandings of security have allowed other issues than military to be included in security: political, societal, economical, environmental. Construction of security issues has three steps: 1) an issue is described as an existential threat, 2) that require emergency measures and 3) justifying actions outside the normal bounds of political procedure. In order to complement the securitization theory this thesis will utilize Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis in order to deeply study the meanings of discourses that produce the social reality. After the analysis it is concluded that despite ideal assumptions of the EU as a place of refugee and exile, the practices in place show a different picture. It is evident that the focus is on how to protect the EU from refugees, not how to offer protection for refugees. The EU is the referent object that needs protection through exceptional measures and has the legitimacy to justify these actions outside normal policy procedures. This questions the normative role of the EU. Refugees are portrayed as a danger to the society, and they lack active role, which is highlighted in the right to freedom of movement. The EU has securitized migration and refugee policies by hard policy implementation: focus on border control, increase in surveillance and building fences. Thus, it has become evident that state sovereignty triumphs over the respect of human rights.

Female migration has been widely studied in Europe. Previous studies had found that migration is gendered, thus, the experience of migrants differs depending on issues such as gender, class and ethnicity along with career and familial relations. The position of the migrants in the post-migration time period is influenced by the recognition of their skills and the assessment of human capital they possess in the host society, which has a considerable effect on the position of immigrant women. Thus, I employ a feminist extension of Bourdieu’s forms of capital in migration studies as a theoretical framework to examine the position of immigrant women and to better understand their experience in a host society. In addition, I utilize the ideas of emotional capital to discuss the importance of studying caring practice, including everyday activities and the caring work done for other family members, and its interactions with the outside of the household, the local community and, possibly, with integration. My focus is on the position of immigrant woman in Finland, a country where the Nordic welfare regime, which is built on egalitarian practices, creates a paradox for immigrant integration, as national belonging is built on labour market participation and the idea of gender equality. I pay specific attention to the Cash for Care scheme in relation to high female labour participation and the choices of childcare provision. Thus, my intention is to explore immigrant women’s decision making on childcare, what kind of activities the women engage in while taking care of their child, and their progress in integration. My research questions are: 1) do immigrant women utilize caring practice in capital accumulation; and if so, how? and 2) how do they generate various forms of capital and transform them into other types of capital and, ultimately, into economic capital? The sub-questions include: how does the notion of national belonging related to labour market participation and gender equality in Finnish society intertwine with individuals’ decision making with regards to the process of capital accumulation and transformation? I employed a feminist standpoint to conduct 6 in-depth interviews using a narrative approach. The interviewees are all from outside of the European Union, are highly skilled, have at least one child whose age is under three years old, have experienced staying at home with a child and currently live in the Helsinki metropolitan area. I utilized thematic analysis to explore the experiences of the immigrant women. The results show the potential for immigrant women to be subjects of capital accumulation, as well as objects where their capital is utilized in supporting and enhancing the lives of other family members. First, the results establish the importance of a local and neighbouring context in capital accumulation in relation to how caring for a child goes beyond the household, and is linked to the generation of social and cultural capital. The choice on the length of stay with one’s child at home intertwines with the social and economic statuses of the interviewees, but remains primarily a matter of individual preference. Second, two of the cases demonstrate the transformation of accumulated capital into economic capital through caring for other members of the family, which works as a resource of emotional capital. At the same time, the position of these women is constrained by social and cultural barriers, as they lack appreciated capital, the most important of them being a sufficient knowledge of Finnish language and culture along with relevant social networks. The position of immigrant mothers can also be observed from an objective viewpoint: there are limitations on the women’s ability to accumulate capital for themselves due to them taking care of the child. However, at the same time, the women can engage in transmission of capital and enhancing their children’s capital development. This thesis shows that the caring work of mothers goes beyond the household, contributing to the generation of capital in their integration process as well as for their children. Caring practice in research demands further investigation to better understand the paths of immigrant women and, possibly, the involvement of their spouses in this practice, in order to improve the women’s social and economic positioning in Finnish society.

This study examines the immigration reasons, the process of choosing the country and acculturation strategies of highly educated post-Soviet employees working in Finland. The main research questions of this study are: 1. Why do post-Soviet professionals leave their home countries? 2. Do post-Soviet highly educated professionals perceive they have a choice as far as their migration is concerned? 3. Why do the post-Soviet professionals choose Finland as the country of residence? 4. What is the main acculturation strategy for post-Soviet professionals in Finland, and why`? The thesis is a qualitative study that uses ten half-structured interviews as its material. It combines different theoretical perspectives: acculturation theory, thesis of global professionals, Bourdieu's concepts on transformation of resources and theories of cultural and ethnic identity. This study interprets the decision to immigrate and integration of the respondents as resource optimisation, ,where skills, networks, positions and cultural competences are used to achieve the best attainable position for the family. The main reason for the respondents to leave a home country was economic refuge. Social instability and search for better opportunities were also important factors. The majority of my respondents did not perceive to have a choice of country of immigration. Those who had selected Finland consciously did so due to networks or geographical proximity of the country. Mostly though, Finland was not well-known among highly educated post-Soviets, so the selection of Finland could be attributed ,more to a coincidence than to conscious Finnish state policy. The study emphasizes the sphere of work, since my respondents spend considerable portion of their daily time there and since workplace is an important integrating institution for work-related immigrants. The research concludes that the workplaces of the respondents are currently unable to fully support the needs of immigrant labour force. Commonly used short-term contracts cause a lack of stability, which lowers the motivation to integrate. I have discerned two processes operating in workplaces, selective racist labelling and double-level acceptance process, which both influence the process of integration of immigrants. Post-Soviet immigrants adopt a separatory acculturation strategy due to strong post-Soviet identity and rather slowly developing Finnish skills. They prefer to socialise with the Russian-speaking people, which has a negative effect on the speed of their integration into Finnish society. Global professionals have an additional slowing factor, i.e. poor motivation for language studies as long as the change of country is probable. Discriminatory attitudes of not only locals and post-Soviets, but also of post-Soviets towards other minorities ,strengthen the separatory acculturation strategy. All in all, I perceive my study group as a highly potential resource for the Finnish dwindling labour markets. They are attracted to Finnish orderliness, respect to law, and closeness of nature. However, the limitations of ,their legal status and the resulting instability, lack of knowledge and insufficient communication with local population pose challenges for their integration. In order to produce long-term advantages from immigrating workforce and avoid the problems of segregated society, these shortcomings have to be mitigated.

Migration is becoming broader and more complex by the day. After the refugee crisis in 2015, the state policies revolving integration were revised in order to better meet the needs of the situation at hand. The revision lead to a strong focus on labour market integration, and consequently a narrower understanding of integration. Previous research shows that employment is the gateway to society, but at the same time it is widely acknowledged that sensing belonging is crucial for well-being, hence also a building block for integration. However, sensing belonging is constantly challenged due to migration. People move to Finland due to very different reasons, and also have different needs, therefore integration needs to be inspected from a broad perspective, taking into account various factors. Questions revolving what the objectives are with integration, and what it means for the individual as well as for the society are predominant when doing research on integration. The aim of this thesis is to place the immigrant in the centre of the discussion, to gain a deeper understanding of what is perceived as meaningful for integration and furthermore to investigate what value employment has within integration for the persons involved. The data was gathered during the spring of 2018, thematic in depth interviews were made with five informants, all of whom are first generation immigrants and have experience of working life in Finland. The results demonstrated that integration is a manifold process, that it was subjective and had a temporal connotation. A unanimous result showed that interactions with society, sensing belonging and employment are central for what is perceived as meaningful for integration. In regards to what the value of employment is within integration, a more shattered result was seen, central experiences were that employment gives financial security, purpose and daily routines. Furthermore, the result showed that perceptions of the value of employment were often loaded with faulty expectations that were not met in real life. The main result showed that employment was not a precondition for integration, neither was employment equal to integration, furthermore a differentiation between being employed and unemployed was far too easy to make, since today a lot of the benefits that a paid job gives can be found in other settings, for example through volunteer work. Despite this, financial security which only derives from a paid job was a precondition for all informants to be able to stay in Finland, and therefore employment was of great value for integration.

Human rights discourse is one of the transnational languages, which may be used to approach migration. This study aims at sketching the ways how abstract human rights articulations, such as the convention drafted in the United Nations for the protection of the human rights of migrants and their families, are made meaningful in a particular context. The context of this study is the Portuguese society, and the distinct but overlapping relationship between the Church and the state. The convention protecting the human rights of migrants has not been ratified in any of the European countries so far, which the Catholic Church considers as a departure from the universality inherent to human rights. This study considers the way the Church aims at addressing its transnational audience and at criticizing the national and regional spheres through a common concept to both human rights and Catholicism, the universal human family. Human rights become meaningful to the Catholic actors through the concept of family, and the convention on the human rights of migrants is interpreted as a countermovement to the emphasis on individualism, characteristic to the human rights system - thus supporting the Catholic conceptualization about the foundation of the well-being of both the individual and the society. This study has relied on media sources to sketch the main features of the Portuguese discourse on migration and the particular situations in which human rights discourse is used. The homilies of Portuguese Bishops have provided the central concepts through which the relationship between human rights, religion, and the state are discussed. A concrete example of the way how the Catholic actors unite human rights claims with religious rhetoric is a concern over the human rights of migrants brought forward by Bishop Januário Torgal Ferreira during the pilgrimage of Fátima. The transformative power of a pilgrimage thus supports the human rights claims. The cult of Fátima, which holds a strong nationalist tradition due to the legacy of the dictatorship, is now a stage for transnational and modern ideas. The central observation of this study is that human rights discourse functions as a definer of the relationship between the Church and the state, because it is associated with Catholic humanism which aims at balancing the secular politics of the state. In the modern society this relationship is often perceived as distinct, because the interference of the supernatural in the politics of the secular state is not wanted. However, in the Portuguese society the Church has been constitutive to the history of the nation-state, and the so-called secularization process has not pushed it aside from the hegemonic position that it enjoys in the Portuguese society. This study traces the reasons which enable the religious to enter the public sphere of the modern society, and contribute to the construction of the intermediary role of the Catholic actors.

Tutkielmassa tarkastellaan maahanmuuttajille tarkoitetun kielikoulutuksen tavoitteita Ranskassa ja Suomessa. Maahanmuuttajille suunnattu kielikoulutus on ollut Suomessa hyvin marginaalista vuoteen 2015 asti, kun taas Ranskassa, joka on ollut vuosikymmeniä vastaanottajamaa, kielikoulutusta on ollut pidempään. Näin ollen myös ranska toisena kielenä –tutkimus on suomi toisena kielenä –tutkimusta kehittyneempää. Tutkimuksessa käydään ensin läpi, mitä virallisia tavoitteita kielikoulutukselle on annettu, minkä jälkeen analysoidaan haastattelumateriaalia. Tavoitteena on vertailla ranskalaisten ja suomalaisten opettajien mielipiteitä maahanmuuttajien kielikoulutuksesta, jotta koulutusta voitaisiin tarkastella kansallista tasoa laajemmin. Tutkimusta varten haastatellaan neljää ranskalaista ja neljää suomalaista maahanmuuttajille kieltä opettavaa henkilöä. Haastattelu suoritetaan samaa yhdeksän kysymyksen runkoa käyttäen. Opettajilta kysytään heidän mielipiteitään kielikoulutuksen tavoitteista ja sen erityislaadusta verrattuna vieraan kielen opettamiseen, maahanmuuttajien välttämättömistä kielikompetensseista sekä kielikoulutuksen merkityksestä sopeutumisessa uuteen yhteiskuntaan. Vastauksia tarkastellaan sekä yhtenä vastaajajoukkona että ranskalaisten ja suomalaisten opettajien vastauksia vertaillen. Tutkimuksen perusteella maahanmuuttajien kielenopetuksen päätavoite on integraation eli kotoutumisen tukeminen. Kieli on integraation väline, eikä siis tavoitteena itseisarvoinen, mikä erottaa maahanmuuttajien koulutuksen merkittävästi vieraan kielen opetuksen tavoitteista. Yksi merkittävä integraation mittareista on työllistyminen vastaanottajamaassa. Kielikoulutus tulisikin järjestää niin, että se tukisi yhä enemmän maahanmuuttajien työllistymistä. Sekä Ranskassa että Suomessa maahanmuuttajien koulutuksen kilpailuttaminen nähdään ongelmana, sillä se johtaa usein koulutuksen pirstaloitumiseen eikä takaa laadukkainta opetusta. Lisäksi suullinen kielitaito korostui kummankin maan opettajien keskuudessa, mutta suomalaisopettajat kokivat, että sitä ei opeteta tarpeeksi ja oppilaiden suullinen taso on kirjallista kielitaitoa alhaisempi. Näin ollen myös opettajien koulutukseen tulisi lisätä valmiuksia kohdata maahanmuuttajien erityistarpeita.

The public debate in Finland around the subject of immigration ever since the start of the “immigrant crisis” in 2015 has often been polarized in nature, seemingly unable to create any increase in mutual understanding between those who are more opposed and those who are for it. According to some our whole society has been divided in relation to this issue, leading to many refusing to take part in the discussion at all. The hypothesis of this study is that part of the reason for the failure of the debate is a result of modernity and it ́s individualizing effects as outlined by Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman. This thesis is an attempt to analyze the debate about immigration in order to find instances of identity construction. The material consists of two separate TV-shows produced by the public broadcasting company YLE, titled “A2: Insecurity-night” and “A2: Immigration night”. The analysis is done by utilizing the analytical tools provided by positioning theory, an analytical tool not yet used in this context. It ́s strength lies in its provision of discursive tools that allow for the analysis of dialogue in which identities for self and other are created within social situations. In addition positioning theory offers a particular tool, ‘the positioning triad’, which allows for the analysis of the effects that individual moral systems have on discursive conflict. It ́s main implication being that the difference in morality systems explains many of those conflicts. The analysis shows that identities are often evoked for self and other in the televised discussion around immigration. Those more opposed to immigration often created “surrogate identities” of women, children and elders as a means to argue against its development, while those who saw the provision of asylum for immigrants as a positive development, evoked highly moral or amoral characterizations for self and other as a means to argue for it. In accordance with earlier research of discursive conflicts, the difference in understanding of morality seems to explain the difficult nature of the debate about immigration.