Young Latin American second generation immigrants’ aspirations, expectation and their perspective of well-being in Spain.
Author(s):
Maria Ron Balsera (presenting / submitting)
Conference:
ECER 2011
Network:
21. Emerging Researchers' Group (for presentation at Emerging Researchers' Conference)
Format:
Paper

Session Information

ERG SES D 02, Parallel Session D 02

Paper Session

Time:
2011-09-12
15:10-16:40
Room:
J 27/14,G, 69
Chair:
Dolf van Veen

Contribution

This paper adopts the capability approach together with the theoretical concept of intersectionality to shed light on the situation of second generation Ecuadorian immigrants in Spain. The capability approach, by highlighting the plurality of well-being and human diversity, presents an invaluable normative framework from which to study the personal and structural situation of young second generation Latin American immigrants in the Spanish society. This research will analyse the participants’ narratives studying the intersectionality of gender, race and class.

The relevance for this research lies on the increasing presence of immigrants in schools, in 2008/9 academic year immigrants represented 10.15 % of the total student population in Spain, compared to 6.64% in 2004/5 and only 2.06% in 2000/2001 (MEC, Spanish Ministry of Education statistics). However, there is a scarcity of studies delving into the context of second generation immigrant in Spain, particularly qualitative studies that take into account immigrants’ perspectives.

This research fills that gap adopting a qualitative approach in order to get a deeper understanding of the experiences and perceptions of race, class and gender, allowing for detailed descriptions of everyday practices. Seeking to explore participant’s perceptions of well-being, biographical narratives give voice to those who are often unheard, providing a useful tool to understand the participants’ subjective tensions and contradictions regarding their experiences. Thus, the aim of the research is to study how the interlocking of race, class and gender, can be articulated through the narratives of young second generation Latin American immigrants in Spain.

Method

The methodology that the research will adopt is the life history and narrative approach. Primary data will also be collected through a series of semi structured interviews with research participants. The data will be supported by some quantitative data analysis and an extensive review of the literature on intersectionality and capabilities. The triangulation of qualitative primary data collection with quantitative and secondary data analysis and literature review is intended to make the research valid and reliable for the academic world. (Brannen, 1992; Bell, 1993; Ritchie and Lewis, 2003) The biographical data is intended to construct the participants’ educational journeys and career aspirations. The biographical interviews seek to study their interpretations of their educational experiences and the socio cultural life conditions which they identified as influencing those experiences. The unit of analysis in this study is the life course as represented in their biographical narratives. The analytical concern is the analysis and reporting of the findings is to build on and extend the informants' own interpretations of their life experiences communicated during interviews.

Expected Outcomes

Social policies need to take into account human diversity, especially the intersection of race, class and gender, together with other status (age, sexuality, disability, etc), to shape these endowments. Social policies need to pay particular attention to intersectional subordinations which may lead to lower levels of objective well-being, which might turn into social exclusion. In order to enlarge capabilities social policy need to minimise the effect of structural inequalities and intersectional discrimination. Qualitative methods, specifically narratives, offer an appropriate method not only to explore subjective tensions and contradictions arising from daily school experiences, but also to give voice to those usually unheard, those at risk of being socially excluded, amongst which, immigrant hold a prominent place. The capability approach, as a normative framework, together with intersectionality, as an analytical tool, present an inclusive theoretical framework to explore perceptions of well-being, aspirations and expectations, shaped both by personal agency and structural factors, related to real opportunities and structural inequalities consequence of the interaction of race, class and gender in the particular case of young second generation Latin American migrants.

References

Aja, Eliseo, Carbonell, Francesc et al (2000) La inmigración extranjera en España : Los retos educativos. Colección Estudios Sociales. Núm.1- 2000 Fundación La Caixa. Barrientos, A. (2007) Does vulnerability create poverty traps? Chronic Poverty Research Centre Paper. Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Sussex. May 2007 ISBN Number: 1-904049-75-3 Camacho, G. (2010) Mujeres Migrantes: Trayectoria laboral y perspectivas de desarrollo humano. Buenos Aires: Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales. CLACSO. ISBN: 978-987-7543-52-6 Chant, S. and Radcliffe, S.A. (1992) ‘Migration and development: the importance of gender’, in Chant, S. (ed.) Gender and migration in developing countries. London: Belhaven Press. 1-29. Crenshaw, K. (1991) “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color” Stanford Law Review Vol. 43, July 1991 Davis, K. (2008). “Intersectionality as buzzword: A sociology of science perspective on what makes a feminist theory successful”. Feminist Theory, 9:1, pp. 67-85. De Haan, A. (2001) Social exclusion: Enriching the Understanding of deprivation. Poverty research Unit: University of Sussex. Portes, Alejandro, Aparicio, Rosa, Haller, William (2009) “La Segunda Generación en Madrid : Un Estudio Longitudinal”. March 2009. Portes, A., Borocz, J. (1989) “Contemporary Immigration: Theoretical Perspectives on Its Determinants and Modes of Incorporation”, International Migration Review, 23: 606-630. Fall. Portes, Alejandro, Rumbaut, Rubén (1990). Immigrant America : A Portrait (Berkely : University of California Press). Solé Puig, Carlota, Parella, Sonia (coord.) (2009) Las trayectorias sociales de las mujeres inmigrantes no comunitarias en Espana. Factores explicativos de la diversificación de la movilidad laboral interageneracional. Informe Final. GEDIME. Ministerio de Igualdad. Instituto de la Mujer. Vicente Torrado, Trinidad (2005) “La inmigración Latinoamericana en España” UN/POP/EGM-MIG/2005/12. 25 May 2005. Walker, M. and Unterhalter, E. (eds.) (2007) Amartya Sen’s capability approach and social justice in education. Palgrave Macmillan. Wolff, J, and de-Shalit.A. (2007) Disadvantage. Oxford: Oxford University Press: Oxford Scholarship Online. Oxford University Press.

Author Information

Maria Ron Balsera (presenting / submitting)
Marie Curie Eduwel ITN Bielefeld University
Education and Capabilities
Bielefeld

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