Immigrant Associations, Integration and Identity joo sardinha Angolan, Brazilian and Eastern European Communities in Portugal A m s t e r d a m U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s dIssertAtIons imiscoe Immigrant Associations, Integration and Identity IMISCOE International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion The IMISCOE Network of Excellence unites over 500 researchers from European institutes specialising in studies of international migration, integration and social cohesion. The Network is funded by the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Commission on Research, Citizens and Governance in a Knowledge-Based Society. Since its foundation in 2004, IMISCOE has developed an integrated, multidisciplinary and globally comparative research project led by scholars from all branches of the economic and social sciences, the humanities and law. The Network both furthers existing studies and pioneers new research in migration as a discipline. 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Immigrant Associations, Integration and Identity Angolan, Brazilian and Eastern European Communities in Portugal João Sardinha IMISCOE Dissertations Cover design: Studio Jan de Boer BNO, Amsterdam Layout: The DocWorkers, Almere isbn 978 90 8964 036 9 e- isbn 978 90 4850 673 6 nur 741 / 763 © João Sardinha / Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam 2009 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. Table of contents Acknowledgements 9 List of figures and tables 13 Abbreviations 15 1 Introduction 19 1.1 Framing the research: Three questions 22 1.2 Choosing the groups to be studied 25 1.3 Outline of the thesis 26 2 Integration and identity: Theoretical concepts and approaches 31 2.1 Frameworks of integration 32 2.2 Immigrant integration and government forms 39 2.3 Citizenship, the politics of participation and mobilisation 45 2.4 Identity, ethnicity and the age of transnationalism 50 2.4.1 Ethnic identities and ethnic group formation 51 2.4.2 Ethnic mobilisation 56 2.4.3 Ethnic identity options and the creation of multiple identities 57 2.4.4 Transnationalism and identity 61 3 The phenomenon of migrant associations 65 3.1 Communities, voluntary associations and aspects of social cohesion: A theoretical review 66 3.1.1 Tocqueville ’ s three-sector model 69 3.1.2 Civil society and social capital 71 3.2 Immigrant associations: Roles and motivations 76 3.3 Immigrant associations, integration and identity 81 3.4 Immigrant associations and nation-states 87 4 Characteristics and consequences of immigration to Portugal 97 4.1 Portugal ’ s position in the international migration cycle 97 4.2 Immigration history and demographic developments 99 4.3 Geographic and labour market distribution 104 4.3.1 Geographical distribution 104 4.3.2 Labour market distribution 109 4.4 Politicising immigration and integration 112 4.4.1 State-based integration policies and institutional settings 112 4.4.2 Municipal institutional settings and initiatives 119 4.5 Immigrant association movements in Portugal 123 5 Setting the scene: Research design and fieldwork methodology 129 5.1 Research aims and methodology: An overview 129 5.1.1 Interview schedule, subject selection and conducting the interviews 130 5.1.2 Data management and analysis 132 5.1.3 Secondary sources: Literary data and participant observation 133 5.2 Mapping the fieldwork: The organisations and their locations 135 6 The associations: A typology 145 6.1 Association histories 145 6.1.1 Angolan associations 146 6.1.2 Brazilian associations 152 6.1.3 Eastern European associations 157 6.2 Organisational structures, membership and the populations served 162 6.3 Scope of activities and primary areas of intervention 167 6.4 Material, economic and human resources 171 6.5 Organisational networks and forms of cooperation: ‘ Bridging ’ and ‘ bonding ’ 176 7 The associations, integration and identity: Strategies for coping? 183 7.1 Community integration: Processes and problems 183 7.1.1 The Angolan community 184 7.1.2 The Brazilian community 188 7.1.3 The Eastern European community 191 7.2 Differentiation of groups: Self-identification and host-society acceptance 193 7.2.1 The Angolan community 193 7.2.2 The Brazilian community 197 6 IMMIGRANT ASSOCIATIONS , INTEGRATION AND IDENTITY 7.2.3 The Eastern European community 200 7.3 Identity strategies: Assimilation vs. preservation 203 7.4 The positions of the associations on integration and identity 210 7.5 The associations as transmitters of identity strategies 216 8 The associations and Portuguese social and community services 223 8.1 Regularisation and the Foreigners and Borders Services 223 8.2 ACIME and the National Immigration Plan 228 8.3 Employment, training and qualification recognition 231 8.4 Housing 237 8.5 Family reunification 242 8.6 Immigrant descendents and education 247 8.7 Health 252 8.8 Associations and civic participation 256 9 Conclusion 267 9.1 The immigrant associations in time and space 268 9.2 Between the migrants and the host society 271 9.3 Included, yet different: Integration, identity and citizenship 274 9.4 Determinates to integration: Policies and social services 278 9.5 ‘ Only the future will tell ...’ 280 Epilogue 287 Appendix: List of interviewees 289 Notes 295 Bibliography 319 TABLE OF CONTENTS 7 Acknowledgements My interest in immigrant associations originates from my very own up- bringing – being raised the son of an immigrant association leader amongst the celebrations and camaraderie, on one hand, and the tur- moil and politics, on the other, of a Portuguese immigrants ’ association in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. These were my first glances into a world that would, in years to come, inspire my life as a social science researcher. The curiosity of wanting to learn about other similar organisations, however, beyond the one that I had gotten to know ‘ from the inside ’ in Canada, came about in Portugal. My initiation into the immigrant asso- ciative world in the Portuguese context came via my work with the Cape- verdean community in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area for my MA thesis. Here I got to experience and learn about different realities and actions; associations driven by different objectives, representative of people with different characteristics. This, in turn, sparked further interest and re- search on the associative situations of other communities in Portugal. The result is this book that looks at Angolan, Brazilian and Eastern Euro- pean associations in Portugal. For this research the financial backing of two institutions has been crucial. First, a grant from the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian made it possible for me to carry out the investigative work full-time during a three and a half-year period. Second, during the one year period I spent on fieldwork in Portugal, the travel and accommodation costs when doing research outside of Lisbon were financially supported by the Cen- tro de Estudos de Geografia e Planeamento Regional, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. I wish to acknowledge both of these institutions. I point out that this book is the outcome of collective work. Its realisa- tion would not have been possible without the mutual help of friends, family, colleagues, participants – all those who in one form or another made it possible to ‘ complete ’ this study. It is thus the human support and collaboration of all who participated in this research that deserves more detail. At the University of Sussex ’ s Sussex Centre for Migration Research (SCMR), where the thesis on which this book is bases was completed, I start by thanking my supervisor, Professor Russell King, for all his sup- port, useful advice, time spent reading and helping me to structure my doctoral thesis, and challenging my thoughts whenever needed. Addi- tionally, I am grateful to Professor Richard Black for his recommenda- tions during the early development of my thesis and for his comments as internal examiner of the DPhil thesis. Equally, a vote of gratitude goes out to my external examiner, Professor Lucinda Fonseca at the Universi- dade de Lisboa, for her thoughtful comments and suggestions. Keeping within the academic realm, my appreciation is also owed to Professor Maria de Nazaré Roca at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa in Lisbon, and Professor Greg Halseth at the University of Northern British Colum- bia in Prince George, Canada, for their interest, openness and helpful advice. A vote of appreciation also goes out to my colleagues and friends at the Centro de Estudos de Geografia e Planeamento Regional, Univer- sidade Nova de Lisboa for their fellowship, especially to Sergio Telésforo for helping produce the cartographic work presented in my thesis and Sara Encarnação for her helpful comments concerning the map layouts. Lastly, I ’ m thankful for having had the opportunity to work under the tutelage of the late Professor Maria Ioannis Baganha during the eighteen months I spent at Centro de Estudos Sociais, Universidade de Coimbra. Professor Baganha may no longer be among us, but her dedication and enthusiasm towards migration studies and the social sciences, in gener- al, will surely live on, continuing to inspire all those who got the oppor- tunity to work alongside her. During the three and a half-year period that it took to write this study, mobility between Brighton and Lisbon occurred with regularity, for field- work, meetings, document or literature consultation, etc. I wish to thank those who provided me with accommodation during my stays in both Lisbon and Brighton. These individuals include my grandma Leopoldina and my friends Herman Pontes and Fernando Sequeira in Lisbon, and in Brighton, my University of Sussex colleague and friend Nina Marolt. To my partner Susana Rodrigues, I am thankful for her support, pa- tience and companionship; for listening and for helping me with the little bits and pieces along the way. I am also grateful to her parents Al- poim and Lucinda Rodrigues for all their hospitality. To Maria Palmira Gomes and Arménio Sardinha, my parents, without whom none of this would be possible, I am fundamentally grateful for their unconditional support, for teaching me and for giving me this emi- grant/immigrant life. As I often like to point out, I would be hard- pressed to find a more in-depth emigrant/immigrant fieldwork study than what has been our own lives. 10 IMMIGRANT ASSOCIATIONS , INTEGRATION AND IDENTITY I also wish to thank the staff at Amsterdam University Press and my IMISCOE colleagues for making this publication possible. I ’ m especially thankful to Karina Hof for her tramendous assistence during the revi- sion process. Moreover, I am also grateful to the anonymous referees whose valuable commentary and suggestions were indispensable during revision of the manuscript. That said, I wish to emphasise that I am solely responsible for the final results presented in this book. Any errors or shortcomings are of my sole responsibility. Last but not least, a heartfelt thank you to all those interviewees who shared their time and words with me, who invited me to celebrate spe- cial occasions with them – within the midst of their community – and who contributed to my learning experience. To those who, in the name of solidarity, work within and for their communities; who struggle against authoritarianism, bureaucracy, discrimination and xenophobia; who carry on everyday battles in the name of equal rights – this work is owed to them. These are their stories. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 11 List of figures and tables Figures Figure 4.1 Portuguese international migration cycle 99 Figure 4.2 Evolution of the foreign population, 1960-2004 (with residence and permanência authorisations) 103 Figure 4.3 Stocks of foreign national populations residing in Portugal by region of origin/birth in 1970, 1980, 2000 and 2004 104 Figure 4.4 Geographical distribution of the total foreign population by district in Portugal, 2000 and 2004 106 Figure 4.5 Geographical distribution of the PALOP, Brazilian and Eastern European groups per district in Portugal, 2004 109 Figure 4.6 Foreign labour inflows in 2004 by regions of origin/birth and economic sector 110 Figure 5.1 Municipalities where the associations (headquarters and delegations) are located 137 Figure 6.1 Membership composition of the associations 164 Figure 6.2 Organisational relationship patterns of immigrant associations 176 Tables Table 4.1 Most represented immigrant groups in Portugal in 2000 and 2004 105 Table 4.2 Foreign population growth rates per district between 2000 and 2004 107 Table 4.3 Work contracts of immigrants holding permanência authorisations by labour activity sectors and countries of origin in 2001 (per cent) 111 Table 5.1 Angolan associations interviewed and their locations 137 Table 5.2 Brazilian associations interviewed and their locations 139 Table 5.3 Eastern European associations interviewed and their locations 140 Table 5.4 Social and community service institutions interviewed 142 Table 6.1 The founding of the associations 146 Table 6.2 Legal constitutional status of the associations and other forms of recognition 163 Table 6.3 Groups of people catered to by the associations 165 Table 6.4 Areas of activity carried out by the associations 168 Table 6.5 Main association type 169 Table 6.6 Acquisition of central headquarters/clubhouse 172 Table 6.7 Sources of funding 173 Table 6.8 Degree of professionalisation 175 Table 7.1 Most referred to integration problems faced by the Angolan, Brazilian and Eastern European immigrants according to the respective association representatives 185 Table 7.2 Identity preservation and assimilation item mean scores 205 14 IMMIGRANT ASSOCIATIONS , INTEGRATION AND IDENTITY Abbreviations AACILUS Associação de Apoio à Cidadania Lusófona AAMA Associação Amigos da Mulher Angolana ABEP Associação de Pesquisadores e Estudantes Brasileiros ABP Associação Brasileira de Portugal ABRUNA Associação Brasileira da Universidade de Aveiro ACIMA Associação de Coordenação e Integração dos Migrantes Angolanos ACIME Alto Comissário para a Imigração e Minorias Étnicas ADA Associação de Defesa dos Angolanos ADDIFA Associação de Defesa dos Direitos das Famílias Angolanas ADECKO Associação para a Defesa dos Direitos da Cultura Backongo AEAP Associação dos Estudantes Angolanos em Portugal AIAA Associação Internacional Amigos de Angola AMB Associação Mais Brasil AMI Assistência Médica Internacional ARACODI Associação dos Residentes Angolanos no Conselho de Odivelas ASAP Associação de Solidariedade Angolana em Portugal ASLI Associação Apoio Sem Limites BE Bloco Esquerda BRASUP Associação da Comunidade Brasileira da Universidade do Porto CBL Casa do Brasil de Lisboa CDVA Clube Desportivo Veteranas de Angola CEB Clube de Empresários do Brasil CEPAC Centro Espiritano Padre Alves Correia CGTP-IN Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses – Intersindical Nacional CICDR Comissão para a Igualdade e Contra a Discriminação CLAI Centro Local de Apoio ao Imigrante CMCEI Conselho Municipal das Comunidades Étnicas e Imigrantes CMCIME Conselho Municipal das Comunidades Imigrantes e das Minorias Étnicas CMCP Conselho Municipal das Comunidades do Porto CNAI Centro Nacional de Apoio ao Imigrante COCAI Conselho Consultivo para os Assuntos da Imigração DR Diário da República EU European Union FAAP Federação das Associações Angolanas em Portugal FAR Frente Anti-Racista FNLA National Liberation Front of Angola FSA Fórum Social Angolano GAMA Gabinete de Apoio ao Movimento Associativo GARHC Gabinete de Apoio ao Reconhecimento de Habilitações e de Competências GARSE Gabinete de Assuntos Religiosos e Sociais Específicos GATAIME Gabinete de Apoio Técnico às Associações de Imigrantes e Minorias Étnicas IEFP Instituto de Emprego e Formação Profissional IGT Inspecção Geral de Trabalho INE Instituto Nacional de Estatística IPSS Instituição Particular de Solidariedade Social LLUANDA Liga Luso-Angolana Demóstenes de Almeida LMA Lisbon Metropolitan Area MEBRAP Movimento das Associações de Pesquisadores e Estudantes Brasileiros em Portugal MPLA Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola NGO non-government organisation OCPM Obra Católica Portuguesa de Migrações PALOP Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa PAMA Programa de Apoio ao Movimento Associativo PAPMI Professionalisation of Immigrant Doctors Support Project PCP Partido Comunista Português PEHAPEI Immigrant Nurses Professional and Academic Qualifications Equivalency Project PER Programa Especial de Realojamento PMA Porto Metropolitan Area PROSAUDESC Associação de Promotores de Saúde, Ambiente e Desenvolvimento Sócio-Cultural PSD Partido Social Democrata PT Partido dos Trabalhadores SEF Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras SEI Setúbal, Etnias e Imigração SCAL Secretariado Coordenador das Acções de Legalização 16 IMMIGRANT ASSOCIATIONS , INTEGRATION AND IDENTITY SIPEC Sociedade Internacional de Promoção de Ensino e Cultura SJR Serviço Jesuítas aos Refugiados SNS Serviço Nacional de Saúde SOLIM Solidariedade Imigrante – Associação para a Defesa dos Direitos dos Imigrantes UCI União de Créditos Imobiliários UGT União Geral de Trabalhadores UJAP União da Juventude Angolana em Portugal UNITA National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ABBREVIATIONS 17 1 Introduction The faces of Portugal are changing. Census data confirm what has be- come apparent on the streets, in schools, hospitals, health centres and so on. In the cities and suburban neighbourhoods new sounds are heard, new scents smelt, new tastes savoured and, above all, new faces seen. Flows of newcomers have come from various parts of the world – some from developing countries; others from industrialised parts of the globe. Some have migrated from countries with long colonial ties to Por- tugal; others from countries that have very few ties with the host country. Some have come through legal channels; others in an undocumented fashion. The characteristics that define the newcomers are also varied. Some arrive with professional and technical skills; others are unquali- fied. Some come individually without knowing anyone in Portugal; others join family or friends. And some come speaking Portuguese; others, not a word of it. Whatever the situation, these are ‘ the new faces ’ of Portugal and, very much like the general population, they share the same human needs. However, beyond the basic human needs, newco- mers often also have special requirements related to language and cul- tural patterns, their customary lifestyles and perceptions of others. Furthermore, they experience the trauma of separation from their home- land and the problems of coping in a new environment. The special re- quirements often imply that special considerations have to be given, of- ten in the form of policies and services to facilitate immigrants ’ adaptation to the host society. The study of processes and routes taken by immigrants when adapt- ing to a ‘ new ’ environment, as is the case of this research, is, in fact, an issue that has come under a lot of scrutiny within migration-oriented literature. Although, in the Portuguese scenario, as described, I point out the traumas encountered on the part of immigrants once they ’ ve arriving in the host country, not to mention the pressures of adjustment and the often redefinition of the ‘ self ’ , also worthy of consideration is the host society and the impact of immigration on it – how do governments deal with new cultures and religious diversity as well as the demands of immigrants? Debate around these issues and questions has been quite extensive. Theoretically, this study stakes out its territory in the literature on immigrant integration and identity (re)formation. Within this terri-