d. ghio, m. perez, g. sciortino - personal relations and language use

Personal Relations and Language use

Daniela Ghio | Minister of Interior and EasoMonica Perez| Istat Giuseppe Sciortino | Università di Trento

A Puzzle in the Existing Literature

Personal Relations and Language use | Giuseppe Sciortino| Rome 17 - 18 June 2013

In public opinion and in policy debates there is a widespread concern and more than some fears about:-Social closure;-social segregation;- lack of communication and trust among ethnic groups;- political and religious polarization;- lack of civic and linguistic integration;

In the best and more accurate systems of social indicators concerning the integration of immigrants, the whole effort is targeted to issues of structural exclusion and social inequality, focalizing integration as a matter of participation in the educational system, in the labor market and in political collective action. See:•The «Saragozza» system;•The OECD recent compilation;•Nearly all national systems surveyed;

Why?


A good political reason: interpersonal relationships, sentimental liasons, friendships, cherished language, etc. are all key elements of the private sphere, where individuals are (and should) be free to pursue their own conception of the good life;

A good cultural reason: intergenerational reproductions of inequality are a self-evident violation of a core tenet of liberal democratic societies; The same societies, however, value diversity positively, are suspicious of any substantive notion of their collective identities and are fearful of the possible political abuses in this area;

A good methodological reason: our statistical apparati are much better at measuring structural inequalities and monitoring their trends, while they have only rudimentary experiences in measuring diversity and relational configurations;

And Still….


There are also good reasons to argue that any attempt to provide public opinion and policy-makers with an adequate understanding of the trends in integration cannot be focalized only on the «hard» dimensions of socio-structural inequalities, but it has also to take into account the (only apparently) «soft» dimensions of cultural and social interaction.

The Conceptual Opposite of Integration is Segregation.


Integration does not presuppose Similarity. It presupposes Communication and Interaction across Cleavages.

Social Segregation


Segregated contexts - with their lack of exposure, interaction, communication - are fertile grounds both for the reproduction of inequality and for the denial of recognition and reciprocity.

Personal relationships are the infrastructure of social capital

Social Segregation II


The Absence or Weaknesses of heterogeneous social circles and networks has strong implications on the quality of democratic life. (for a review of the empirical and normative evidence, see Elizabeth, Anderson, The Imperative of Integration, 2010)

Language


The language used by immigrants has traditionally been a matter of concern in the U.S and Canada, while it has been considered less important in Western Europe.

It has become a key dimension of the debate with the turn towards a «civic» integration model and, in Italy, l’accordo di integrazione.

Language-in-use


The key focus is not on language-proficiency per se, but rather on the language(s) spoken in different contexts.

The language spoken in public contextsThe mother-tongue

The language spoken in private contexts

Language-in-use Data Sources


Istat, 2008, ad hoc module of the Labour Force Survey;Istat, 2011-2012, Condizione e integrazione sociale dei cittadini stranieri;Fondazione Ismu, regional surveys;Fondazione Ismu, national surveys;Local Surveys on Children of Immigrants.

Personal Relationships


It is known personal relationships show a strong tendency to Homophily;

Homophily, however, is contingent upon structural elements (Segregation) and ease of contact (language use, available resources, activation costs);

Personal networks are difficult to investigate because the very same definition of these relationships varies quite a lot among individuals and among segments of the population;

True Relational Data are difficult to CollectThe level of cross-cutting personal relationships may be taken to imply a low social distance between the analyzed categories;

Personal Relationships


The key focus is on the composition of personal networks and the degree of heterogeneity •Presence (or absence) of personal relationships with individuals of different citizenship;•Percentage of individuals with a different citizenship among the most (3 or 5) important personal relationships;•Contexts where the relationships are activated;•Language in which communication take place;

Personal Relationships Data Source


(about natives) Istat,2011, Discriminazioni in base al genere, all’orientamento sessuale e all’appartenenza etnica

(about foreigners) Istat, 2011-2012, Condizione e integrazione sociale dei cittadini stranieri;

(about foreigners) Fondazione Ismu, national and regional surveys;

(about foreigners) Local Surveys;

(about children of immigrants) – Fully Relational Data concerning Classrooms.

Sentimental Relationships


Integration implies growing number of immigrant families;

Endogamy is a key indicator of social distance;

Not all sentimental relationships are based on sharing the same living space

Sentimental Relationships


The key focus is on difference in family structures and on endogamy among partners;-% of immigrants living in households;-Main differences in family structures among natives and immigrants;-Significance of transnational links;-Endogamy;

Sentimental Relationships Data Sources


(on households) Istat, 2009, Condizioni di vita delle famiglie con stranieri;

(on households) Istat, 2011-2012, Condizione e integrazione sociale dei cittadini stranieri;

(on households) Fondazione Ismu, national and regional surveys;

(on transnational families) Istat, 2011-2012, Condizione e integrazione sociale dei cittadini stranieri

(on transnational families) Fondazione Ismu, national and regional surveys;

(on endogamy) ) Istat, 2011-2012, Condizione e integrazione sociale dei cittadini stranieri;

(on endogamy) Istat, 1995-…, Statistics on Marriages;

(on non-household sentimental relations) – Local surveys;

d. ghio, m. perez, g. sciortino - personal relations and language use

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