Browsing by Subject "group formation"

Abstract The Finnish Integration law is directed to support immigrants’ active participation in society, support equality and interaction of different population groups with each other. In this paper I discuss that in fact it is directed to assistance in finding employment overlooking the very essential part of integration process that begins after the start of working life. The question of how integration proceeds after this point is answered through the ethnographic case study of International Corporation logistics department with the focus on immigrant and native employees’ communication. The results can be divided into two parts, firstly concerning the immigrants’ precarious position, secondly, the specificity of their communication with Finnish nationals. Studying the context of the immigrant integration, I discovered that immigrants have a rather economically vulnerable position. The structure of logistics department determines the unfavourable conditions of their employment, offering only part-time job opportunities. Discrepancy between working hours set by the employment contract and those actually worked every month makes the income highly unpredictable. This inconsistency as well as hourly-based payment system put employees in a position of constant struggle to increase their income, and set the high flexibility requirement. Moreover, the welfare benefits unequal distribution is discussed as a factor of immigrant precarization. Study of the immigrant and native employees’ communication has shown the existence of boundary between them that is maintained and reinforced by the actors themselves through ascription and self-ascription processes. Immigrant employees, experiencing communication difficulties with Finnish nationals within their department and with other departments, have a detached and segregated position in the Corporation. In the context of immigrant economic and social vulnerability the full participation in the society of the host country could hardly be achieved. Recommendations were elaborated concerning defining the integration concept in official documents and concerning possible improvements in the studied corporation.