The Power of Definitions: Immigrant Women and Problem-Centered Ideologies
Ålund, Aleksandra.The Power of Definitions, Migration. A European Journal of International Migration and Ethnic Relation. 1988. Linköping University.
37 Theorien und Konzepte in den 80ern gingen von westlichen Feministen aus, Kritik: ethnozentrische Sichtweise 38 “There is a marked discrepancy between officially expressed egalitarian political goals and reality” 39 “Culture has largely become an expression of social ranking” “There is a large overall labour market participation of immigrant women but they pay a high price in terms of poorer health and early burnout and exclusion from the labour market, compared with the rest of the population in Sweden” negatives Selbstbild entsteht unter den Migrantinnen, “Researchers, not least, have unwittingly ended up helping to reinforce various problem-centered ideologies […] Despite good intentions in clarifying the character of the oppression affecting them, the focus on problems has unwittingly helped put immigrant women in the trap of being seen and perceived as victims” 40 “triple oppression based on ‘ethnicity, class, and gender’” “immigrants use a variety of integration strategies […] In the local settings where they live and work, ethnic minorities create their own niches in public life: the ethnic public” 41 Frauen werden in “social exile” gedrängt “an alternative sphere - a local public - is growing in the periphery of the official institutional system of society” 42 Migrantinnen werden als "traditional and backward” definiert 43 Migrantinnen werden konstant ihre Probleme vor Augen gehalten “In Sweden, women from the Mediterranean countries learn how oppressed they are, how steeped in unacceptable traditions” 44 “Immigration has created additional potential for an approchement between men and women. This is related to shifts in participation by men and women in public life.” 45 “Once a farmer, worker, official etc., he has become an immigrant, a wog, a second-class citizen.” “In Scandinavia, people speak through institutions. Institutions represent public life, and public life is power. To climb out of the powerlessness of their outsider status, immigrants have to form institution and develop their own public life” 46 “immigrant associations […] they have disadvantages from a woman’s standpoint […] most local immigrant associations tend to reproduce sexual hierarchies through their organizational structure, their leadership system and their practical division of labour” --> Diese Institutionen müssten sie aber zu diesem Zeitpunkt selbst erschaffen, die Verantwortung liegt wieder beim Opfer und nicht beim Staat 47 “with Sweden having moved furthest in terms of a formalized, culturally pluralistic, immigrant policy objective. “Integration of immigrants” is still a turbid area. It includes everything from the culturally pluralistic visions and goals of official immigrant policy to the everyday utterances and overwhelming actual practices which demand that immigrants adapt themselves to their new country and its cultural norm complex” “it is implicit that ‘modernization’ is synonymous with ‘Westernization” 48 “Even those who had lived in Sweden for more than 20 years had been affected by declining salaries and by unemployment. The private labour market (which employs most immigrant workers in Sweden) stagnated during the late 70s and early 80s […] Instead of social advancement, many immigrants experienced economic and labour market problems. The advancement achieved by those who immigrated during the 60s and early 70s had not continued. Refugees who arrived later form Iran, Lebanon etc. had difficulty finding a job.” 50 “lack of attention to immigrant, women’s own historical experiences” “Instead of taking black women as the object of their research, white feminist researchers should try to uncover the gender-specific mechanisms of racism amongst white women” Selbstkritik beginnt in den 80ern
