Presentation of the Research Setting

ResearchQuestion1:Whatdoestheorganisationallandscapeof immigrantassociationslooklike?

The initial objective was to study what kind of role immigrant associations play in the integration process of immigrants into Finland. During the charting

28 Kauniainen was left out due to its small number of inhabitants both in the study published in

IndvandrerorganisationeriNorden. (Multiculturalorganisationsandimmigrantorganisations in Finland) (ed. Mikkesen 2003) and in the study published in Maahanmuuttajien elinolot pääkaupunkiseudulla.(the living conditions of immigrants in the Helsinki metropolitan area) (ed.

of immigrant associations I found out that there was a lack of background information about immigrant associations in Finland, and in addition, there had been no previous charting done in the field during that time. Therefore, the Finnish part of the Nordic study gave a more general illustration of the situation than an answer regarding the role of immigrant associations in the integration process. Nevertheless, this study worked as a preliminary field work for the purpose of my thesis. It provides information on how the structure and function of immigrant associations looks like, i.e. the organisational landscape of immigrants.

Information on immigrant associations was collected from the Helsinki metropolitan area and from municipalities with inhabitants of more than 50,000294_{. The data was collected by “snow-ball” techniques; in other words} contacting individuals and organisations working with immigrant issues. Different municipalities and solidarity organisations were contacted to get further information on immigrant associations’ geographical location and of their premises in Finland. This kind of snowball technique, together with an exploration of the name lists collected from the National Board of Patents

and Registration of Finland provided a somewhat thorough overview of the

location of the immigrant associations. The problem with the information files was that they did not show if the associations had ceased their activities or if they were passive or so called “sleeping” associations. In other words, they exist officially but don’t have any activities going on. Further information was also received from voluntary associations and from some immigrant associations.

To get a more profound picture of the situation in the Helsinki metropolitan area twenty-four telephone interviews were conducted either with the Chair, the Vice-chair or the activity co-ordinator of each association (see also Appendix 7). All interviews were conducted with representatives for immigrant associations in the Helsinki metropolitan area. In the collection of background information a telephone questionnaire was used which consisted of nine main topics: 1. Contacts information of the interviewee, 2. Background information of the associations, such as Chair, board, number of

29 4 _{Helsinki area: (Helsinki, espoo, vantaa), Pori, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Kotka, Kuopio, lahti, tampre,}

members, year of registration, gender division, 3. Informal activities, 4. Formal activities, such as cooperation with civil servants 5. Financing, 6. Premises, 7. Counselling, 8. Contacts (local, national and international contacts) and 9. Communication. Additionally, informants were asked if there were any further issues they wanted to highlight. This proved to be an efficient tool to get basic information about the existing immigrant associations. (See also Table 4.3.1 and Appendix 2).

ResearchQuestion2:Towhatextentdoimmigrant(women’s) associations(a)mobilisetheirethnicgroupmemberstobe incorporatedintoFinnishsociety,and(b)towhatextentdothese associationsstrengthentheethnicidentityoftheirethnicgroup members?

After I had finished the charting of immigrant associations in Finland, I continued to explore more profoundly immigrant women’s associational life in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The data was collected more or less at the same time as for Research Question 3. The data from the women’s associations together with previous data from the charting aimed to answer the Research Question 2.

The focus was not only on the organisational setting of immigrant women, but also on their participative and representative opportunities in Finnish society. The key questions were: What does the organisational landscape of immigrant women’s associations look like? To what extent do immigrant women’s association mobilise their ethnic group members to be incorporated into Finnish society on the one hand, and to what extent do these associations strengthen the ethnic identity of their members, on the other? In addition, I asked about their cooperation with local authorities and if these associations are represented in local or national advisory boards.

I conducted sixteen semi-structured interviews with representatives of five immigrant women’s associations in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The interview sets consisted of three parts. The first one consisted of the collection of background information with the help of the earlier mentioned phone questionnaire; the second part was an open-ended interview focussing on background information of the interviewees and on their associational motives as well as on their perception on the goals, functions and changes in

the associations. The first interview part was conducted with the Chairs or Vice-Chair of the associations, while the second interview part was conducted among two to three members of each association. Moreover, observations and discussions with members at events and seminars organised by the associations provided additional information. Some of the members were interviewed several times to gain information not only for the main interview part (the second interview round), but also of the other parts (background information and control interviews).

The division of the interview sets into several parts as well as conducting interviews among several members of the associations provided an opportunity to receive further clarification for earlier issues that had emerged in the interviews (see also Oinas 2004:216). Due to this kind of repeated interviewing, the atmosphere became more open and relaxed, and subsequently the interviewee became familiar with the researcher (see also Oakely 1981). Signs of friendship and hospitality also appeared in this study. For example, during the interview sessions several interviewees served small snacks or the researcher was invited to their get together events. The hospitable atmosphere was also common in seminars and meetings either organised by, or with immigrant associations. I also participated in activities organised by the immigrant women’s associations, such as meetings, get together events for their members and also in some seminars and courses. These events gave a better insight into the atmosphere in the associations and also to the members’ management of activities. (See also Table 4.3.2 and Appendix 3).

ResearchQuestion3:Howistheintegrativeagendasetbylocaland nationalauthorities?

During the research process I familiarised with legislative documents, planning reports and documents received from ETNO and from the municipalities. These were all useful in the analysis of the integrative initiatives of civil servants. (See also Table 4.3.3 and Appendix 4).

ResearchQuestion4:Whatarecivilservants’perceptionsofthe immigrantassociationsaimswasexploredinconnectionwith ResearchQuestions5.DuringthedatacollectionforthelatterI askedaboutthecivilservants’workingtasks,problemsandgood experienceswithimmigrantassociations.(SeealsoTable4.3.4and Appendix4). ResearchQuestion5:Howdoimmigrantassociationsco-operate withlocalauthoritiesintheHelsinkimetropolitanarea,andwhat kindofcontactsdotheyhavewiththelocaladvisoryboards?

The objective of this research question was to shed light on the main channels of cooperation and possible obstacles between the immigrant associations and the local authorities working with immigrant issues. The results of this study were published in a joint-publication of immigrants’ living conditions in the Helsinki metropolitan area (Joronen (ed.) 2005). This study was conducted jointly by the City of Helsinki Urban Facts, the University of Helsinki, the Research Unit of Espoo and the Research Unit of Vantaa. Structured interviews in form of questionnaires were sent to thirty-five local authorities working with immigrant issues of who twenty-two answered. Interviews were conducted among: local authorities whom were members of the local Multicultural Advisory Board30_{, co-ordinators working with immigrant issues,} authorities from social services, project co-ordinators and authorities from the Economic and Employment Development Centre in the region of Uusimaa. The interviewees were chosen on the basis of their key positions as managers or co-ordinators of different kinds of social services for immigrants in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The questionnaire focussed mainly on: forms of cooperation, sharing of information, and on decision making of immigrant issues, such as immigrant associations’ opportunities to participate in the multicultural advisory boards and in the planning of integrative projects. The questionnaire also included questions directed at cooperation between authorities and immigrant women as well as their associations. Semi- structured interviews which also included some open-ended questions were conducted among six immigrant associations and with a support association for immigrant associations. A member from the latter was interviewed to get

additional information concerning the associations’ needs and interest. (See also Table 4.3.3 and Appendix 4 and 5).

ResearchQuestion6:Dotheimmigrantassociationsgettheir interestheardintheNationalAdvisoryBodyofEthnicRelations– ETNO?

The focus with the sixth and final research question was on immigrant

associations’ representation in The Advisory Board for Ethnic Relations − ETNO. In this research context there was already information in hand

from the advisory board from previous research conducted by Lepola and Suurpää (2003). Therefore, I conducted semi-structured interviews with three interviewees, who had been members during the 1st _{(1997-2000) and} the 2nd _{period of ETNO (2001-2004). My aim was get an illustration of} the organisation of ETNO and how they had cooperated with immigrant associations from the 1990s until the end of 2004. The interviews focussed on the goals and organisation of the board; its function and also some open- ended questions related to the members´ perceptions of ETNO’s future. The data collection was completed by additional unofficial documents from the immigrant associations, official documents from ETNO and by legislative documents. (See also Table 4.3.4 and Appendix 6).

Table 4.3.1 Data collection for Research Question 1: The organisational landscape of

immigrant associations, (continues on next page)

Research Question 1: The organisational landscape of immigrant associations Research object Core question(s) Interviewee(s)

/Number of interviews (n) per interviewee

Method Data

Africarewo ry. 1) What does the organisational landscape of immigrant associations look like? 2) To what extent do immigrant association mobilise their ethnic group members to be incorporated in Finnish society on one hand, and to what extent do these associations strengthen the ethnic identity of their members, on the other?                                     1 Chair (1) Telephone interview H, O Anatolian Kulttuurikeskus AKK ry.

1 Chair (1) Telephone int.  

Arabilais- suomalaisten perheiden yhdistys ry.

1 Chair (1) Telephone int. A, H

Ékgirtin ry 1 Chair (1) Telephone int. A,O FC Somali ry 1 Chair (1) Telephone int.   Helsinki International

Sports Club ry. (HISC)

1 Chair (1) Telephone int.   Ibn-Fadlan

arabikulttuuri yhdistys ry.

1 Chair (1) Telephone int. H

Ibo residents* 1 Chair (1) Telephone int.   Immigrant Labour

Association ILA ry

1 Chair (1) Telephone int.   Inkeri keskus ry 1 Chair (1) Telephone int. A, H Irakin Naisten

yhdistys ry

1 Chair (1) Telephone int. A, M, O Iranilaisten

Pakolaisten Federaatio ry

1 Chair (1) Telephone int.  

Iranin ja Irakin Työllistämisyhdistys ry

1 Chair (1) Telephone int. O

Kanava nuoriso ry 1 Chair (1) Telephone int. H Kurdistan komitea ry 1 Chair (1) Telephone int.   Kurdistanin Rauhan

Puolustajat ry. 1 Chair (1) Telephone int. O Multicultural Tennis

Association M .T.A ry.

1 Chair (1) Telephone int.   National Association

of Sierra Leone* 1 Chair (1) Telephone int.   SADKO-klubi ry 1 Chair (1) Telephone int. O

Research Question 1: The organisational landscape of immigrant associations

Research object Core question(s) Interviewee(s)

/Number of interviews (n) per interviewee

Method Data

Somali Social Democrats

ry  1) What does the organisational landscape of immigrant associations look like? 2) To what extent do immigrant association mobilise their ethnic group members to be incorporated in Finnish society on one hand, and to what extent do these associations strengthen the ethnic identity of their members, on the other? 1 Chair (1) Telephone int.   Somaliliitto ry 1 Chair (1) Telephone

int.

H, O