To what extent is migrant integration determined by formal and Essay

To what extent is migrant integration determined by formal and substantial citizenship - Essay Example Prior to an analysis of the subject, it is critical to describe the key terms in the paper. Literature defines migrant integration as the extent to which migrants are like the rest of the population. This may be seen through social economic indications like education, employment, housing and health. Alternatively, it may be manifested through cultural indicators like language, values, lifestyles and allegiances. Citizenship is the relationship one has between himself or herself and the state; it is political, civil, social, economic, cultural and symbolic. Formal citizenship focuses strictly on rights and duties that arise from one’s membership status within the state. Substantial citizenship refers to the economic, moral, and social resources to exercise rights .The phenomenon encompasses the lived experiences and the extent to which these rights are exercised. It is subjective and dwells on the social exchanges and interactions of people. These definitions thus indicate that having citizenship rights and putting into practice those rights enable social integration. If a migrant has access to citizens’ rights, they are more likely to bond with members of that community and demonstrate allegiance to it. Whether migrant integration is determined by formal and substantial citizenship Openness and inclusiveness as a precondition of migrant integration As mentioned in the introduction, formal citizenship encompasses the resources required to exercise citizenship rights. One dimension of these resources is the social dimension. A society’s value system can determine how effectively a migrant integrates with the larger society. If upon citizenship acquisition, they find that their society tolerates cultural diversity, then they are likely to deliberately choose integration (Berry, 1997). It should be noted that integration may be considered as one of four dimensions of migrant acculturation. Foreigners have the choice to assimilate, where they ab andon all their former cultures and adopt the ones in their host country. Conversely, they may choose to separate, where they hold onto their original cultures and ignore that of the dominant community. They may integrate by maintaining cultural ties in their native communities and adopting cultures from the receiving community. Alternatively, individuals in this group may lose ties with their former culture and also fail to adopt the culture of the dominant group; as such, they will become marginalised. Therefore, the degree of integration of immigrants in this sense can only occur if a society has values that encourage multiculturalism. The attitudes prevalent in the receiving country must be positive towards these groups. A person may have formal rights as a citizen but when they meet social characteristics that do not enable realisation of these rights then they will not integrate into society. Berry (1997) notes that sometimes these attitudes may stem from the physical features of the group or other characteristics. As such, even though Koreans may have acquired formal