5th Meeting of the European Integration Forum: Integration through Local Action

The 5^th Meeting of the European Integration Forum (EIF) took place in Brussels on 23 – 24 May focusing on ‘Integration through Local Action’. In this context, the following topics where addressed and discussed with civil society: Diversity Management and intercultural dialogue; Political and Civil Participation (including consultative platforms); Development of disadvantaged neighborhoods, and Support of the European Integration Fund at the local and regional level. As a result, the Forum will deliver a series of recommendations that will be taken into account by the European Commission in the preparation of the second agenda on migrant integration to be presented later this year. The next EIF will take place in November 2011.

Download report on Europa Website

 

Source: DMIIG-EPIM e-Newsletter (Vol. 1, No. 8) 

Adecco anders bekeken: op weg naar een klassenjustitie?

Stan De spiegelaere over het onevenwicht in de straffen voor 'werkonwillige' mensen en aan discriminerende bedrijven

http://www.dewereldmorgen.be/artikels/2011/06/19/adecco-anders-bekeken-op-weg-naar-een-klassenjustitie

Vorig jaar, in mijn inleiding tot de tweede publieke lezing “Innovatieve visies op diversiteit in organisaties” (15/04/2010, UHasselt) heb ik een pleidooi gehouden voor gelijke kansen als fundamentele voorwaarde van een eerlijke activeringsbeleid.  

"Het is geen geheim dat etnisch-culturele minderheden in Vlaanderen en België een bijzonder kwetsbare positie op de Vlaamse arbeidsmarkt. Mensen van vreemde afkomst leiden onder een hogere werkloosheid en, wanneer ze werken, zijn ze vaker te vinden op de lagere organisatieniveaus en in minder beschermde statuten en sectoren. Deze achterstelling is niet uitsluitend te wijten aan een relatief gebrek aan kwalificaties en competenties. Belgisch onderzoek heeft duidelijk aangetoond dat een deel van de Vlaamse en Waalse werkgevers mensen van vreemde afkomst niet in dienst wenst te nemen. Een studie voor de ILO over 10 jaar geleden vond dat 39.2% van de Antwerpse en 27% van de Luikse werkgevers een Marokkaanse sollicitant niet zullen aannemen. In een recente enquête van SEIN verklaarde 18% van de bevraagde Limburgse bedrijven geen kandidaten van vreemde afkomst in dienst willen nemen. Soms komt één of ander geval van duidelijke discriminatie in de pers, maar dat is enkel de spits van de ijsberg.

Discriminatie is niet enkel moreel verwerpelijk. Ze staat ook haaks op het Vlaamse activeringsbeleid van de laatste tien jaar, dat probeert om mensen te responsabiliseren in verband met hun loopbaan en ze te ondersteunen in hun zoektocht naar werk. Een activeringsbeleid steunt op de veronderstelling dat individuen, indien ze over de gevraagde kwalificaties beschikken, ook werkelijk de kans krijgen om te werken. Indien deze essentiële voorwaarde voor belangrijke segmenten van de arbeidskrachten niet geldt, verliest een activerende aanpak zijn doeltreffendheid. Erger, hij werkt ongelijkheid in de hand. De samenleving verwacht dat mensen meer werken en schuift de negatieve gevolgen van inactiviteit naar hen toe. Maar sommigen werken niet om redenen waar ze zelf geen controle over hebben. Om gelijke kansen te vrijwaren vraagt een meer marktgericht aanpak zoals deze om een flankerend beleid dat er voor zorgt dat het discriminerend gedrag van sommige werkgevers aangepakt wordt. De antidiscriminatiewetten van 2007, naar aanleiding van enkele Europese richtlijnen van 2000, bieden daar een kader voor. Maar de jurisprudentie blijft tot vandaag eerder beperkt in gans Europa. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan het geval Feryn van enkele jaren geleden, dat onder de Europese juristen gekend is als één van de weinige gevallen.

Het activeringsbeleid van Vlaanderen is een copernicaanse evolutie voor diversiteit, want het Vlaams beleid hierover is tot nu toe sterk gebaseerd geweest op de vrijwillige inzet van de sociale partners. Consensus over meer aandacht voor diversiteit is in de late ‘90 ontstaan, tijdens de hoge economische conjunctuur, waarbij zowel de sociale partners als de overheid interesse hadden in de tewerkstelling van zo veel mogelijke werklozen en inactieven. Vandaag is de situatie gedeeltelijk anders. Wetende dat werknemers uit vreemde afkomst sterk geconcentreerd zijn in klassieke industriële sectoren, de bouwsector en interimwerk, vaker in kleinere bedrijven met minder goede, onzekere statuten, mogen we vanuit gaan dat ze een zeer hoge tol betaald hebben voor de economische crisis van de laatste twee jaar.

Vandaag zijn er tekens van economische herstelling, maar de crisis heeft de Belgische en Vlaamse economie gedeeltelijk hertekend. De vele sluitingen en herstructureringen zetten de verschuiving van naar een post-industriële, dienstengerichte, kennisintensieve economie verder. Onder de globalisering worden aan de werknemers in de geavanceerde economieën steeds hogere eisen gesteld in termen kennis, competenties en inzet. Hoe deze hogere verwachtingen te verzoenen zijn met de ambitie om de arbeidsmarkt inclusiever te maken is nog niet helemaal duidelijk. En dit geldt niet enkel voor etnische minderheden, maar ook voor vrouwen, laaggeschoolden, ouderen, en zelfs hooggeschoolde jongeren, die volgens de statistieken op zoek zijn naar een betere werk-privé balans dan die van hun ouders.   

Het antwoord van de Vlaamse overheid is levenslang leren en loopbaancoaching als basisrecht voor alle werknemers. Deze aanpak moet individuen bewapenen tegen een steeds meer eisend arbeidsmarkt, hun ‘employability’ verhogen. Toch heeft de responsabilisering van werknemers enkel kans op succes indien ze gepaard gaat met de responsabilisering van de werkgevers. Organisaties moeten nieuwe manieren vinden om met een meer divers waaier aan competenties, kennis, stijlen, noden en behoeften te leren omgaan. Niet enkel omdat het moreel juist is, maar omdat ze veel te winnen hebben aan gemotiveerde, competente en loyale werknemers. In de mate dat arbeidskrachten diverser worden, stijgen de kosten van een slecht diversiteitsmanagement, voor de maatschappij als geheel én voor de werkgevers.

Sommige organisaties stellen hun normen, structuren, processen en praktijken in vraag en passen ze succesvol aan om de nieuwe behoeftes van hun werknemers tegemoet te komen. Ze zoeken naar formules waarbij werknemers met verschillende profielen iets te winnen hebben, zo dat geen gevoel van ongelijkheid ontstaat. Dit is een gevoelig proces, maar hoeft geen revolutie te zijn, wél een evolutie. Ook kleine, kostenloze veranderingen kunnen openheid signaleren en veel bereiken. Denk aan de bedrijven die hun sociale activiteiten verbreden rekening houdend met de gebruiken van verschillende werknemers, of die door ervaring opgebouwde kwalificaties waarderen, of nog die zich niet laten schrikken door de leeftijd van kandidaten en de verhouding tussen competenties en loon met hen aankaarten. Een belangrijk deel van ons onderzoek op SEIN probeert deze praktijken te identificeren, theoriseren en te promoten."

Prof. dr. Patrizia Zanoni, directeur SEIN – Identity, Diversity & Inequality Research (UHasselt)

SEIN in the newsletter of HEC-ULg

SEIN - Identity, Diversity & Inequality Research is mentioned in the june edition of the newsletter of HEC-ULg 'Spirit of Management' for its collaboration with the EGID headed by Prof. dr. Annie Cornet (see pp 52-53).

http://www.hec.ulg.ac.be/sites/default/files/Spirit%2012%20-%20Juin%202011.pdf

Integration and Immigrants' Participation conference in Reykjavik 14-15 November: Call for papers

Conference on Integration and Immigrants' Participation,

Reykjavik, 14-15 of November 2011

http://vefir.hi.is/integration/

The conference is organized by Faculty of Social and Human Sciences at University of Iceland, in association with Women Of MulticulturalEthnicity Network in Iceland (W.O.M.E.N) and The Icelandic Women’s Rights Association. It welcomes papers discussing different aspects of immigrants' integration, inclusion/exclusion, participation and the social position of immigrants, particularly with regard to the labour market and the media.

Deadline for submitting and abstract is 1 of July, 2011.

More information: Helga Ólafs Ólafsdóttir:  heo2@hi.is

call for papers European Management Journal: national context in work-life research

 

EUROPEAN MANAGEMENT JOURNAL (Elsevier)

Special Issue

 

 

Guest Editors: Ariane OLLIER-MALATERRE, Monique VALCOUR,

Laura DEN DULK, Ellen ERNST KOSSEK

 

 

Topic: National context in work-life research

 

 

 

Management research is increasingly devoting efforts to the adequate consideration of context. Multi-level data are collected and analyzed and research findings are contextualized to highlight the situated nature of the phenomena that are studied and of the knowledge that is produced. However, little research has thought to use or build frameworks able to go beyond contextualization, so as to theorize context and narrow the micro-macro gap in management research. Work-life research is no exception: increasingly work-life scholars conduct cross-national comparative research, yet there are few integrative multi-level theoretical frameworks that enable them to conceptualize the different layers of context and their interactions, and few empirical studies to test these frameworks.

 

This special issue focuses on a distinctive dimension of context, national context, and more specifically on the role that the structural and cultural dimensions of national context play in work-life/work-family research. Traditionally, national context has been understood from an institutional perspective, focusing on a country’s national institutions or systems of institutions, and from a cultural perspective, focusing on values and beliefs systems.

 

Work-life/work-family research is particularly sensitive to national context, to the extent that national context may influence research:

·         At the macro level (public policy),

·         At the meso level (HR practices, work-life culture, workgroups dynamics),

·         At the micro level (individual attitudes and behaviors),

·         And the epistemic levels (production of knowledge).

 

This special issue aims at making a contribution to work-life research and beyond, by inviting manuscripts that theorize national context and/or present robust methods to capture the influence of national context in work-life research.

 

 

We invite manuscripts addressing the following questions:

 

(1)  How can national context be conceptualized in work-life/work-family research? And in particular:

·         What are the most relevant institutional and cultural frameworks for work-life research? To what extent can the institutional and the cultural approaches be articulated to theorize national context?

·         How can the cross-level relationships between higher-level national context factors (e.g. public provisions, tax system, education system, labour market, gender ideology) and lower-level work-life factors (e.g. individuals’ attitudes and behaviors, organizational practices, unions’ stance towards work-life) be specified?

·         What are the most salient elements of national context that impact work-life at the organization and individual levels?

·         How can national context be conceptualized in a dynamic way accounting for social and economic change as well as trans-national influences (e.g. European Union impulse, multinationals)?

·         How can within-country heterogeneity (e.g. occupational, regional, socio-demographic and individual differences) be accounted for when theorizing national context?

·         How can theories of national context be operationalized to design robust work-life/work-family research that goes beyond contextualization?

 

(2)  What does national context explain in work-life/work-family research? And in particular:

·         How does national context shape work-life attitudes and behaviors at the individual level – e.g. work-life conflict, work-life enrichment, segmentation and integration of work and non-work, employee sense of entitlement towards work-life support, employee awareness and use of work-life initiatives;

·         How does national context shape work-life attitudes and behaviors at the workgroup and organizational level – e.g. adoption and implementation of work-life programs and practices, work-life culture within organizations and work groups, supervisor and co-worker support, outcomes of work-life initiatives for employees and organizations;

·         How does national context shape work-life policies and public provisions at the national level – e.g. personal and family leaves, childcare and educations systems, life-long learning, tax systems that encourage or discourage dual-careers;

·         How do researchers’ nationality(ies) and/or countries of socialization shape work-life research at the epistemic level – e.g. the way scholars select and ask research questions, design research, interpret findings, write manuscripts and diffuse knowledge.

 

We welcome conceptual and empirical manuscripts that make a strong theoretical contribution as to how national context can be conceptualized in work-life/work-family research and/or a strong methodological contribution as to how national context can be apprehended in comparative work-life/work-family research. Manuscripts that compare work-life phenomena across countries without offering a strong theorization of national context will not be considered.

Manuscripts that develop or apply multi-level frameworks, manuscripts that span disciplinary boundaries and qualitative manuscripts are particularly welcome.

 

Contributors should note:

·         This  call  is  open  and  competitive,  and  the  submitted  manuscripts  will  be blind reviewed in the normal way.

·         Submitted manuscripts must be based on original material not under consideration by any other journal or outlet.

 

The deadline for submissions is March 15, 2012.

This special issue is intended for publication mid 2013.

 

 

 

Race and the Cultural Industries Conference - Leeds

Wednesday 14th Sept 2011 at the Institute of Communications Studies, University of Leeds.

A one-day conference organised by the Media Industries Research Centre (MIRC), University of Leeds, in conjunction with the MeCCSA Race Network

Call for Papers

This conference will explore issues of race in contemporary cultural industries (film, television, music, theatre, publishing, radio etc.).

Following Greg Dyke's famous comment that the BBC is 'hideously white' there has been an increasing recognition of how non-whites are marginalised in the media - both on and off-screen. Indeed, in recent years there have been numerous initiatives launched across the cultural sector that have made efforts to increase and encourage participation from 'BME' groups.

While some important inroads have been made in terms of improving access to the cultural industries, there remain a number of tensions regarding social and cultural barriers to entry as well as critical issues to do with the representation of Blacks and Asians in the media. The aim of this conference is to explore these dynamics.

The conference is interdisciplinary and welcomes papers based on research on all sectors of the media, from news to entertainment, taken from the UK or more international contexts. It seeks to encourage participation from cultural practitioners as well as scholars in order to create a dialogue between research, policy and practice.

We welcome papers in anything related to the topic of race and the cultural industries, amongst which might be the following:

• Race and the politics of representation
• The media, multiculturalism and citizenship
• Cultural policy and subsidising culturally diverse arts
• The production of Black and Asian popular culture
• Institutional racism in the cultural industries
• Audience development and issues of marketing and distributing culturally diverse arts
• Islamaphobia and the reporting/representation of the 'War on Terror'
• Diasporic media practice
• 'Glass ceilings' and the politics of quotas and diversity initiatives
• New media, race and identity

To submit an abstract (300 words), or to simply register your interest, please email a.saha@leeds.ac.uk. The deadline for abstracts was June 1st 2011, yet will be extended.


http://ics.leeds.ac.uk/sub1.cfm?pbcrumb=29th%20March%202011

SOFIA-nieuws: Aantal vrouwen met een hogere functie verdubbelde op 10 jaar

Op 10 jaar tijd verdubbelde het aantal vrouwelijke loontrekkenden met een hogere functie in ons land. In 2000 waren er 57.000 vrouwelijke bedrijfsleiders en hoger kaderpersoneel, tien jaar later was hun aantal gestegen tot 118.000. Zo goed als 4 op 10 (38,8%) van alle hogere functies bij loontrekkenden worden in 2010 uitgeoefend door een vrouw. Dat blijkt uit de Enquêtes naar de Arbeidskrachten van de Algemene Directie Statistiek en Economische Informatie.

Het aandeel hogere functies bekleed door vrouwen is het hoogst bij hen die in het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest werken. Liefst 43,3% van alle hogere functies bij de loontrekkenden worden er bekleed door leden van het vrouwelijke geslacht, tegen 36,5% in Vlaanderen en 37,9% in Wallonië.

Niet in alle sectoren stoten vrouwen in gelijke getale door tot het niveau van bedrijfsleider of het hoger kader. In de sector “Gezondheidszorg en maatschappelijke dienstverlening” werken er méér vrouwen met een hogere functie dan mannen. Op 100 mensen met een hogere functie zijn er 59 vrouwen en 41 mannen. Het is wel de enige sector waar de dames het overwicht hebben.

In de sector “Extraterritoriale organisaties en lichamen” (d.w.z. de Europese en internationale instellingen die in ons land gevestigd zijn) zijn er precies evenveel vrouwen als mannen met een hogere functie (50,0% vrouwen en 50,0% en mannen). Ook in het “Onderwijs” (46,8% vrouwen) en het “Openbaar bestuur” (44,1%) zijn vrouwen goed vertegenwoordigd in de hogere echelons.

De aanwezigheid van vrouwen met een hogere functie is dan weer het kleinst in de sectoren “Industrie” (27,0%) en “Vervoer en opslag” (24,3%).

Al deze cijfers hebben betrekking op de loontrekkenden. Als we naar de totale werkende bevolking kijken, zien we het aantal vrouwen met een hogere functie stijgen van 135.000 (31,4% van het totaal) in 2000 tot 173.000 in 2010 (34,1% van het totaal). Dat wijst erop dat de toestand minder sneller wijzigt bij de zelfstandigen dan bij de loontrekkenden.

 

Bron: http://statbel.fgov.be

SOFIA: http://www.uhasselt.be/sofia

 

Conferentie: transnationale activiteiten van migranten

Conferentie 'De transnationale activiteiten van migranten in België: factor van integratie of van terugtrekking in de eigen groep ?'

Focus op transnationale activiteiten van Chinezen, Congolezen, Marokkanen en Turken in België

 

Waar en wanneer?   24/06/2011 Uur: 9.00 - 12.30 Plaats: BIP, Koningsplein 10-11, 1000 Brussel Gratis

Inhoud In een steeds meer geglobaliseerde wereld, met steeds sterker ontwikkelde communicatiemiddelen, "nemen de banden van migranten tussen hun land van herkomst en hun gastland voortdurend toe". Die activiteiten, die men benoemt met de term transnationale activiteiten, spelen zich af op heel diverse domeinen als handel en economie, politiek, ontwikkeling, cultuur of sociale actie.   Hoewel de theoretische literatuur over het concept van het transnationalisme de voorbije jaren sterk is uitgebreid, vertoont het empirisch onderzoek in België nog heel wat hiaten. Daarom heeft de Stichting de opdracht gegeven tot een onderzoek over de transnationale activiteiten van de leden van vier groepen van migranten die in ons land wonen: Chinezen, Congolezen, Marokkanen en Turken. De conferentie wil niet alleen meer inzicht verwerven in dit fenomeen maar ook de impact van de transnationale activiteiten op het integratietraject van de migranten beoordelen. Getuigenissen zullen een illustratie bieden van de diversiteit van de activiteiten van de allochtone gemeenschappen en ook van hun motivatie om daaraan deel te nemen. Vervolgens zal een debat proberen een antwoord te vinden op de essentiële vraag: zijn de transnationale activiteiten een factor die de integratie van de migranten bevordert of zijn zij integendeel een factor van terugtrekking in de eigen groep? Het programma van de conferentie vindt u door op de onderstaande link te klikken.             http://www.kbs-frb.be/event.aspx?id=281394&LangType=2067 Simultaanvertaling in Frans en Nederlands is voorzien.

 

Integration: Are we walking away from EU Stockholm Programme?

15 June, 2011 Brussels, Hotel Leopold, Rue du Luxembourg 35, 1050 Brussels 
Using the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX), this event will ask whether the EU and its Member States will improve or maintain their integration standards. Granting comparable rights, responsibilities, and opportunities for all legal residents by 2014 is the EU's core aim for integration policy according to the Stockholm programme.
The first panel will assess the future of EU standards on family reunion, which Member States and the Commission are supposed to evaluate and review, taking into account the importance of integration measures. MIPEX finds that the future for immigrant families is unclear, as national changes and EU proposals go in opposite directions. Indeed, some countries' family reunion policies are being challenged under EU law like the European Court of Justice's 2010 Chakroun case. The second panel will raise one area currently outside EU competence - acquisition of nationality. Since 1999, EU Member State governments also agreed that naturalisation has an impact on integration and should be part of national strategies on integration. MIPEX finds that the necessary major reforms takes time. While several reform trends are spreading across Europe from dual nationality to birthright citizenship, there are few European standards and many political and practical obstacles.
http://www.mipex.eu/integration-are-we-walking-away-eu-stockholm-programme

Call for papers: International Perspectives on Work and Family, a Special Issue in "Applied psychology: An International Review"

International Perspectives on Work and Family

Background and Rationale for the Special Issue

 

As hours worked and women’s workforce participation increase globally,

employees around the world are faced with the challenge of combining work

and family roles. The growth in dual professional couples working for multinational

firms has also led to work-home conflict in many parts of the world

(Hill, Yang, Hawkins & Ferris, 2004). Despite the global importance of

work-family issues and calls to study this topic in different cultural contexts

(Poelmans, 2003; 2005), work-family research has predominantly been conducted

in Anglo societies. In fact, a recent review found that 75% of workfamily

studies were based on data entirely from US workers (Casper, Eby,

Bordeaux, Lockwood, & Lambert, 2007). Recently, Powell, Francesco, and

Ling (2009) discussed the need to explore the role that culture plays in

work-family relationships. The lack of studies on work-family interface from

countries outside the U.S. is problematic given the legal context in which

individuals and organizations manage work-family concerns varies substantially.

Cultural differences may also have an important influence on workfamily

issues as they impact both family and work values, interactions among

family members, expectations associated with gender roles, and which relatives

are defined as in-group family members.

In this special issue, we seek to disseminate knowledge about how the

work-family interface is both different and the same across distinct national

contexts. We welcome both theoretical and empirical papers that shed new

light on work-family issues from a cross-national perspective. Paper topics

might include, but are not limited to:

 

— Cross-cultural/national/regional comparisons of models of workfamily

conflict, work-family enrichment, or work-family balance

— Investigations of the role of organizational support for work and

family across national contexts

— An exploration of dual-earner couple issues in various cultural contexts

— Studies exploring how distinct cultural dimensions should influence

work-family relationships

— Research exploring work-family relationships in developing nations

— Studies examining the influence of government interventions in workfamily

concerns on organizational needs to offer work-family support

— Multi-level studies that investigate individual, organizational, and

national context as they relate to work-family concerns

— Research that explores the emotional content of work-family issues

cross-culturally

— Work-family intervention studies with cross-cultural relevance

— Studies of coping with work-family conflict or creating work-family

enrichment in work environments characterized by a diverse, crossnational

workforce

— Studies looking at the design and impact of diversity (broadly defined)

policies in facilitating workplace flexibility and work-life balance in

employees with different (cultural) values

Additional Considerations

• With regard to quantitative papers, preference will be given to multicountry

studies. We also welcome in-depth qualitative studies that

provide unique insights into work-family experiences within a specific

cultural group.

The deadline for submitting papers is December 15, 2011.

 

Call for papers - Work and Family Researchers Network June 2012 Conference, Philadelphia, USA

Call for Papers for Inaugural Conference


Conference Theme: Interdisciplinary Conversations


June 14-16, 2012, Philadelphia, PA, USA

       

We invite submissions of papers, posters, and symposia proposals that address all aspects of work and family issues, including basic research, theory, history, international comparisons, political analyses, policy evaluations, action research, ethnographic investigations and statistical analyses. As this will be a multidisciplinary conference, researchers and scholars from all disciplines are encouraged to participate including anthropology, business and management, economics, family studies, political science, psychology, public health, social work, sociology, and related fields.

Examples of possible topics include (but are not limited to): alternative work arrangements, women's career opportunities, job performance, overwork, underemployment, non-standard work shifts, low-wage work, stress, health and well-being, work-family conflict and enrichment, family leave, organizational policies, public policy, international comparisons, time use, aging and older workers, dependent care, care work, after-school programs and the impact of the recession on today's families. Work and family issues for special populations including military families, immigrant families, single-parent families, and gay and lesbian families, are also welcome.

Consistent with the WFRN's mission to advance, promote and disseminate work and family research and to encourage knowledge and understanding of work and family issues among a broad community of stakeholders, we welcome proposals for innovative sessions such as the following: professional development of work and family scholars (e.g., research incubator sessions, methodological workshops, grant writing, publishing strategies); delivering high-quality teaching and training in work and family issues for students, managers and policy makers; developing work and family researchers' effectiveness at communicating their research to the press as well as to organizational and public policy makers; and translating research into organizational, community and policy interventions.

Submission deadline: September 30, 2011. For submission instructions, click here <http://wfrn.createsend3.com/t/r/l/jtuhlhd/nuduukiyu/h/> .

Prof. dr. Monder Ram awarded an honorary degree honoris causae of Hasselt University, May 30th, 2011

Laudatio of Prof. Dr. Monder Ram (De Montfort University, UK)

 

by promotor Prof. Dr. Patrizia Zanoni

 

Early explanations of ethnic minorities’ business behaviour focused on the specific mix of resources available – or unavailable – to them. Their concentration in specific sectors at the low-end of the economy, often serving the own ethnic community was explained by referring to their access to low-cost, co-ethnic labour, the cultural capital necessary to serve the co-ethnic market, lack of capital and access to credit, and the relative lack of human and social capital necessary to enter the mainstream economy.

Later analyses also integrated the specific opportunities offered by the markets of the host societies. Through the concept of mixed embeddedness, studies examined ethnic minorities’ entrepreneurial behaviour as resulting from the ‘match’ between their specific bundle of resources on the one hand and the specific opportunities offered by the host economies on the other. These opportunities were shaped by the shift from industrial to service economies, and by distinct institutional contexts regulating more or less strongly the access to sectors (for instance by requiring new entrants to have certain qualifications) as well as the functioning of markets (for instance by restricting opening hours and location of businesses).     

Despite their increased explanatory power, these accounts still failed to acknowledge ethnic minority entrepreneurs’ agency, or their ability, as individuals, to self-reflect on their own business environment and to act in ways that make a difference for their businesses and their personal lives more broadly. Studies portrayed ethic minority entrepreneurs as representatives of their ethnic groups rather than as individual entrepreneurs. Their behaviour was largely seen as deriving from structural factors constraining or enabling the entrepreneurial action of whole ethnic minority communities. The lack of attention for individuals’ agency is particularly striking given that in the scientific literature white, ethnic majority entrepreneurs are, on the contrary, largely portrayed as individuals with strong personalities who spot opportunities, act, and create new value, building their own business success.

Monder Ram has made an essential contribution to the field of ethnic minority entrepreneurship by highlighting the agency of ethnic minority entrepreneurs and giving voice to them in his scientific work. His studies distinguish themselves for an approach that carefully balances between entrepreneurs’ own self-reflective understandings of their business environment and strategic action and the social, economic and institutional structures which both enable and constrain such reflections and actions.

The entrepreneurs he writes about are real people. Their destiny is never fully determined by their specific cultural background, the resources they have or do not have at their disposal or the opportunities offered by the context around them. However, nor is it fully in their own two hands, as the caricaturally heroic entrepreneurial stories featuring in the business press and the scientific literature would make us believe. 

Monder Ram’s ability to tell compelling stories of ethnic minority entrepreneurship derives in the first place from his willingness to engage in a true dialogue with his respondents. The sense of respect for these individuals and their work that transpires from his writings might partially be traced back to his own childhood growing up in an ethnic minority family business and later as an (ethnic minority) entrepreneur himself. During his academic career, he maintained this closeness to the real world of businesses, choosing ethnography as his main methodology.

As an outstanding social scientist, however, Monder Ram avoids adopting his respondents’ point of view in an uncritical or naive manner. His work rather combines this point of view with his own sharp analysis based on critical theories; developing in counterpoint, as it were. Portraying human action in all its nuances in a theoretically sound way, accounting for its passion and violence, with respect yet no deference, pinpointing unequal power relations yet avoiding the patronizing tone of the scholar, is a hell of a job. I thank Monder Ram for showing the academic community, through his work, how it can be done. 

Professor Ram, today I am delighted and proud that, on proposal of the Faculty of Business Economics, the Rector will confer on you the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa.

 

For more information on Monder Ram’s work and the Centre of Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME), see http://www.dmu.ac.uk/faculties/business_and_law/business/research/creme/

 

Women and Men in politics: Highlights from the EU (First Quarter 2011)

For an overview of recent trends on female representatives in political bodies of EU countries, see

 

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&newsId=1031&furtherNews=yes

Belgian language legislation for public sector posts disproportionate

The EU Commission requests Belgium to end discriminatory conditions for public sector posts. See

 

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&newsId=1028&furtherNews=yes

 

EU Demography Report 2010: Older, more numerous and diverse Europeans

The latest EU report on the demographic evolution of Europe can be download on

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en&pubId=5936&type=2&furtherPubs=no