Context Analysis and Methodology Review Report (WP2)

Transcript

1 Context Analysis and Methodology Review Report (WP2) Greece Olga Lafazani Gender and Space Centre of the National Technical University of Athens Grant Agreement no

2 Table of Contents 1. Introduction Position of the country in the global migration flows From emigration to immigration Mediterranean/ South European Immigration Model Transit Station Economic, political and socio cultural changes connected to migration processes Economy Labour Racism -Xenophobia Nationalism Urban Space Main trends and topics of migration research in the country Policies on Migration Social exclusion/integration Gendered representations of migration Literature Review Gender and Migration in the Greek literature Research projects on Gender and Migration Literature on gender, migration and intercultural interactions, in relation to the topics/ questions addressed by GE.M.IC Methodology...15 Literature

3 1. Introduction Opening remarks Within the last two decades there is a growing interest on issues of migration in Greece, not only in the academy but also in public discourse, as a result of the impressive increase of migrant population in the country. By now, on the issue of migration plenty of studies, articles and books have been published as well as a series of conferences, seminars and public discussions are taking place. Much of this research is produced by public institutions; here we can mention, among many others, the Hellenic Migration Policy Institute (IMEPO), the Mediterranean Migration Observatory (MMO), the Centre for Research on Minority Groups (KEMO), the Research Center for Gender Equality (KETHI), National Centre of Social Research (EKKE) - all based in, or affiliated with, Ministries and Universities. Also, one of the first institutions to approach the presence of migrants in the Greek labour market has been the Institute of Labour of the Confederation of Trade Unions (INE/GSEE). At the same time, as most of the researchers involved in the field are quite informed about, or participate themselves in the international debates on migration, we can not identify a "Greek" discourse on migration; of course, the different experiences and elaborations that take place in each country raise different issues and questions that inform the international debates (for more Vaiou, 2006). Most of the studies and researches are published in Greek language although many papers are also published in English. Writing this review I faced the problem of a very wide literature that is not grouped or gathered in any way so it is very difficult to access. The only review on Greek literature on migration comes up to the year 2000 (Petronoti and Triantaffylidou, 2003), and, "unfortunately", the production of texts since then is quite extensive and I am sure many of them escaped my attention. A very useful text that can be read as complementary to the present one is a review of the Greek literature on gender and migration by D. Vaiou (Vaiou, 2006) Position of the country in the global migration flows From emigration to immigration Greece used to be an emigration country but in the last years it has been transformed to an immigration country : this phrase can be found in nearly all the texts referring to migration in Greece. It is a fact that the change of the country's role in the global migration flows marks a series of economic, social, political and cultural changes in Greece. At the same time this phrase is neither "neutral" nor ideology-free: though it is usually used with a positive denotation -meaning that we, Greeks, have the migration experience- at the same time, it implies the superiority of Greeks who are now citizens of a wealthy and developed country that receives migrants. At the same time, this argument is quite often used to legitimate the deficiency of Greek migration policy -as the Greek state didn t have the experience of confronting the alien - while in some texts the argument is even used to excuse racist reactions, since, it is argued, Greek society wasn t prepared to receive such a large number of migrants. 3

4 Mediterranean/ South European Immigration Model The Mediterranean/ South European Immigration Model is the framework for many researches (Petrinioti, 1993, Iosifides and King, 1996; Fakiolas, 1997; Lazaridis and Psimmenos, 2000; Triandafyllidou, 2000a; Triandafyllidou, 2000b; Lianos, 2000; Balwin- Edwards, 2002b; Cavounidis, 2002; Tastsoglou and Hadjiconstandi, 2003; Labrianidis et al., 2004; Kasimis, 2005). According to this Model, Greece and other countries of the Mediterranean, mainly Spain and Italy, are supposed to have common features in their economic, social and political development, features that have as a result common conditions of reception to migration. The most important of these common features seems to be the segmented labour market and the large informal sector, alongside with the high demand for labour, as it is underlined in many of these studies (Baldwin-Edwards, 2002a; Kasimis, et al., 2002; Kasimis and Kassimi, 2004; Labrianidis et al., 2004;). The Mediterranean Model of Migration is strongly connected to New Migration, a concept that is supposed to summarize the features of migration flows after the 80 s. Among these features the feminization of migration has a prominent role that is highlighted in the relative texts, usually with an analysis of the push and pull factors that enable women to migrate, many times independently (for more Tastsoglou and Hadjiconstandi, 2003). In most of these texts, though, the feminization of migration is viewed only as an additive feature, without considering how gender affects New Migration and how migration processes affect gender relations Transit Station Greece, in recent years, is increasingly becoming a transit station in the migration routes. The Southern border of Greece is crossed every day by people coming mainly from the Middle East and Asia (Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Bangladesh) and Africa (Somalia, Sudan, Sierra Leone) who are not willing to settle in Greece, as the conditions, mainly for Asylum seekers, are really unfavourable. Although there is quite a wide public debate on the issue, from the media, the state and its institutions, NGO s and the antiracist movement, there is no discussion on the role of Greece as a transit country and its role in the European border regime in the academic literature. 1.2 Economic, political and socio cultural changes connected to migration processes Economy Labour The changes in the Greek labour market and in economic relations are among the main issues concerning the migration literature (Linardos-Rilmon, 1992; Fakiolas, 1994; Glytsos, 1995; Linardos-Rilmon, 1995; Iosifides, 1997; Kontis, 1998; Lazaridis and Romaniszyn, 1998; Lyberaki and Pelagidis, 2000; Labrianidis and Lyberaki, 2001; Baldwin-Edwards, 2002a; Labrianidis et al., 2004; Drydakisb and Vlassisa, 2007; Lianos, et al., 1996; Markova and Sarris, 1997; Vaiou and Jadjimichalis, 1997; Droukas, 1998; Fakiolas, 1999; Fragouli- Papantoniou, 1999; Lyberaki and Pelagidis, 2000). One of the basic questions occupying researchers is whether or not migrant workers benefit the Greek economy and what changes accompany the entry of migrant workers in the labour market. These questions answer, in a way, the common anxiety of the public that the employment of migrants results in the unemployment of locals; the use of the term illegal migrant in many of these texts -even in 4

5 the titles of articles- indicates how deep seated, even in the academic discourse, the impact of dominant stereotypes is. More specific issues raised within this discussion are around labour market segmentation, wages and wage differentials between locals and migrants, migrant entrepreneurship, differences in attitudes towards labour. The issue of informal relations in the labour market -but also in other aspects of every day life- is another one of the prominent themes in the literature on migration and labour; in some texts informal labour is presented as an undesirable characteristic of the labour market with negative results for the national economy and for migrant populations, while in other texts informal labour is viewed as a central characteristic of the local labour market and, apart from its disadvantages, is recognized as a pull and integration factor, since newly arrived migrants without papers can easily? find a job and live in Greece (Lianos, et al., 1996; Markova and Sarris, 1997; Vaiou and Hadjimichalis, 1997; Droukas, 1998; Fakiolas, 1999; Fragouli-Papantoniou, 1999; Vaiou, 2003). Another point raised in this discussion is the role of migrant labour in the agricultural sector and the changes that have occurred in the countryside since the arrival and residence of migrants (Lianos et al., 1998; Kasimis et al., 2002; Kasimis et al., 2003; Kasimis, 2005; Kassimis and Papadopoulos, 2005;). Last but not least, the issue of female migration and labour is increasingly getting addressed in the developing discussion. This discussion is built mainly around two axes: (a) domestic work and care giving (Vaiou and Hadjimichalis, 1997; Lazaridis, 1997; Lazaridis, 2000; Karakatsanis and Swarts, 2003; Tsatsoglou and Hadjikostandi, 2003; Athanasopoulou, 2006; Psimmenos, 2006; Topali, 2006; Vaiou et al., 2007; Vassilikou, 2007; Kabouri, 2007; Kapsalis, 2008), and (b) prostitution and trafficking (Lazos, 1997; Emke-Poulopoulou, 2001; Lazaridis, 2001; Lazos, 2002a; Karakatsanis and Swarts, 2003). Although this literature will be analysed in more detail below (section 2.1), it is interesting to point out here that most of the research on female migration and labour is very recent in comparison to the rest of the literature reviewed above Racism -Xenophobia There is also a wide debate on racism and xenophobia in Greek society, phenomena that are closely connected with migration (Panourgia, 1992; Katrougalos, 1995; Triandafyllidou and Mikrakis, 1995; Valencia, 1995; Voulgaris et al., 1995; Psimmenos, 1997; King et al., 1998; Veikou, 1998; Lazaridis and Psimmenos, 2000; Triandafyllidou, 2000; Troubeta, 2000; Glarnetatzis, 2001; Kourtovik, 2001; Marvakis, 2001; Pavlou, 2001; Petrakou, 2001; Dimakos and Tassiopoulou, 2003; Ventoura, 2004; Antonopoulos and Georgios, 2006; Drydakisb and Vlassisa, 2007; Pavlou, 2007). The basic question of this discussion addresses the way racism, as a power relation, is produced and experienced by migrants and locals. It is interesting to underline the emphasis given in the way the state, through its policies but also through the absence of policies and through informal administrational practices, creates and encourages racism in society. Lastly, little attention has been given to the issue of racist violence, a phenomenon that is increasing in the last few years in Greece Nationalism 5

6 Many articles have been written on the issue of nationalism in connection to migration (Mikrakis and Triandafyllidou, 1994; Ventoura, 1994; Petrinioti, 1995; Vidali, 1996; Triandafyllidou, 1998; Triantafyllidou, 1998; Petrakou, 2001; Triandafyllidou and Veikou, 2002; Ventoura, 2004). The ways in which Greek national identity is renegotiated in relation to the arrival and settlement of migrant populations, the effects of nationalism on migrants and, at a more theoretical level, the relation of nationalism to racism and migration are some of the issues raised by this discussion. We could argue that there is a research gap on how migrants ethnic identities are renegotiated in the host country and of course how gender roles and identities affect and are affected by ethnic identities and ethnic networks, a discussion that is taking place in international studies (e.g. Anthias, 2000, Basch et al., 1994) Urban Space Some texts also focus on the socio spatial changes connected to migration, giving emphasis on the geographical distributions of migrants, spatial exclusion or in the different uses of public space and patterns of residence (Lianos et al., 1996; Vaiou and Hadjimichalis, 1997; Psimmenos, 1997; Iosifides and King, 1998; Petronoti, 1998; Psimmenos, 1998; Lazaridis and Psimmenos, 2000; Veikou, 2000; Labrianidis and Lyberaki, 2001; Kasimati, 2002; Hatziprokopiou, 2003; Charalampopoulou, 2004; Arapoglou and Sayas, 2006; Kotzamanis, 2006; Hatziprokopiou, 2006; Vaiou et al., 2007;). This literature will be commented in more detail below (section 2.2). 1.3 Main trends and topics of migration research in the country. Apart from the debates described above on the issues of economy and labour, racism and xenophobia, nationalism and urban space we could locate some more topics that are quite prevalent in the Greek literature on migration Policies on Migration There is a very wide discussion on the issue of state policies on migration, a discussion that started very early in the Greek literature and in public discourse as, from the beginning of the 90 s, when migration to Greece accelerated, till 1998 there was actually no legal framework for migrants who entered the country. Until today there have been three legalisation processes, while a series of laws and decrees determine the conditions under which foreign people reside and work jn Greece. In the relative literature -and in state policies as well- we can locate two basic axes: policies on migration (Mousourou, 1991; Sitaropoulos, 1992; Karydis, 1993; Theodoropoulos and Sikiotou, 1994; Glytsos, 1995; Katrougalos, 1995; Triantafyllidou, 1996; Bourdouvalis, 1997; Kourtovik, 1997; Triandafyllidou, 1998; Balwin- Edwards and Fakiolas, 1999; Fakiolas, 1999; Fragouli-Papantoniou, 1999; Lazaridis and Payago-Theotoky, 1999; Triandafyllidou, 1999; Papantoniou et al., 2000; Triandafyllidou, 2000; Balwin-Edwards, 2002; Skordas, 2002; Triandafyllidou and Veikou, 2002; Fakiolas, 2003; Kiprianos et al., 2003; Kasimati and Psimmenos, 2003; Mavrodi, 2005; Triandafyllidou, 2005; Kontiadis and Papatheodorou, 2007) and policies on Asylum (Black, 1994a, 1994c; Stavropoulou, 1994; Kotzamanis et al., 1996; Papafilipou, 1998; Sitaropoulos, 2000; O Brien, 2003; Skordas and Sitaropoulos, 2004). On the one hand, on migration issues, we can observe that the questions of the discussion are focused more around legal terms and specific issues, such as migrants working rights, while the discussion on Asylum is defined 6

7 more in relation to a human rights discourse, with many references to international conventions and comparisons to other E.U. countries. In recent years, new questions have entered in the relative discussion: political rights and the rights of citizens independent of nationality, citizenship, rights for the children of migrants. These questions are summarized and analysed in a recent collection of interdisciplinary articles titled Reformation of Migration Policy (Kontiadis and Papatheodorou, 2007). As the issue of gender and migration policies for GE.M.IC. will be further analysed by WP3 we can just note here that very little work has been done on this issue in the relative literature. It is indicative that texts on migration policy do not include a gendered analysis, while most of the texts on gender and migration refer to policies in a quite general way Social exclusion/integration The issue of migrants exclusion or integration, as is to be expected given the international academic interest on these issues, is one of the key issues that have occupied Greek literature. On the one hand, issues of exclusion are closely connected to racism, xenophobia and (lack of) migration policies while, on the other hand, the discussion on integration vs. inclusion, usually refers to processes interrelated to several economic, social and political conditions, such as legal status, participation in the labour market, access in housing, education, health and social security (Valencia, 1995; Bourdouvalis, 1997; Psimmenos, 1997; Koilari, 1997; Droukas, 1998; Iosifides and King, 1998; King R. et al., 1998; Petronoti, 1998; Veikou, 1998; Kasimati, 1998a; Kasimati, 1998b; Malkidis, 1998; Psimmenos, 1998; Fragouli- Papantoniou, 1999; Lazaridis and Psimmenos, 2000; Triandafyllidou, 2000; Veikou, 2000; Kontis, 2000; Petronoti, 2001; Labrianidis and Lyberaki, 2001; Marvakis, 2001; Petrakou, 2001; Hatziprokopiou, 2003; Psimmenos and Kassimati, 2003; Dimakos and Tassiopoulou, 2003; Kassimati and Psimmenos, 2003; Baldwin Edwards, 2004; Dimoulas et al., 2005; Hatziprokopiou, 2006). Gender is not a central issue for the above mentioned studies, except those which focus on it as their main subject. We can find general references to men and women as sex categories, mainly in demographic and statistical data, but no further analysis is done on the different ways in which processes of integration or exclusion affect men and women. 1.4 Gendered representations of migration Women, not only in the Greek literature but in the international one as well, were for a long time assumed to migrate either to accompany or to unite with their breadwinner migrant husbands. In recent decades this trend is changing through the efforts of many studies that emphasize the female experiences of migration. For Greece it is just within the last five years that a certain amount of research is produced on the issues of gender and migration (for more see section 2.1). Until now, though, "the vast majority of immigration studies are still conducted as though gender relations are largely irrelevant to the way the world is organised" (Hondagneu- Sotelo, 1999: 566). Literature on gender and migration, although it is growing, appears like a special issue in the discussion around migration, and does not interrelate with the rest of the literature. Finally, for a long time, female migrants appeared in academic or public discourse in relation to prostitution and trafficking (e.g. Lazos,1997; Emke-Poulopoulou, 2001; Lazaridis, 2001;) (for more see section 2.1). 7

8 Concluding, we can claim that while literature on migration in Greece focuses on more general issues, like migration policies, integration/exclusion, economy and labour, racism and xenophobia, the literature on gender and migration has developed quite different trends, addressing issues such as domestic labour, trafficking, prostitution and every day life. 8

9 2. Literature Review 2.1. Gender and Migration in the Greek literature The issue of gender and migration started being a subject of discussion in the Greek literature around Before that, very few texts were published on the issue, many of them concerning trafficking and prostitution. Until now, though, the topic of gender remains within the limits of a "closed" discussion and is dealt with as a "special" issue; most of the literature on migration does not include gender aspects, apart from the literature that has gender as its main focus. Although in many texts we find men and women as sex categories, there is no further analysis of gender as a social relation that affects all aspects of migrants lives. Gender -not only in the Greek literature - is not perceived as a constitutive element/factor of migration, like class or race, that are included more often in studies on migration. In what follows there will be an attempt to review the development of the discussion on gender and migration in the Greek literature. The first contribution to this debate was a collection of articles that were discussed in a conference of the European Forum of Left Feminists, in 1994, under the topic Nationalism, Racism and Gender. From this collection of articles we can point out two contributions. The first one, written by G. Lazaridis, is a study of Albanian and Filipino migrant domestic workers, emphasizing on the ways in which mechanisms of marginalisation and exclusion affect differently these two female groups (Lazaridis, 1995; for more see also Lazaridis, 2000). The second one, a contribution by D. Valencia, refers to the problems migrant women face in Greece based on research on personal/collective experiences of Filipino migrant women (Valencia, 1995). Few texts followed in the next few years giving a general overview of female migration, stressing push and pull factors for women migrants, and giving some statistical data from the regularisation procedure of 1998 and from the Greek Ministry of Public Order, as well as generating small surveys on the working conditions of migrant women (e.g. Markova and Sarris, 1997; Fakiolas and Maratou-Alipranti, 2000;). Exceptions within this period were the book of Syrigou Rigou, that presented in narrative form the life story of an Albanian woman (Syrigou-Rigou, 2000), the research of P. Topali, who, by using ethnographic methods, analysed the complicated and intercultural relations of Philippino women with their employers (Topali, 2001 for more see Topali, 2006), and the article of S. Vovou, who viewed female migration from a feminist perspective (Vovou, 2001). It is a fact, though, that the main interest of researchers during this period seemed to be the issue of trafficking and prostitution, with some very important contributions (Lazos,1997; Psimmenos, 2000; Kandaraki, 2000; Emke-Poulopoulou, 2001; Lazaridis, 2001; Lazos, 2002a; Lazos, 2002b, Emke-Poulopoulou, 2003). From these texts we should refer to the research of G. Lazos, who used both quantitative and qualitative research methods in order to examine in depth the conditions of prostitution and trafficking and administrative practices, but also the experiences and representations of prostitutes and clients involved (Lazos, 2002a; Lazos, 2002b). Although the issue of trafficking and prostitution is a very important topic, it is somewhat disappointing that for a long time in public as well as academic discourse -in quite 9

10 different ways of course- female migrants were connected exclusively to prostitution and trafficking while other aspects of their every day life were completely ignored. A major contribution in the debate on female migration has been the special issue on Gender and International Migration. Focus on Greece of the Greek Review of Social Research, published on In this Special Issue emphasis was placed on the one hand to gender and international migration from Greece and on the other, to gender and contemporary transnational migration to Greece. As the editors of the issue note gender has played a major role in the migratory movements from Greece to other continents, as it does today to migrants movements toward Greece. Gender determines who migrates, when, under what conditions; whether and how settlement takes place; the creation of diasporic or transnational networks, under specific economic conditions in sending and receiving societies (Tastsoglou and Maratou-Alipranti, 2003:15,16). Contributions dealing with migration to Greece were particularly interesting and explored multiple different aspects of female migration: pull factors to Greece, employment and living conditions, statistical and demographic characteristics (Maratou-Alipranti and Fakiolas, 2003); new data on migration to Greece, economic processes in sending and receiving countries that influence the decisions, patterns of migration and experiences of female migrants (Cavounidis, 2003); the female migrants experiences in the Greek labour market, analysed in the context of the Mediterranean immigration model, as well as the legal and policy framework (Tastsoglou and Hadjiconstandi, 2003); the feminisation of migration to Greece and the problems faced by migrant women in relation to state structures and social norms (Karakatsanis and Swarts, 2003) and, finally, the violation of human rights by the trafficking of women and girls for the sex trade in Greece (Emke-Poulopoulou, 2003). The last four years the discussion on gender and migration has been wider and more in depth in the Greek literature. Quite a lot of studies have been published using qualitative methods, focusing on different experiences and situations, on different ethnic groups, on different places and times of the migration experience, while gender has started being handled as an analytical category and a social relation rather than just talking about women or men. Of course we can' t argue that the discussion is complete -especially if we compare it to the rest of the Greek literature on migration or to the international discussion on gender and migration- but we can certainly state that the discussion has developed in quite good terms. Nevertheless, we should keep in mind the initial comment that gender still comes into the discussion of migration only in the researches that have it as a central question. Apart from the work done by four large research projects that will be presented in detail below, we can refer to the work of D. Charalampopoulou, who examined the new migration processes through the eyes of women migrants living in Patras using qualitative methods, and the work of C. Vassilikou who, by a biographical study of migrant domestic workers in Greece concludes that: "these women are vulnerable first as illegal immigrants and also because of the serious identity problem caused by the precariousness of their occupation." (Vassilikou, 2007: available at cisloclanku= ); a conclusion that is quite different from the findings of other similar studies. KETHI 1 also organised the first survey on the issue of female migration published in 2007, a survey that had as a sample 612 migrant women from all over Greece. Although the findings 1 Research Center for Gender Equality 10

11 are quite important as they construct the whole picture of the demographic characteristics of women migrants in Greece, they don't really give any other/new information in comparison to the 2001 general population census (Maratou-Alipranti, 2007). Probably the questions addressed by the research should have taken in mind the different experiences and the gender relations that constitute the "profile" of migrant women. At the same time, other texts, by addressing more general questions (Kasimati, 2003, Petrakou and Tatlidil, 2003, Kapsalis, 2008), or by focusing on certain aspects of female migration experiences (Salimbeni, 2004, Athanasopoulou, 2006), have contributed to the development of the debate Research projects on Gender and Migration Within the last 4 years four different universities in Greece have been carrying out or have already completed large research projects on gender and migration. These research programmes will be presented in short below, as they have contributed significantly to the development of the discussion (see also Vaiou, 2006). A. Gender, domestic labour and ethnic identity: the cross-cultural constitution of domestic space in Greece, University of the Aegean, Department of Social Anthropology. ( This research project is organized around two basic axes: the first is about the role of gender in the constitution of the domestic space and the second is about the role of ethnic identity in the constitution of gendered domestic labour. The project focuses on a comparative study of Filipino, Albanian and Greek women who work as paid domestic workers in Greek urban cities and examines the cultural and social terms in which these ethnic groups are associated with different sectors of domestic work. Divisions of tasks contribute to constitute the gendered identity of housewife and to negotiate relations with husband and children within the domestic space. It is argued that, in the context of domestic work, female identity is not constituted through caring for children and the domestic space, but rather through the management of a same-sex hierarchical relation often formed with an ethnically same or other woman. Methodological choices include in-depth participant observation in the spaces of settlement, employment and sociality of domestic workers and life-histories of key informants. Quantitative and qualitative techniques are used in a dialogue between participant observation and life history approaches on the one hand and an empirical sample survey on the other. Although the research is not yet completed, parts of it were presented in several seminars and workshops. B. Gender dimensions of migration in South-Eastern Europe: integration, work and cross-cultural communication, University of Thessaly, Department of Social Anthropology ( This research project aims at examining migration as a gendered experience through the life stories of male and female migrants from Albania and Bulgaria to Greece, while the city of Volos is the main site of fieldwork. This project contributes to the understanding of transnational mobility from the post-communist countries of Southeast Europe towards the Mediterranean area, which is a significant part of international migration today. Focusing on migrants from the two neighbouring countries of Albania and Bulgaria, it aimed to study this 11

12 migration flow from the perspective of three different groups of social actors: the migrants themselves, the citizens of the host country and the citizens of the country of origin who never migrated or who repatriated. The project explored the gendered experiences of these two migrant groups in three interrelated thematic fields. The first theme, public culture, looked at how men and women remembered their experiences of the communist past and how these memories have contributed to the formation of new migrant identities and coping strategies in the host country. The second theme, labour, explored the contribution of migration to the reconceptualization of "work" and its effects on gender relations, in the context of the new informal labour market. The third theme, trans-cultural communication, looked at the role of migration in the formation of hybrid forms of trans-cultural communication that include the exchange of cultural products, information technologies, ideas, attitudes and practices. The project is based on 60 in-depth interviews with migrant men and women of three age groups (which?) from Albania and Bulgaria, as well as on ethnographic research in their places of origin and destination and on visual material. The material from interviews is analysed from a cross-disciplinary perspective which studies the narrative strategies of women and men migrants and focuses on three aspects of their lived experience: integration, work and cross-cultural communication. Some of the major findings of this project were presented in several conferences (Alvanos, 2007; Hatzaroula, 2007; Siotou and Stiliou, 2007; Stiliou, 2007; Van Boeschoten, 2007a; Van Boeschoten, 2007b some available at ) and, mainly, in an international conference organised by the University of Thessaly in 2007 on the issue of Gendered Aspects of Migration in Southeastern Europe (for more see extras.ha.uth.gr/pythagoras1/en/synedrio2.asp). C. Gender and migrant populations. Aspects of social integration and social policy, Panteion University, Department of Social Policy This research project had a three-fold object: (a) to develop a cross-disciplinary investigation of the ways in which gender relations and new gender identities are formed in the process of social integration among migrant groups who have settled in Athens, both within migrant communities and in relation to local population groups; (b) to assess critically and from a gender perspective the role of state intervention in social policy directed to migrant populations; (c) to formulate proposals concerning the development of public policies aiming to improve the conditions of migrants integration and to promote equality between women and men. The project combined quantitative and qualitative methodologies and covered four interrelated areas of research: gender relations in everyday life (approached through a series of focus group discussions), gender and domestic work in houses and in cleaning firms (approached through quantitative survey and in-depth interviews with migrant women), research in institutions providing social services, mainly education, childcare, reproductive health (using interviews with migrant women and with employees in those services), crossgeneration relations and gender (complementary interviews with migrant women of different generations). So far, from this research project three books have been published covering many of the above-mentioned topics. The first book is titled Gender and Migration" and offers a general overview with theoretical references on the issues of gender and migration with an emphasis in Greece (Kaismati and 12

13 Mousourou, 2007). The second is on the issue of Gender and Migration: Every day life of women from Albania and Ukraine and it focuses on two different aspects of female migration. The first part analyses, through policy documents and discussions in the Greek parliament, the gradual construction of gendered standards that force women migrants in relations of dependence and victimization. The second part of the book explores the relationship between gender and migration from the perspective of everyday life and it is based on a series of focus group discussions. The analysis shows on the one hand the multiple forms of oppression of women migrants mainly due to the lack of policies that can guarantee their rights- and on the other hand the multiple practices and strategies that lead to upward social and economic mobility and to gendered emancipation. The book is particularly interesting as it uses original sources to discuss how political discourse on migration is produced and how policies affect migrant women while, at the same time, using focus groups as a methodological tool it catches interesting insights of the multiple experiences of women migrants every day life (Kabouri, 2007a). The third book is on the issue of Cross-generation relations and gender relations of Albanian Immigrant women and it is the first attempt in the Greek literature on migration to analyse cross-generation gender relations. It is a very interesting attempt as it handles gender relations as a social process changing through the migration experience (Thanopoulou, 2007a) At the same time, from this research project a special issue of The Greek Review of Social Research was published on Gender and Migration: Aspects of Social Integration and Social Policy with interesting contributions written mainly by the researchers that contributed to the project (Kabouri, 2007b; Kassimati, 2007; Moussourou, 2007; Psimmenos, 2007; Sakellis and Spyropoulou, 2007; Skamnakis, 2007; Stratigaki and Vaiou, 2007; Thanopoulou, 2007b). D. Intersecting patterns of everyday life and socio-spatial transformations in the city. Migrant and local women in the neighbourhoods of Athens, National Technical University of Athens, Urban and Regional Planning ( page2=research.asp) The research project developed a gender perspective on the transformations which take place in central neighbourhoods of Athens, following the mass settlement of migrants. It brings together three lines of theoretical and empirical elaboration which are either approached separately or combined in pairs: gender, migration and (urban) space, in an attempted synthesis around the concept of everyday life. The project is organised in three interrelated sets of questions. The first looks into socio-spatial transformations in central neighbourhoods of Athens: the reasons why these neighbourhoods are chosen by migrants, transformations in the character and provision of services, developments in the housing market, uses of public spaces and social infrastructure. The second set of questions looks into the changes in everyday lives of local and migrant women, whose everyday worlds are intersecting through the employer-worker relation and through the uses of urban space: patterns of integration of migrant women, where and how they find work, combinations of paid work and family care, conditions of access to leisure and to urban life by migrant and local women. Finally, the third set of questions focuses on gender relations and on the constitution of individual and collective identities through the employer-worker relation: patterns, behaviours and relations which are constituted, adopted, transformed and mutually adapted in the employer-worker relation, gender divisions of labour and relations among women. 13

14 Research methods include interviews with key informants, elaboration and mapping of statistical data, systematic observation and complete mapping of functions and uses in two neighbourhoods, biographical interviews with migrant women and local women employers of migrants. From this research project, apart from papers in conferences and presentations of the project, a special issue has been published to present all the work done and the findings (Vaiou et al., 2007). The research project was innovative in that it combined and interrelated changes in the city, observed from a macro level, with the way migrant women experience and transform the city through their every day practices, the way migrant women and their employers meet and interact in the domestic space but also in the neighbourhood. It addressed issues of integration from the perspective of every day life where all the different practices and strategies -formal or informal- emerge and weave themselves into the routes of migrant women. 2.2 Literature on gender, migration and intercultural interactions, in relation to the topics/ questions addressed by GE.M.IC. In general, the topics proposed for research by GE.M.IC. have not been topics raised in the Greek discussion, with few notable exceptions. The topic of National identity and Media is certainly an under-explored area. There is a certain discussion on the issue of nationalism (described in chapter 1.2.3) but very few texts deal with the issue of media representations, especially if we include gender into the question. Two publications are somewhat relevant to the topic: one by Ch. Kostantinidou (Kostantinidou, 1999) on the representations of Albanian immigrants in the Athenian press with a basic focus on the issues of criminality, and the other by M. Pavlou (Pavlou, 2001), dealing with the representation of migrants in the press of Thessalonica from the perspective of racism and xenophobia. The topic of Intercultural Education, however, is part of the Greek debate (Skourtou, 1994; Bobas, 1994; Vidali, 1996; Damanakis, 1998; Katsikas, 1998; Veikou, 2000; Nikolaou, 2000; Tsiakalos, 2000; Travasarou, 2001; Dimakos and Tasiopoulou, 2003; Skourtou et al., 2004; Kyprianos and van Boeschoten, 2006; Triantafyllidou, 2006). The basic questions raised are around language and integration through education for the first generation of migrants, as well as around inequalities in public education, and the presence (or absence) of respect/ preservation of different ethnic identities for the children of migrants. Although the issue of differences in gender identities and roles is included in some studies (e.g. Veikou, 2000) the question of how gender interacts with education processes has not yet been addressed. 14

15 Although the issue of religion is central in migration processes and an important percentage of migrants residing in Greece are not orthodox, there is actually no research, nor any discussion on the issue in the academy. The only text published on the issue is by M.Petronoti on the limitations Eritrean refugees experience in connection to their religious practices (Petronoti, 1996). There is, though, a heated public discussion on whether the Greek state should permit the building of a mosque for Muslims in Athens, a situation that reveals the adherence of large parts of the Greek society to cultural homogeneity and the exclusion of difference, as well as points to the conservative role of the Greek Church. The topic of urban space in connection to migration is a prominent theme in the Greek debate (see also section 1.2.4). One of the earlier contributions was that of I. Psimmenos, who supports the argument that there is a formation of "periphractic" spaces, meaning spatially segregated spaces where migrants reside isolated from locals (Psimmenos, 1995, 1998, 2000). In other studies and publications, though, quite the opposite is evident: the settlement of migrants is spread out in and around the city centre and, although there are small concentrations, there are no migrant ghettos (Petronoti, 1998, Vaiou, 2003, Vaiou et al. 2007). On the contrary, Athenian neighbourhoods seem to be places of interaction between different migrant groups and between migrants and locals, places where the integration "from below" takes place, as it is evident in the research project that was presented above (section 2.1.1, Vaiou et al. 2007). This research project was the first attempt in the Greek literature to look at the interrelations between space, gender and migration and it actually opened an interesting field for further debate. On the issues of Intercultural Violence no work has been done till now. The only issue coming to public attention? is one concerning the assumed criminality of migrant populations, as issue that was repeatedly raised in public discourse. Answering to such incriminations, V. Karydis, I. Kourtovik and others have done excellent work in order to uncover the social stereotypes that connect migrants to criminality but also the strict control and repression of migrant populations by the state (Karydis, 1992,1993,1996,1997,1998, 2004, Kourtovik, 1997,2001, Kostantinidou, 1999, Antonopoulos and Georgiou, 2006). Lastly, the issue of Mixed and Transanational Families, although a prominent theme in international literature on gender and migration (e.g. Parreñas, 2005), has not yet received any attention in Greece. Even the issue of transantionalism, that has monopolized many debates in the international migration literature for more than a decade now, is underexplored in the Greek literature, with few exceptions (Ventoura and Troubeta, eds., 2006). 2.3 Methodology As the literature reviewed is quite extensive, and addresses different questions, it is to be expected that quite different methodologies are used. One of the first and persisting questions of the Greek literature on migration has to do with how many migrants are entering or living in Greece, what their demographic characteristics are, and whether they are "legal" or "illegal". A large body of research using quantitative methods analysed different aspects of the demographic characteristics of migrants, usually including "men" and "women" as statistical categories. As D.Vaiou had noted, all this research can be divided into two main sub-groups: (a) before the 2001 census when the elaborations used mainly data from legalisation processes and (b) after the 2001 census, when a number of projects developed, 15

16 that included, or specifically focused on, an elaboration of these data (for more Vaiou, 2006). Research in this context, though, remains generally descriptive. What is interesting to highlight in this section is the difference in methodologies used so far between the literature on migration and the literature on gender and migration. It is impressive that the majority of the reviewed texts on migration are using either quantitative data and analysis or literature sources and archival research, while the literature on gender and migration is mainly dominated by qualitative methodologies. Apart from few texts, mainly in the first period, that gave general information on female migration and presented a survey on women migrants (Maratou-Alipranti, 2007), most of the studies conducted during the last?? years on the issue of female migration, including the four research projects presented in section 2.1, have used mainly ethnographic methods: biographical and in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, participant observation (Lazaridis, 1995; Petrontoti, 1998; Psimmenos, 2000; Veikou, 2000; Syrigou-Rigou, 2000; Topali, 2001; Charalampopoulou, 2004; Athanasopoulou, 2006; Topali, 2006; Psimmenos, 2006; Vaiou et al., 2007; Vassilikou, 2007; Thanopoulou, 2007a; Kabouri, 2007a; Athanasopoulou, 2006 ). Ethnographic research methods emerge as particularly useful for examining complex concepts and practices, such as gender relations. As Kofman et al. argue, Qualitative data often provide a holistic view of women s experiences. These sources have been better able to reveal the different spatio-temporal dimensions of female migration, the multiplicity of causes for their moves and the often overlapping strategies used by women migrants. It provides a flavour of the? heterogeneity of migration, the range of ages at which people migrate, the varying skills they bring with them, the different reasons for moving, and for staying or moving again, the social relations that facilitate migration and the regimes that influence migrant trajectories. (Kofman et al., 2000). At the same time, though, in Greece as in other countries, qualitative research methods are undervalued by a large number of social science researchers who contribute towards theory building by analysing quantitative data that are deemed valid for large populations. As noted by many writers though, the strength of ethnographic methods is precisely that they produce new research materials, questions and hypotheses from ongoing observation: they are flexible and reflexive at the same time (among others see Mahler and Pessar, 2006). As already analysed in section 2.2, most of the research questions proposed by GE.M.IC. are not issues that have occupied the Greek literature up to now, so there can no comparison between methodological tools at this point. It is a fact though that the research projects on gender and migration conducted by the four universities described above (section 2.1.1) are quite close to the methodologies proposed by GE.M.IC. The attempt of GE.M.IC. to apply intersectional approaches by combining issues of gender, migration and intercultural interaction in different thematic fields and using combinations of multiple methodological tools in order to research on these questions will be innovative for Greek "standards". 16

17 Literature Literature in English Achilles, S and Sitaropoulos, N (2004) Why Greece is not a safe host country for refugees, Oxford Unicersity Press, (available at Alvanos, R (2007) "Aspects of Albanian and Bulgarian immigrants Public Culture", International Conference Gendered Aspects of Migration in South Eastern Europe, Volos, 30 November 2 December 2007, University of Thessaly: Volos. Anthias, F (2000) Metaphors of home: gendering new migrations in Southern Europe in F. Anthias and G. Lazaridis (eds) Gender and Migration in Southern Europe, Oxford: Berg. Antonopoulos, B and Georgiou, A (2006) "Greece: policing racist violence in the fenceless vineyard' ", Institute of Race Relations, Vol. 48(2): Baldwin-Edwards, M (2004) Albanian emigration and the Greek labour market: Economic symbiosis and social ambiguity, Mediteranean Migration Observatory, South East Europe Review, (available at: Baldwin-Edwards, M (2002a) Southern European labour markets and Immigration: A Structural and Functional Analysis, Μeditteranean Μigration Οbservatory, Working Paper 5, (available at Baldwin-Edwards, M (2002b) Semi-reluctant hosts: Southern Europe's ambivalent response to immigration, Μeditteranean Μigration Οbservatory (available at Balwin-Edwards, M and Fakiolas, R (1999) "The Emmerging European Immigration Regime: Some Reflections on Implications for Southern Europe", South European Society and Politics, Vol.3 (3): Basch, L, Glick-Schiller, N, Szanton-Blanc, Ch (1994) Nations Unbound: Transnational Projects, Postcolonial Predicaments and Deterritorialized Nation States, Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach Publishers. Bill, J, Stra th, B, Triandafyllidou, A (2003) "Comparing cultures of discretion", Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 29 (2): Black, R (1994a) "Asylum policy and the marginalisation of refugees in Greece", in W.T.S.Gould and A.M.Findlay (eds) Population Migration and the Changing World Order, Chichester: Wiley and Sons. Black, R (1994b) "Livelihoods under stress: a case study of refugee vulnerability in Greece", Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol.7 (4):

18 Black, R (1994c) "Political refugees or economic migrants? Kurdish and Assyrian refugees in Greece", Migration, Vol. 25: Black, R (1992) "Livelihood and Vulnerability of Foreign Refugees in Greece", Occasional Papers Geography, Vol.33, London: King's College. Bourdouvalis, C (1997) "The European Union and the Immigration Problem. Small Steps and Possible Solutions", in E. M. Ucarer and D.J. Puchala (eds) Immigration into Western Societies: Problems and Policies, London & Washington: Pinter. Bridget, A (2000) Doing the dirty work? The Glopal Politics of Domestic Labour, London: Zed Books Cavounidis, J (2003) "Gendered Patterns of Migration to Greece", The Greek Review of Social Research, special issue on Gender and International Migration. Focus on Greece, Vol. 110 (A): Cavounidis, J (2002) "Migration in Southern Europe and the case of Greece", International Migration, Vol.40 (1): Charalampopoulou, D (2004) "Gender and Migration in Greece: the position of Albanian women in Patras", Finisterra, No.XXXXIX: Droukas, E (1998) "Albanians in the Greek informal economy", Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol.24 (2): Drydakisb, N and Vlassisa, M (2007) Ethnic Discrimination in the Greek Labour Market: Occupational Access, Insurance Coverage, and Wage Offers, University of Crete, Department of Economics,Working Papers No (available at Correspondence_Test-1.pdf). Emke-Poulopoulou, I (2003) "Trafficking in women and girls for the sex trade: the case of Greece", The Greek Review of Social Research, special issue on Gender and International Migration. Focus on Greece, Vol. 110 (A): Emke-Poulopoulou, I (2001) Trafficking in Women and Children: Greece a country of destination and transit Μeditteranean Μigration Οbservatory, Working Paper 2, (available at Emke-Poulopoulou, I (1991) "Immigrants and Refugees in Greece. Statistical Evaluation and Causes of Entry in the Country", in I. Emke-Poulopoulos, V. Gozalves Perez, L. Lecchini, O.Barsotti, International Migration to Northern Mediterranean Countries. The Cases of Greece, Spain, and Italy, Universita di Pisa: Dipartimento di Statistica e Matematica Applicata all Economia: Fakiolas, R (2003) "Regularising undocumented immigrants in Greece: procedures and effects", Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies, Vol.29 (3):

19 Fakiolas, R (1999) "Socio-Economic Effects of Immigration in Greece", Journal of European Social Policy, Vol.9 (3): Fakiolas, R (1999) "Migration and Unregistered Labour in the Greek Economy", in R. King, G. Lazaridis, C. Tsardanidis (eds) Eldorado or Fortress? Migration in Southern Europe, Basingstoke: Macmillan. Fakiolas, R (1997) "Current Migration Trends in Greece", in M. Ioannis Baganha (eds) Immigration in Southern Europe, Portugal: Celta Editoria. Fakiolas, R and King, R (1996) "Return, Immigration: A Review and Evaluation of Greece s Postwar Experience of International Migration Emigration", International Journal of Population Geography, No.2: Fakiolas, R and Maratou-Alipranti, L (2000) "Foreign female immigrants in Greece", Papers Revista de Sociologia, No.60: Fragouli-Papantoniou, M (1999) "Modes of insertion of illegal migrants in the labour market: the case of Greece", in F. Luso-Americana (eds) Metropolis International Workshop, Proceedings, Lisbon. Glytsos, N (1995) "Problems and Policies Regarding the Socio-economic Integration of Returnees and Foreign Workers in Greece", International Migration, Vol.XXXIII (2): Hatzaroula, P (2007) "Perceptions of Work in Albanian Immigrants Testimonies and the Structure of Domestic Work in Greece", in H. Lutz (eds) Migration and Domestic Work: A European Perspective on a Global Theme, Ashgate: Aldershot. Hatziprokopiou, P (2006) Globalisation, Migration and Socio-Economic Change in Contemporary Greece Processes of Social Incorporation of Balkan Immigrants in Thessaloniki, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. Hatziprokopiou, P (2003) "Albanian immigrants in Thessaloniki, Greece: processes of economic and social incorporation", Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol.29 (6): Hondagneu-Sotelo, P (1999) Gender and Contemporary U.S. Immigration, American behavioural Scientists, Vol. 42 (4): Iosifides, T (1997) Immigrants in the Athens labour market: a comparative survey of Albanians, Egyptians and Filipinos, in R. King and R. Black (eds) Southern Europe and the New Immigrations, Brighton: Sussex Academic Publishers. Iosifides, T and King R (1998) "Socio-Spatial Dynamics and Exclusion of Three Immigrant Groups in the Athens Conurbation", South European Politics and Society and Politics, Vol.3 (3):

20 Iosifides, T, King R (1996) "Recent immigration to Southern Europe: the socio-economic and labour market context", Journal of Area Studies, Special Issue on Southern Europe in Transition, No.9: Iosifides, T, King, R, Myrivili, L (1998) "A migrants story: from Albania to Athens", Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 24 (1): Kabouri, H (2007b) "Gender, migration and domestic work: space and time in the discourse of Albanian domestic workers in Athens", The Greek Review of Social Research, special issue on Gender and Migration: Aspects of Social Integration and Social policy, Vol.124 (c): Karakatsanis, N, M and Swarts, J (2003) "Migrant women, domestic work and the sex trade in Greece A snapshot of migrant policy in the making", The Greek Review of Social Research, special issue on Gender and International Migration. Focus on Greece, Vol. 110 (A): Karpathakis, A (2003) "From «Noikokyra» to «Lady»: Greek Immigrant Women, Assimilation and Race", The Greek Review of Social Research, special issue on Gender and International Migration. Focus on Greece, Vol. 110 (A): Karydis, V (1998) "Criminality or Criminalisation of Migrants in Greece? An Attempt at Synthesis", in V. Ruggiero, N. South, I. Taylor (eds) The New European Criminology. Crime and Social Order in Europe, London and New York: Routledge. Karydis, V (1993) "Migrants as a Political Enterprise: The Greek-Albanian Case", Chroniques, Vol. 8: Karydis, V (1992) "The fear of crime in Athens and the construction of the dangerous Albanian stereotype", Chronicles, Vol. 5: Kasimis, Ch (2005) Migrants in the Rural Economies of Greece and Southern Europe, Migration Information Source, (available at Kasimis, Ch, Kassimi, Ch (2004) Greece: A History of Migration, Migration Information Source, (available at Kasimis,Ch, Papadopoulos, A, Zacopoulou, E (2003) "Migrants in rural Greece", Sociologia Ruralis,Vol.43 (2): Kassimati, K (2007) "Employers of migrant women domestic workers from Albania and Ukraine", The Greek Review of Social Research, special issue on Gender and Migration: Aspects of Social Integration and Social policy, Vol.124 (c): Kassimis, C, Papadopoulos, A (2005) "The multifunctional role of migrants in the Greek countryside: Implications for the Rural Economy and Society", Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol.3 (1):