Europe, Space of Freedom and Security. Migration and mobility: Assets and challenges for the enlargement of the European Union

The ‘Jean Monnet’ European Centre of Excellence (C03/0110) and the School of High Comparative European Studies (SISEC), both from the West University of Timisoara, propose to launch the scientific debate on the migration and mobility within the Romanian universities, the academic life and among the policies and decision makers from Romania. The International Colloquium Migration and Mobility: Assets and Challenges for the Enlargement of the European Union proposed for 4-5 of May 2006 is part of the SISEC bi-annual project "EUROPE: SPACE OF FREEDOM AND SECURITY", dedicated to study of European Affairs, with focus on migration and mobility, in the framework of the European Year of Workers’ Mobility 2006. The participants were both renowned experts on migration and mobility, and PhD students interested in the challenging subjects proposed.migration EU acquis illegal migration irregula immigrants labour migration right to work EU enlargement cost and benefit analysis remittances development development networks circular migration Diasporas

Can extremism guarantee pluralism?

Many models have been proposed to explain opinion formation in groups of individuals; most of these models study opinion propagation as the interaction between nodes/agents in a social network. Opinion formation is a complex process and a realistic model should also take into account the important feedbacks that the opinions of the agents have on the structure of the social networks and on the characteristics of the opinion dynamics. In this paper we will show that associating to different agents different kinds of interconnections and different interacting behaviours can lead to interesting scenarios, like the coexistence of several opinion clusters, namely pluralism. In our model agents have opinions uniformly and continuously distributed between two extremes. The social network is formed through a social aggregation mechanism including the segregation process of the extremists that results in many real communities. We show how this process affects the opinion dynamics in the whole society. In the opinion evolution we consider the different predisposition of single individuals to interact and to exchange opinion with each other; we associate to each individual a different tolerance threshold, depending on its own opinion: extremists are less willing to interact with individuals with strongly different opinions and to change significantly their ideas. A general result is obtained: when there is no interaction restriction, the opinion always converges to uniformity, but the same is happening whenever a strong segregation process of the extremists occurs. Only when extremists are forming clusters but these clusters keep interacting with the rest of the society, the survival of a wide opinion range is guaranteed.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figure

NET WORKING: Work Patterns and Workforce Policies for the New Media Industry

This report, based on a study of a group of highly accomplished professionals in New York City, is one of the first to take up labor market issues in the new media industry. It describes the challenges faced by professionals and employers alike in this important and dynamic sector, and identifies strategies for success in a project oriented environment with highly complex skill demands and rapidly changing technology. Our findings suggest three central issues

The role of social support and social networks in health information-seeking behavior among Korean Americans: a qualitative study

abstract: Introduction This study used social network theory to explore the role of social support and social networks in health information–seeking behavior among Korean American (KA) adults. Methods A descriptive qualitative study using a web-based online survey was conducted from January 2013 to April 2013 in the U.S. The survey included open-ended questions about health information–seeking experiences in personal social networks and their importance in KA adults. Themes emerging from a constant comparative analysis of the narrative comments by 129 of the 202 respondents were analyzed. Results The sample consisted of 129 KA adults, 64.7% female, with a mean age of 33.2 (SD = 7.7). Friends, church members, and family members were the important network connections for KAs to obtain health information. KAs looked for a broad range of health information from social network members, from recommendations and reviews of hospitals/doctors to specific diseases or health conditions. These social networks were regarded as important for KAs because there were no language barriers, social network members had experiences similar to those of other KAs, they felt a sense of belonging with those in their networks, the network connections promoted increased understanding of different health care systems of the U.S. system, and communication with these network connections helped enhance feelings of being physically and mentally healthy. Conclusions This study demonstrates the important role that social support and personal social networks perform in the dissemination of health information for a large ethnic population, KAs, who confront distinct cultural challenges when seeking health information in the U.S. Data from this study also illustrate the cultural factors that influence health information acquisition and access to social support for ethnic minorities. This study provides practical insights for professionals in health information services, namely, that social networks can be employed as a channel for disseminating health information to immigrants.The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12939-015-0169-

Civil Society Iraq: Ethnic, Religious, and Location Influences on Outgroup Perception

Civil Society Iraq: Ethnic, Religious, and Location Influences on Outgroup Perception Jon Gresham* April 2004 A significant research question in the immediate post-war (May 2003) environment of Iraq was: "How do Iraqis’ ethnicity, religious affiliation, and location affect expressed perceptions of threat from outgroups?" We collected 479 surveys of Iraqi opinions, in five locations in Iraq, Jordan, and The Netherlands, with a single page instrument. Religion, ethnic origin, and location alone had little direct bearing on respondents’ attitudes towards outgroups or change (another type of threat) in Iraq. However, certain sets of interacting elements did reflect significant differences in perceptions of threat. For example, Shi’a Muslims of urban Basra had very different expressions towards return of expatriate Iraqis than did Baghdad residents. A serendipitous innovation was that of publishing our research process onto a "wiki" web page where visitors could add to or change contents of the documents. The wiki live publishing helped fellow scientists, decision-makers, resource agencies, and Iraq fieldworkers participate in our project. Why Civil Society? The term describes both behavior and social systems and provides a sociological framework from which to explore social interactions in Iraq. Follow-up is warranted. We found, for example, that "moderate Arabs" in Iraq were the most opposed to foreign involvement and were the most opposed to expatriate Iraqis returning to Iraq. This finding is relevant to decision-makers and field workers in relief, development, and reconstruction in Iraq. This paper describes our research process in a post-regime-change environment. I would welcome comments onto the web site: http://CivilSocietyIraq.seedwiki.com. _____________ * Jon Gresham is a visiting scholar at the University of Utrecht, Netherlands. His work focuses on the Cyprus-Syria-Iraq-Iran area. Special thanks are given to Hub Linssen, Assistant Professor at the University of Utrecht, with interest in cross-national comparative survey methodology

From Social Data Mining to Forecasting Socio-Economic Crisis

Socio-economic data mining has a great potential in terms of gaining a better understanding of problems that our economy and society are facing, such as financial instability, shortages of resources, or conflicts. Without large-scale data mining, progress in these areas seems hard or impossible. Therefore, a suitable, distributed data mining infrastructure and research centers should be built in Europe. It also appears appropriate to build a network of Crisis Observatories. They can be imagined as laboratories devoted to the gathering and processing of enormous volumes of data on both natural systems such as the Earth and its ecosystem, as well as on human techno-socio-economic systems, so as to gain early warnings of impending events. Reality mining provides the chance to adapt more quickly and more accurately to changing situations. Further opportunities arise by individually customized services, which however should be provided in a privacy-respecting way. This requires the development of novel ICT (such as a self- organizing Web), but most likely new legal regulations and suitable institutions as well. As long as such regulations are lacking on a world-wide scale, it is in the public interest that scientists explore what can be done with the huge data available. Big data do have the potential to change or even threaten democratic societies. The same applies to sudden and large-scale failures of ICT systems. Therefore, dealing with data must be done with a large degree of responsibility and care. Self-interests of individuals, companies or institutions have limits, where the public interest is affected, and public interest is not a sufficient justification to violate human rights of individuals. Privacy is a high good, as confidentiality is, and damaging it would have serious side effects for society.Comment: 65 pages, 1 figure, Visioneer White Paper, see http://www.visioneer.ethz.c

Ethnic entrepreneurs and online home-based businesses

Objectives The study considers how online home-based businesses offer opportunities for ethnic entrepreneurs to ‘break out’ of the traditional highly competitive and low margin sectors they are often associated with. Prior Work Previous studies have found a positive association between ethnic minorities high levels of entrepreneurship (Levie, 2007) and between home computer use and entrepreneurship in ethnic groups (Fairlie, 2006). Despite these associations, no previous studies have explored the formation of home-based or other online businesses by ethnic entrepreneurs. This study seeks to address this gap by exploring how online home-based businesses provide opportunities for ethnic entrepreneurs to form and operate businesses outside traditional sectors (Rath, 2002; Kloosterman, 2010). Approach The study adopts mixed embeddedness (Kloosterman et al, 1999) as a theoretical lens to guide interviews with 22 ethnic entrepreneurs who have started online home-based businesses in the UK. All interviews are recorded, fully transcribed and analysed by thematic coding using NVivo software. Results Our findings suggest two distinct groups of online home-based business ventures. The first consist of mainly entrepreneurs who have good IT qualifications and are using the internet to leverage these, such as running web design or networking businesses or selling computer hardware online. The second group had no IT expertise and saw the web as an opportunity to start a business based on retailing, design skills or other interests. The informants were emphatic that the unique characteristics offered by an online home-based business were instrumental in their decision and ability to form a business. We use the findings of the study to argue that the theory of mixed embeddedness should include notions of choice and agency by ethnic entrepreneurs and also that the entrepreneurs are not only subject to social, economic and institutional forces, but that their actions can positively influence these forces. Implications The findings suggest that online home-based businesses can offer new opportunities to ethnic entrepreneurs that allow them to move beyond being the passive subjects of social, economic and institutional forces. Value The study is of benefit to ethnic entrepreneurs seeking to start new ventures and provides a valuable evidence base for wider social debates about the role and contribution of ethnic groups to the economic and social fabric of the UK. The research also has important policy implications, for example, the efficacy and sustainability of entrepreneurship visas

Civil Society Iraq: Location Influences on Outgroup Perception (June 2004)

A significant research question in the immediate post-war (May 2003) environment of Iraq was: "How do Iraqis’ location affect expressed perceptions of threat from outgroups?" We collected 479 surveys of Iraqi opinions, in five locations (in Iraq, Jordan, and The Netherlands), with a single page instrument. Religion, ethnic origin, like location alone, had little strong bearing on respondents’ expressed attitudes towards outgroups or the government in Iraq. However, certain sets of interacting elements did reflect significant differences in perceptions of threat. For example, Shi’a Muslims of urban Basra had very different expressions towards return of expatriate Iraqis than did Shi’a Muslims of rural Basra. A serendipitous innovation was that of publishing our research process onto a "wiki" web page where visitors could add to or change contents of the documents. The wiki live publishing helped fellow scientists, decision-makers, resource agencies, and Iraq fieldworkers participate in our project. Why Civil Society? The term describes both behavior and social systems and provides an overarching framework from which to explore social interactions in Iraq. Follow-up is warranted. We found, for example, that "moderate Arabs" in Iraq were the most opposed to foreign involvement and were the most opposed to expatriate Iraqis returning to Iraq. This finding is relevant to decision-makers and field workers in relief, development, and reconstruction in Iraq. This paper describes our research process in a post-regime-change environment. I would welcome comments onto the web site: http://CivilSocietyIraq.seedwiki.com

Diasporic and Local Mainstream Media as a Tool for Intercultural Integration? The Case of Latin American Communities in Italy

In Italy, communication research on the impact of media on immigrants’ integration dynamics has up until now privileged the sphere of national mainstream media. This paper takes into consideration the role of diasporic media as complimentary to perspective, by exploring the disposition of the two media fields towards the promotion of intercultural dialogue. In an attempt to assess whether there is in fact an intercultural media integration process occurring in both mainstream and Latin-America diasporic media players in Italy, this paper focuses on gathering evidence from the media pertaining to the society in general and from those created by and for immigrant communities. This evaluation aims to establish the degree to which majority and minorities take an interest in each other as well as the story telling they deploy or one another. Interculturalism and intercultural media integration are the main theoretical frameworks used to understand how intercultural dialogue is operationalized at the media level. Preliminary findings suggest a local mainstream media scene out of step with the de facto multicultural society, whereas only in some cases do Latin-American diasporic media demonstrate integrative potential capable of” bridging the gap” with the host society rather than merely fulfilling its ingroup “bonding” role

The Position of National Minorities in Putin’s Russia: Uniformity or Diversity?

No abstract available