Much of the public policy discourse about immigration in the UK has drawn on the experiences of post-war immigrants from the former British colonies. The volume and composition of immigration flows has changed significantly in recent years with substantial increases in the number of immigrants, particularly from countries without links to the UK, and as a result of the large scale immigration from the EU Accession countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Immigration remains a contested issue with public and political debates focusing on the nature and impact of immigration and its perceived negative effects on employment, public services and social cohesion. In spite of the growing number of studies examining the experiences of new immigrants in local neighbourhoods and labour markets there is a lack of comprehensive evidence about how these experiences differ across immigrant groups and the role of place in shaping the experiences and outcomes of new immigration. This research draws on a variety of data from the census, national surveys, administrative sources and qualitative interviews to explore the settlement patterns, labour market outcomes and neighbourhood experiences of new immigrants. The findings show that new immigrants are more likely to locate in ethnically diverse and socially deprived neighbourhoods upon arrival although there is variation in the factors determining immigrant settlement by world area of origin in line with differences in migration motives and entitlements in the UK. The findings from the qualitative interviews highlight the range of motivations and constraints that shape immigrant settlement patterns and how these change over time with secondary migration and family formation. Analysis of the labour market position of immigrants defined by country of origin and ethnicity shows the persistence of ethnic penalties in the labour market. Immigrants from ethnic minority groups both from established and new immigrant groups are found to be more disadvantaged in the labour market than white immigrants and the White British. The neighbourhood context, specifically neighbourhood deprivation and ethnic diversity, is associated with poorer employment outcomes, with the relationship between area deprivation and employment shown to depend on ethnicity. The qualitative evidence highlights the role of social networks and a range of other factors in facilitating and hindering the socio-economic integration of new immigrants. The findings, particularly in relation to immigrant social networks, access to welfare, settlement intentions and housing aspirations, challenge common perceptions about new immigrants living in deprived areas in the UK. The research evidence contributes to a better understanding of the settlement patterns and experiences of new immigration and has implications for national and local policies.

Photographs traverse the world in many forms and for many purposes. They follow and trace movements and networks of people, and have become essential objects in linking the past, present, and future of migrating communities. Vernacular photographs found in the home, encompass a substantial field of neglected knowledge and should be accorded greater attention and analysis in social science research. Vernacular images in academic research are often described as ordinary and mundane, their representational aspects are perceived to be repetitive and unremarkable (portraits, family snapshots etc.). However, this thesis argues that vernacular photographs are privileged objects and it is their universality and social embeddedness that elevates their significance in social science research. Unlike public or institutionalised photographic archives, vernacular archives operate within active social contexts and are alive with social agency. In this thesis, I use Alfred Gell’s anthropological theory of Art and Agency as the framework for conceptualising the social agency of photographs. To support these claims, this research examines the personal photographs found in the vernacular archives of a Gujarati migrant group in Christchurch, New Zealand. The photographs presented by members of this group are found at the centre of their social lives, mirroring their experiences and relationships in visual form. I use the Chakra Wheel as a visual metaphor to symbolise the nature of this group and their photographs. This metaphor speaks directly to the phenomenon of transnationalism and acknowledges that, for migrant communities, these transitioning processes are complex and elaborate, where the foundations of kinship and homemaking are constantly shifting. Vernacular photographs are at the centre of these transnational exchanges and networks, shifting from place to place, creating tangible and virtual threads between individuals, families, villages, and communities. They anchor these relationships at various sites, such as the wall in the family home, in albums, wallets, and on the internet. Vernacular photographs mirror these complex processes, and silently record and embody the social lives of people in a visual way. The mirrored reflection of the vernacular photograph can be both objective and subjective. By using the vernacular photograph as a research medium, in ethnographic research, we can get closer to the lived reality of people’s social lives. To emphasise the privileged position of vernacular photographs, I have chosen to use the methodology of photo-elicitation to position the photograph at the centre of enquiry. The methodology used in this thesis borrows some essential concepts from the discipline of phototherapy. Phototherapy claims that photographs can open up an exploration of us and others and, when the participant has primary agency, the affective force of the photograph is powerful and insightful. This thesis strongly supports these assumptions. Phototherapy uses photographs to explore the thoughts and unconscious processes of individuals. I argue that, in social research, photographs can also be used to explore and ‘open up’ the social world, by positioning the participant as the prime authority of their images, and their images as the vehicle of engagement and communication. By using vernacular photographs in this way, I look at both ‘on the surface’ and ‘below the surface’ of the image, making links with Barthes’ photographic theory and his concepts of ‘studium’ and ‘punctum’. In this thesis, the participants are the curators of their own personal archives. Their photographs give an emic view of their world, emphasising the importance of their migrant history, ancestors, village home, community, and cultural identity. Their photographs mediate agency between persons and places: keeping alive personal and spiritual relationships in the here and now; reinforcing essential familial knowledge systems; and assisting in creating and maintaining community identity and belonging.

Depuis la loi du 24 juillet 2006 relative à l’immigration et l’intégration et la mise en place du Contrat d’Accueil et d’Intégration (Contrat d’Intégration Républicaine depuis 2016), la formation linguistique pour les adultes migrants allophones est obligatoire lorsque leur niveau en langue française est inférieur au niveau A1 du Cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues. Les organismes de formation dispensant ces formations en Français langue d’intégration accueillent les stagiaires dont le point commun est la prescription obligatoire, le contexte de formation étant fortement marqué par l’hétérogénéité des profils, notamment plurilingues. La recherche proposée ici et menée en Région Bretagne s’attache à analyser les représentations liées aux accents, du point de vue de la perception, de la réception et de l’enseignement afin de comprendre les enjeux sous-tendus par les usages de cette notion chez les stagiaires et les formateurs. Ainsi, ce travail analyse des discours épilinguistiques axiologiques présentant les accents comme marqueurs identitaires, révélateurs des rapports à la norme du français et aux langues « déjà là » en contexte de migration, pour déceler et comprendre les sentiments d’insécurité linguistique et d’illégitimité liés aux enjeux socio-politiques de l’injonction à l’intégration. / Since the French law of 24 July 2006 on immigration and integration and the implementation of the Reception and Integration Contract (called the Republican Integration Contract since 2016), language training has become compulsory for adult allophone migrants with French language proficiency below level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The training organizations that provide these French as a language of integration courses, host trainees with compulsory registration in common, within a training context that is strongly characterized by a diversity of profiles, particularly multilingual ones. The research proposed here, conducted in the Region of Brittany, analyses representations of accents, from a perception, reception and teaching perspective, in order to understand the challenges underpinning the uses of this notion among trainees and trainers. Thus, this work analyses the axiological epilinguistic discourse that presents accents as identity markers revealing relationships to both standard French and “pre-existing” languages in a migration context. Its objective is to identify and understand the feelings of linguistic insecurity and illegitimacy linked to socio-political integration-related challenges.

abstract: The purpose of this research was to understand the migration process as experienced by unaccompanied immigrant minors (UIMs). That is, to form a better understanding of why they seek migration, what motivates their migration, what happens to them on their migration journey, and how they adapt to their new communities in the United States. Using qualitative research methods, 60 semi-structured in-depth interviews were collected, along with 12 ethnographic interviews, and participant observations. The immigrants’ narratives were rich with data, and capture the plight that UIMs undertake as they leave their home countries. This study analyzes the dynamic of age in all facets of the migration process, by taking into account that children are participants of the migration process just as much as adults. The dissertation generated several findings; the first was to provide a profile of an Unaccompanied Minor, and for the sake of the study, only participants from Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala were interviewed. From those interviewed, we learned that UIMs are a heterogeneous group. They come from diverse backgrounds in terms of household structures; (nuclear family structures, single-parent structures, extended-family structures, and migrant-family structures). Also, education levels varied; (some finished elementary or even secondary school, but for those living in rural areas it was harder to attend school due to the distance and availability of educational facilities). Many also worked in the labor force from an early age. One salient theme that UIMs talked about in relation to their home life was how the increase in violence in many Latin American countries was threatening their safety, especially for UIMs from El Salvador and Honduras. The next major finding was the ability to see the multiple stages UIMs experience, including: initiation/decisions to migrate, journey, arrival/adaptation and what takes place in each of these stages. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Sociology 2016

Les migrants, en particulier ceux originaires d'Afrique sub-Saharienne, représentent une part importante des personnes infectées par le VIH en France. Bien que le dépistage et la prise en charge soient de plus en plus précoces en France, un sur-risque de diagnostic tardif et d'initiation retardée du traitement est rapporté chez les migrants, particulièrement chez les hommes, par rapport aux autres personnes infectées par le VIH. Les objectifs de ce travail de thèse étaient d'étudier le délai d'initiation du traitement antirétroviral puissant en dehors de l'urgence thérapeutique (CD4>200/µL et pas de statut clinique définissant le SIDA) et d'évaluer l'efficacité biologique et clinique après initiation du traitement, selon l'origine géographique, le sexe et le groupe de transmission à VIH. Pour ce faire, les données issues de la base de données hospitalière française sur l'infection à VIH (FHDH ANRS CO4) ont été utilisées. Par rapport aux hommes nés en France ayant des rapports sexuels avec des hommes (HSH non migrants), seuls les hommes migrants originaires d'Afrique sub-Saharienne et des Antilles non Françaises avec des CD4>350/µL à l'entrée dans le soin ont une probabilité plus faible de démarrer le traitement ARV. Les délais nécessaires à l'obtention d'une couverture de santé une fois entré dans le soin ne suffisent pas à expliquer cette différence. Après initiation du traitement antirétroviral, quel que soit le stade d'avancement de la maladie et malgré la prise en compte des caractéristiques démographiques, biologiques, cliniques et thérapeutiques à l'initiation du traitement, comparé aux HSH non migrants, les migrants ont une probabilité plus faible de remonter leurs CD4. En revanche, les hommes hétérosexuels quelle que soit leur origine géographique, ont une probabilité plus élevée de moins bonne réponse virologique et d’avoir un premier évènement clinique. Un rôle majeur du niveau de CD4, du statut clinique et de l’âge à l’initiation du traitement est observé. Ces différences pourraient également être influencées par des facteurs socio-économiques, des facteurs de risques comportementaux ou le mode de vie, pour lesquels nous n’avons pas d’information dans la FHDH. Les évènements ne définissant pas le SIDA sont responsables d’une grande morbidité, avec la survenue de beaucoup d’évènements infectieux notamment. Cependant une fois entrés dans le soin et traités, hormis pour les risques d’infections ne définissant pas le SIDA plus élevés chez les migrants hétérosexuels par rapport aux non migrants hétérosexuels, il n’y a pas de différence de risque de comorbidités entre migrants et non migrants chez les hommes hétérosexuels et chez les femmes hétérosexuelles. / Migrants, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), represent an important part of people living with HIV in France. Despite early screening and access to care have both increased in France, an excess risk of late diagnosis and delayed treatment initiation is reported among migrants, particularly in men, compared with other HIV-infected individuals. The objectives of this thesis were to study time between entry into care and combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) initiation, excluding late access to care, and to evaluate biological and clinical outcome after cART initiation, according to geographic origin, sex and transmission group. Data from the French Hospital Database on HIV (FHDH ANRS CO4) were used. Compared with French native men who have sex with men (MSM), only men originating from SSA and non-French West Indies with CD4>350/µL at entry into care are more likely to begin cART later. Administrative delays in obtaining healthcare coverage do not appear to be the only one responsible. After cART initiation, whatever the CD4 cell count at cART initiation, and after taking into account demographic, immunovirological, clinical and therapeutic characteristics at cART initiation, compared with French native MSM, migrants have a lower likelihood of CD4 cell recovery. However, heterosexual men, whatever the geographic origin, are more likely to have worse virological and clinical outcomes. Older age, a lower CD4 cell count and pre-existing AIDS status at cART initiation had the biggest impact on outcomes of cART but socio-economic level, and lifestyle or behavioral risk factors which are not available in the FHDH could also influence outcomes of cART. Non-AIDS defining events are responsible for a higher morbidity, with a higher incidence of severe infections. After entry into care and cART initiation, except for the risk of non-AIDS infections in heterosexual migrants than in heterosexual nonmigrants, there is no difference of comorbidities between migrants and non migrants among heterosexual men and heterosexual women.

Les migrations constituent un phénomène transnational dont la gestion a traditionnellement occupé l’intérêt des Etats de destination des migrants dans l’exercice de leur souveraineté. Avec l’avènement de la mondialisation, le panorama migratoire s’est transformé. Les migrations occupent une place chaque fois plus importante dans les agendas des Etats ayant compris que la maîtrise des migrations nécessitait de la coopération et de l’action conjointe à l’échelle internationale. La gouvernance des migrations comporte tout un ensemble de défis tant pour les Etats de destination des migrants que pour les Etats d’origine et pour la communauté internationale dans son ensemble. D’une part se présente l’intérêt de contrôler l’arrivée des migrants très influencé par des conceptions sécuritaires; d’une autre part apparaissent les conceptions des migrations comme outils du développement qui visent à tirer profit des effets considérés comme positifs des migrations et restreindre ses effets négatifs. Et finalement nous constatons l’existence de circonstances pouvant mettre en danger les droits humains des migrants et face auxquelles des mesures doivent être prises pour assurer le respect total des droits de l’homme des migrants. Concilier les intérêts présents autour de la maîtrise des migrations n’est pas une tâche facile. Afin de trouver un cadre idéal pour la maîtrise des migrations et la protection des droits des migrants, nous explorons 5 hypothèses d’étude qui nous mènent à analyser la gestion mondiale migratoire, la gouvernance régionale des migrations (dans le cadre de l’Amérique latine et des relations bilatérales entre cette dernière et l’Union européenne), la protection des migrants en tant que personnes vulnérables titulaires des droits à vocation universelle, ainsi que la protection proposé par les Etats d’origine des migrants (le cas particulier de la Colombie). Les atouts et les défis de chaque espace de discussion sont analysés ainsi que leurs apports à la maîtrise des migrations et à la protection des migrants. / Migrations are a transnational phenomenon that its management has traditionally called attention from the destination states exercising its sovereignty. With the arrival of globalization, the migration perspective has changed. Migrations have an increasingly more important place in the government’s agenda, which has understood that migration management needed the cooperation and the joint action at an international level. The governance of migration involves multiple challenges for the destination countries as well as the countries of origin and for the international community. On one hand, it presents the interest of controlling the arrival of migrants, with a strong influence of security conceptions; on the other hand other ideas have immerged that consider migration as tools for development. Those ideas aim to profit from the effects that are considered as benefits of migration and to stop the negative effects. Finally, we consider the existence of the circumstances that can put in danger migrant’s human rights and for which some measures should be taken. Reconciling the interests surrounding the management of migration is not a simple task. For finding ideal management framework for the governance of migration and the protection of migrant’s human rights, we will explore 5 hypotheses. We will analyze the global administration of migration; the regional administration (in the framework of Latin America); the protection of migrants as vulnerable people having universal rights, as well as the protection from the migrant’s state of origin (in the particular case of Colombia). The assets and the challenges of each one of those discussion environments will be analyzed as well as its contributions to migration’s governance and migrant’s protection.

Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 12 février 2024) / Au fil des dernières décennies, un virage majeur s'est opéré dans les politiques migratoires canadiennes, marquant le passage d'une approche principalement fondée sur l'immigration permanente vers un système de plus en plus axé sur la migration temporaire. Ce virage a favorisé la production d'un vaste bassin de migrant.es considéré.es comme « temporaires » sur le territoire, et par conséquent comme « extérieur.es » à la population nationale. Assigné.es à une position sociale subordonnée, dans laquelle leurs droits sont limités, les migrant.es temporaires sont particulièrement vulnérables aux abus, aux violences et à l'exploitation en milieu de travail. Malgré ce contexte défavorable, ils et elles s'engagent dans diverses formes de contestation et d'action collective, visant à défendre leurs droits et à transformer leurs conditions. Le présent mémoire s'intéresse à ces résistances, en éclairant la manière par laquelle les travailleur.ses migrant.es en viennent à agir politiquement au Canada, ainsi que la manière par laquelle ces expériences du politique sont vécues. À partir d'un terrain mené au Centre des travailleurs et travailleuses immigrants (CTI), il met en lumière l'émergence et le développement de processus de subjectivation politique des travailleur.ses migrant.es qui s'impliquent dans ce centre, en adoptant une perspective centrée sur une dialectique entre les pôles individuel et collectif de ce phénomène. Ainsi, l'analyse éclaire différentes pratiques quotidiennes et relations sociales qui favorisent la subjectivation politique des travailleur.ses migrant.es, parmi lesquelles la pratique du « casework » joue un rôle central. Ces expériences transformatrices, mais aussi la culture de soutien mutuel, d'entraide et de convivialité qui caractérise le Centre, ont pour effet ultime l'institution d'une communauté politique dynamique de travailleur.ses migrant.es, qui se transforme au gré des contributions de certain.es de ses membres, particulièrement de ceux et celles ayant une riche expérience militante ancrée dans leur pays d'origine. / Over the last decades, a major shift occurred in Canadian migration policies, marking a transition from an approach mainly based on permanent immigration to a system increasingly focused on temporary migration. This shift produces a large group of migrants deemed "temporary" on the territory, and therefore "foreign" to the national population. Confined to a subordinate social position with limited rights, temporary migrants are particularly vulnerable to abuse, violence, and exploitation in workplaces. Despite this adverse context, they engage in various forms of protest and collective action to defend their rights and transform their conditions. This thesis sheds light on such resistances, by exploring how migrant workers come to act politically in Canada, and how these political actions are experienced. Drawing on a field study at the Immigrant Workers Centre (IWC), it analyzes the emergence and development of political subjectivation processes among migrant workers involved in this center. Doing so, it adopts a perspective centered on a dialectic between the individual and collective poles of this phenomenon. The analysis highlights various everyday practices and social relationships that foster political subjectivation among migrant workers, including the central practice of "casework." These transformative experiences, as well as the culture of mutual aid and conviviality that characterizes the Center, ultimately result in the institution of a dynamic political community of migrant workers. This community is constantly evolving in response to individual members' contributions, especially from members who have a strong activist background rooted in their home countries.

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Différentes réalités et contextes actuels mondiaux font en sorte que de plus en plus de gens envisagent la migration comme projet de vie. La présente recherche s’intéresse à l’imaginaire migratoire comme facteur de mobilité, mais également comme facteur de modulation des réactions et du regard qu’entretiendra le migrant en rapport avec son vécu migratoire. Ainsi, la réflexion s’amorce en Afrique de l’Ouest, tandis que de jeunes Africains instruits et qualifiés élaborent un projet de migration volontaire vers le Canada, plus précisément dans la région du Québec. C’est investi de leur désir de l’Ailleurs, des représentations de l’Occident, de leur besoin de se réaliser et de l’impossibilité qu’ils rencontrent à accéder à la vie professionnelle souhaitée en Afrique qu’ils migrent vers le Canada. Quoiqu’ils soient dotés d’une détermination et d’un optimisme considérable, la rencontre entre l’imaginé et le quotidien de la vie au Québec comme immigrant et comme émigrant n’est pas toujours facile. Elle viendra révéler la profondeur du rêve, des mythes et des ambitions; les failles intérieures individuelles, les valeurs et les ambivalences de chacun, mais surtout la capacité qu’aura l’individu à revoir son imaginaire, à effectuer la réappropriation de son expérience migratoire et à élaborer de nouveaux projets. L’écart vécu par le sujet entre l’imaginé et le rencontré nous questionnera sur ce que véhiculent les messages et les images en circulation sur le Canada et l’Occident. Aussi, il témoignera de la prédominance de la préparation factuelle et psychologique de l’individu pour anticiper et mieux accueillir les réalités du parcours migratoire. / Different realities and contexts in today’s world are causing more and more people to consider migration as a life plan. This study is interested in their imagined migration as a mobility factor, but also as a modulation factor in the reactions and views of migrants in relation to their migration experience. Thus, this study begins in West Africa, where young educated and qualified Africans eagerly plan their migration to Canada, and Quebec in particular. Their migration to Canada is fuelled by a longing to go abroad, representations of the West, their quest for self-fulfillment and the impossibility of achieving their desired career plans in Africa. Although they are filled with a great deal of determination and optimism, the clash between what they imagined and the reality of daily life in Quebec as immigrants and emigrants is not always easy. This study will not only reveal the depth of their dreams, myths and ambitions, but their individual flaws, values and uncertainties, and above all, their ability to re-examine their imagined migration, reclaim the migration experience and make new plans. The difference between the imagined experience and the actual experience will lead us to question what conveys the messages and images that circulate about Canada and the West. Moreover, it will demonstrate the predominance of the factual and psychological preparation undertaken by individuals to anticipate and more readily accept the realities of the migration experience.

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.