• Overview
• Research Platforms
• Thematic Area A: Language, Identity and Culture
• Thematic Area B: Language Policy and Planning
• Thematic Area C: Multilingualism and Education
• Thematic Area D: Language and Economy
• European Level
• National Level
• European Level
• Communication, Management, Infrastructure, Training and Gender

Economic participation, language practices and collective identities in the multilingual city

(WP12a, 2008–2010)

Summary Results

Migrants and Minorities in Multilingual Cities

In Vienna (Austria), Jersey (UK), Southampton (UK), Pula (Croatia) and Cheb (Czech Republic), the historical context strongly influences the contemporary situation regarding status and residency of ethnic minorities and migrants. Their knowledge of their own language, of the receptor language, and of other languages, can sometimes be a profitable economic factor, but often mitigating factors need to be taken into account.
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Rationale

An important category of human landscape, the city may be characterised by its particular economic (infra)structure concerning means of production and construction, potentially offering a plethora of work opportunities both to the local workforce and also, in the era of transnational movement, to migrants. Despite insertion into urban society, migrant groups that are homogeneous in terms of origin, sociolinguistic and sociocultural background, may constitute relatively closed, non-integrative social networks, facilitated to a large extent by the institutional capacities of city spaces. However, for some, this insertion may bring about their integration into the urban society. Central to this is the migrants' potential for participation in the existing economic structures, such as well-established host society, as well as newly created autochthonous work places, including issues regarding residency of rights and the role of language as either a resource of accessibility or a means of exclusion in the work place. In particular, physical visibility and material traceability through a strong commercial presence may play an important role in transnational relationships and allegiances, in differentialist migrant group formation or full assimilation, in linguistic and associational practices and desires to conceal or enhance ethnic origins, and in the discursive construction and negotiation of collective and multiple identities. Historical differences between the economic systems of old and new EU member-states, such as the UK, Austria, the Czech Republic and Croatia (free market economy versus centrally planned dirigismes), are also likely to play an important role in these processes.

Objective

To carry out a qualitative study of language practices and competencies and their management and negotiation, both in established workplaces and autochthonous settings. The following research questions will be addressed:

• How far do issues regarding status (refugee, migrant etc.) and residency (permanent, temporary, seasonal) shape definitions of place and belonging?
• What motivated these migrants to select the cities under investigation?
• Are transnational relationships advanced as a result of, or despite, these factors?
• Does the existence of these migrant communities encourage further immigration or responsible tourism from the countries of origin? Do these migrant communities have a positive impact on the economic situation of the host cities?
• What are the different communicative issues at play in well-established workplaces, and how are these managed and negotiated in light of the knowledge economy? Is there a power dimension?
• How do status, residency and language competencies affect specific opportunities for participation in the established economic structure, as well as aspirations for measurable social mobility?
• Allowing for the textual represention of the linguistic landscape, how are migrant/migrant and migrant/local transactions negotiated and enacted in linguistic terms? Is situational code switching a feature of interactions? Do the selected multilingual spaces differ in terms of such migrant practices?

Description of work

Largely qualitative

Primary methodology: structured and semi-structured ethnographic interviews (recorded and partially transcribed) with previously selected respondents (including gate keepers and community leaders).

Qualitative ethnographic observations of communicative practices in both types of workplace. If necessary, the quantitative mapping of language distribution and interaction within the multilingual spaces.

Planned work: 

• Months 19–24: desk research, involving literature reviews, document sourcing, establishment of historical dimensions, analysis of textual data on integration and economic conditions, empirical research design.
• Months 25–28: empirical research and fieldwork in each of the designated areas.
• Months 29–33: collaborative and comparative data analysis and evaluation of the four areas under investigation.
• Months 34–36: final report drafting, reflection on previous stages, feedback on initial hypotheses and the potential development of new strategic lines of research.

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Contacts WP 12a