Promoting Equality? Gendered Messages in State Materials for New Immigrants
| Author | Shauna Wilton |
| DOI | 10.1177/0964663909345093 |
| Date | 01 December 2009 |
| Published date | 01 December 2009 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
PROMOTING EQUALITY?
GENDERED MESSAGES IN STATE
MATERIALS FOR NEW
IMMIGRANTS
SHAUNA WILTON
University of Alberta, Canada
ABSTRACT
This article explores immigration policies and the state materials distributed to new
and potential immigrants in Canada, Sweden and The Netherlands, focusing specifi-
cally on how these important tools of socialization contribute to the regulation of
gender roles and family life. Beyond conveying key messages about the host society,
these materials are also often devised to offset a perceived threat from immigrant
cultures. This is particularly apparent with regards to gender roles and family struc-
tures, in which women’s roles are often put forward as symbolic markers of the differ-
ences between immigrant and host cultures. Ultimately, this article argues that while
all three of the case studies view themselves as models of equality and tolerance, they
also impose specific culturally informed definitions of family and gender on new immi-
grants that rely heavily on essentialized notions of immigrant and host communities.
KEY WORDS
equality; family; gender; immigration; integration
INTRODUCTION
THE STATE materials distributed to new and potential immigrants in
Canada, Sweden and The Netherlands are important tools for the
transmission of societal values and the integration of newcomers.
Beyond conveying key messages about the host society, they are also often
devised to offset a perceived threat from immigrant cultures. This becomes
SOCIAL &LEGAL STUDIES © The Author(s), 2009
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0964 6639, Vol. 18(4), 437–454
DOI: 10.1177/0964663909345093
particularly apparent with regards to gender roles and family structures, in
which women’s roles are often put forward as symbolic markers of the differ-
ences between immigrant and host cultures. By focusing specifically on immi-
gration policy and the materials for new immigrants, this analysis contributes
to our understanding of how states participate in the regulation of gender
roles and family life. Ultimately, this article argues that while all three of the
case studies view themselves as models of equality and tolerance, they also
impose specific culturally informed definitions of family and gender on new
immigrants.
The article begins by exploring the theoretical significance of this research
and its potential contributions to our understanding of the relationship
between gender, family, nation and immigration. It then proceeds to explore
the political context within which the various materials for new immigrants
emerge, including current immigration and integration policies, and the
national debates surrounding identity and immigration in the three case study
countries. The remainder of the article is devoted to a critical discourse and
content analysis of the respective materials for new immigrants, concluding
with a comparative analysis of the role of these documents in the state con-
struction and enforcement of gender and family roles.
THEORETICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The literature on immigration, unlike the literature on nationalism and citi-
zenship, tends to focus on processes and policy, as opposed to the broader
symbolic importance of immigration and the interplay between immigration,
nation and gender. Only rarely do these two fields intersect to explore the
relationship between immigration and the state construction of gender roles
and national identity (e.g. Abu-Laban and Gabriel, 2002; cf. Halli and
Driedger, 1999). Despite this, it is through immigration policy that state
actors determine who can and who cannot enter the state (often based on a
specific understanding and definition of family), thus restricting who can
belong to the political community and share in the rights and privileges of
membership. Immigration policies reinforce national borders by providing a
selection process and a set of criteria upon which potential new members are
evaluated. These policies are designed to choose the applicants who best meet
the needs, goals and values of a specific state at a specific point in time and
to exclude those who do not.
Through immigration policies and the materials produced by the state for
its new members, the key characteristics and values of the nation at a specific
point in time are projected to (and imposed upon) newcomers. These docu-
ments tell new immigrants what they need to know about their new home;
however, they also provide an entry point into understanding how the state
chooses to represent itself to the world, through the image of the nation and
its values contained within policy documents and public materials. In the
end, these policies and materials provide the audience with a key to under-
438 SOCIAL & LEGAL STUDIES 18(4)
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