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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - POLEMIG (Being a politically active emigrant. The political structuring of the French and Italians abroad: a comparative analysis of mobile citizens)

Teaser

Summary

The context of the research is the growing implementation of policies granting political rights to emigrants in their country of origin: overseas voting, consultative bodies, and even direct representation in the Parliament in a few cases (France, Italy, Romaniaâ€¦). The aim was to understand the organizational and cognitive consequences of such evolutions on expatriates, tackling topics such as long distance citizenship, extra-territorial political activity, national identity... I did it by focusing on the functions and activities of political parties abroad, a gap in the literature.
In order to reach a few elements of generalisation and to gather rich and sociologically relevant data, both a comparative research design and a multi-method qualitative approach was necessary. Indeed, the research focuses on an emergent phenomenon that needs to be understood from the perspective of social actors. I chose a most different comparative design, comparing British, French and Spanish parties abroad, focusing more specifically on their activities in Switzerland and the United States, and to a lesser degree in Belgium and China, in order to have at the same time a strong comparative research design and a broad overview.
The main conclusion of the research is that there is a direct link between civic and democratic rights for emigrants and political commitment of emigrants. The more emigrants are given rights, the more committed they remain to their country of origin.

Work performed

To carry out this research, long trips were necessary, to interview activists, observe their activities and understand their surroundings. I organised them carefully and was notably visiting scholar at the University of Yale, Columbia University and Chinese University of Hong Kong.
I realized 83 interviews; participated as an observer in dozens of events organized by or for the emigrants of my three countries, in Belgium, Switzerland, United States, France and China; compiled and followed tens of websites and social networks (facebook, twitter) of my actors.
Regarding my interviews, they have an average duration of 1h12 (more than 100 hours of interviews). I made 32 interviews in Switzerland, 31 in the USA, 11 in Belgium and 9 in China. I did 46 interviews with French people, 18 with Spanish people and 19 with British people.
To complete my qualitative data, I carried out an online survey among all members of political parties abroad from my three countries. The quantitative data generated by the survey make it possible to objectify certain information collected during the qualitative research. Based on existing questionnaires, it also allows me to compare the profile of party members living abroad to those living â€œat homeâ€.
I also invested a lot of energy and time in the organization of scientific events. This allowed me at the same time to establish fruitful collaborations with established researchers and to gain rapid visibility in the research community on migration and especially political transnationalism. I first organized (with Ã‰milie van Haute) an international conference at the University of Louvain on â€œPolitical Parties Abroad. A new Arena for Citizenship?â€ (26-27 April 2018). I also organised (with CÃ©dric Pellen and Ã‰tienne Smith) two workshops in June (IMISCOE) and July (AFSP) 2019 on â€œHow to mobilize expatriates? The construction, identification and representation of European migrants abroadâ€ (26-28 June and 2-4 July 2019). I made also thirteen presentations in international conferences.

Final results

The main product of the fellowship is an edited book at Routledge on Political Parties Abroad. A New Arena for Citizenship (with Ã‰milie van Haute). In 12 chapters, it gives an overview of the reality of political parties abroad. The main goal was to investigate (1) what parties abroad are, (2) when and why do they emerge and develop, (3) how they organize, and (4) what roles do they play.
Legal and institutional rules at home and in the host country constitute strong incentives or barriers for parties to develop abroad. Especially, the extension of suffrage and political representation of emigrants play an important role. There is a curvilinear relationship between the size of the emigrant community and the incentives for parties to invest abroad: parties wonâ€™t be interested if that community is too small, and it will fear it if it is too big.
Parties abroad often engage in socio-cultural activities. They provide help and services to new emigrants, organize sport or cultural activities, create channels of communication with the emigrant community in place, contribute to the socialization of emigrants and their integration into the political system, but also generate symbols of identification and loyalty towards the home and host countries.
Parties abroad face specific barriers and incentives to mobilize emigrants. They face a higher dispersion of their grassroots on the territory of the host country, which makes the organization of regular party activities more complex. At the system level, home countries that grant more political rights for emigrants facilitate the mobilization of emigrants by parties. They engage in various classic online and offline campaign activities, very much as parties at home. They encourage the registration of overseas voters during the election period.
In relation to the electorate, parties abroad perform the classic functions of parties: they serve as channels of communication, educate citizens, participate in their socialization and their integration into the political system, generate symbols of identification and loyalty. They also channel political participation. However, their functions as organizations are much less developed. Except in contexts where emigrants are granted specific representation (notably France), parties abroad do not engage much in the recruitment and selection of political staff. They do however perform a programmatic function.
My findings show clearly that giving full voting rights to citizens abroad, and all the more giving them representatives in Parliament, has a clear impact on the democratic and citizen involvement of emigrants. Indeed, while the French diaspora is rather small and has traditionally a limited consciousness of constituting a diaspora, French abroad are (by far) the most politically committed community of my three cases. French parties are very present abroad, campaign during elections, create a link between the diaspora and the homeland between elections, maintain alive a French political consciousness on the long termâ€¦ And this trend is rather recent, linked chronologically to the creation of deputies to represent French living abroad (first election: 2012). On the opposite, the 2011â€™s reform which restricted the voting rights of Spanish citizens abroad (the infamous â€œvoto rogadoâ€) clearly weakened the political dynamism of the Spanish diaspora.
The competences I acquired during the fellowship can contribute towards European policy objectives and strategies, as well as have an impact on policy making. Transnational politics will certainly develop in the future and states will want to know the symbolical, political and sociological consequences of giving more rights to their citizens abroad. My findings will be very useful in that perspective, not only for France, Spain and the UK, but also for any state who has given representation or considers giving new rights and representation to their expatriates.