The aim of this PhD thesis is to re-examine the above described debate on the fate of urban in- migrants in three different north-western European cities - Antwerp, Rotterdam and Stockholm - in the period 1850-1930 with the help of new data and new approaches. The main research question is:
How did processes of social inclusion among migrants evolve in Northwestern European port cities in the period 1850-1930?
In order to answer this question, we make use of longitudinal data and techniques. The creation of large historical population databases, which systematically store and link – at an individual level – life events such as births, marriages, divorces, deaths, but also migration and occupational changes of thousands of people, has made it possible, for the first time, to study historical population movements from a life course perspective. The way in which the longitudinal data contained in these datasets is collected allows us to analyze the timing and likelihood of social, economic and demographic events of natives and first-generation migrants in a comparative perspective. Both stayers and leavers can be incorporated into the analysis, as both groups are covered by the data. In particular event history analysis can adequately deal
41 with problems related to the information trail going cold at the moment that migrants (or natives) left the area of observation. In some cases, we are even able to follow them after they had left the city of settlement. This brings us to two important subquestions in this PhD thesis:
(1) Who became included into the receiving urban societies, and who remained excluded? (2) Were the chances of social inclusion better for stayers compared to leavers?
We will follow different groups of migrants from the moment they arrive in the port city and compare their experiences, opportunities and performances among each other and – in the case of social mobility and adult mortality – also with the native population. Moreover, we will compare the experiences of migrants across the three cities, as the social inclusion and exclusion trajectories might have differed considerably between Antwerp, Rotterdam and Stockholm, given their divergent urban functions, opportunity structures, and the various profiles of migrants they attracted. Another important subquestion relates to the differences between the three cities and the historical context in which migration and social inclusion took place:
(3) Was social inclusion in certain port cities easier to attain than in others? And if so, why?
We are not only interested in the paths of incorporation of different groups of migrants, but also in the underlying processes and mechanisms. Existing literature teaches us that the incorporation process of migrants is, amongst other things, affected by the economic resources, skills, cultural baggage, social capital, and experiences individual migrants have at their disposal upon arrival in a city; but, it is also related to the local opportunity structure and the level of societal openness migrants encounter in the receiving urban society (Morawska 1996; Alba & Nee 2003; Lucassen 2005a). In this PhD thesis we focus mostly on the personal features of the migrants, especially on their demographic characteristics (sex, birth cohort, age at arrival, civil status, duration of stay and the area of settlement within the city), social and economic capital (occupation and social status), cultural capital (language, country and region of origin, rural versus urban birth place, distance to birth place), and their sexual capital (age). This bring us to another important subquestion of this research:
42 In order to answer our research questions, we study five main sociological topics, which are well covered by the data, and which together can provide a genuine insight into processes of social inclusion and exclusion among migrants across the three cities: (1) marriage opportunities, (2) family formation, (3) patterns of assortative mating, (4) career mobility and (5) and later-life mortality. By covering these different subtopics, we aim to get a better idea of various life chances of migrants and natives in the Weberian sense of the word (Weber 2010), i.e. we evaluate to what degree migrants and natives were able to satisfy different needs.
Figure 1.1 The relationship between the needs of migrants and natives, the different subjects under study and life course events
The selection of the subtopics in this PhD thesis allows us to deal more or less with the main categories of needs of human beings, as outlined originally by Abraham Maslow (1943; 1953), whithout assuming that lower ordered needs, necessarilty have to be satisfied before higher ordered needs will appear (cf. Tay & Diener 2011). In that sens, later-life mortality gives us an idea about the degree to which migrants and natives were able to fulfill survival, safety and security needs. Marriage opportunities, family formation and patterns of assortative mating together cover needs related to love and belonging. Finally, career mobility informs us about self-esteem and to a certain degree also about self-actualization. All these different categories of needs are not only related to different domains of society, namely the marriage market, reproduction, the private realm of personal relations, the labour market and health(care), but also to different spells and transitions in the life course of migrants and natives; most
43 importantly marriage, the birth of the first child, occupational change and death. The complex interrelationships are visualized in figure 1.1.
By using a diverse set of proxies of social inclusion for different societal domains, which affected different stages and transitions in the life course, we aim to get a more comprehensive picture of the incorporation of migrants in European port cities in the latter half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. After all, social inclusion is likely to have followed different paths and consequently have resulted in different outcomes in different domains of life. Certain groups of migrants might, for example, have become easily incorporated into the labour market and, accordingly, have enjoyed major upward social mobility; but, these newcomers might have lived segregated lives, as they had their most important relations in life with people from in their own group and lived in separate neighbourhoods.
Table 1.1: An overview of the topics of study, its relations with the life course and the different aspects of social in- and exclusion
Topic of study Life course event Domain of inclusion or exclusion Marriage opportunities First marriage Access to the marriage market Family formation Transition to parenthood Access to reproduction
Assortative mating First marriage Inclusion into other groups Career mobility Occupational change Inclusion in the labour market Adult mortality Death Exclusion with health consequences
The different topics in this PhD thesis cover not only different needs of migrants and natives, they cover also different forms of social inclusion and exclusion (see table 1.1). The likelihood and timing of the first marriage and the birth of the first child among migrants who settled as singles in the city give an impression about the migrant’s access to marriage and reproduction. Finding a partner, setting up an independent household, becoming engaged, getting married and becoming a parent were some of the most important transitions in the life course of individuals in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe, which were closely linked to other major events like leaving home, becoming a head of household and inheritance transmission (Dribe, Manfredini & Oris 2014). Although marriage and family formation were highly valued, the road to marriage and reproduction was hampered for certain groups of migrants in society as they were unable to find a marriage partner or a job which gave them the financial means to marry and raise a family (Kok 2006a; Lee 1999; Oris 2000; Van Poppel 1992). Legal
44 restrictions could also form a serious obstacle (Schumacher, Ryczkowska & Perroux 2007). Access to the marriage market was particularly important for migrants, since these newcomers had left their home town at a time when there was no social welfare state like today and people had to rely on assistance from family and friends in times of trouble.
By studying patterns of assortative mating by geographic origin among migrants who settled as singles in Antwerp, Rotterdam and Stockholm we get an idea about the degree to which migrants mixed with natives and other migrant groups, and which individual characteristics fostered or hampered the crossing of groups boundaries. Marriages between migrants and other groups - natives and individuals from distinct migrant groups - in the receiving society show that migrants have frequent contact outside their own group and that they share the most intimate relationships in their life with members from other social groups (Schrover 2005). It also shows that migrants are being accepted as social equals by the members of those other groups (Kalmijn 1998). In the long run, intermarriage leads to the inclusion of migrants into other groups. As a result, group boundaries become blurred and ultimately they will fade away.
By studying the position of migrants in the labour market compared to natives and studying the career mobility of both social groups, we obtain a good indication of their social inclusion in the labour market. If migrants were able to quickly ascend the social ladder and reach similar position as natives, it shows that their inclusion in the labour market was a relatively easy-going process, while immobility and downward mobility suggested that migrants had a difficult time becoming included into the labour market. This could be a result of limited human capital - lack of skills, experience, the lack of a social network, etc. - but it might also be a result of limited openness of the labour market to newcomers. The latter would point to job discrimination, of the type in which natives reserve the best jobs for members of their own group.
Finally, we will investigate mortality differences between migrants and natives. Although theoretical studies have pointed to the importance of mortality data for the study of social inclusion and exclusion of migrants, empirical studies using such data to analyze processes of social inclusion and exclusion are scarce (e.g. Berman & Phillips 2000; Marmot 2005). We have developed an approach that allows us to trace health disadvantages among migrants resulting from social exclusion with the help of mortality data. We will dig deeper into the causes of mortality differences between migrants and natives, and we will identify sub- groups of migrants with excess mortality. We will try to explain why these migrants had a worse health profile than natives and other groups of migrants. Subsequently, we will analyze what
45 happened with the mortality risks of leavers, by analyzing their mortality risks after they had left the city of investigation.
Although we study each sub-topic separately in the individual chapters, the topics are in fact highly interrelated (see figure 1.2) and were likely to have created path dependent processes of social inclusion. The choice of a partner influenced, for instance, the chances in the marriage and labour market. Next, partner choice and marriage also had an impact on the chances of family formation, and it could be a vehicle of upward or downward mobility, but it was also interrelated with the health and mortality of adults. There were many potential causal pathways. Migrants with a bad health profile, for instance, most likely had difficulties in finding a job in the labour market and pursuing a career. However, bad health might also have been a consequence of social exclusion in the labour market. Bad health and limited chances in the labour market, in turn, limited the chances of finding a partner, marrying and starting a family.
Figure 1.2: The interdependence of the five sociological topics, which function as proxies of social in- and exclusion of migrants