Research sites

Troyes is a provincial town located approximately 180 km southeast of Paris in a predominantly rural region with a strong political affiliation to the right. A formerly industrial hub, especially known for its textile manufacturing, the city is confronted to a high unemployment rate. It also has been affected by urban renovation plans taking place in the suburbs of Paris, receiving populations relocated from dismantled urban ensembles, among whom many had recently settled in France. The municipality, however, has emphasized the patrimonial image of the city, in particular its medieval center, in an attempt to encourage tourism.

Situated on the Dordogne River, Bort-les-Orgues is a village facing depopulation. This rural area suffers from the closure of its former small industries and the desertion its public services, especially in the health sector. Many of the few doctors and nurses still working in the region are now coming from the marches of the European Union or from France’s former colonial empire. There, these newcomers meet extinguished memories of past migrations dating back to the middle of the 20^th century, when workers were imported from Eastern Europe, Spain, Portugal, or North Africa to work for the construction of dams along the Dordogne valley. Silenced today, these migrations had, in their time, given rise to pockets of what could be coined working-class cosmopolitanism, which influenced the life of many families.

Characterized by constructivist architectural style, the district of Itäkeskus was built in the 1970’s as part of the urban development plans of the city of Helsinki that aimed at providing services to the eastern settlements in the outskirts of the city, creating jobs outside of the city centre, and building new social housing neighbourhoods outside central areas. Today, it is one of the most well-known urban areas in Finland when it comes to public discussions on urban degradation and ‘multiculturalism’, and especially problems linked to the latter. As a place where many diasporic groups are prominently present, it is a frequent site onto which political and socio-cultural grievances are projected and a place that regularly pops up as an example case for ‘diversity’.

Post-industrial Karjaa, located approximately 80 km west of Helsinki, has been suffering from declining number of jobs and growing levels of unemployment. In 2009 the small town was administratively made part of the city of Raasepori, which started a rather rapid urban development programme in the area. Over 60 % of Karjaa’s residents are Swedish speaking and The Swedish People’s Party of Finland is the dominant political party in the area. Immigrants in the area (like in other parts of Finland) choose either Finnish or Swedish as their ‘language of integration’. Since 1990, Karjaa has received so-called ‘quota refugees’ mainly Kurds from Kurdish territories in Iraq and Iran, Iraqis, Kosovan Albanians, Syrians, Eritreans, Somalis and Yemenis. 

Situated amidst the beautiful natural landscapes of the North-Karelian borderlands in Eastern Finland, Lieksa is experiencing a significant outflow of population. Once industrially developed, this town is now in economic decline. Every fifth of its 10,000 residents belongs to the low-income category, making it one of the 10 poorest localities in the country. Employment opportunities are scarce, leading young people to move away and the population to age. Meanwhile, the number of ‘foreign-language’ residents has been steadily growing since the 1990s. The proximity to the border with Russia previously facilitated the arrival of people from former Soviet Union republics. In recent years, asylum seekers from various origins have been allocated to a local reception center through formal migration procedures. The changing demography and challenging socio-economic environment are met with both frictions and solidarities among the people who co-inhabit this town.