7. LEGAL AND SOCIAL SUPPORT FOR MULTICULTURAL WORKERS

As a result of studying this material, you will learn:

–the types and levels of social integration;

–the specifics of teamwork in different cultures;

–how a migrant integrates in the culture of the country to which he or she has migrated;

–Russian and international legal framework for combating and preventing terrorism;

–classification and types of terrorism;

–principles of preventing terrorist activity.

Key words: social integration, socio-cultural adaptation, counterterrorism, extremism and terrorism.

7.1. Social integration of employees from other cultures

Each state implements its own policy for the integration of foreign-cultural staff. This policy is conditioned by factors of two categories related to the host society and inherent peculiarities of migration flows. The peculiarities of migration flows may be related to the predominance of forced or voluntary migrants, labour migrants or people moving to another country for permanent residence. The respective flows may also be characterised by differences in terms of knowledge of the host society’s culture and language, in terms of gender and age structure. The differences in receiving societies are related to differences in the role of the state in social processes. Integration policies are determined by the above-mentioned characteristics. In this regard, the phenomena associated with these policies are very diverse. Such category as integration is understood in different states in the form of formation of migrant organisations, organisations formed on the basis of ethnicity, social and legislative protection, activities that are related to equal opportunities, laws against discrimination, procedures related to naturalisation, acquisition of citizenship.

Countries can be divided into several types according to their migrant incorporation regime: open; moderately open; open for labour migration but not for permanent residence; closed for labour migration; no immigration policy. Countries with an open regime are called multicultural. They include: USA, Canada, Great Britain. Almost all Scandinavian countries are considered closed for labour migration. Such countries as Canada or Australia have a selective admission policy, which Russia should also take note of.

The formation and implementation of integration policies should be based on the need to ensure an inflow of highly qualified workers as well as foreign nationals with the ability to adapt quickly to the host society. The influx of migrants of the respective categories ensures an increase in budget revenues from tax revenues.

The process of adaptation is carried out primarily by the state. But civil society organisations, production teams and study groups are also involved in this process. For example, in an organisation, a person comes into interaction with different structures, first of all encountering the values and norms of the organisational / corporate culture, the attitudes of other employees, their tolerance or intolerance. Tensions and conflicts may arise because members of different subcultural groups (age, professional, ethnic, religious) have different understandings of attitudes to work, duty, discipline, order, priority, etc. For example, American business attitudes are assertive, competent, pragmatic and punctual. In business negotiations, Americans adopt a strong stance and stand firm on their point of view. They like to look at issues holistically and prefer “package” solutions. In Japan, for example, workplace conflicts must be resolved through negotiation, which is part of the Japanese business culture. The Chinese cultural model favours passive strategies of behaviour in resolving business disputes, whereas, for example, British managers are more likely to pursue active strategies,

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orienting themselves and their subordinates towards a competitive way of resolving conflicts. Chinese employees’ behaviour is explained by their desire to save face and achieve harmony at all costs, and by their purely cultural notions of respecting social hierarchy (obeying a superior, respecting elders, etc.). The preservation of “face” can be achieved through concessions — where these concessions are conditioned by the real position of the subjects in the social system.

There is no doubt about the importance of team composition. In multicultural teams, there are often differences in the ways in which decisions are made, but also in factors such as attitudes towards conflict, decision-making, communication, information handling, etc. In teamwork, intercultural differences are mainly due to the underlying national mentality and its differences between representatives of different cultures.

In domestic organisations, the decisive importance is mainly given to emotional aspects in the form of trust, emotional comfort, willingness to be helpful and openness in relations. General goals and professionalism are given less importance. Whereas the mentality of Western societies does not give priority to emotional connections, but to business communication skills and professionalism.

According to the traditional Western approach, a team is seen as a group of professionals who are task-oriented and are looking for a solution to a particular problem, interacting with each other. Some of the team members may have limited professional skills, in which case they are replaced by others. A domestic approach to the understanding of a team implies that it includes persons who are close to each other, who have a common task, and between whom there is trust.

When analysing intercultural differences, F. Trompenaars identified the scales used to determine the inherent characteristics of the individual cultures. The basis of the respective classification is the intrinsic values inherent in the different cultures. Based on the respective means of analysis it is possible to identify the perception of the team in different cultures. The specificity-diffusion scale can be used as an example.

Cultures classified as diffuse are characterised by a mixture of roles. In this regard, personal relationships are often an element of the working relationship. Moreover, the influence of personal relationships on performance indicators is negative. Diffusion culture is characteristic of Russia, China, Hungary, Nepal and the Czech Republic.

In cultures that are specific, there is a separation of public and private spaces, roles are mostly clearly separated. A culture that is specific exists in states such as the United States, Australia, Switzerland, Great Britain and the Netherlands.

The culture of the United States is characterised by the fact that activity, initiative, responsibility for decision-making must be inherent in leaders. At the same time, paternal leadership is possible. There is also significant importance of trusteeship, direction of activities carried out by subordinates, and flexibility.

Problems of migrants’ integration are on the agenda of all countries, because every seventh inhabitant of the planet is a migrant and has to adapt to a new environment. The majority of migrants are labour migrants from countries with high unemployment. As a rule, they come from the eastern regions of the planet, whose culture is sharply different from that of the countries to which they have migrated.

The integration process is an important component of migration policy. In recent years, the two policies — migration and integration — have been separated at the level of state authorities, as integration policies often include programmes aimed at the so-called second generation — the children of migrants — as well as at the host society itself. If a migrant wishes to integrate into the host society, efforts should be made to familiarise him / herself with the culture, traditions and language.

At the same time, integration is not connected to the need to completely abandon the language and traditions inherent in the migrant’s home country, which become part of the migrant’s private life.

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The process of migrants’ adaptation in their new society is characterised by stages:

–expectation that life in the new society will change for the better, optimistic attitude towards the receiving state;

–an oppressed state due to the need to adapt quickly to the new environment, a negative attitude towards members of the host society and towards the migrant by members of the host society, interaction mainly with fellow countrymen;

–feelings of lack of ability to bring about change in one’s own life. Migrants whose adaptation was not successful return to the country from which they came;

–readiness to integrate, an optimistic view of one’s own future in the host country, resilience to stress;

–complete adaptation to the host society.

French integration policy includes several programmes: teaching the French language, cultural values and customs of the country; support in employment of migrants and migrant descendants; support for special groups of migrants, including women, elderly people and refugees; prevention of discrimination on racial and any other grounds. In recent years, French integration policy has focused to a large extent on the use of tools such as culture and education. The main role is assigned to schools, which should provide every child, regardless of his or her origin, with an educational opportunity.

It should be noted that migrant adaptation processes need to be analysed in terms of socio-cultural, economic and political-legal criteria. At the same time, the issues of migrants’ adaptation in sociocultural terms are characterised by increased complexity. Basically, the culture of the host society has a stressogenic effect on the individual, related to culture shock.

The activities implemented in the framework of integration programmes are presented in the form of:

1.Sociocultural mediation activities. Organisations are established that assist in the interaction between migrants and the institutions of the host country. Such organisations provide assistance with translation, for example, when accompanying migrants to doctors’ appointments. There are also NGOs that deal with everyday problems of migrants, such as sending their children to school, getting a job, finding a place to live, etc.

2.Integration courses. In EU countries, these courses are called civic integration courses. The duration of such courses is measured in hundreds of hours (up to 600 and more). About nine-tenths of the course time is devoted to language instruction. The remaining time is devoted to providing basic information about the host country, related to transport, public authorities, national history, the legal system and state structure, etc. For example, Germany’s Frankfurt Post Office, City Hall, Telegraph Office, Metro Office and others are jointly visited by course participants and their accompanying staff.

3.Publication of a guide for migrants. Guidebooks of this kind are published in most EU countries. They contain key information for the receiving country — addresses of state agencies, telephone numbers of organisations assisting migrants in settling in, etc.

4.Hotlines that operate in several languages and are mostly available 24 hours a day. In Portugal, there is a SOS-immigrant hotline that provides information in four languages.

And how well do migrants adapt? Research shows that the adaptation of migrants varies, depending on a number of factors. The main ones are:

– length of stay: it takes time to find a successful and suitable place in the dominant cultural society;

– social support: social interaction, encouragement, assistance services are important to achieve positive adaptation;

– acculturation strategies: acculturation strategies are directly related to adaptation;

– discrimination (both personal and systemic): such negative actions reduce the possibility of achieving the first two adaptation factors.

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Different categories of migrants need integration to a different extent: for some groups primary adaptation is sufficient while others need integration. Integration policies should be differentiated towards different groups of migrants: returnees-compatriots, immigrants, labour migrants, and be based on clear and explicit procedures for language, cultural, social, economic adaptation and integration.

7.2. Legal framework for preventing terrorism: international and Russian legislation

Terrorism poses a real threat to the national interests of any state. As a result of terrorist acts, national and cultural values, state (public) property, the traditional way of life, health of the country’s population are damaged, and an alien ideology is inculcated.

Terrorism as a phenomenon is a foreign body in any community of sensible people. The problem of countering terrorism is an urgent and important task of the state level.

Throughout history, terrorism has proven to be immanent to human civilisation. Due to a series of imperfections and flaws in economic and socio-political systems, terrorism has constantly changed its appearance and expanded its position. Imperfections greatly intensified the development of terrorism in the twentieth century.

In the last decades of the 21st century, terrorism has become global. It threatens the interests of citizens and public security. It destabilises the polity of any country, regardless of international relations and political system.

Against the backdrop of escalating and spreading political, ethnic and religious extremism, there is a growing threat of terrorism that significantly impinges on the interests of individuals, society and the state. Terrorism causes serious damage to the country’s security, constitutional order, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Terrorism in the modern context is a complex of political, ideological, military, economic, criminal, religious and nationalist processes. In general, terrorism is seen as a challenge to imperfect socio-political devices with their ethnic, social, economic problems.

An act of terrorism is aimed at committing explosions, arson or other acts that intimidate the population and endanger human life. Terrorist acts cause significant material damage and have grave consequences. They are aimed at destabilising the activities of authorities or international organisations and influence their decision-making.

Currently, there is no generally accepted concept of the phenomenon of terrorism in both international and Russian law and jurisprudence.

This is due to the diversity of approaches and to the specific national and historical traditions of the regions. The definition of terrorism is influenced by the level of democracy and the degree of political stability in each particular case.

International profile of a political terrorist

The US intelligence services have developed a profile of a political terrorist: he is under 30 years of age; specially trained; has secondary or higher education; from a wealthy family; often has studied at a medical, legal, engineering or pedagogical institute of higher education; terrorism is usually not his main occupation; he holds strong ideological views; is confident in his power; is usually alone; feels morally superior to others and considers his own opinion as the only true one; is indifferent to the suffering of his victim; seeks support for his actions from his colleagues; demands respect from his victim; is willing to sacrifice himself; seeks publicity; believes that violence is justified in the interests of his cause.

Characteristics of terrorism: intimidation of the civilian population (“revenge acts”), economic damage, destabilisation of state power and change of the political system, elimination of political opponents, provocation of military conflicts, complication of interdenominational and interethnic relations.

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Terrorism is categorised in terms of its scale: crimes against people; group murders; sabotage throughout the country and mass deaths of citizens; and large-scale acts against the global community.

The modus operandi of terrorist acts includes: use of firearms; use of nuclear, radioactive, chemical or biological weapons; setting fires and explosions; hostage-taking; organising industrial accidents; destruction of means of transport; electromagnetic irradiation; information and psychological impact.

The terrorist actions:

–creation of international and regional governing bodies to address the following issues: planning of terrorist activities; preparation and execution of specific operations; organisation of interaction between individual groups and perpetrators involved in an action;

–stirring up anti-government sentiment in society in order to successfully fight for influence and power;

–infiltration of public and state political, economic and power structures;

–establishment of an extensive network of centres and bases for training of fighters and support of operations in various regions of the world, maintenance of a network of underground, caches and warehouses of weapons and ammunition in various countries and regions;

–building up a network of firms, companies, banks, foundations, which are used as a disguise for terrorists, for financing and all-round support of their operations;

–concentration of financial resources in the hands of terrorists due to the convergence of terrorism with the drug and arms trade;

–use of the right to political asylum, residence, various activities and settlement provided by a number of states;

–use of conflict and crisis situations to spread terroristic influence.

Countering terrorism is a topical and multifaceted problem. A systemic approach is required to understand the problem and make decisions, which includes reliable information and awareness of the whole society and each individual on the decisions made at different levels of government.

Subjects of terrorism are organisations, as well as individuals (groups of people) who organise and carry out terrorist activities or contribute to their preparation and implementation, aimed at causing damage to the legally protected interests of an individual, society and the state.

A variety of subjects of terrorism is represented by solitary murderers, criminal communities, ethnic clans, religious sects, extremist political associations, special services of states, international terrorist organisations. Russian and foreign terrorist actors often have overlapping agendas, which leads to their close cooperation and coordination of efforts.

Methods of terrorist activity include: attacks carried out both openly and from ambush. Terrorist methods also include mining of communications (transport, industrial), military facilities, residential and administrative buildings, use of explosives and toxic substances, use of information and computer technology.

Counter-terrorism security of potential targets of terrorist aspirations — the comprehensive use of physical protection forces, engineering means and regime measures aimed at ensuring their safe operation.

Legal regimes provided for by legislation

Methods of countering terrorism: combating terrorism — detection, prevention, suppression, investigation and examination of terrorist acts and crimes; minimising or eliminating the consequences of terrorist acts.

The implementation of these tasks is carried out within the framework of the creation of an effective system of counter-terrorism measures.

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There are three main ways to prevent terrorism: combating terrorism and extremist ideology; anti-terrorist protection of potential targets; and monitoring compliance with counter-terrorism regimes.

To counter the ideology of terrorism, there is a set of organisational measures aimed at changing the social, political, informational and propaganda activities of the state’s existing social and political institutions to prevent the spread of terrorist beliefs, ideas, attitudes, motives and attitudes in society.

Russia’s role and place in the fight against international terrorism is based on the Federal Act on Combating Terrorism. In accordance with international treaties, Russia cooperates with foreign states, special services and their law enforcement agencies to combat terrorism.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation, general principles and norms of international law, international treaties, federal laws, normative acts of the President of the Russian Federation, normative legal acts of the Government of the Russian Federation as well as normative legal acts of other federal public authorities aimed at priority measures to prevent terrorism. There is unity of command over the forces and means involved in counter-terrorism operations. There is a combination of overt and covert methods for combating terrorism.

The Russian Federation prosecutes those involved in terrorism. Terrorists are prosecuted under Russian law.

The aggravated international situation is conducive to taking energetic measures to counter terrorism. Russia continues to take a proactive and leading role in international counter-terrorist cooperation.

The Russian Federation firmly believes that the global terrorist threat must be combated together, on a genuinely collective basis, with a central coordinating role played by the United Nations and in compliance with the norms of international law, without double standards.

The principled position is that a truly effective strategy for decisive and definitive tackling the threats lifted by major terrorist groups should ultimately be based on an international coalition acting on the fully legitimate basis of UN decisions, fully committed to the norms of international law.

For example, Russia’s participation in combat operations is driven by the need to counter terrorism, which is realised strictly in accordance with international law.

Preventive elimination of the insurgents, who form a kind of international terrorist movement, is an important issue. One of the goals of a military operation is to prevent this movement from taking shape and growing stronger so that it does not bring bigger problems later on.

Since 1963, the international community has developed more than 19 international agreements that aim to prevent terrorist attacks. The agreements have been developed under the auspices of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Let us mention some of them: International Convention against the Taking of Hostages; International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism; International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism; UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

International standards contain a series of norms characterising terrorism by the scope (extent) of terrorist activities, by the nature of the consequences, by the objectives or nature of the demands made, by the motives, by the number and organisation of members of terrorist groups, by the instruments used, by the methods, the financial means and the sources of their acquisition, and the links with official bodies.

International terrorism is one of the most complex and multidimensional manifestations seen as a dangerous phenomenon. The term “international terrorism” was introduced in the 1970s. The UN Draft Code Offenses against the Peace and Security of Mankind defines international terrorism as “the commission, organisation, facilitation, financing or encouragement by agents or agents of one State of act against another State or condoning the commission of such acts, which are directed against persons or property and which by their nature are intended to cause fear among public figures, groups of people or the general public”.

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The main types and most common forms of international terrorism include:

–state terrorism — terrorism organised and carried out by state authorities;

–ethnic — terrorism changing the form of state structure, creating an independent state or achieving partial changes in the position of the relevant ethnic group with reliance on the left or the right wing;

–economic-criminal — a struggle between large criminal gangs for the distribution of incomegenerating spheres of influence, accompanied by the commission of terrorist acts against the leaders and members of other groups;

–individual — acts of terror committed by individual citizens and in their own interests;

–revolutionary — terrorism aimed at changing (destabilising) the existing order;

–economic — attacks on commercial firms and industrial enterprises in order to influence them and change or stop their activities;

–criminal — contract killings designed to have a public effect;

–targeted — elimination of state officials;

–political — aggressive internal political activity of certain social forces aimed at destroying the foundations of the country’s statehood and ruining the multinational natural-historical community of people in order to satisfy their vested interests;

–religious — fundamentalism on religious grounds;

–ecological — crimes of terrorist nature, associated with deliberate harmful effect on the environment, committed by individuals and organisations in order to achieve their own selfish ends, to intimidate the decision makers and the public;

–biological — terrorist acts with the use of biological weapons or their constituents;

–information (cyberterrorism) — information crimes manifested in carrying out illegal information influences on the information space or any element of it for terrorist purposes.

Summary

1.Countries can be divided into several types according to their migrant incorporation regime: open; moderately open; open for labour migration but not for permanent residence; closed for labour migration; no immigration policy.

2.Clearly, the composition of the team plays a significant role. In international teams, there are often differences in the way they make decisions, handle information, communicate, deal with conflicts, etc.

3.Different categories of migrants need integration to a different extent: for some groups primary adaptation is sufficient, whereas others need integration. Integration policies should be differentiated for different groups of migrants.

4.Like most social phenomena, terrorism is of a very complex nature and its emergence and development is influenced by many factors, among which the most crucial are geopolitical, socioeconomic, religious and cultural.

5.The classification of terrorism types helps to show its multifaceted nature and proves the fact that it constantly evolves. Therefore, it is simply necessary to understand its essence and realise the reasons that push individuals and organised groups into the world of terror.

6.The identification of specific types and forms of terrorism is vital, first and foremost, to develop adequate measures for their detection, prevention and suppression.

Think about and answer these questions

1.What migrant integration programmes do exist in EU states?

2.How relevant is the problem of terrorism to society?

3.What are the peculiarities of modern terrorism?

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