Migration as a Health Inequality Dimension? Natio-Ethno-Cultural Affiliation, Health, and Social Networks

Abstract

AbstractConcepts like race, migration background, or ethnic group are more and more being investigated in health research. It should be noted that those concepts themselves are very heterogeneous. They are, for example, endowed with different rights (e.g., cosmopolitan migrants from the global north, refugees from the global south) (Ambrosini & van der Leun, 2015) or have to deal with racism or discrimination (Nazroo, 2003). A challenge and a recurrent difficulty in research on the health of migrants is the operationalization of studies due to the heterogeneity of the group. On the one hand, it is unclear which criteria—nationality, mother tongue, ethnicity of grandparents, race, place of birth, place of migration as well as migration regime—are used to determine “migrants,” which makes comparability of the studies difficult (Sheldon & Parker, 1992). On the other hand, the group of people with a history of migration is very heterogeneous with regard to other lines of difference, such as social milieu/class and gender, but also country of origin and reason and time of migration. This makes the health situation of the so-called migrants very different, and it cannot be described in a generalized way. Research shows that social integration and social support can play a big role in the health status of migrants. It can provide information to the healthcare system, provide emotional support, or simply make someone feel like they are not alone. Social networks also play a big role for people with a so-called migration background or with a so-called different ethnic background (Johnson et al., 2017). In this chapter, we explore the link between health, migration, and networks. In doing so, we will try to minimize the uncertainty of the heterogeneity of the group as much as possible.