In Finland, the level of participatory democracy is low. Finland is a state with high level of trust, however, one’s _belief_ in possibilities to advocate for change is low.
Research shows that immigrants participate less in politics and advocacy. Lack of participation increases segregation, meaning that we create silos of “invisibility” in cities such as Helsinki. However, most research has focused on electoral participation such as voting, not inclusive means of democracy. Last Thursday, we held a workshop with immigrants on how to increase local democracy in Helsinki.
Barriers to immigrant inclusion in politics include among others: language issues, objectification of immigrants (rather than seeing them as actors with agency), and racism. A few points I would like to raise from the workshop:
The beef of the problem is this:
The mechanisms of participatory democracy do not reach target groups that are marginalized in social participation. Official communications also do not always encourage participation.
Possible solutions suggested in the workshop:
- Targeted groups, arenas and formats of participation and communication in a proactive and collaborative manner to reach immigrant and multilingual communities. This can happen through local NGOs, cultural organisations, schools and unofficial channels of organization (such as local facebook groups, families, hobbies).
- Immigrant and multilingual residents and service users must have equal access to information, initiatives, service planning, policy development, implementation, feedback and evaluation.
- Heterogeneous and novel forms of participation (such as dance or music, not only information online or lectures)
- Multilingual and proactive communication from governmental officials in targeted topics, such as elections, advocacy and participation
- Governmental officials need to reduce racial discrimination in recruitment, services and collaboration with immigrants in a REAL way. Otherwise talk of equity is pointless.
It is crucial to remember that our right to advocate for issues that affect us and development of society is secured in our constitution in Finland. This does not only mean different forms and channels of governance. It refers to the right to affect those decisions on services and city planning that are being made.
The city is obligated to give us information in clear language on how you can participate and affect decision-making, as well as providing us with adequate services, such as healthcare, education, employment, income, housing and integration services. For example, the reformed Integration Act is now entirely on the responsibility of Helsinki to provide immigrants with information and education in a familiar language as well as employment services. It is therefore necessary that immigrants are included in decisions and content in relation integration for example.
Lastly, please remember that as an immigrant you have the right to vote in municipal elections as an EU and non-EU citizen if you have been registered as a resident for 51 days (EU citizen), or for two years (Non-EU citizen).