Theodoros Fouskas 
Nigerian Immigrants in Greece [PDF ebook] 
Low-Status Work, Community, and Decollectivization

The sociological research in this book emphasizes that the lack of permanent employment and restriction of immigrants in precarious, low-status/paid occupations distance them from both collectivities and claims. By introducing a new perspective on the investigation of the migration phenomenon in Greece, this book contributes significantly to relative international research and literature. This makes it an extremely useful source for researchers and students, public agencies or bodies and for those dealing with the phenomenon of immigration and immigration policy. In the first part of the book, the clarification of the theoretical concepts of community, occupational community and low-status work in the migration context is attempted. The impact that low-status/paid work has on immigrant collectivities is analyzed and the types of immigrant community associations and the attitude of the Greek trade unions of towards the immigrants are discussed. Moreover, an overview of international empirical research on Nigerian immigrants, as well as on studies that focus on the investigation of immigrant community associations in Greece is endeavored. The second part of the book concentrates on the consequences low-status/paid work has on the collective organization and representation of the immigrant workforce. The micro-sociological research and analysis examines the case of Nigerian immigrants in Greece and how the frame of their work and their employment affects their participation in the immigrant hometown association Nigerian Community in Greece and in Greek trade unions. The results based on in-depth interviews demonstrate that due to the ramifications of their work, Nigerians are cut off, do not claim established workers’ rights and do not seek membership in any community associations or unions. In contrast, Nigerian immigrant workers depend on informal and impersonal social networks in search of solidarity and thus resort to alternative means of ensuring survival in Greek society, choosing individualistic and materialistic perceptions and attitudes of regulating their difficulties and workers’ rights, far from collectivities, often resigning from them completely.