A ‘micro-macro’ factor analysis of the determinants of economic integration of immigrants: a theoretical approach

This study explores the subjective and objective forces that compromise the employability of immigrants in Finnish Lapland. Employability is perceived as being formed by real and ascribed barriers associated with the status of immigrants, many of whom are unemployed or underemployed, living in a geographically isolated area. The research combines in-depth interviews and a focus group discussion with 30 immigrant job seekers. Study employs Ritzer’s integrative sociological paradigm for shaping dialectical relationships between the individual problems faced by the underemployed immigrant and public issues, i.e. the policies and procedures encompassed in constructing their reality. This assessment proffers an integrative labour market paradigm for understanding of existing and theoretical factors of the objective-subjective factors that cause limitations in the labour market and can enable ‘micro-macro’ interactions and incentivise approaches which can strengthen the labour market topographies in Lapland.