The use of social capital by descendants and non-descendants of Moroccan migrants in Spain

Lina Bassarsky, Université de Paris X, Nanterre

One common distinction in contemporary research discerns between “structural” and “social” integration of migrant populations. The former deals with unequal opportunities in education, labour market and housing, while the latter focuses on social relations, discrimination, family formation and cultural traits. In this paper we analyse some survey data from a research approach based on the concepts of “Social Capital” and “Social Networks”, mainly applied to the investigation of labour market careers in Spain. Two subpopulations are targeted: the young adult descendants of Moroccan migrants, and the young adults whose parents are not international migrants. This approach applies for being considered at the crossing of the viewpoints of structural and social integration. Firstly, we discuss some theoretical understandings; secondly, we show some data on the use of Social Capital by the two targeted groups; finally, we draw some conclusions about the link between the two mentioned types of integration.