Immigrant Integration In Europe

In this rich study, Roxana Barbulescu examines the transformation of state-led immigrant integration in two relatively new immigration countries in Western Europe: Italy and Spain. The book is comparative in approach and seeks to explain states' immigrant integration strategies across national, regional, and city-level decision and policy making. Barbulescu argues that states pursue no one-size-fits-all strategy for the integration of migrants, but rather simultaneously pursue multiple strategies that vary greatly for different groups. Two main integration strategies stand out. The first one targets non-European citizens and is assimilationist in character and based on interventionist principles according to which the government actively pursues the inclusion of migrants. The second strategy targets EU citizens and is a laissez-faire scenario where foreigners enjoy rights and live their entire lives in the host country without the state or the local authorities seeking their integration. The empirical material in the book, dating from 1985 to 2015, includes systematic analyses of immigration laws, integration policies and guidelines, historical documents, original interviews with policy makers, and statistical analysis based on data from the European Labor Force Survey. While the book draws on evidence from Italy and Spain in an effort to bring these case studies to the core of fundamental debates on immigration and citizenship studies, its broader aim is to contribute to a better understanding of state interventionism in immigrant integration in contemporary Europe. The book will be a useful text for students and scholars of global immigration, integration, citizenship, European integration, and European society and culture.

This topical book sheds light on immigrants’ subjective well-being by analysing the main factors associated with self-reported life satisfaction among immigrants and natives. It thereby draws upon subjective components of well-being, which are now receiving growing attention in well-being research. It also fills in a gap in migration research, which has not yet focused on the study of immigrants’ well-being. Starting from a broader focus on Europe, the book then looks more closely at Italy. This is a key country in the immigration policy field in Europe, but where the study of immigrants’ integration from a subjective perspective has been rarely addressed so far. The book provides suggestions for constructing and implementing immigration and integration policies by not only taking into account the needs of the host societies, but also the experiences, opinions, requirements and expectations of immigrants. This book is very useful for academic and policy researchers working on immigrant integration issues.

This open access book explores how research and policymaking in the field of migrant integration have developed historically and how this interrelationship plays out in the strongly politicised climate of opinions on migration in Europe. It features interdisciplinary theoretical contributions as well as original empirical studies on research-policy dialogues at both the EU and country level. The chapters study not only how the dialogue between research and policy is structured (such as advisory bodies, research agencies, and ad-hoc committees), but also how these dialogues affect policymaking and the development of migrant integration research itself as well. The analysis reveals profound changes in the dialogue structures associated with the research-policy nexus in the domain of migrant integration. On the one hand, dialogue structures have become more ad-hoc, often established in response to distinct political events or to specific problems. On the other, politicisation has not thwarted all efforts to develop more institutionalised dialogue structures between producers and users of knowledge. In addition, research has contributed to policymaking in very different ways in various European countries. This edited volume is unique in this effort to reflect on the impact of research-policy dialogues both on the development of migrant integration policies as well as on migrant integration research. It will be of importance to scholars in this field as well as to policymakers and other stakeholders involved in migrant integration policymaking.

Written from a pan-European perspective, this book examines the decision-making processes in immigration and integration policies in Europe across decades, focusing on several key moments of Europe’s postwar history. The analysis of factors taken into consideration by states in key moments of immigration policy (re)formulation shows that Europe is moving away from rational, economic arguments towards more political ones. This book contributes to the theoretical and practical debate regarding immigration and integration policies by arguing that – contrary to assumptions – immigration policy should not be treated as having precedence before integration policy. It also reflects on the growing anti-immigration sentiments as well as the securitisation and criminalisation of migration issues that are fuelled by right-wing politics. This book will be of key interest both to students and scholars of migration, the European Union, European integration, social policy, public policy, international relations, European studies, law, economics, sociology and to professionals, policy-makers, think tanks and associations in NGOs, the EU and other IOs. The Open Access version of this book, available at: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780429263736, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This book seeks to address three issues: How do European countries differ in their cultural integration process and what are the different models of integration at work? How does cultural integration relate to economic integration? What are the implications for civic participation and public policies?

Recent acts of terrorism in Britain and Europe and the events of 9/11 in the United States have greatly influenced immigration, security, and integration policies in these countries. Yet many of the current practices surrounding these issues were developed decades ago, and are ill-suited to the dynamics of today's global economies and immigration patterns. At the core of much policy debate is the inherent paradox whereby immigrant populations are frequently perceived as posing a potential security threat yet bolster economies by providing an inexpensive workforce. Strict attention to border controls and immigration quotas has diverted focus away from perhaps the most significant dilemma: the integration of existing immigrant groups. Often restricted in their civil and political rights and targets of xenophobia, racial profiling, and discrimination, immigrants are unable or unwilling to integrate into the population. These factors breed distrust, disenfranchisement, and hatred-factors that potentially engender radicalization and can even threaten internal security. The contributors compare policies on these issues at three relational levels: between individual EU nations and the U.S., between the EU and U.S., and among EU nations. What emerges is a timely and critical examination of the variations and contradictions in policy at each level of interaction and how different agencies and different nations often work in opposition to each other with self-defeating results. While the contributors differ on courses of action, they offer fresh perspectives, some examining significant case studies and laying the groundwork for future debate on these crucial issues.

An up-to-date and comparative look at immigration in Europe, the United States, and Canada Strangers No More is the first book to compare immigrant integration across key Western countries. Focusing on low-status newcomers and their children, it examines how they are making their way in four critical European countries—France, Germany, Great Britain, and the Netherlands—and, across the Atlantic, in the United States and Canada. This systematic, data-rich comparison reveals their progress and the barriers they face in an array of institutions—from labor markets and neighborhoods to educational and political systems—and considers the controversial questions of religion, race, identity, and intermarriage. Richard Alba and Nancy Foner shed new light on questions at the heart of concerns about immigration. They analyze why immigrant religion is a more significant divide in Western Europe than in the United States, where race is a more severe obstacle. They look at why, despite fears in Europe about the rise of immigrant ghettoes, residential segregation is much less of a problem for immigrant minorities there than in the United States. They explore why everywhere, growing economic inequality and the proliferation of precarious, low-wage jobs pose dilemmas for the second generation. They also evaluate perspectives often proposed to explain the success of immigrant integration in certain countries, including nationally specific models, the political economy, and the histories of Canada and the United States as settler societies. Strangers No More delves into issues of pivotal importance for the present and future of Western societies, where immigrants and their children form ever-larger shares of the population.

This joint publication by the OECD and the European Commission presents a comprehensive international comparison across all EU, OECD and G20 countries of the integration outcomes for immigrants and their children, through 25 indicators organised around three areas: labour market and skills ...