Immigrant integration at the local level in the aftermaths of the European ‘refugee crisis’: the interplays between politics, policies and governance

Abstract

Over the last few years, many European countries have received an unprecedented number of asylum seekers and refugees. This led to a growing involvement of local governments in policymaking around migration and, particularly, around the integration of these recent migrants. The responses of the local level to the challenges related to these new migrant settlements were influenced by two broad phenomena. On the one hand, the migration issue has become highly politicised, both at the national level but also at the local level. On the other hand, the challenges posed by the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ and the politicisation of migration led to the involvement of a growing number of (governmental and non-governmental) actors in ‘local migration governance’ (Schiller 2019) and in migration-related policymaking and implementation. This could result in cooperation or conflicts among actors across governmental levels or to independent initiatives by non-governmental actors. This panel aims to assess the interplays between these key developments, looking at the politics of local migration policymaking and governance. It therefore includes contributions that focus on local dynamics of politicisation of migration; local migration policymaking; informal and formal integration governance. The distinctive focus of these contributions lies in their focus on the interaction between actors involved in local governance systems.

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