Translating the Law: What Can We Learn from Implementation in the Study of Citizenship and Migration?

Abstract

Implementation practices are a growing stream of research within citizenship and migration studies, whether looking at the translation of supranational and national laws in local legal instruments, at the daily workings of bureaucracies, or at the effects of the policies. Yet, key questions still need to be addressed on the variations in implementation practices across space, time, and policy fields, as well as on the drivers of those variations. To what extent do implementation practices vary from one setting to another (be the setting local, national, or supranational)? How do they change over time? Are there differences emerging between frontline migration policies (visa, border, control, residence) and integration and citizenship policies when it comes to implementation? How can we explain such variations? Providing answers to these questions further raises important methodological aspects that migration and citizenship scholars should further examine. What methods should we use to compare variations across time and space? What data can we use to document those variations? Are variations measurable and, if so, how can we measure them? This panel will focus on asylum policies and will offer important insights to the variety of implementation processes.

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