Beyond Integration? Institutional Change in Local Refugee and Integration Politics: Empirical Findings from 100 German Municipalities

It is the basic assumption of neo-institutionalism in organizational studies that organizations try to establish legitimacy by adjusting to the institutional environment – may this environment consist of “rationalizing institutional myths” (Meyer/Rowan 1977) or other organizations (DiMaggio/Powell 1983). As a result, similar organizations in the same institutional environment tend to formally respond to social or political challenges in a similar way (institutional isomorphism). Against this theoretical backdrop, in our contribution, we will analyse the causes and consequences of organizational transformations and policy changes in local asylum and integration politics of 100 German municipalities in the aftermath of the “long summer of migration” (2015/16). How did local administration respond in form and content to changes of the institutional environment? Has the focus on refugees changed the local approach on migration/integration effectively? How and why did co-operation between different departments within the administration and between state actors and civil society change? How can we explain similarities or differences between different types of municipalities – big cities, small towns and rural counties? Addressing those questions, we will draw on empirical findings from document analysis (integration concepts) and 200 qualitative interviews with bureaucrats and civil society. Finally, connecting our findings to the growing body of literature on the politics of migration and diversity on the local level, we will argue that the institutional change in German refugee and migration politics has led many municipalities beyond the questions of integration and diversity towards a more comprehensive local migration policy.