Policy actors' narrative constructions of migrants' integration in Malmö and Bologna

Bibliographic Data

ID2146603
AuthorsScuzzarello (0000-0003-1281-8742, corresponding author), Sarah Scuzzarello
Year2015
Volume38
Issue1
Pages57-74
Publication date2015-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnic and Racial Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0141-9870 • E-ISSN: 1466-4356
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01419870.2013.848287
OpenAlexW1967756260
LanguageEN
Citations received18
References cited30

Governments have policies explicitly directed at the integration of migrants. This article addresses how policymakers and politicians privilege certain constructions of the social relationship between migrants and the majority society (expressed through narratives of 'integration'), while making it seem as if they were presenting facts in their policies. These constructions provide the justifications for adopting a direction in policy-making over other alternatives. This article sets to analyse comparatively how policy actors in two urban contexts construct migrants' integration through policy narratives and how, within this, they evaluate migrants as 'integrated' and 'non-integrated'. Through narrative analysis, the article sheds light on how migrants are positioned by political institutions within the normative order of the society in which they live. Furthermore, it shows that local policy-making is shaped by national citizenship regimes, models of steering, welfare regimes and stories about the nation and its people

Citizenship · Narrative · Normative · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Privilege (computing · Sociology · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Gender Studies · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration