French city networking

Drivers and rationale for national investment

Bibliographic Data

ID4862053
AuthorsAnouk Flamant (0000-0002-0371-2279, INSHEA, EA Grhapes, IC Migration, Triangle Lyon France, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume22
Issue3
Pages377-396
Publication date2022-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGlobal Networks (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1470-2266 • E-ISSN: 1471-0374
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/glob.12370
OpenAlexW4229033521
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited47

Drawing on qualitative investigations of three French cities, this this paper contributes to an understanding of the reasons behind the proliferation of activist city networks. Following the literature on the functions of transnational city networks, this article reveals four significant drivers that explain the preference of French cities for national city network ANVITA over international city networks amid a surge of welcoming initiatives. The four drivers offer opportunities to (1) share experience, (2) shame national authorities and propose alternative narratives, (3) limit pressure and opposition from NGOs and activists and (4) lend legitimacy to current policies and attain a label of "welcoming city" for Green and left-leaning municipal coalitions. Thus, if the practical and symbolic functions are standard with international city networks, the symbolic functions play a significant role; some are explicit (shaming), whereas other are more implicit (relations with NGOs and partisan positioning). This article insists on the need to consider the political dimension of city networking as a significant driver for municipal actors. This political dimension is key to understanding how cities can (or not) be prominent actors in the governance of migration in the years to come

Corporate governance · Economics · Legitimacy · Management · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Sociology · Cross-Border Cooperation and Integration · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Political Systems and Governance · Public Administration

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