Continuity and change in local immigrant policies in times of austerity

Abstract

European cities are increasingly being recognised for the role they play in devising and implementing their own migration, integration and diversity policies. Yet very little is known about the local dimension of immigrant policymaking in crisis contexts. This introductory piece offers a rationale for analysing city-level immigrant policies in times of crisis and the salience of using crisis as a metaphor for the state of things, and outlines key scholarly works, debates, concepts and theories. It provides a range of historical and contemporary examples and considerations, and introduces an empirical city case study that is published as part of this mini-symposium. It argues that a crisis lens leads to a systematic understanding of local-level immigrant policymaking in recent and contemporary Western Europe. The mini-symposium’s focus and findings should be relevant to both on-going academic and policy debates.

Against all odds: Thessaloniki’s local policy activism in the reception and integration of forced migrants

“…Paradoxically as it may seem, it was also an economic opportunity. In this respect, the insights from this case study contribute to the debate on the dynamics of local migration policymaking in times of economic hardship (Schiller and Hackett 2018). More concretely, they demonstrate that a 'hybrid combination' between economic and humanitarian reasoning can lead to the adoption of local policies for forced migrants, reflecting similar dynamics in local diversity policies (Moutselos et al 2018).…”

Expanding the boundaries of the local: entrepreneurial municipalism and migration governance in Turkey

“…The response of local governments in Turkey in the period between 2011 and 2016 sits well within the framework of how crisis or perceptions of an approaching crisis “can provide a rupture for ways of working, stretch existing resources, alter the priorities of policymakers, and trigger the transformation of existing practices” (Schiller and Hackett 2018, 2). It is during such times that due to “lack of effective knowledge in the area, and the demand for innovation and activism leads street-level bureaucrats to use unique entrepreneurship strategies aimed at influencing policy” (Lavee and Cohen 2019, 476).…”

Enhanced local-level willingness and ability to settle refugees: Decentralization and local responses to the refugee crisis in Norway

“…In our case, the external event was the 2015 refugee crisis and how it hit Norway; the societal reactions would be policy changes in immigration and integration policies and how the new refugees were met by public institutions and society. With the 2015 refugee crisis, migration has again become an intrinsic marker of crisis (Schiller & Hackett, 2018). Kingdon (2014) stresses that there are many problems and crises in the world, but that only some issues enter the political agenda.…”

“…Cities and municipalities are increasingly recognized for their role in devising and implementing their own integration and diversity policies (Caponio & Borkert, 2010;Qadeer, 2016;Zapata-Barrero, 2015). However, as Schiller and Hackett (2018) note, little is known about the local dimension of migration policymaking in crisis contexts. More studies have focused on the supranational level, examining the incomplete EU crisis governance of the 2015 refugee influx (Morsut & Kruke, 2018;Scipioni, 2018;Wolf & Ossewaarde, 2018).…”