Integration Requirements for Immigrants in Europe

Description

Based on legal-philosophical research, and informed by insights gleaned from empirical case studies, this book sets out three central claims about integration requirements as conditions for attaining increased rights (ie family migration, permanent residency and citizenship) in Europe:
(1) That the recent proliferation of these (mandatory) integration requirements is rooted in a shift towards ‘individualised’ conceptions of integration.
(2) That this shift is counterproductive as it creates barriers to participation and inclusion for newcomers (who will most likely permanently settle); and is normatively problematic insofar as it produces status hierarchies between native-born and immigrant citizens.
(3) That the remedy for this situation is a firewall that disconnects integration policy from access to rights.
The book draws on perspectives on immigrant integration in multiple EU Member States and includes legal and political reactions to the refugee/migrant crisis.

Tamar de Waal is Assistant Professor of Legal Theory at the Amsterdam Law School, University of Amsterdam.

Introduction I. Methodological Considerations
II. Academic Relevance and Contribution to the Literature
III. Preliminary Remarks
IV. Outline of the Book
1. From Societal to Individual Integration I. The Growth of Integration Requirements in Multiple EU Member States
A. Family Reunification
B. Obtaining Permanent Residency
C. Naturalisation
II. Integration: Old and New
A. Integration as a Condition of Society
B. Integration as a Condition of Individuals
III. Individualised Integration and Integration Requirements in Europe: Exploring the Links
IV. Conclusion
2. Structural Risks of Integration Requirements I. Liberal Nationalism and the Social Sciences on Integration Requirements
II. Integration Policies in Principle or in Reality
III. The Politics of Integration Requirements
IV. Individualised and Contractualised Integration
A. Individualised Integration
B. The Contractualisation of Secure Residency and Citizenship
V. Conclusion
3. Integration within a Community of Equals I. Social Equality and Justice
II. Migration, Equal Citizenship and Social Inequalities
A. Importance of Naturalisation
B. Stigmatising (Those Who Become) Citizens
III. Integration Requirements: To Deserve to be One of ‘Us’
A. Unwanted Citizens
B. Conditional Belonging
IV. Universal Values and Equal Citizenship
V. The Other Side of the Coin: Denaturalisation
VI. Conclusion
4. Disconnecting Integration from RightsI. The Problems of the Current Integration Requirements in European Member States
A. Abuse of Precarity
B. Decreased Naturalisation Rates
C. Inculcating Hierarchies in Citizenship
D. Ineffective Integration Strategies
II. The Firewall Solution
III. The Problem-Solving Capacity of Disconnecting Rights from Integration Strategies
A. Counterbalancing Precarity
B. Enabling Naturalisation
C. Counteracting Conditional Belonging
D. Avoiding Ineffective Integration Strategies
IV. More Innovative Integration Strategies
A. Customised Integration Approaches
B. Other Groups
C. Trajectories for Asylum Seekers
V. Possible Counterarguments against the Firewall
A. Limitations of Public Spending
B. Enforcing Integration
C. The Ritual of Becoming a Citizen
D. Having the Competency to Vote
VI. Conclusion
ConclusionI. Conclusions
II. Future Research

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