Why are migration policies sometimes heavily contested and high on the political agenda? And why do they, at other moments and in other countries, hardly lead to much public debate? The entrance and settlement of migrants in Western Europe has prompted various political reactions. In some countries anti-immigration parties have gained substantial public support while in others migration policies have been hardly controversial. The Politicisation of Migration examines the differences between seven Western European countries by developing a conceptual framework to empirically explain patterns of politicisation and de-politicisation. The analyses show that over the past decade immigration has been increasingly defined in socio-cultural terms and that it has been receiving less political attention since the economic crisis started in 2007. This book also looks at the role of mainstream parties and political actors in the process of politicisation, and demonstrates how the role of 'challengers' is more limited than often assumed. Contributing to literatures on migration, party politics and agenda-setting, the book will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of politics and migration studies.

Why are migration policies sometimes heavily contested and high on the political agenda? And why do they, at other moments and in other countries, hardly lead to much public debate? The entrance and settlement of migrants in Western Europe has prompted various political reactions. In some countries anti-immigration parties have gained substantial public support while in others migration policies have been hardly controversial. The Politicisation of Migration examines the differences between seven Western European countries by developing a conceptual framework to empirically explain patterns of politicisation and de-politicisation. The analyses show that over the past decade immigration has been increasingly defined in socio-cultural terms and that it has been receiving less political attention since the economic crisis started in 2007. This book also looks at the role of mainstream parties and political actors in the process of politicisation, and demonstrates how the role of 'challengers' is more limited than often assumed. Contributing to literatures on migration, party politics and agenda-setting, the book will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of politics and migration studies.

The field of mobility studies examines social phenomena through the lens of movement. In this perspective, societies are regarded as being constantly reconfigured as they are shaped by a series of mobile entities (capital, people, information). This book engages critically with many of the claims and challenges of mobility studies by providing empirically rich reports of mobilities and their limitations. Instead of assuming a seamless world of flows, the volume foregrounds questions of power, inequality, and moorings as integral to the movement of capital, goods, images, practices, or people. It brings together the work of several internationally renowned scholars, who engage with these movements at critical sites. This is the first book to provide a critical and interdisciplinary view of mobilities covering a broad range of issues rather than a single domain. The chapters deal with current and important issues, such as organ transplants, illegal migrations, urban globalization, international policies of higher education institutions, and scientific diasporas. As a whole, the book provides new insights into how power relations shape mobilities and societies.

Why Aren't They There? is a comprehensive study of political representation in a cross-national format. It examines the representation of women, ethnic groups, and policy positions in a cross-country comparison. Using new data on ethnic groups in legislatures, the book is a significant step forward in the analysis of political representation. The systematic approach of the book allows a ground-breaking examination of how different forms of representation - women, ethnic groups, issue positions - are interlinked. "An excellent piece of work that jointly discusses two dimensions and two groups that have been studied too often apart from one another: descriptive and substantive representation, and women and ethnic groups. It uses new and rich data, the hypotheses are well embedded in the existing theories and empirical research and the research design and methods are intelligent. It is furthermore, well written and comprehensive. In short: a must-read for scholars interested in representation and representativeness of today's legislatures." Karen Celis, Research Professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and co-convenor of the ECPR Standing Group on Gender and Politics. "Ruedin adds to our understanding of political representation with an impressive comparative study of the gender and ethnic composition of national legislatures, two largely separate research fields; the representation of women and of ethnic groups. Alongside this he assembles relevant material from literature on parties, electoral studies, feminist research and political theory; using it to develop a single integrated theoretical framework and to develop hypotheses, which he tests on multiple data sources (including new data and the World Values Survey). Why Aren't They There? is a comprehensive and significant addition to the literature on this topic and should be compulsory reading for all students of political representation." Dr Rosie Campbell, Senior Lecturer in Politics, School of Politics and Sociology, Birkbeck, University of London