The book provides an evaluation of some of the problems with current processes and policies on integration in Europe, both in relation to broader aims of democratization and in relation to the ways in which gendered assumptions and practices are embedded in the policies and outcomes of European migration regimes. The book analyses integration as a contested concept, providing a cross-disciplinary theoretical, empirical and policy-oriented analysis of the integration-migration nexus. Integration is analysed sociologically, politically and legally as a concept that reinforces boundaries of ethnicity and problematizes difference and diversity. Particular foci of the book include theoretical and empirical aspects of migrant incorporation in Europe; citizenship, belonging and migration; gendered structures, experiences and policies; and the strategies of migrants in coping with nationally embedded protectionism. The book also explores notions of solidarity, cosmopolitanism and interculturalism, which can inform a more coherent and sustainable approach to social incorporation and inclusion within modern societies.

This book aims to further the understanding of migration processes and policies in a European context with a particular focus on evaluating integration and the gendered aspects of migration, integration and citizenship. Integration is regarded as a contested concept and as entailing a variable and problematic set of discourses and practices.