West European immigration and immigrant policy in the new century

Book abstract:

This work makes a worthwhile contribution to the debate surrounding contemporary immigration and immigration policy in Western Europe. It focuses on the challenges that immigration poses for state policy-making sovereignty as well as the political and social dilemmas arising from the arrival and permanent settlement of the new ethnic and racial minorities.

The book is organised in two parts. Part I addresses the challenges that post-WW2 immigration poses and continues to pose for the policy making sovereignty of governments and states. Such issues as illegal immigration, the rapid increase in the influx of refugees and asylum seekers, the domestic conflict surrounding labour market distortions, and the general problem of controlling national territorial borders in an increasingly borderless European Union. The arguments are real and the contributors present diverse views of the problems and potential remedies.

Part II is primarily concerned with problems arising from the arrival and permanent settlement of immigrants and their assumption of social identities as new ethnic minorities. The contributors address matters of education, socio-cultural contrasts and economic inequalities. Several contributors have specific interest in exploring the relevance of the American case for Western Europe, and the extent to which Western Europe can avoid/avert the worst of the American ethnic and racial experiences. There is a clear need for greater efforts to foster inclusivity for the new ethnic minorities so that they might make a dignified contribution to policy making in the host country.

The volume will interest students, scholars, policy researchers and practitioners in the fields of International Relations, immigration and the economics of migration.

Greenwood Publishing Group books are distributed in the UK by Harcourt Education.