Contested Citizenship: Immigration and Cultural Diversity in Europe (Social Movements, Protest and Contention)

From international press coverage of the French government's attempt to prevent Muslims from wearing headscarves to terrorist attacks in Madrid and the United States, questions of cultural identity and pluralism are at the center of the world's most urgent events and debates. Presenting an unprecedented wealth of empirical research garnered during ten years of a cross-cultural project, Contested Citizenship addresses these fundamental issues by comparing collective actions by migrants, xenophobes, and antiracists in Germany, Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Revealing striking cross-national differences in how immigration and diversity are contended by different national governments, these authors find that how citizenship is constructed is the key variable defining the experience of Europe's immigrant populations. Contested Citizenship provides nuanced policy recommendations and challenges the truism that multiculturalism is always good for immigrants. Even in an age of European integration and globalization, the state remains a critical actor in determining what points of view are sensible and realistic—and legitimate—in society. Ruud Koopmans is professor of sociology at Free University, Amsterdam. Paul Statham is reader in political communications at the University of Leeds. Marco Giugni is a researcher and teacher of political science at the University of Geneva. Florence Passy is assistant professor of political science at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

From international press coverage of the French government’s attempt to prevent Muslims from wearing headscarves to terrorist attacks in Madrid and the United States, questions of cultural identity and pluralism are at the center of the world’s most urgent events and debates. Presenting an unprecedented wealth of empirical research garnered during ten years of a cross-cultural project, Contested Citizenship addresses these fundamental issues by comparing collective actions by migrants, xenophobes, and antiracists in Germany, Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. 

Revealing striking cross-national differences in how immigration and diversity are contended by different national governments, these authors find that how citizenship is constructed is the key variable defining the experience of Europe’s immigrant populations. Contested Citizenship provides nuanced policy recommendations and challenges the truism that multiculturalism is always good for immigrants. Even in an age of European integration and globalization, the state remains a critical actor in determining what points of view are sensible and realistic—and legitimate—in society. 

Ruud Koopmans is professor of sociology at Free University, Amsterdam. Paul Statham is reader in political communications at the University of Leeds. Marco Giugni is a researcher and teacher of political science at the University of Geneva. Florence Passy is assistant professor of political science at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 8 Introduction: The Contentious Politics of Immigration and Ethnic Relations......Page 10 1. Configurations of Citizenship in Five European Countries......Page 40 2. Beyond the Nation-State? National and Postnational Claims Making......Page 83 3. Migrants between Transnationalism and National Citizenship......Page 116 4. Minority Group Demands and the Challenge of Islam......Page 155 5. The Extreme Right: Ethnic Competition or Political Space?......Page 189 6. Interest or Identity? Pro-Migrant and Antiracist Actors......Page 214 7. Contested Citizenship: Conclusions and Future Directions......Page 241 Appendix: The Coding of Political Claims Making......Page 263 Notes......Page 276 References......Page 288 A......Page 306 C......Page 308 D......Page 309 E......Page 310 G......Page 311 I......Page 312 K......Page 313 M......Page 314 N......Page 315 P......Page 316 R......Page 318 S......Page 319 U......Page 320 Z......Page 321 Presenting an unprecedented wealth of empirical research, Contested Citizenship compares collective actions by migrants, xenophobes, and antiracists in Germany, Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Revealing striking cross-national differences in how immigration and diversity are contended by different national governments, these authors find that how citizenship is constructed is the key variable defining the experience of Europe's immigrant populations Demonstrates how national identity affects the dynamics of immigration. Revealing cross-national differences in how immigration and diversity are contended by different national governments, this book finds that how citizenship is constructed is the key variable defining the experience of Europe's immigrant populations. Questions of cultural identity are at the centre of the world's most urgent events and debates. This book addresses the fundamental issues by comparing collective actions by migrants, xenophobes and antiracists in Germany, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Britain