Rianne Dekker

A Local Dimension of Integration Policies? A Comparative Study of Berlin, Malmö, and Rotterdam

This study examines three theses on local integration policies by a qualitative comparative case study of integration policies in three cities in three different countries (Berlin, Malmö, and Rotterdam). We found little evidence of a congruent local dimension of integration policies. Local policies resemble their national policy frameworks fairly well in terms of policy approaches and domains. Our multi-level perspective shows that this is not the result of top-down hierarchical governance, but rather of a multilevel dynamic of two-way interaction. Local policy legacies and local politics matter and national policies are also influenced by local approaches of integration.

Framing the Immigration Policy Agenda: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Media Effects on Dutch Immigration Policies

This study applies a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) design to examine how configurations of quantitative and qualitative aspects of media coverage associate with changes on the policy agenda. We analyze media coverage of sixteen focusing events related to Dutch immigration policies—an intractable policy controversy that is regularly under media scrutiny. In addition to the quantity of media attention, we take into account whether dominant framing in media coverage is contesting the current policy frame and whether the framing in the media is consonant. Our analysis indicates that frame contestation is a necessary condition for media effects. Quantity of media attention and frame consonance are relevant indicators of changes on the policy agenda only when the majority of media coverage is contesting the current policy frame. Furthermore, we found that in the case of intractable policy controversies, media framing can create specific dynamics, such as “David versus Goliath” dynamics where human-interest framing of a single case challenges current policy, or “negotiation dynamics” where competing managerialist frames negotiate policy solutions. An integration of framing and agenda-setting literatures helps develop a better understanding of the occurrence of media effects on the policy agenda and how this effect takes shape in the case of intractable policy controversies.

The Basque diaspora webscape: identity, nation and homeland, 1990s–2010s

elements of which would have given him a much more effective vocabulary of analysis. The book is pervaded by a mania for highly abstract classification, a positively Germanic craze for footnoting even the inessential, and terribly constipated prose. The real value of the book lies in its introduction of the ‘external’ dimension to ethnic relations theory – that the foreign relations of states do in some cases constrain (although I doubt rarely ‘determine’) the adoption of policies towards the ‘non-core’ groups that usually inhabit its territory along, presumably, with a majority population understood (often erroneously) to be homogeneous and sharing the interests of the political elite. It would have greatly strengthened its own case if it had stuck to this and avoided the predicative fantasies that mar its logic. As a detailed case study of the Balkans it can be read with profit, but I would caution against reading it for its theoretical contributions. Additionally, it is timely in an unexpected sense: many of the events now taking place in the Ukraine and the Middle East have uncomfortable parallels with the situation that Mylonas describes for the pre-First World War Balkans. Having read it exactly on the anniversary of the outbreak of that war, it seems that the lessons of the Balkans are not so much in prediction as in learning from hindsight.

Frame ambiguity in policy controversies: critical frame analysis of migrant integration policies in Antwerp and Rotterdam

ABSTRACT Policy frames are understood as the outcome of a policy process in which multiple frames are contesting, but where one frame prevails and characterizes policies. Policy frames are therefore perceived and studied as coherent interpretations of a policy issue containing a problem definition and a matching strategy to solve it. This rather fixed understanding of policy frames contrasts with other interpretive approaches which recognize a more dynamic and sometimes ambiguous character of policy language. The aim of this article is to analyze whether policy frames may be ambiguous and if so, how this can be understood by the problem context and political context of the policy issue. This study conducts critical frame analysis of local migrant integration policies in Antwerp and Rotterdam over the past 15 years. The analysis demonstrates presence of frame ambiguity in this controversial policy domain in the form of incomplete frames, solely focusing on the policy strategy while leaving the problem definition open to interpretation, and inconsistent frames in which the problem definition and policy strategy do not match. Ambiguous frames indicate a ‘strength of weak frames’: in a context of problem complexity and political contestation ambiguous frames can serve to overcome a deadlock in policy-making.

Exploring the Role of Interwave Dynamics in Stagnating Migration Flows: Ukrainian Migration to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands

Settled migrants’ influencing others to follow is considered to be an important explanation for sustaining migration. Migrants’ role in stagnating migration dynamics is however relatively underresearched. Migration from Ukraine to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands introduces valuable insights: while a relatively sizeable number of migrants have arrived in those destinations in the early 20th century, this migration has not developed into self-sustaining flows. We argue that the relations between settled and newcoming migrants—bearing the legacy of a 40-year generation gap—led to an ambivalent welcome of new arrivals and a lack of responsiveness of the diasporic institutions toward newcomers.

Smart Refugees: How Syrian Asylum Migrants Use Social Media Information in Migration Decision-Making:

Social media are increasingly popular channels of information on which migrants base their decisions on whether to migrate and the destinations where to settle. While social media offer a relatively cheap, easily accessible, and media-rich means of communication, their use is not without challenges for asylum migrants. Various studies describe issues with access and evaluation of the truthfulness of available information for this specific group of migrants. This article discusses social media use by asylum migrants prior to and during migration. This study is based on in-depth interviews with 54 Syrian asylum migrants who recently obtained refugee status in the Netherlands. Syrians were the largest group of migrants applying for asylum in European Union (EU) member states in 2015 and 2016. The findings show that the majority of Syrian asylum migrants have access to social media information before and during migration, often through the use of smartphones. Besides uneven access to technologies, fear of government surveillance restricts the smartphone use of asylum migrants. The results of this study indicate that Syrian asylum migrants prefer social media information that originates from existing social ties and information that is based on personal experiences. Generally, this information is considered more trustworthy. Asylum migrants use various strategies to validate rumors that are present on social media and come from unknown sources. These strategies include checking the source of information, validating information with trusted social ties, triangulation of online sources, and comparing information with their own experience.

Online Feedback in Migration Networks

Feedback that is exchanged in migration corridors often entails information about migration to, and life in, different destinations. This is known to influence migration plans and decisions of prospective migrants. This type of feedback is transferred via means of long-distance communication. In the early 20th century, this was sustained through letters sent by surface mail (Thomas and Znaniecki, 1918–1920). Over the years, the means of communication between migrants and their country of origin have become faster, cheaper and more encompassing. For example, international telephone calls brought synchronous communication with the intimacy of hearing each other’s voice. Today, internet-based video chat and social media enable the simultaneous exchange of content combining text, (moving) images and sound. These exchanges facilitate intensive co-existence while living miles apart (Madianou and Miller, 2012).

Interethnic Contact Online: Contextualising the Implications of Social Media Use by Second-Generation Migrant Youth

Some studies suggest that social media encourage interethnic contact by removing social and spatial boundaries between ethnic communities while offering new spaces for communication and redefinition of ethnic identities. Others contend that social media add an online dimension to intra-ethnic bonding, either within the ethnic community or transnationally. This paper aims to understand such mixed findings by contextualising under what circumstances social media facilitate bridging and bonding behaviours. We conducted 52 semi-structured interviews with second-generation migrant youth in Rotterdam to inquire about their motivations and considerations concerning social media use. Results show that social media offer a new space for different orientations of interethnic contact. Interethnic contact as such is rarely deliberately pursued online but it is often constituted in venues organised around common interests. Engagement in intra-ethnic online communities is motivated by struggles with identity and lifestyle. Migrant youths online and offline lives are very much integrated and online communication deals with very similar complexities as offline interactions.