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Exploring the case of the temporary regularisation for migrants promoted by Portugal in March 2020, this article problematises 'recurrent narratives of crisis'. Narratives of crisis tend to depict migration as an exception and a violation of a supposed norm. Their recurrent use by politicians and media conveys the idea of a permanent state of emergency, allows the introduction of short-term measures, and drifts attention off the need for systemic changes. Regularisations have been used several times in European countries to manage migration 'crises'. Yet, many scholars and activists have voiced doubts on their effectiveness, especially when regularisations only granted a temporary permit. In March 2020, Portugal acknowledged to foreign nationals with pending cases at the Foreigners and Frontiers Service (SEF) the possibility to be considered regular residents for the duration of the national state of emergency. The article sheds light on the discrepancy between the way this measure was presented by politicians and how it was received on the ground. Through new and timely evidence collected during this project, I build on the concept of 'anti-crisis' to advocate for a shift from crises narratives onto a more open discussion on systemic issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses the Italian debate on immigration in the 1980s and relates it to the progressive Europeanisation of the country. In the 1980s, political debate on foreign immigration evolved in Italy, as indeed it did elsewhere. The nature of this debate was influenced by the international affiliations of whomever happened to be addressing the issue. At the same time, supranational (in particular European) levels of political intervention on migration became ever more evident. During the 1980s Italy's focus on emigration started to be supplanted by immigration. Unlike with emigration, debate and government action in Italy followed an irregular course. Indeed, until 1989, the issue was a low priority on political parties' agendas and government action; it was left to social movements and trade unions, from the early 1980s onwards, to champion the centrality of a European approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Normative debates and comparative studies on voting rights regulations are lively. However, little is known on what citizens think of enfranchising migrants. This paper starts to fill this gap. We conducted an original survey in 26 European countries (n = 16,555). In most countries, an (often narrow) majority of sedentary nationals supports enfranchising emigrants. In all countries, no majority favours the enfranchisement of immigrants, although falling short of a majority in several cases. Being a woman, a bi-national citizen, but also younger, and leaning to the political left is associated with higher support for enfranchising immigrants. However, no individual-level characteristics, apart from age, is associated with the support for enfranchising emigrants. An exclusive national identity is associated not only with lower support for enfranchising immigrants but for emigrants, as well. Furthermore, larger relative sizes of immigrant population fuel support for enfranchisement of this group – up to a certain level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past years, we have seen a rise in political mobilisations in EUrope and elsewhere, by and in solidarity with migrant newcomers. This article focuses on specific examples of what we conceptualise as transversal solidarities by and with migrants, and rooted in the city, the focus of this special issue. The examples we explore in this article include: Trampoline House, a civil society organisation which provides a home to migrant newcomers in Copenhagen; Queer Base, an activist organisation in Vienna providing support for LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer) migrants; and finally, the Palermo Charter Process, a coalition of diverse groups seeking to create open harbours and 'corridors of solidarity', from the Mediterranean to cities throughout EUrope. While these examples are situated in and across different urban spaces, they share a common grounding in building solidarity through spaces of encounters related to ideas of home, community, and harbour. By exploring these distinct solidarity initiatives in tandem, we examine, on the one hand, how the production of spaces of encounters is linked to building transversal solidarities and, on the other, how transversal solidarities also connect different spaces of solidarity across different political scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transnational social networks of migrants are extensively studied, but little is known about the associations between transnational social networks and individual migration trajectories over the course of migrants' lives. In this paper, we reconstruct the migration trajectories and transnational social networks of African migrants until their arrival in Europe and develop a typology that reflects the diversity of their trajectories. Based on unique retrospective life-history data of the MAFE project, our comparative perspective highlights the diversity of African migrants residing in Europe, the routes that they took before arriving in Europe and the types of transnational networks they had before, during and after migrating. Furthermore, we discuss the socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics of migrants within each typology. Consequently, this paper challenges the singular African migration stereotype and draws attention to the associations between transnational social networks and migration trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The special issue: Migration Trajectories and Transnational Support Within and Beyond Europe brings together a set of papers with fresh empirical analysis from diverse settings documenting the experiences of migrants residing within and beyond the boundaries of Europe. This introductory article has the objective of laying the groundwork for a better understanding of how migration trajectories are shaped and continued in the contexts of transnational (social) networks and migration control. Firstly, we argue that migration journeys are not necessarily linear and unidirectional movements from origin to destination countries, nor are they clearly demarcated events in time and space. On the contrary, we highlight the dynamic and changing nature of migration trajectories. Secondly, we examine different types of relevant actors who provide support for migrants during their journeys. We focus on transnational social networks and transnationally operating institutions and human smugglers, which influence and facilitate or disrupt migration trajectories. Subsequently, based on the premise that migrants' social networks, expectations, motivations and needs change throughout the migration process, we discuss the ways in which transnational support in a context of migration control relates to the lives of migrants on the move. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article extends understandings of circular migration among young migrants (aged 16–35) by focusing on the two key concepts of human capital and life satisfaction. Drawing on a large-scale quantitative primary data set, the YMOBILITY survey, key skills and competencies that facilitate circular migration are identified. It is widely assumed that achieving higher levels of subjective well-being is a primary motivational factor behind migratory decisions. However, there is little conclusive evidence to suggest that migration and mobility lead to increased levels of happiness. We argue that tacit competencies, defined as skills, ideas and experiences that people have but are not codified, are especially valued by circular migrants as facilitators of multiple migratory processes and are of importance to levels of life-satisfaction among young circular migrants. In order to assess circular migration as a life-strategy, the relationship between human capital outcomes and levels of life satisfaction among circular migrants is examined. Our analysis identifies important disparities in human capital and life satisfaction outcomes according to socio-economic and geographic background. It offers insight into the significance of life-course effects on the levels of life-satisfaction among young circular migrants and suggests new theoretical approaches to the study of contemporary migration in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conditions which determine the acquisition of skills by migrants are still poorly understood. This paper addresses two of those conditions: the temporality of the acquisition of competences, whether the number and duration of migrations matter, as well as the spatiality, or the variation across countries of origin and return. Based on a large-scale online panel survey of returned young migrants in nine European countries, the significance of time (duration) and space (number of migrations) in the acquisition of skills and competences are examined. The findings reveal that young European returnees' experiences gained abroad result in largely positive outcomes but with significant differences between formal qualifications, language skills and personal and cultural competences. However, their acquisition of skills and competences is mediated by temporality – the combination of number of trips, and duration of migration. Spatiality is also important, with outcomes depending on the destination countries, and whether migration and return are from or to rural versus urban areas. These indicate that structural considerations continue to shape individual migration experiences within the EU's freedom of movement space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent Southern European migration is characterised by important flows of higher-skilled young persons. The balance between the risk of a new brain drain and brain waste and the opportunity of brain gain depends on how the young migrants integrate into the labour market of destination, the new abilities they acquire and the possibilities of re-integrating into the labour market of origin, in case of return migration. In this paper we discuss the contribution of international youth mobility to the development of human capital. We focus on the individual gain in origin countries/regions generated by circulation and return and concentrate on total human capital. Our results – based on 120 in-depth interviews conducted in Italy and Spain, in both core (Rome and Madrid) and peripheral (Apennines and Andalusia) areas, with young students and lower- and higher-skilled workers – show that both Italians and Spaniards have acquired soft skills and these informal and tacit competences are considered to be as important as formal and explicit ones. For young Italians, brain circulation predominates and the human capital gained during migration results in better employability and earnings; for young Spaniards, circulation and return are more difficult in spite of their enriched human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human capital has been long an exceedingly important concept in migration research. Over time there have been attempts to provide more nuanced, and less economistic interpretations of human capital. Based on outputs from the EU Horizon 2020 project YMOBILITY (2015–2018) and two additional papers, this Special Issue seeks to advance this agenda further by addressing the complexities of the mobility of human capital. Migration problematises human capital assumptions due to challenges in transferring human capital across national borders. In this introductory paper we propose rethinking the human capital of migrants in a three-fold way. Firstly, we question the interpretation of skills and competences beyond the conventional divide of 'higher-skilled' and 'lower-skilled' through the concept of a 'knowledgeable migrant'. Secondly, we probe deeper into an understanding of the transferability of skills in relation to 'location', exploring the possibilities and constraints to the transfer of human capital in different spatial contexts. Thirdly, we theorise human capital in terms of new temporalities of migration and the role these play in skill acquisition. We illustrate our novel theoretical thinking with selected empirical data, both quantitative and qualitative, on youth mobility in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines narratives of learning and occupational advancement amongst migrants employed in 'low-skilled' jobs, based on in-depth interviews with secondary-educated East and South Europeans living in the London region. Our findings indicate that many achieved varying degrees of professional gratification, progress, and skills development within occupational sectors typically associated with unattractive conditions, limited benefits or opportunities to get ahead. Participants' narratives of achievement expand the relatively limited literature that challenges common perceptions of occupational mobility and professional development as the terrain of the 'highly skilled'. Furthermore, we examine how migrants made sense of their career opportunities and success. We discuss two discourses, centred on 'hard work' and 'creativity' respectively, through which participants challenged and reconfigured traditional 'high'-'low-skilled' divides. Our findings contribute to critiques of traditional understandings of migrant human capital and simplistic 'high'-'low-skilled' distinctions in two ways: by documenting the less visible experiences of learning and career progress amongst secondary-educated European youth who enter 'low-skilled' employment abroad, and by calling attention to subjective understandings of occupational mobility and the new 'symbolic boundaries' around skills, broadly construed, that migrants redrew in their reflections on career progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article informs about European migration policies racist in times of spreading politicization of migration-related issue, such as rhetorical and partisan. Topics include potential migrants and a growing number of decision-makers in migrant-sending countries; and appraisal of the transition from the colonial to the postcolonial migration regimes of European countries reduced migration and travel opportunities for citizens of African countries of the European migration regime.

The aspirations and the decisions of young Afghan men at the south-eastern borders of the EU are structured by a moral economy of migration that has a twofold dimension. On the one hand, migration implies a social system of exchange and redistribution between young migrants and their relatives who stayed behind. It is underpinned by a code of conduct implying mutual obligations and collective responsibilities, by a system of values and solidarity, norms and social obligations that defines what it means for them to be successful migrants and therefore 'good men'. On the other hand, migration is characterised by the high pressure to succeed. Prompted by their quest for autonomy and recognition, becoming increasingly aware during their journey that only a few of them will be able to settle down in Europe, the relationships among young migrants are imbued by competition and jealousy. Migration becomes a rite of passage to adulthood and obtaining protection in socially valued destinations in Europe amounts to accomplishing their mission. The hardship of the illegal journey emphasises the initiation dimension of migration while at the same time making success an extremely demanding task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contributes to the literature debate on local-level as a crucial arena of migration government in Europe, after the so-called 'refugees crisis' in 2015 and the attempt to limit migration movements towards Europe by restricting asylum rights. Drawing on 13 months of ethnographic research in Milan (Italy) between the years 2017 and 2018, we argue that the urban space can be turned into a setting of enforcing internal borders. The study focuses on implicit and informal 'obstructions' deployed by police immigration office (Questura) to hinder the attribution of legal status to prospect asylum-seekers or to block the renewal of refugees' documents. In line with the national and European political orientation towards migration, such restrictive asylum policies have been deployed in Milan since 2016. Instead of placing the migrants in a 'state of exception', we argue that these praxes represent additional layers of control mechanisms. Refugees' lives are directly affected by the obfuscation of their legal status produced by these obstructive praxes, which push recipients into the shadow of the law and are bearers of feelings of dependency and uncertainty. We ultimately argue that such indirect and informal bureaucratic obstructive practices can be interpreted as forms of structural violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following EU enlargement in 2004, the United Kingdom and Ireland experienced large‐scale migration from Poland and other new EU states. The Poles who migrated to both jurisdictions were demographically similar and have faced similar challenges although these have begun to diverge in the context of Brexit. Previous research emphasized the intentional unpredictability of many Polish migrants who deferred decisions whether to settle or return which appears to account for limited political incorporation in both the Irish and UK cases prior to Brexit. This literature also examined how such migrants have become socially embedded but not politically integrated. Drawing on surveys conducted in Ireland and the UK during 2018, we highlight predicaments arising from the thin nature of EU citizenship which allowed for free movement but has neglected political integration. In the Irish case, we suggest that EU migrants, including Poles, are likely to remain detached from citizenship and political participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant integration is usually studied in four dimensions: economic, political, social and cultural. The cultural sphere seems to be the most ambiguous, but also the one that induces various interpretations as it touches upon core norms and values held both by migrants and by the receiving society. This paper aims to reconstruct research approaches to cultural integration and integration policy. Beside the receiving country's language, that is the obvious differentiating factor of cultural integration, other aspects have been defined: migrants' religion, knowledge of the receiving country's symbolic culture, maintenance and transmission of cultural patterns, cultural identity. Furthermore, indicators which appear to adequately measure the effectiveness of integration activities have been assigned to the predefined aspects of cultural integration. They have been confronted with indicators used within integration policies of selected EU states and with expert statements (collected within the Delphi method‐based survey) on given aspects of policies aimed at cultural integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant integration is usually studied in four dimensions: economic, political, social and cultural. The cultural sphere seems to be the most ambiguous, but also the one that induces various interpretations as it touches upon core norms and values held both by migrants and by the receiving society. This paper aims to reconstruct research approaches to cultural integration and integration policy. Beside the receiving country's language, that is the obvious differentiating factor of cultural integration, other aspects have been defined: migrants' religion, knowledge of the receiving country's symbolic culture, maintenance and transmission of cultural patterns, cultural identity. Furthermore, indicators which appear to adequately measure the effectiveness of integration activities have been assigned to the predefined aspects of cultural integration. They have been confronted with indicators used within integration policies of selected EU states and with expert statements (collected within the Delphi method‐based survey) on given aspects of policies aimed at cultural integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Varia História is the property of Varia Historia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article investigates interwar people-smuggling networks, based in Germany and Czechoslovakia, that transported undocumented emigrants across borders from east-central Europe to northern Europe, where the travelers planned to sail to the United States. Many of the people involved in such networks in the Saxon-Bohemian borderlands had themselves been immigrants from Galicia. They had left a homeland decimated by the First World War and subsequent violence and entered societies with limited avenues to earn a living. The "othering" of these Galician immigrants became a self-fulfilling prophecy, as those on the margins of society then sought illegal ways to supplement their income. This article concludes that the poor economic conditions and threat of ongoing violence that spurred migrant clients to seek undocumented passage had driven their smugglers, who also faced social marginalization, to emigration and the business of migrant smuggling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europe received an unprecedented number of asylum seekers in 2015. This article examines Iraqi asylum seekers who journeyed through Europe in search of an idealized version of Finland, which they had imagined based on word‐of‐mouth and social media information. Through cognitive migration, the act of pre‐experiencing futures in different locations, Finland was seen to offer both subjective hope of personal growth and advancement and objective hope of safety and physical security. This hope motivated them to embark on a journey of 6,000 kilometers to the European North. Based on interview data and relevant studies, the article concludes that hope of a better, imagined future abroad acts as a powerful magnet for persons with poor prospects in their countries of origin. Hope is a kind of critical emotion strongly shaped by beliefs and real‐time opportunities; and as such, beliefs are notoriously difficult to change. Imagination, therefore, should not be overlooked when planning and implementing migration policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alongside the long-term migration systems that developed between Europe and the Americas, Atlantic migration history is replete with anomalous events—migration "fevers" that lie outside well-described norms in migratory processes. Prospect theory finds risk-seeking behavior to have been a compelling pre-condition for two instances of such migration fever in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as for their subsequent cascade effects, creating a social dynamic of "irrational" migration. Prospect theory provides a testable framework for understanding why and how short-lived migration episodes acquired so much force and intensity and points toward a broader relationship with accepted decision-making structures in migration studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article holistically discusses the alleged new EU return system which the Pact on Migration and Asylum heralds. Absent any impact assessment accompanying the key draft legislative measures and any implementation report regarding the existing legislative instruments following the 2015 refugee‐protection crisis, it provides both a substantial and a formal assessment of the proposed reform. A substantial analysis reveals that the two main objectives of the EU return system, namely effectiveness and human rights compliance, are pitted against each other to the detriment of human rights compliance and that effectiveness is questionably narrowed to return rate. Looking at the key components of the return system under the Pact and taking into account past interinstitutional negotiations in the field, it shows that the draft proposals are not conducive to fulfilling these objectives. From a formal standpoint, the article questions the weight of the Commission's proposals on the future outcome of the current negotiations based on their lack of legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Blue Card Directive 2009/50 has failed. It sets conditions for entry and residence in the EU for third‐country nationals in highly qualified and well‐paid employment. Recently, negotiations over its recast have come to life, and gives reason to discuss the way forward. This comment reflects on the European Blue Card Directive 2009/50 and its recast and the thoughts presented in this special issue by two legal practitioners, Jo Antoons and Andreia Ghimis, and a philosopher, Johan Rochel. I argue in favour of a new narrative focusing on sustainable labour migration, instead of the current narrative which is based on solving old problems. More particularly, drawing from intersecting policy fields (environment, foreign investment, integration and migration policy), this contribution revisits three themes at the core of the Blue Card and its reform: the economic needs test, privatisation through the concept of a trusted sponsor, and intra‐EU mobility rights for migrant workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demonstrates that the role of the European Commission in the area of asylum policy is characterised by an imbalance between politicisation and rationality. Politicisation of the role of the Commission is especially visible in its proposals for border procedures in the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. We show that the efficiency and effectiveness of these proposals are not supported by evidence or a thorough assessment of past EU action, as required by Better Regulation. The result is that they fail to address the structural problems that exist with regard to the implementation and application of EU law at external borders. The broken balance between politicisation and rationality in the legislative process leads to a prioritisation of security over freedom and justice. We argue that it needs to be compensated by a stronger role of the judiciary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future skills and labour workforce shortages, together with the demographic challenges, and the economic impact of the COVID‐19 sanitary crisis will increase the EU's need for highly skilled migration. In this comment, we argue that a successful reform of the EU Blue Card scheme should include more flexible eligibility criteria, process facilitations and generous intra‐EU mobility provisions not only for business travel, but also for short‐term work and, in some cases, for movement to a second Member State for employment purposes. Parallel national schemes should be allowed for those that do not qualify for the EU Blue Card scheme. Without these essential changes the administrative cost and time invested into reforming the current schemes at EU and national level will not bring about the expected positive impact on EU's attractiveness for highly skilled third‐country nationals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2009, the "Blue Card Directive" has become one of the most important elements of the EU's legal immigration scheme for attracting the best immigrants to Europe. Taking advantage of its current revision, this contribution takes a legal theoretical look at the Directive. Drawing upon the republican conception of freedom defined as the absence of arbitrary interferences, this paper sheds light on some positive steps as well the margin of progression still left in order to fully operationalise the EU's commitment to respecting equal freedom. The article also adds to the limited doctrinal contributions on the Blue Card Directive and illustrates the added value of a republican approach to EU migration law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the implications of elements of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum from the perspective of fragmentation of "asylum seeker" status. Different parts of the legislative package tabled by the European Commission in September 2020 call into question the EU law view of asylum seekers as a single, indivisible category of protected persons. The retreat of EU law at external borders, on the one hand, leads to the creation of a "hollow asylum seeker" status, while the multidimensional expansion of border procedures and corollary deprivation of liberty risks defeating hard‐fought safeguards on procedural presumptions and detention. Conversely, the enactment of a "privileged asylum seeker" status through the newly introduced "immediate protection" regime appears to be a measure with pragmatic potential for needed solutions and decisive EU steps towards group refugee status determination, albeit formulated in such a way as to exacerbate fragmentation and complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to understand the reasons for the spread of fear, the suspension of solidarity, and the securitizing national and local context along the European migratory route. A settlement located on the Hungarian side of the Serbian-Hungarian border, heavily affected by international migration in 2015, is the focus of inquiry. The mayor of the village is a major figure in the Hungarian far-right who mobilized not only the political scene but also various segments of the media to create and legitimize a discourse involving threatened villagers (and more generally, threatened Hungarians and Europeans) and a migrant menace (perceived as non-European, non-white, and non-human). Based on an ethnographic inquiry, the paper reveals the variety of discourses and attitudes which emerged as immediate reactions to people on the move appearing in large numbers in the village. These initial reactions included empathy and a willingness to help which rapidly disappeared. The paper analyses how welcoming acts and voices were silenced and eliminated, and a hegemony of fear was constructed. It contributes to the special issue by showing how fragile solidarity with refugees can be, and how its elimination can occur if social precarity and far-right politics are combined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the evolution of Chinese labour migration to the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Italy in order to elucidate how the flows and stocks of Chinese workers have evolved since the Global Economic Crisis, and what implications this has have for Sino‐European mobility partnerships in the post‐crisis context. It explains: (1) What comparative data are available on Chinese labour migration to the six principal countries of destination in Europe; (2) How have Chinese labour migration flows and stocks evolved since the GEC; (3) How may the new Chinese workers' mobility to Europe affect their rights? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores whether differences in the implementation of nationality laws explain gaps between nationality laws and nationality acquisition across Europe. Previous research confirms that nationality acquisition among the foreign‐born in Western European countries is largely determined by the inclusiveness of nationality policies and the characteristics of the immigrant population. Drawing on recent data on nationality procedures across Europe, this article argues that, regardless of the nationality laws in place, nationality procedures create major obstacles for different types of immigrants. This article uses data from the European Social Survey to conduct multi‐level analysis of nationality acquisition in 17 European countries among long‐settled foreign‐born adult arrivals, controlling for their individual, origin and destination country characteristics. The analysis finds that nationality procedures are as important as nationality laws for nationality acquisition among most immigrants living in Europe today, especially for immigrants who are most likely to benefit and apply: immigrants from developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature researching the drivers of highly skilled migration (HSM) often prioritizes labor market returns to education and downscales the importance of public welfare. This article develops an innovative empirical strategy which allows us to see how a selection of pull factors attracts temporary and long‐term educated migrants in Europe. To do so, we built a unique longitudinal contextual dataset merging information from the European Labor Force Survey (2000‐2014) with selected Eurostat and OECD country indicators. Country‐fixed effect time series allow us to concentrate on cross‐country effects. Our evidence suggests that returns to education attract temporary HSM and long‐term stayers equally. However, it is also shown that public welfare and taxation operate differently for these two groups and do not deter long‐term residents. Our article proposes revisiting the assumption that HSMs are mere income maximizers. As we argue, long‐term HSM may well be attracted by generous welfare setups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on empirical data from 37 Bulgarian students and young professionals in the UK, this article explores the intersection of the discourses produced by the European crises and migrants' national identity. In Bulgaria, the crisis narrative is embedded in the arguably never‐ending democratic transition, manifested in socio‐economic instability and political volatility. Simultaneously, "Brexit Britain" is enveloped in strong Eurosceptic sentiments, propelled by a combination of austerity measures and intensified Eastern European migratory flows. Both contexts subject Bulgarian migrants to stigmatizing representations. Looking at migrants' everyday practices, the data reveals that young Bulgarians draw on the related ideas of the "new" Enlightener and Ambassador to counterbalance negative discourses. Thus, the article explores the meanings and significance attributed to the Enlighteners and the Ambassadors, arguing that the participants engage in "social creativity" and "individual mobility" strategies that lead to reinvention of national identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the special issue on 'Intra‐EU mobilities in times of crisis'. Intra‐EU mobility has emerged as an ambivalent phenomenon. On the one hand, EU‐wide opinion polls still depict freedom of movement as the most positive aspect of European integration. On the other hand, with nationalism and xenophobia on the rise, migration and mobility are increasingly problematized and challenged. Shifting attention from the master narratives about intra‐EU mobility, the aim of the special issue is to bring to the fore the lived experiences of the key actors as recounted in a period of multiple European crises which, in turn, represent the visible and mediatized manifestations of more complex and deep‐seated processes of political and economic change. Here we provide a chronological periodization of intra‐EU mobility trends over recent decades and how they intersect with major geopolitical events, aiming to contextualise the special issue articles which are then presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At a time when the belief in a welfare crisis is being connected to a so‐called "migration crisis", in particular in the United Kingdom, it is important to look at the lived experiences of mobile EU citizens and the influence of transnational social protection practices. The article introduces the concept of a "migration‐welfare corridor" – as opposed to the widespread welfare magnet hypothesis – taking into consideration the role of welfare systems in origin and destination countries at different stages of a migrant's life cycle, the changing nature of the welfare habitus as well as migrants' attitudes towards what can be defined as welfare chauvinism. Looking specifically at the case of Spanish and Polish migrants in the UK who have reacted to this protracted environment of deterrence, particularly in respect to their welfare rights, this paper discusses several dimensions that should be taken into consideration when analyzing transnational social protection practices from below. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crisis of the welfare state has generated a powerful pulling effect for contemporary intra‐European migration flows. This article focuses on the migration of live‐in care workers from Central and East European countries to the Netherlands, following the Dutch care reform. It explores the motivations and strategies of live‐in migrant carers (LIMC) engaging in transnational mobility, aiming to understand how their agency is structured in multiple contexts. I am especially interested in transnational coping strategies and in how migrants pursue specific motivation mixes combining need and self‐realization. The article draws on in‐depth interviews with LIMC workers, triangulated with data from LIMC providers, family carers and other stakeholders. Participants use the LIMC jobs to cope with home and host country constraints, reconcile work and private life, and keep family ties. Continuous mobility is a strategic choice, which makes tough working conditions bearable and enables the achievement of long‐term goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contributes to debates on identification, home and belonging by focusing on EU children in Brexit times.1 The article combines attention to the emotional and affective side of integration with a focus on the effects of the discursive practices of the state on these processes. The article explores how Italian children and their parents navigate the increasingly neo‐assimilationist pressures in Britain. Specifically, it looks at children's ways of accommodating their parents' values of mobility, multilingualism and transnationalism with the revived nationalist logic now dominant. The article argues for renewed scrutiny into the role of public discourses on migrants' experiences, which illuminate the redrawing of the boundaries between inclusion and exclusion at moments of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1990s young South Europeans have been attracted to London by the dynamic labour market and cultural radiance of the city, but also pushed by unfavourable conditions in the labour markets of their origin countries. Subsequently, the Eurozone crisis, austerity politics and their socio‐political consequences have markedly intensified migration rates. But did they also signify a rupture in terms of the motivations, experiences and aspirations of the migrants? Drawing on in‐depth interviews with Greek, Italian and Spanish migrants of different educational levels, we find that post‐materialist motivations and pro‐migration dispositions prevail among the "crisis‐migrants". Migration is seen and experienced as a step forward, rather than a disruptive force, signalling a positive message in defence of intra‐EU free mobility. Yet at times of neoliberal deregulation and economic and political uncertainty, aspirations for socio‐economic stability and settlement are also of growing importance, questioning mobility as the normative way of contemporary life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crisis narratives surrounding Europe's 2015 migration influx fuelled demands for new ways of tracking, mapping and predicting human mobility. We explore how market opportunities for technology firms and data analytics start‐ups created by the EU's Global Approach to Migration led to solutionistic approaches to compiling and analysing migration statistics. We show that initiatives such as the rebranding of existing platforms and services as migration prediction systems are consolidating policy conceptualisations of migration as risk. Despite the promise of greater granularity, this "big data approach" cannot offer greater certainty about who is on the move and why. Instead such approaches are ill‐suited to understanding the complex dynamics of migration and to offering protection to vulnerable people. The marketisation of migration statistics through big data offers a key case for advancing progressive approaches to both migration statistics and global data justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increased immigration in Western Europe has been linked by some political parties to increased criminality rates. We study the statistical relationship between the proportion of foreign-born to three types of reported criminality - rapes, burglary, and assault. The analysis is based on Swedish municipality level data for 2002–2014, years with significant immigration. Using non-parametric Gaussian processes models, we find that while reported rape rates have increased, they are likely best explained by changes in reporting. The reported burglary rates have decreased, while reported assault rates are positively correlated to the proportion of foreign-born residents in the municipality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the policy implemented by the city of Milan to deal with the migrants crossing the city en route to central Europe from 2013, mainly from Syria and the Horn of Africa. To understand the city's response to this wave of migration, a qualitative case study was conducted that included interviews with volunteers, public employees, legal advisers and refugees. Milan's initiative is discussed in the context of the expansion of sanctuary city policies in Europe during the period of the "migration crisis". In particular, we will see that the sistema profughi was from 2013 to 2017 an alternative to national and international policies on transit migration in terms of law, narrative and implementation, in supporting the right to the transit and challenging European and Italian policies on the matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The co-operation between the European Union (EU or Union) and third countries on the return and readmission of irregular migrants is increasingly informal, enshrined in political or administrative deals rather than formal international treaties. This article explores the effect of the systematisation in the use of informal deals on the rule of law compliance of the Union's return policy. It argues that the systematic recourse to informal deals relates to a strategic avoidance of judicial and democratic accountability of the Union's action. More particularly, EU Institutions make use of the distinction between international treaties and non-binding informal deals to sever an area of governance with clear fundamental rights implications, i.e. the EU return policy, from judicial and democratic oversight. This compromises the rule of law compliance of the EU return policy. In fact, as constitutional principle of the EU legal order, the rule of law inextricably connects and encompasses the pre-eminence of the law, democratic guarantees, and fundamental rights protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the European migrant crisis is omnipresent in political and medial discourses, two of its key causes are only seldom addressed by politicians and journalists: mistakes in Europe's domestic, foreign and development policies; and Eurocentric, clichéd or ill-informed press coverage on migration. What impedes such political and medial self-criticism? What happens if politicians or journalists publicly address their own mistakes? Creative culture, in turn, has a long tradition of public self-reflexivity. In the wake of the crisis, many literary texts and films self-critically reflect on the literary and filmic framing of migrants, and challenge the political and medial 'externalization' of the crisis. Building upon these observations, this contribution suggests a new direction for discursive research: the analysis of self-criticism as an ethical challenge for public communication. It highlights research desiderata, discusses the theoretical foundations for comparing self-reflexivity across discourses, and outlines a transdisciplinary terminology and exemplary methods for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current migration and refugee crisis in Europe requires an understanding of the different migration drivers beyond the well-known economic determinants. In this article, we view migration from a broader human security perspective and analyze the determinants of regular and asylum seeker migration flows from Africa to Europe for the period 1990 to 2014. Our results show that, in addition to economic determinants, a combination of push and pull factors influences migration decisions of individuals. In particular, rising political persecution, human rights violations, ethnic tensions, political instability, and civil conflicts in African source countries are all significantly associated with increased migration flows into European destination countries. Therefore, our results underscore the need for the European Union and European countries to collaborate with the source countries, not only in terms of supporting economic development in the source countries but also in promoting human security: human rights, democracy, peace, and social stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During his presidential campaign, the new elected President of U.S., Donald Trump, called for a complete ban on Muslims from entering the United States. Although numerous European observers have been shocked by this proposal, using the most recent European Social Survey immigration module, this paper found that a sizeable proportion of Europeans support a similar ban in their own countries, e.g. Czech Republic (54 per cent), Hungary (51 per cent), Estonia (42 per cent), Poland (33 per cent), and Portugal (33 per cent). The paper also provides evidence that racism and immigration phobia play a key role in shaping Europeans' support of a ban on Muslims' immigration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines church–state relations in Europe, and analyzes their influence on anti‐immigrant attitudes. The literature explains this relationship primarily with religious demographics, or state privileges for the majority faith. Alternately, this study focuses on the status of the majority religion. It argues that, in countries with a national church, citizens are more likely to consider the institutionalization of a new religion to be occurring at the expense of the national heritage, and react negatively. To test that hypothesis, the study focuses on Muslim immigrants in Europe, and builds an index that gauges the extent to which European states institutionalize Islam. Then, employing multilevel regression analysis, it investigates how the institutionalization of Islam influences anti‐Muslim prejudice in different contexts of church–state regimes. Individual‐level data come from the latest wave of the European Values Study, and cover 31 countries. Findings indicate that, in European countries with a national church, institutionalization of Islam increases anti‐Muslim prejudice. In countries without a national church, however, institutionalization leads to tolerance. These results confirm the continuing relevance of religion on the national level in Europe, despite the decline in individual religiosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immigrant‐related policy indexes have become popular in both U.S. and European contexts, yet these projects boast distinct and divergent trajectories. European indices are characterized by rigorous conceptualization, specificity in elements of policy design (e.g., settings like fees or appeal process), and a variety of measurement strategies. By contrast, U.S. state‐level policy indices exhibit a lack of differentiation between immigration and integration policy and excessive generality in measurement and representation of policy instruments and settings, exacerbated in presenting a policy index as an aggregate count. This paper argues U.S. policy indexing can benefit from the European indexing experience. Following an overview of the state of each field, assessing concept differentiation, specification, and measurement in each, the paper illustrates how even the well‐conceived and specified European integration policy indices run into problems at the analysis stage. It presents a replication‐replacement study to illustrate divergent performance of highly correlated and conceptually agreeing indices, as well as methodological issues inherent to indices of low‐N, including using a policy index as a dependent variable and index selection absent a priori theorization. It concludes with suggestions for improving American immigration policy indices, as well as general observations on working with statistical power‐challenged indices and data limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU has tried to distinguish itself as respecting human rights in its migration policies. In 2015, mass drownings at sea of refugees from war‐torn and despotic countries like Syria and Eritrea started to rise with the end of Mare Nostrum, the Italian navy's search and rescue operation in the Mediterranean. One EU response was to declare a war on "criminal gangs" of smugglers and traffickers, reportedly responsible for the surge in refugee deaths. Equating smugglers' activities with a "new slave trade", this "securitization move" failed to gain legitimacy from EU publics and media. Military solutions to refugee flight continued to be proposed, and a second securitization move continued to target smugglers and traffickers, but this time the "referent object" became the West itself, and the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]