Posted on 30 March 2012
Professor Paul Scheffer (Tilburg University) delivered the 28 March Debating Europe lecture on ‘The Open Society and its Immigrants. Avoidance, Conflict and Accommodation in Europe’.
Scheffer elaborated some of the arguments from his book Immigrant Nations, and discussed how immigration is changing the world and what this means for European societies. He looked at the political decisions that have driven migration flows, and talked about the degree to which these flows have been a story of unintended consequences. Scheffer advocated a new perspective on immigration research, urging scholars to examine the issue in terms of what sending countries lose, and what receiving countries demonstrate in terms of reciprocity and self-reflection on the phenomenon. He highlighted how Europe’s approach to immigration has been moving away from a focus on diversity and multiculturalism to more concern with the issue of citizenship.
The policy implications of immigration, the role of religion, mobile migrant populations and the challenge of European citizenship were the main issues discussed in the subsequent debate, which was moderated by EUI Professor Rainer Bauböck.
Watch the video of the event
