Immigrant integration: the governance of ethno-cultural differences

Abstract

This commentary is a reply to the article ‘Against immigrant integration’ by Willem Schinkel. It argues that rather than abandoning immigrant integration as a field of research, we have to continue to strengthen critical approaches. Immigrant integration has to be understood and analyzed as a governance technique, rendering differences purposeful for certain ends. In this way, categories such as class and race get into the picture instead of being omitted. It is also emphasized that we have to look beyond the nation state to truly unsettle common sense ideas about immigrant integration and the migrant ‘other’. These points are illustrated by discussing the ‘management’ of immigrant integration in cities in Europe.