The Migration Working Group, ‘Political Parties and Exploring Discrimination’

DATE
28-01-2020
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TIME
from: 11:00
to: 12:30
CONTACT
mpc@eui.eu

As part of the Migration Working Group, the Migration Policy Centre will host the following presentations:

“The impact of radical right parties upon migrants’ social rights: a cross regional comparison” , by Irene Landini, PHD researcher, Luiss Guido Carli University

Abstract

How does the participation of radical right parties in government coalitions shape the field of social policy, and impact upon the social rights of immigrants? Taking Austria as a case, this paper, analyses how the government participation of the radical right Freedom Party (FPÖ) (at both the federal and the provincial level) affected migrants’ entitlement to social rights, in the years following the recent refugee crisis. The paper finds that the FPÖ’s government participation has led to restrictive tendency as regards social policies. Especially the rights of refugees and EU nationals have been increasingly downgraded over time. The findings presented in this paper are based on an analysis of welfare policy frameworks, political party manifestos and speeches by governance actors, as well as interview data.

 

‘Against immigrant integration’? A review of the logics of recognition among the ‘mainstream’ and the populist radical right in Europe’, by Josefin Graef, PHD researcher, Hertie School

Abstract

This paper offers a review of the logics of recognition that shape mainstream and populist radical right (PRR) imaginaries of ‘immigrant integration’ in Europe. In doing so, it links a radical critique of immigrant integration imaginaries recently revived by scholars in the field of Migration Studies to the conceptualisation of the PRR as a growing political movement that seeks to radicalise mainstream norms. Taking the core insights of Taylor and Honneth’s classic work on the struggle for recognition as its starting point, the paper illustrates how PRR attitudes to ‘immigrant integration’ emerge from, rather than simply oppose, mainstream norms. This concerns in particular the centrality of the nation state, the focus on control, and the location of deviant behaviour outside ‘society’. Against this background, the paper suggests ways for re-approaching ‘integration’ precisely at a time when these norms are becoming increasingly politicised in the context of new immigration dynamics in Europe.
 

“Call Me By Your Name: A Field Experiment on Cultural Assimilation and Ethnic Discrimination in Schools” , by David Martinez de Lafuente, PhD researcher, ECO, EUI

Abstract

This paper is based on a field experiment, in which was tested whether cultural assimilation efforts of immigrant families mitigate discriminatory attitudes of schools. Fictitious visit requests were sent to more than 2,500 schools located in the region of Madrid (Spain). The paper finds that, controlling for family characteristics, Romanian families who give a Spanish name to their child are 50 percent less discriminated than Romanian families who select a Romanian name for their child. Emails from families whose members have Romanian names are 9 times less likely to receive a response than emails from Spanish-named families. The paper does not find evidence of heterogeneous effects across school, neighbourhood or municipality characteristics. This suggests that the socioeconomic composition and political preferences of the area where the school is located do not affect the size of out-group bias nor the impact of assimilation efforts on discrimination

 

Chairs and Discussants

Inés Bolaños Somoano, PhD researcher, Social and Political Sciences Department, EUI

Maximilian Mansbart, PhD researcher, Social and Political Sciences Department, EUI

 

Short biographies

 

Speakers

Irene-Landini

Irene Landini is a PhD researcher enrolled in the PhD Program in Politics: History, Theory, Science at LUISS Guido Carli University, in Rome. Previously, she obtained a Master’s degree in Human Rights and Multi Level Governance at the University of Padova (110/110) and a Second – Level Master in Euro projecting management at the University of Venice. She also collaborated with several NGOs working in the social field. Currently, her research interests are social policies, with particular focus on refugees and migrants’ access to social rights and welfare services in Europe and the relation between political parties and social rights for migrants.

jGraef

Josefin Graef is a postdoctoral scholar researching the societal conditions (including migration, integration, and populism) for responding to contemporary political violence and terrorism in Europe. Previously she was a Dahrendorf Postdoctoral Fellow at the Hertie School in Berlin and worked as a research assistant at the University of Birmingham and as a text analyst for a social insight agency in London. She is currently completing her first monograph “The Politics of Reading Right-wing Terrorism” (Routledge, 2020).

David.Lafuente

David Martinez de Lafuente (Bilbao, 1991) is a PhD researcher in the ECO department at the EUI. He has worked as a consultant for the Education department at the World Bank in Eastern Europe. Economics of education is his main field of interest.

Chairs and Discussants

Brumat_LeizaMaricel

Inés Bolaños Somoano is a second year PhD researcher at the Social and Political Sciences Department of the European University Institute. Her research focus lies on the EU Counter-terrorism strategy and the role of security networks in formulating EU security preferences. She is also interested in wider topics of security as a construction, navigating EU politics and policy making, and the role of Islamophobic ideas in the formulation of terrorism prevention strategies.

Lukas-Schmid

Maximilian Mansbart is a PhD researcher at the Department of Political and Social Sciences of the EUI. He studies public opinion in the EU and political representation (policy responsiveness and congruence) of socio-economic and regional groups on the supranational levels of the EU (EP, EC).
Prior to joining the EUI he completed the Master of Arts in political science at the University of Vienna and studied at the Vienna University of Economics and Business.