CHALLENGES OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION -DIVERSITY AND IMMIGRATION IN POLITICAL DISCOURSES OF INTEGRATION

Robert Sata (Central European University)
This paper attempts to identify how cultural diversity of Europe frames the issue of immigration in European political discourse. The EU subsidiary principle of devolved power demands the difficult balancing of a multiplicity of identities, while immigration flows bring new diversity to member states that challenge the creation and maintenance of national identities. Issues concerned with life style, cultural diversity, immigration or asylum policy in particular do interact with conceptions of national identity, which in turn can both bolster support for and be the most powerful break on integration. Political discourse on integration policy seems torn between international commitments to accept immigrants and refugees and public opinion unwilling to grant welfare benefits or rights to them. Based on qualitative data collected through the EUROSPHERE project, the paper attempts to identify the openness or closure of European public discourses towards the idea of societal diversity on the one hand, and immigration on the other in order to see whether parties with more inclusive views of diversity are more likely to support immigration. Based on systematic comparative analysis, we examine the nature of national identities and domestic political competition vis-à-vis European-level politics to test whether national loyalties will persist or national publics are willing and able to be more open to transnationalisation efforts.

Robert Sata is Academic Coordinator at the Department of Political Science at the Central European University. He was a postdoctoral research fellow associated with EUROSPHERE project. His latest publications include “Multicultural Dialogues: Diversity, Gender, and Immigration in the European Public Sphere”, “Gendered Identity Constructions in Political Discourse: The Cases of Denmark and Hungary’ (with L. A. Andersen) in Negotiating Gender and Diversity in an Emergent European Public Sphere, 2013; and “Political Parties and the Politics of Diversity in the European Public Sphere” in Javnost – The Public, Vol. 19, No1, 2012.
Friday 26 April, 14.15-16.00
Uni Rokkan Centre, Nygårdsgaten 5, 6th floor.