Edited by Claudia Finotelli & Irene Ponzo published on ‘Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies’
Despite the large amount of literature on migrants’ integration, little is known about integration in times of economic decline. The aim of the Special Issue “Integration in times of economic decline. Migrant inclusion in Southern European societies: trends and theoretical implications“ is to contribute to filling this research gap by exploring the nexus between the Great Recession that began in 2008 and integration processes. To this end, we regard Southern European countries as an observatory of crucial relevance because of their harsh experience of the crisis. This Special Issue shows how during the years of economic crisis differentiated developments of the various integration dimensions (legal-political, cultural and economic) occurred. In particular, the articles’ results point to a greater resilience of the legal-political and cultural dimensions of integration than the economic dimension. This specific decoupling of integration dimensions observed in Southern Europe is likely to be related to the particular features of countries in this area such as their migration histories, welfare regimes, legal framework and political settings. By highlighting how these singularities are interrelated with the crisis-integration nexus, this Issue also contributes to a better understanding of Southern Europe’s specificities, potentials and weaknesses compared with other immigration areas.
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