Europe’s established and emerging immigrant communities: Assimilation, multiculturalism or integration?

Abstract

Europe is not what it used to be, and not yet what it will be. The assassination of Theo van Gogh in November 2004, the 2001 riots in the Northern cities of England, the riots in France in November 2005 and the incident of the Danish Cartoons in 2005 are all manifestations of mainstream Europe’s struggle to reconfigure itself. The rapidly changing demographics, especially after post World War Two immigration, have led to what Tariq Ramadan calls a ‘European identity crisis’. This has raised significant social, political, economic, security and cultural questions over how emerging and more established immigrant communities are managed. This book brings together some of the leading writers in their fields to explore a range of issues concerning Europe’s established and emerging immigrant communities: religion, health, housing, refugees and asylum seekers, working in post conflict ethnic zones, community cohesion in rural areas, security, Gypsies and Travellers. The first part of the book looks at such topics across Europe whilst the second uses the UK as a microcosm through which to explore specific issues. Readers will find a wide range of perspectives based on empirical research and grounded in critical analyses, as well as responses to the new challenges confronting Europe. The book is timely and has wide appeal: it will be essential reading for social science courses including community development, sociology, politics, social policy, diversity, health, education and international development at both undergraduate and post graduate level. And policy makers and practitioners will treasure the book’s historical and contemporary insights into how the geography of Europe has been shaped and how policies continue to be largely focused on the racialisation of people