Title
Integration for whom? Investigating EU narratives on migrant integration through a Critical Discourse Analysis of the EU’s Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion 2021-2027
Abstract
Talking about the integration of migrants, refugees, and their descendants means entering a complex field due to the plurality of meanings it can refer to. The work presented aims to analyse the European Union’s approach to integration as presented in the Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion (2021-2027), to understand what it reveals about the EU’s approach to integration. Through a Critical Discourse Analysis, expert interviews and a ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ approach, I reflect on which aspects of the current scholarship on migrant integration are most helpful to make sense of the EU’s policy framing of integration. What emerges is that the current framing underlying the Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion (2021-2027) rests on a problematization of migrants based on racialized constructions. The analysis shows a predominant focus on economic integration, while other important domains remain overlooked. The notable emphasis on ‘European way of life’ and ‘European values’ as an essential prerequisite to integration suggests a policy approach leaning towards assimilation, rather than inclusive integration, and acts as a mechanism of boundary-making.
Author
Anna Giacinti
Keywords
Integration, migration, European Union, framework, critical discourse analysis, methodological nationalism, European values
Universities and date
University of A Coruña, University of Linköping, 2024