News

Erasmus University Rotterdam will host the 2017 IMISCOE annual conference. The conference will focus on the urban dimension of migration & diversity, covering topics such as the refugee situation, intra-EU mobility, the politics of migration and the economic implications of migration & diversity for cities. The conference is to take place from 28-30 June 2017, and I will be chairing the Conference Committee. More information to follow soon!

This article, co-authored by Mark van Ostaijen and me, is an outcome of the Urban Europe project IMAGINATION on the urban consequences of intra-EU mobility. It has now been accepted for publication in the journal Critical Policy Studies. More information will follow soon. For more on the IMAGINATION project, see www.project-imagination.net. Click here for link to the article. 

Scholten, P., Collett, E., and Petrovic, M. (forthcoming) 'Mainstreaming migrant integration? A critical analysis of a new trend in integration governance', in International Review of Administrative Sciences.  

This is the introduction to a special issue of Comparative Migration Studies that hosts a conversation between leading scholars from various disciplines and perspectives on the relation between immigration, welfare state, cultural diversity and nationhood. The focal point of the discussion is a lead article by the political philosopher Will Kymlicka, which refers to a ‘progressive’s dilemma’ (see also Banting 2010) between support for social solidarity and cultural diversity.

As of April 1st 2016, I will be scientific advisor for the Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR). As part of a WRR project on migration-related diversity, I will work at the WRR for 2 days a week for a one year period. The WRR is a scientific advisory body for government policy that has a tradition of involvement in the area of migration and diversity. In fact, my career as a scholar began with a research to science-politics boundary work around the first WRR reports in the field of migration (1979, 1989, 2001). Happy now to be part of the next (and very timely) reflection of the WRR on this topic. More information to follow soon. 

Soon to be published: Geddes, A. and Scholten, P. Politics of Migration and Immigration in Europe. London: Sage. This book analyses and compares responses by European countries to international migration in its various forms and examines collective responses at European Union (EU) level. We assess why, how and with what effects European countries have developed policies that seek to regulate entry to their territory (immigration policies); what it means when they then seek to ‘integrate’ these migrant newcomers (immigrant policies); and the causes and effects of common EU migration and asylum policies.

This Thursday, the next presentation is scheduled for the new LDE master program on Governance of Migration and Diversity. The presentation is to take place (Thursday 31st of March), 21:00-21:30, in room T3-31 at campus Woudesteijn of Erasmus University Rotterdam. 

De mythe van tijdelijkheid rond de komst van vluchtelingen en migranten moet doorbroken worden en we moeten accepteren dat integratie structurele aandacht nodig heeft. Dat stellen sociale wetenschappers dr. Arjen Leerkes en dr. Peter Scholten van de Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam  in hun essay Landen in Nederland: de vluchtelingenstroom in integratieperspectief, dat zij schreven in opdracht van het Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid. 

Download het volledige rapport hier. 

As part of the project on Migration, Environment and Climate Change (MECLEP), a new policy brief has been issued based on our fieldwork in the Mekong River Delta in Vietnam. The policy brief deals with relocation as a possible adaptation strategy to environmental stress. It shows that under specific circumstances relocation to less vulnerable areas in the Mekong River Delta can provide an alternative to migration to larger urban areas such as in particular Ho Chi Minh City. Click here to download the policy brief.

As of September 2016, a new master program will be launched: "Governance of Migration and Diversity." The master involves a cooperation of Erasmus University Rotterdam (including the The Hague based Institute for Social Studies), Leiden University and Delft University of Technology. I will be Head of Programme. 

The second part of our double issue on Policy Analysis at Times of Austerity is online now. This latest special issue was edited together with Frans van Nispen, and covers in particular the socio-economic dimension of the crisis, whereas the first part covered the migration crisis. The issue features various contributions, a.o. by Nikos Zahariadis, Marleen Brans, Geert Bouckaert, Valerie Pattyn, Menno Fenger, Lucia Quaglia and Frans van Nispen. 

For access to the introduction of the special issue, click here. 

The book 'Integration processes and policies', edited by Penninx and Garces-Mascarenas, contains a new book chapter that I've co-authored with Rinus Penninx. The book chapter focuses on 'The Multilevelgovernance of Migration and Integration.' It combines a policy science and sociological perspective on how EU, national and local governments interact in the governance of migration and integration issues. Click here for Open Access to the book. 

(In Dutch only)

De integratie van vluchtelingen wordt enorme lokale uitdaging

Na de maatschappelijke aandacht voor de komst van vluchtelingen en de vestiging van asielzoekerscentra, volgt de komende tijd de uitdaging van maatschappelijke integratie van vluchtelingen. Omdat integratie een lokaal proces is, maar ook omdat feitelijk nauwelijks nog sprake is van een nationaal integratiebeleid, zal dit vooral op de schouders van lokaal bestuur komen. Echter, ook gemeenten hebben hun integratiebeleid grotendeels omgevormd in algemeen beleid, en specifieke budgetten zijn grotendeels wegbezuinigd. Het is dus maar de vraag of lokale overheden momenteel voldoende toegerust en voorbereid zijn op de integratie van deze nieuwe migranten. Veel meer dan nieuwkomers die in de jaren ’80 of ’90 naar Nederland kwamen, zullen de vluchtelingen van nu op zichzelf zijn aangewezen om van hun vlucht naar Nederland ook daadwerkelijk een succes te maken.

For English version, click here. 

In Dutch:

Meer dan ooit staat het asielvraagstuk in de media centraal. Media-aandacht kan een belangrijke invloed hebben op publieke beeldvorming, en direct en indirect ook op politiek en beleid. Het gebruik van beeld, woord en statistieken zijn daarbij belangrijke elementen. Dat blijkt uit het onderzoek Tsunami of Tragedie? van de bestuurskundigen Rianne Dekker, MSc. en Dr. Peter Scholten van de Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam.

Article in Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, 9-9-2015 (In Dutch)

De toename van het aantal asielverzoeken in Nederland komt op een moment dat het integratiebeleid grotendeels is ontmanteld. De discussie van de laatste maanden gaat vooral over grensbewaking en over migratiebeleid, maar veel minder over het integratieproces dat volgt nadat de asielzoekers eenmaal te horen hebben gekregen dat ze hier mogen blijven.