Immigration and citizenship debates: reflections of ten common themes

"This article begins with the view that access to citizenship and to citizenship rights has become the principal object of struggle between immigrants and the rest of society in Western Europe.... In examining ten recurring themes of current debates on immigration and citizenship, the author hopes to summarise and critically examine the main arguments. The article also tries to show that arguments against the extension of rights to immigrants generally give priority to collective rather than individual rights. In this way, human rights violations towards immigrants are sanctioned (and sometimes even recommended) by socialist and conservative writers alike.... This article concentrates on themes relating to the acquisition of citizenship in the metropolitan state by immigrants from the former colonies." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)     

Failed Securitisation Moves during the 2015 ‘Migration Crisis’

The EU has tried to distinguish itself as respecting human rights in its migration policies. In 2015, mass drownings at sea of refugees from war‐torn and despotic countries like Syria and Eritrea started to rise with the end of Mare Nostrum, the Italian navy's search and rescue operation in the Mediterranean. One EU response was to declare a war on “criminal gangs” of smugglers and traffickers, reportedly responsible for the surge in refugee deaths. Equating smugglers’ activities with a “new slave trade”, this “securitization move” failed to gain legitimacy from EU publics and media. Military solutions to refugee flight continued to be proposed, and a second securitization move continued to target smugglers and traffickers, but this time the “referent object” became the West itself, and the EU.     

The dynamic,complex and diverse living and care arrangements of young New Zealanders: implications for policy

The living arrangements of young people in New Zealand are diverse and often complex. In this article we report the range of care and living arrangements of 209 15-year-old New Zealanders, 47 of whom identified as Māori. These young people were participants in the second generation of a cohort study. Data were collected from their parents via a life history calendar and analysed for variety and consistency of care arrangements, household membership and transitions. Few participants had a consistent pattern of parental care arrangements and most had experienced multiple changes in household composition and frequent changes of address. We conclude that the whānau/family lives of many young New Zealanders are complex and dynamic. These observations contrast with the conventional notions of family life that form the basis for New Zealand’s family policies. We argue that social policies and services impacting on young people need to reflect the lived reality of young people if they are to meet young people’s needs.