Bridging the gaps : linking research to public debates and policy-making on migration and integration

Abstract

This book explores the interplay between social science research, public debates, and policy-making in the area of international migration and integration. It has three core aims. First, it seeks to contribute to the conceptualization and theorization of the potential relationships between research, public debates, and policy-making on migration and integration. A second aim of the book is critically to discuss and identify the reasons for the failure or success of a range of initiatives aimed at using research to inform public debates and/or policy-making on migration and integration, both within national contexts and at supra-national levels of governance. A third core goal is to identify effective strategies and institutional designs for linking research to public debates and policy-making on migration and integration in different national and institutional contexts. This book provides a unique combination of scholarly research and personal experience from a group of experts and specialists in migration and integration policies, as well as media studies and public opinion. It includes contributions from researchers and public policy experts who are deeply involved in attempts to link research to policy-making in the field of migration and integration. It demonstrates the importance of going beyond the 'research-policy nexus' to show how the media, public opinion, and other dimensions of public debate can interact with research and policy-processes.