The Policy, Politics, Culture: EU Migration and Integration (PPCEUMI) network is focused on the study of third-country migrant integration in the EU through the lenses of politics, policy, governance, and culture. Policy- and solution-oriented, PPCEUMI focuses on the immediate period of pre-and point of arrival of migrants, as well as considering the longer-term process of integration. PPCEUMI provides a comprehensive avenue to improve EU and its member states’ implementation of best practice. The network will explore the politics of migration and integration, including the role of NGOs, the drivers of migration and integration, and the larger context of international mobility. PPCEUMI will also analyse and propose policy and governance reforms, based on explorations of existing EU approaches and the experiences of third countries in integrating migrants. Lastly, the project will examine the role of culture, citizenship and civic engagement, evaluating the models of assimilation and multiculturalism in the EU and third countries and the role of education.PPCEUMI combines leading scholars with younger researchers and draws on multidisciplinary expertise in EU migration, law, policy, IR, media and cultural studies to:

  • Examine EU and member states migration and integration policies;
  • Compare EU with third country migrant and integration policies;
  • Develop and share new knowledge about international best practice;
  • Educate a new cohort of scholars;
  • Make policy recommendations.

The project welcomes interested academic members wishing to participate in network activities or publications. For enquiries, email the ANU Centre for European Studies: europe@anu.edu.au

Download our PPCEUMI information flyer (PDF)

Partner institutions

The Australian National University Centre for European Studies (P1)

The University of Canterbury – National Centre for Research on Europe (P2)

The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology - EU Centre (P3)

Indiana University, Bloomington – Institute for European Studies (P4)

The National University of Singapore - EU Centre (P5)

Network members

The Australian National University

The University of Canterbury

The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)

Indiana University, Bloomington

National University of Singapore

Nanyang Technological University

Victoria University Wellington

PPCEUMI’s Three Research Clusters

Research Cluster 1: The Politics of Border Crossing - From Walls to Pathways: the EU and Third Countries

This project starts with an analysis of the construction of the contemporary European border narratives, examines the resources expended in supporting and sustaining the border 'industry', and explores strategies for moving public, political and policy debates to focal points beyond the territorial, juristic and metaphorical border. This involves challenging the normative and causative orthodoxies, and incorporating into policymaking broader geopolitical factors and pragmatic solutions. The project will explore the extent to which a greater appreciation of demographic, historical, legal and ethical narratives around the journey of the irregular migrant from country of origin to European borders (internal and external) provides an avenue for the development of approaches to irregular migration that are more compatible with European values and international obligations. This project's comparative, interdisciplinary approach will be tackled through three 'stages' of inquiry, each based on the key 'Beyond Borders' themes of Globalism, Cooperation, Institutions, Identities, and Pathways. The first stage will identify the ways in which European borders are currently constructed and regulated acts to narrow the policy options available to political decision-makers, skewing the public dialogue around irregular migration. The second stage will focus on dynamic, global, people-oriented approaches of envisaging borders in the expectation of generating innovative policy approaches. This will include drawing on ethnographic studies that track the journey of migrants, their motivations, world-views and decision-making processes, as well as analyses of European institutions and decision-makers. Finally, the third stage will bring together the findings of the research to date, providing an opportunity to present empirical and normative studies of recent policy developments such as migration partnerships and 'legal' pathways, as well as exploring new policy tools and strategies for their elaboration and promotion.

The Research Team
Leadership: A/Profs Laurence Brown, Dr Rita Parker and Matthew Zagor
Members: A/Prof Abdulkader Sinno and Assistant Prof Chou Meng-Hsuan

Research Cluster 2: Policy and Governance: the EU and Third Countries

PPCEUMI’s Policy and Governance cluster seeks to outline, analyse and compare the efficacy of EU and third-country migration and integration polices and governance systems. The focus of this cluster will be on pre-departure and pre-arrival measures for third-country migrants, and labour market integration and access to vocational training program for such migrants. As the EU and its member states seek to develop new policies in these areas, and to improve integration outcomes, the cluster seeks to offer a cross-disciplinary and mixed methodology hub that can offer analysis of existing policies and compare their success with those in third countries already dealing with large migrant populations. The cluster offers an avenue through which to introduce into the EU effective and tried policies and approaches, thus improving knowledge and experience diffusion outside the networks already established within the EU, which the cluster will also seek to tap into to maximise knowledge diffusion.

The Research Team
Leadership: Ms Anne McNaughton and Dr Lay Hwee Yeo
Members: Prof Martin Holland and Prof Bruce Wilson

Research Cluster 3: Culture, Citizenship and Civic Engagement: the EU and Third Countries

The Culture, Citizenship and Civic Engagement research cluster seeks to bring together two trajectories of community-building to consider their efficacy and possibilities for harmonisation and/or realignment: top down instrumentalist social, cultural and security policies, for example urban planning, education and migrant resettlement programmes; and bottom-up through neighbourhood centres, art and cultural programmes, local government community engagement and NGO activities. While the primary focus will be on the specific challenges facing European Union member states, there will also be opportunities for comparative European and Australian/USA/Singaporean/NZ case studies. The project will also consider counter-culture and protest movements, including community responses at local, national and international levels to terror attacks, such as the expressions of solidarity linked to the Charlie Hebdo attacks seen as far away as Australia and NZ. Multiculturalism will be a key concept investigates. Across Europe and many third countries, there has been, in some quarters, disquiet about cultural diversity and the perceived threat to national security, given current concerns about violent extremism. This has led to some claims of the failure of multiculturalism. This cluster investigates such perceptions in the media and popular cultural expression. In particular, there will be an exploration of what multiculturalism means in the EU and its permutations in member states, and how this differs from the use of the term in Australia, for example. This cluster seeks to ask whether the concept of multiculturalism contributes to expanding the capacity of national and European identity narratives to encompass multiple forms of belonging for migrants. Does multiculturalism have a role to play in enabling the demographic diversity of the European community to be represented and reflected in cultural, institutional and governmental structures? Do the experiences of other countries such as Australia and Singapore illuminate the role that discursive narratives of multiculturalism play in articulating and increasing acceptance of, and engagement with, multicultural realities?

The Research Team
Leadership: Dr Katarzyna Williams
Members: Dr Serena Kelly, A/Prof Annick Masselot, Prof Jacqueline Lo, A/Prof Susanna Scarparo, Dr Kate McMillan, Dr Fiona Barker, A/Prof Elaine Ho, A/Prof Reuben Wong and A/Prof Brett Bowles

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