The review symposium by Ewald Engelen and Riva Kastoryano provides a critical analysis of the book "Contested Citizenship: Immigration and Cultural Diversity in Europe" by Ruud Koopmans, Paul Statham, Marco Guigni, and Florence Passy. The book examines the impact of citizenship regimes on the political activities of immigrant organizations, the extreme right, and native pro-immigrant advocates in five Western European countries: France, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Engelen and Kastoryano highlight the book's rigorous empirical approach, which combines a collective movement perspective with political discourse analysis, and its contribution to understanding the relationship between citizenship configurations and public claim-making.
However, they also point out several limitations. Engelen criticizes the book for not adequately addressing the subnational dimension of policy-making and claim-making, particularly through local media and the internet, which have become increasingly important. He also argues that the authors make unwarranted normative claims about the effects of multiculturalism, particularly in the context of Dutch multicultural policies, and fall into a causal fallacy by attributing the difficulties of immigrant integration primarily to Dutch multiculturalism. Kastoryano, while praising the book's systematic and solid cross-national comparative analysis, suggests that it could benefit from a more nuanced discussion of the socioeconomic outcomes of immigration and integration policies.
Overall, the review symposium offers a balanced critique, emphasizing the book's strengths while highlighting areas where further research and theoretical development are needed.The review symposium by Ewald Engelen and Riva Kastoryano provides a critical analysis of the book "Contested Citizenship: Immigration and Cultural Diversity in Europe" by Ruud Koopmans, Paul Statham, Marco Guigni, and Florence Passy. The book examines the impact of citizenship regimes on the political activities of immigrant organizations, the extreme right, and native pro-immigrant advocates in five Western European countries: France, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Engelen and Kastoryano highlight the book's rigorous empirical approach, which combines a collective movement perspective with political discourse analysis, and its contribution to understanding the relationship between citizenship configurations and public claim-making.
However, they also point out several limitations. Engelen criticizes the book for not adequately addressing the subnational dimension of policy-making and claim-making, particularly through local media and the internet, which have become increasingly important. He also argues that the authors make unwarranted normative claims about the effects of multiculturalism, particularly in the context of Dutch multicultural policies, and fall into a causal fallacy by attributing the difficulties of immigrant integration primarily to Dutch multiculturalism. Kastoryano, while praising the book's systematic and solid cross-national comparative analysis, suggests that it could benefit from a more nuanced discussion of the socioeconomic outcomes of immigration and integration policies.
Overall, the review symposium offers a balanced critique, emphasizing the book's strengths while highlighting areas where further research and theoretical development are needed.