The relationship between migration policies and crises is a topic with historical poignancy, current relevance and future implications. In Europe, governments are at a historical juncture for governing local diversity in the context of the Global Economic Crisis and the decline of established political parties. Migration policies are being reformed and modified, and new concepts of diversity and interculturality are being developed. Yet across Europe, within and amongst different levels of government, this political response has been plagued by contradictions. This interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary session will examine the largely unexplored relationship between migration, integration and diversity policies and political and economic crises within historical and contemporary contexts. It will expose the manner in which past, recent and on-going political approaches have been transformed and negotiated as a consequence of crisis, as well as the extent to which this process often has and does result in contradicting policies.

The session’s four papers constitute a range of case studies. They include an insight into migration and integration policies in various crisis contexts in post-1960s Britain; the locality-level reaction to the asylum seekers crisis in post-1980s Germany; EU- and member state-level responses to various crises that developed from the 1985 abolition of internal borders; and the effects of the tensions between economic and normative foundations of liberal states in Greece during the on-going economic, political and social crises. Collectively, they will enable a deeper understanding of the relationship between migration policies, crises and contradictions, offering informed suggestions for future academic and policy debates.