Political Geography 21 (2002) 1035–1054 www.politicalgeography.com Contemporary European migrations, civic stratification and citizenship Eleonore Kofman * Department of International Studies, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Lane, Nottingham NG11 8NS, UK Abstract Since the late 1980s there has been a diversification of European migratory flows. States, which remain the key actors in migration policies despite growing European harmonisation, have responded to these complex patterns and contradictory pressures by diversifying migrant categories and statuses. The heterogeneity of migrant statuses, especially the growth in the number of those on temporary statuses and the undocumented, challenges the thesis of a post national citizenship as having been achieved in relation to non European Union or third country migrants in the European Union. The recent proposals to extend mobility and socio-economic rights to third country nationals in the EU will only apply to long-term residents with evidence of adequate resources. The inability to confront the contradictions and tensions between econ- omic needs and political closure will lead to more repressive conditions for undocumented migrants and reinforced border controls, especially in the light of the electoral success of Far Right parties and widespread anti-immigrant attitudes in a number of European Union states.  2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Civic stratification; Immigration; Post national citizenship; France; Italy; UK Introduction Since the late 1980s, immigration to the European Union has become highly differ- entiated in terms of country of origin, entry status, educational levels and skills. In states of established post-war migration (France, Germany, UK) family migrants replaced labour migrants in the late 1970s as the largest category of those entering officially. From the late 1980s asylum seekers have constituted the fastest growing * Tel.: +44 0115-848-6303; fax: +44 0115-848-6385. E-mail address: eleonore.kofman@ntu.ac.uk (E. Kofman). 0962-6298/02/$ - see front matter  2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0962-6298(02)00085-9