Article
thnicities
Ethnicities
Revisiting the European
Union framework on
immigrant integration:
The European
2014, Vol. 14(4) 556-576
© The Author(s) 2014
Reprints and permissions:
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1468796814528692
etn.sagepub.com
®SAGE
integration forum as a
technology of agency
Alberto Arribas Lozano, Nayra Garcia-Gonzalez,
Luca Sebastiani and Aurora Alvarez Veinguer
Department of Social Anthropology, University of Granada, Spain
Sandra Gil Araujo
Scientific and Technical Research National Council, Argentina
Abstract
In the last 15 years, a European Framework on Immigrant Integration has been devel
oped through soft law tools, aiming to create a common understanding of the concept
and promoting the coordination, funding, and exchange of best practices among states,
local administrations, and nongovernmental actors. In this article, we first contextualize
the emergence of immigrant integration policies at the European Union level. We then
examine the principal European Union documents on this issue, paying special attention
to the link between integration and immigrant participation. Finally, based on an empir
ical study, we analyze, from the perspective of governmentality, the European
Integration Forum, an apparatus considered the “ last word” in immigrant integration
policies at the European Union level.
Keywords
European Integration Forum, governmentality, immigrant participation, technologies of
agency, Common Basic Principles for Immigrant Integration Policy, Common
Framework for the Integration of non-European Union nationals
Corresponding author:
Alberto Arribas Lozano, Department of Social Anthropology, Facultad de Filosofia y Letras, University of
Granada, Campus Universitario de Cartuja s/n Granada 18071, Spain.
Email: aarribas@ugr.es