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This book challenges
the prevailing view that local authorities are irrelevant in immigration
policy-making. Presenting an in-depth ethnographic study of the recent
implementation of local 'diversity policies' in the Netherlands, Belgium and
United Kingdom, it identifies a new politics of difference, characterized by a
'paradigmatic pragmatism'. Building on extensive fieldwork in Amsterdam,
Antwerp and Leeds, the author shows that, rather than simply replacing an
earlier politics of difference, local diversity policies combine ideals of
multiculturalism, assimilation and diversity. She links these findings to the
ongoing modernization and diversification of municipal authorities, and the
impact of this transformation on the profile of the bureaucrats and their
implementation of diversity policies. This thought-provoking work will appeal
to students, researchers and practitioners engaged in the fields of
immigration, diversity and multiculturalism.
List of contents
Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Diversity - a new approach to difference.- Chapter 3. The changing nature of public authorities and bureaucrats.- Chapter 4. What shapes local level policies?.- Chapter 5. Diversity policy in practice.- Chapter 6. Responses to diversification: the character of local policies.- Chapter 7. Conclusion.
About the author
Maria Schiller is a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Germany.
