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SUMMARY:The Politicisation of Local Integration Policy-Making in Western E
 uropean Small and Medium-sized Towns and Rural Areas - Tiziana Caponio (Un
 iversità di Torino / Collegio Carlo Alberto)\, Andrea Pettrachin (Univers
 ità di Padova)
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20251127T154500Z
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20251127T170000Z
UID:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/c32fce19-3dce-4ba2-bdcc-b22dffe0ea77/
DESCRIPTION:This seminar explores how small and medium-sized towns and rur
 al areas in Western Europe have responded to the arrival and integration o
 f refugees since 2014. While scholarly and policy debates on migration gov
 ernance overwhelmingly focus on large cities\, the majority of asylum-seek
 ers were\, in fact\, dispersed to smaller localities\, many of which had l
 ittle prior experience with migration. Drawing on findings from a forthcom
 ing book and a series of published articles (outputs of the EU-funded Whol
 e-COMM project)\, the presentation examines refugee integration policymaki
 ng across 36 towns in seven European countries (rigorously selected)\, com
 plemented by large-scale survey data on public attitudes in small localiti
 es across Austria\, Italy\, Germany and Sweden. The talk highlights two ce
 ntral contributions of our work. First\, it shows that local integration p
 olicies in small Western European localities are often fragmented and unde
 rdeveloped. Yet\, they display striking variation: some localities disenga
 ge entirely\, while others design proactive inclusion strategies in educat
 ion\, labour market access\, healthcare\, and/or housing. Second\, examini
 ng the causes of such observed variation\, the seminar introduces a new th
 eoretical framework that challenges the dominant view of local policymakin
 g as pragmatic and problem-solving. Instead\, it argues that local integra
 tion policymaking is shaped decisively by political constellations – spe
 cifically the political affiliation of local executives\, the presence of 
 radical right parties within local councils and multilevel party dynamics.
  To make this argument\, besides showing (applying QCA) that political fac
 tors are the best predictor of the emergence of different local policies i
 n small towns\, we show (using a range of qualitative and quantitative met
 hods) that such factors also powerfully shape other recognised drivers of 
 local policymaking processes. These include: the structure and key feature
 s of local policy networks\, how local actors frame refugee integration\, 
 and how they perceive public opinion (which often contrasts with evidence 
 on residents’ attitudes).\n\nThis seminar is hybrid. Join us in person a
 t The Hub\, Kellogg College\, or participate online via Zoom by registerin
 g here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/evx9TAwlTFajxRVSGF_H-w \nSpeakers
 :\nTiziana Caponio (Università di Torino / Collegio Carlo Alberto)\, Andr
 ea Pettrachin (Università di Padova)
LOCATION:Kellogg College (The Hub)\, 62 Banbury Road OX2 6PN
TZID:Europe/London
URL:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/c32fce19-3dce-4ba2-bdcc-b22dffe0ea77/
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DESCRIPTION:Talk:The Politicisation of Local Integration Policy-Making in 
 Western European Small and Medium-sized Towns and Rural Areas - Tiziana Ca
 ponio (Università di Torino / Collegio Carlo Alberto)\, Andrea Pettrachin
  (Università di Padova)
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