Integration in migration societies

In this chapter, I identify essential components of what can be considered an integrative common core or a basic toolbox of rigorous migration-related integration research. I outline how it complements research in other fields and provides new perspectives and emphases.

I begin with a brief discussion of the concept of integration and some traditional theoretical frameworks. Then I take a look at the example of structural ethnic inequality research, which is one of the best-studied fields, to show how migration-related categories and aspects fit with standard approaches in the field.

I then generalize this interplay of migration-specific and domain-specific standard mechanisms in a more systematic way by disentangling the main theoretical building blocks within an abstract scheme. This allows for a more precise specification of what rigorous integration research has to offer and how it can enrich domain-specific approaches within an integrative framework. This helps not only to systematize the field and the research logic, but also to point out some shortcomings of current research practice.

In the following section, I demonstrate the potential of a stronger emphasis on processes of evaluation and recognition, as well as on dynamic interactions that produce integration as an emergent macro feature. A more explicit consideration of these aspects could further improve integration research in terms of ‘rigorous sociology’, since not only a general theory-integrative perspective, but also an explicit treatment of the micro-macro link belongs to its fundamental components.