IES Research - Migration, Diversity and Justice

Issues of migration and diversity are central to European integration. The European Union is characterized by mobility both within its borders and beyond. People move to and within the Union thanks to combinations of historical, economic, social and political factors, anticipating prospects of improved lives and opportunities. Opinion surveys and political events bear witness to the concerns of citizens all over Europe on these topics. The criteria for dealing with diversities as well as accepting immigrants and integrating them into our societies are important topics in public discourse.

The research cluster focuses on migration, immigrant integration, justice and home affairs as well as diversity policies (from the local level right up to the European Union and United Nations). We concentrate in particular on the following sub-themes:

The polarisation and contestation of the free movement regime in Europe.
The politics of refugee protection and migration control: asylum, border control, migration and immigrant integration policies of the EU and its member states; solidarity and burden-sharing in Europe; EU cooperation with countries of migrants’ origin and transit.
Justice and equality policies in an increasingly diverse Europe: community formation and cohesion in increasingly heterogeneous European societies.

Our team includes three senior researchers, six PhD candidates and a range of associates and interns with backgrounds in political science, law, sociology and anthropology. Our activities include teaching, fundamental and applied research and consultancy. We lead or contribute to EU- and nationally funded projects and are in close interactions with specialized research networks. We strive to be a hub for all research related issues on migration, diversity and justice in Brussels and welcome researchers, policymakers and individuals willing to engage with us.

Research Team

Senior Researchers	Research Interests
Richard Lewis	Identity; Nationalism; Racism; Roma Rights; Immigrant Integration; Ethnicity.
Prof. Dr. Ilke Adam	Immigration & Integration Policies (Multi-level Governance); Migration Sociology; Diversity & Multiculturalism.
Prof. Dr. Christof Roos	EU Migration and Asylum Policies; EU Freedom of Movement; Border and Mobility Policies (EU and OECD).
Prof. Dr. Florian Trauner	EU Justice and Home Affairs (internal and external dimension); Dynamics of EU Decision-making; Fundamental Rights and Rule of Law Promotion; EU-Western Balkans Relations.
Doctoral Researchers
Malasree Neepa Acharya	High Skilled Return Migration; South Asia; Cosmopolitanism; Global South; Entrepreneurship; Diaspora.
Mathias Holvoet	International Criminal & Humanitarian Law; Int./European Human Rights & Migration Law.
Serena D'Agostino	Europeanization; Intersectionality; Migration & Minorities; Roma Rights; Roma Women Activism; Social Movements.
Laura Westerveen	Immigrant Integration & Anti-discrimination Policy; Diversity & Multiculturalism; Race Politics; Frame Analysis.
Sibel Top	EU Justice and Home Affairs; EU Asylum Policies; Migration; Extradition law; Fundamental Rights.
Associate Researchers
Prof. Dr. Alison Woodward	Diversity; Gender; Comp. EU Public Policy & Organisation; Civil Society; Transnational Mobilisation; Equality.
Dr. Chantal Lacroix	Comparative Migration Policy; Political Processes; Social Movements; Social Integration and Ethnic Relations.
Dr. Irene Wieczorek	Int./European Criminal Law; European Comparative Criminal/Constitutional Law & Procedure; EU Market Law.
Dr. Medlir Mema	International Criminal Law; Transnational Advocacy Networks.
Dr. Giacomo Orsini	International Migration, Sociology of Migration, European Border Management, Border Studies, Governance and Governmentality, Postcolonial Theories.
Dr. Auke Willems	European Criminal Law; International Criminal Law; Int./European Human Rights Law; Extradition Law.

Recent Events

Date	Event	Event Type
31 May 2017	The Border and the Wall. How to Tackle Migration Control at the EU External Border?	Policy Forum
12 April 2017	Book Launch and Panel Discussion: EU Asylum Policies. The Power of Strong Regulating States	Book Launch
22 March 2017	The Implementation of the EU Action Plan on Integration. Feedback from the Member States, Regional and Local Authorities	Policy Forum
14 December 2016	The EU Enlargement and Gay Politics in Central and Eastern Europe	Policy Forum
7 December 2016	European Identity in Crisis: What Role for the EU?	Policy Forum
28-29 October 2016	(Dis)locating EUrope: Conflicts, Challenges and Changes	Conference
19 May 2016	The Refugee Crisis and the EU Turkey Deal: Which Role for the EU's Home Affairs Agencies?	Policy Forum
2 December 2015	Politicization of EU Freedom of Movement. Does EU Mobility Promote Socio-Political Integration?	Policy Forum
29 May 2015	Controlling the Edges of Europe. EU External Border Surveillance: Intersections between the Public and the Private	Policy Forum
11 March 2015	The Temple Asylum Game: Workshop and Simulation Exercise on Societal Security	Workshop
14 November 2014	The European Parliament in Migration and Asylum Politics	Policy Forum
10 March 2014	Lecture Series on Migration in the Mediterranean	Spring Lecture Series
6 March 2014	The Implementation of the Blue Card Directive: what, why and what next?	Policy Forum
Spring 2013	The Multilevel Governance of Migration and Immigrant Integration	Spring Lecture Series
17 January 2013	Climate Migration: From Research to (EU) Policy-making	Policy Forum
Spring 2012	The International Criminal Court's Second Decade: Quo Vadis?	Spring Lecture Series
25-26 April 2012	Reasonable Accommodation of Cultural Diversity in Belgium and Canada	Expert Conference

Current Projects

Policing the Brain-Gain: Cross Border Social Networks in Migration Trends and Governance Implications in the Global North and South	Malasree Neepa Acharya
In Search of the Meaning, the Scope and the Outer Limits of the Concept of 'Organizational' for the Purpose of the Definition of Crimes Against Humanity in the ICC-Statute	Mathias Holvoet
The Europeanisation of Romani Women Policies & Politics in Central & Eastern European Member States	Serena D'Agostino
Governing Diversity in Europe: Colour-blind vs. Colour-conscious Policymaking in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands	Laura Westerveen
L'Enquête POMBE - Une enquête auprès de personnes originaires d'Afrique subsaharienne.	Ilke Adam

Past Projects

Demystifying the Trust Problem in EU Criminal Law: Enhancing Mutual Trust by Harmonising Criminal Procedural Rights	Auke Willems
The Legitimacy of EU Criminal Law	Irene Wieczorek
Belgo-Marocains, Belgo-Turcs: (auto)portrait de nos concitoyens	Corinne Torrekens/Ilke Adam
Renforcer la coopération institutionnelle pour améliorer l’accès des personnes issues de l'immigration au marché du travail	Ilke Adam/Mathijs van Dijk
A European Framework for Migrant Integration	Hannelore Goeman
Reasonable Accommodation of Cultural Diversity in a Working Environment	Ilke Adam/Souâd Hamdoui/Andrew Crosby
Risks and Opportunities of the Crisis on Civil Society Organizations in the EU (ROCCS)	Alison Woodward/Jamal Shahin/Georgios Terzis
Migrant Integration Best Practices Across the Atlantic: Brussels and Detroit	Richard Lewis/Fred Pearson

Recent Publications

2017

ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa (forthcoming). 2017. Postcolonial Music: Pastoral Nostalgia and Urban Imagination in Jibanmukhi gaan in Calcutta (1974-1994), South Asian Journal of Popular Culture.
ADAM, Ilke (forthcoming). 2017. Immigration and Sub-State Nations. Researching the Nexus, in: Hepburn, Eve and Detterbeck, Klaus (eds.), Handbook of Territorial Politics, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
D'AGOSTINO, Serena. 2017. Romnja: Longue Vie aux Activistes (in)visibles!, European Roma Information Office (ERIO), On-line Resources - Thematic: Gender. (English version)
RIPOLL SERVENT, Ariadna & TRAUNER, Florian (eds.) (forthcoming 2018, in print). 2017. Routledge Handbook of Justice and Home Affairs Research, London: Routledge.
SLOMINSKI, Peter & TRAUNER, Florian. 2017. How do member states return unwanted migrants? The strategic (non-)use of ‘Europe’ in the context of the migration crisis, Journal of Common Market Studies, forthcoming.
TRAUNER, Florian & TURTON, Jocelyn. 2017. “Welcome culture”: the emergence and transformation of a public debate on migration, Austrian Journal of Political Science, 46 (1), 33-42.
VELOSO LEÃO, Augusto, WESTERVEEN, Laura & ADAM, Ilke. 2017. The First Year of Implementation of the EU Action Plan on Integration: An Evaluation of European Policy Coordination on Migrant Integration, IES Policy Brief, Issue 2017/2, July 2017.

2016

ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2016. Cosmopolitanism, in Salazar, Noel B. and Kiran Jayaram (eds), Keywords of Mobility: Critical Engagements, New York: Berghahn Books, p. 49-80.
ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2016. Perceptions of Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs of Indian Origin Returning ‘Home’ to India’s Cosmopolitan Cities, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (forthcoming).
ADAM, Ilke & DESCHOUWER, Kris. 2016. Nationalist Parties and Immigration in Flanders: From Volksunie to Spirit and N-VA, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, DOI:10.1080/1369183X.2015.1082285.
ADAM, Ilke, BERG, Jana, TRAUNER, Florian, TULEY, Marie & WESTERVEEN, Laura. 2016. The UK in Justice and Home Affairs: The Engaged Outsider. IES Policy Brief, Issue 2016/6, April 2016.
D'AGOSTINO, Serena. 2016. Five Years of EU Roma Integration Policies: Vanishing Gender Awareness?, IES Policy Brief, Issue 2016/14, May 2016.
DUPONT, Claire & TRAUNER, Florian (eds.). 2016. What if? The Implications of a Brexit-scenario on different EU policies. IES Policy Brief 4-10/2016, Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
FUNK, Marco & TRAUNER, Florian. 2016. Transatlantic counter-terrorism cooperation. Alert Nr 15, Paris: European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), April 2016.
ROOS, Christof. 2017. Freedom of Movement in the EU and Welfare State Closure - Welfare Regime Type, Benefit Restrictions and Their Implications for Social Mobility, in: Wulfgramm, Melike, Bieber, Tonia, Leibfried, Stephan (eds.), Welfare State Transformations and Inequality in OECD Countries, Palgrave: Houndmills, pp. 267-289.
ROOS, Christof. 2016. What Justifies Open or Closed Borders in the Liberal Polity? Global. Kring voor Internationale betrekkingen, Vol.20, No.1, p. 10-12.
ROOS, Christof. 2016. The BREXIT and EU freedom of movement: Legal uncertainty on both sides of the border, IES Brussels, Policy Brief 7, April 2016.
ROOS, Christof & ZAUN, Natascha. 2016. Editorial. The global economic crisis as a critical juncture? The crisis’s impact on migration movements and policies in Europe and the U.S., Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 42, 10, forthcoming.
ROSENBERGER, Sieglinde & TRAUNER, Florian. 2016. ‘Rückführung mit Prädikat fragwürdig’, op-ed in the Austrian daily ‘Der Standard’, 26. February.
TRAUNER, Florian. 2016. Wie sollen Flüchtlinge in Europa verteilt werden? Der Streit um einen Paradigmenwechsel in der EU-Asylpolitik, in: integration 2/2016, S. 93-106.
TRAUNER, Florian. 2016. Asylum Policy: the EU’s ‘crises’ and the looming policy regime failure. In: Journal of European Integration, 38 (3), 311-325.
TRAUNER, Florian. 2016. New kids on the CFSP block: the JHA agencies. Brief Nr. 7, Paris: European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), March 2016.
TRAUNER, Florian. 2016. 'The integrative power of the threat of disintegration’; Op-ed first published by the Politheor European Policy Network and then by EurActiv.com, 5 February.
TRAUNER, Florian et al. 2016. ‘Füchtlingsforschung gegen Mythen 3. WissenschaftlerInnen diskutieren Behauptungen aus der Flüchtlingsdebatte’, Netzwerk Flüchtlingsforschung.
TRAUNER, Florian & RIPOLL SERVENT, Ariadna. 2016. The communitarisation of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice: why institutional change does not translate into policy change, In: Journal of Common Market Studies, DOI: 10.1111/jcms.12397.
WESTERVEEN, Laura & THYS, Rebecca. 2016. De Integratie van Personen met een Migratieachtergrond op de Belgische Arbeidsmarkt. In: PANNECOUCKE, Isabelle, LAHAYE, Willy, VRANKEN, Jan & VAN ROSSEM, Ronan (eds.). Armoede in België: Jaarboek 2016. Gent: Academia Press, p. 271-295.
WESTERVEEN, Laura & THYS, Rebecca. 2016. L’Intégration des Personnes issues de L’Immigration sur le Marché du Travail en Belgique. In: PANNECOUCKE, Isabelle, LAHAYE, Willy, VRANKEN, Jan & VAN ROSSEM, Ronan (eds.). Pauvreté en Belgique: Annuaire 2016. Gand: Academia Press, p. 271-295.
WEYEMBERGH, Anne & WIECZOREK, Irene. 2016. Is there an EU Criminal Policy? in Renaud Colson, Stewart Field (eds.), EU Criminal Justice and the Challenges of Legal Diversity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (forthcoming).
WIECZOREK, Irene. 2016. Understanding JHA agencies in context: where does Eurojust lie in the constitutional architecture of the Area of Freedom Security and Justice?, in Maria Fletcher, Ester Herlin-Karnell, Claudio Matera (eds.), The European Union as an Area of Freedom Security and Justice, Routledge, London (forthcoming).
WILLEMS, Auke. 2016. 'Mutual Trust as a Term of Art in EU Criminal Law: Revealing its Hybrid Character', 9(1) European Journal of Legal Studies (2016), p. 211-249.
WILLEMS, Auke. 2016. 'Extradition on the Two Sides of the Atlantic: The U.S. Model as Blueprint for the European Arrest Warrant?', Criminal Law Forum (2016).
ZAUN, Natascha, ROOS, Christof & GÜLZAU, Fabian. 2016. Circumventing deadlock through venue-shopping: Why there is more than just talk in U.S. immigration politics in times of crisis, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 42, 10, forthcoming.

2015

ADAM, Ilke & REA, Andrea. 2015. La diversité religieuse sur le lieu du travail. Pratiques d’aménagements raisonnables en Belgique, in Bribosia, Emmanuelle and Rorive, Isabelle (eds), L’accommodement raisonnable de la religion en Belgique et au Canada, Brussels: P.I.E. Lang.
ADAM, Ilke & VAN DIJK, Mathijs. 2015. Renforcer la coopération institutionnelle pour améliorer l’accès des personnes issues de l'immigration au marché du travail. Brussels: King Baudouin Foundation.
ADAM, Ilke & VAN DIJK, Mathijs. 2015. Institutionele samenwerking ter bevordering van de arbeidsparticipatie van personen met een migratieachtergrond. Brussels: King Baudouin Foundation.
ADAM, Ilke & VAN DIJK, Mathijs. 2015. Immigrant labour market participation in Belgium - high time to mainstream, IES Policy Briefs 2015/2.
ADAM, Ilke & VAN DIJK, Mathijs. 2015. Arbeidsmarktparticipatie van mensen met een migratie-achtergrond in België: hoog tijd om te mainstreamen. IES Policy Briefs 2015/2.
ADAM, Ilke & VAN DIJK, Mathijs. 2015. Une meilleure insertion professionelle des personnes issues de l’immigration: allons au mainstreaming. IES Policy Briefs 2015/2.
ADAM, Ilke & TORREKENS, Corinne. 2015. Different Regional Approaches to Cultural Diversity. Interpreting the Belgian Cultural Diversity Paradox, Fédéralisme Régionalisme (on line only - open access journal), Vol.15.
AHRENS, Petra, D'AGOSTINO, Serena & WOODWARD, Alison. 2015. Building a gender just society. A common European Agenda for gender equality, Conference Report, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Brussels, March 2015.
D'AGOSTINO, Serena. 2015. Consolidated Criteria for Assessing Intersectionality Operationalization in European Equality Policies: The Case of Roma Women. DiGeST. Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies, 2(3-4), p. 95-110.
LEWIS, Richard. 2015. Policy Trends in Migration : Why Migration should be Central to Public Policy, Hagira – Official Journal of the Israel Sociological Association.
LEWIS, Richard. 2015. After Paris: Europe faces renewed test of Character, International Peace Institute Global Forum, November.
MITSILEGAS Valsamis, VAVOULA Niovi & WIECZOREK Irene. 2015. New Voices in EU Criminal Law, special issue of the New Journal of European Criminal Law, Vol. 6, No. 1
ROOS, Christof & LAUBE, Lena. 2015. Liberal Cosmopolitan Norms and the Border: Local Actors' Critique of the Governance of Global Processes, Ethnicities, Vol.15, No.3, p. 341-361.
ROOS, Christof & ORSINI, Giacomo. 2015. How to reconcile the EU border paradox? The concurrence of refugee reception and deterrence, IES Brussels, Policy Brief, 4, 2015.
ROOS, Christof & SOEBECH, Olof. 2015. Societal Security Scenarios by University Students: The Temple Asylum Game, D 9.15 SOURCE A Virtual Centre of Excellence for Research Support and Coordination on Societal Security.
ROOS, Christof. 2015. EU Politics on Labour Migration: Inclusion versus Admission, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Vol. 28, No. 3.
RIPOLL SERVENT, Ariadna & TRAUNER, Florian. 2015. Asylum – limited policy change due to new norms of institutional behaviour. In: Florian Trauner/Ariadna Ripoll Servent: Policy change in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice: how EU institutions matter, London: Routledge, 35-52.
TORREKENS, Corinne & ADAM, Ilke. 2015. Belgo-Marocains, Belgo-Turcs: (auto)portrait de nos concitoyens. Brussels: King Baudouin Foundation.
TORREKENS, Corinne & ADAM, Ilke. 2015. Marokkaanse en Turkse Belgen: een (zelf)portret van onze medeburgers. Brussels: King Baudouin Foundation.
TRAUNER, Florian. 2015. The role of the European Union in the Fair Management of Migration. In: Bertelsmann Stiftung (ed.): A Fair Deal on Talent – Fostering Just Migration Governance. Gütersloh: Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung, 241-256 (chapter translated also in German).
TRAUNER, Florian. 2015. Reagiert die EU adäquat auf die Flüchtlingstragödien im Mittelmeer? Ein Reformvorschlag für die europäische Asylpolitik. ÖGfE Policy Brief 16/2015, April 2015.
TRAUNER, Florian. 2015. Reagiert die EU adäquat auf die Flüchtlingstragödien im Mittelmeer? Opt-ed in EurActiv.de, 30 April 2015
TRAUNER, Florian & LAVENEX, Sandra. 2015. A comparative view: understanding and explaining policy change in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. In: Florian Trauner/Ariadna Ripoll Servent: Policy change in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice: how EU institutions matter. London: Routledge, 219-240.
TRAUNER, Florian & RIPOLL SERVENT, Ariadna. 2015. Policy Change in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice: how EU institutions matter. London: Routledge.
TRAUNER, Florian & RIPOLL SERVENT, Ariadna. 2015. The analytical framework: EU institutions, policy change and the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. In: Florian Trauner/Ariadna Ripoll Servent: Policy change in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice: how EU institutions matter. London: Routledge, 11-32.
TRAUNER, Florian & RIPOLL SERVENT, Ariadna. 2015. The communitarisation of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice: has institutional change triggered policy change? Les Cahiers européens de Science Po, 01/2015, Paris.
WIECZOREK, Irene. 2015. The EPPO draft regulation passes the first subsidiarity test: an analysis and interpretation of the Commission’s hasty approach to National Parliaments’ subsidiarity arguments, German Law Journal, Vol. 16, No. 5, 1247-1270.
WILLEMS, Auke. 2015. 'Euthanasia of Detainee: Granting a Prisoner's Request', 99(1) Criminal Justice Matters, p. 16-17.

[Back to Research]