Immigration and Social Systems: Collected Essays of Michael Bommes

243 Pages·2012·2.119 MB·English

by  D'Amato, Gianni;Boswell, Christina

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“Th is collection demonstrates the insight and rigour of Bommes’ fundamental contributions to immigration studies. m Collected Essays of Michael Bommes
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interested in these issues.” g
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Andrew Geddes, Professor of Politics, University of Sheffi eld ti Christina Boswell & Gianni D’Amato (eds.)
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“In Bommes, the academy lost a scholar with penetrating analyses of migration, the welfare state and social systems
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where the two interact. By completing his last project, Boswell and D’Amato have done scholarship a lasting service. n
A major contribution to public debate and a tribute to a very great man.” d

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Randall Hansen, Canada Research Chair in Immigration & Governance, University of Toronto o
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“Michael Bommes was undoubtedly the most theoretically inspiring migration scholar working in German. Th is l
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excellent collection makes some of his best work accessible to a broader English-speaking audience.” y
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Christian Joppke, Chair in General Sociology, University of Bern te
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     
.. AMSTERDAM UNIVERSIT Y PRESS
Immigration and Social Systems
IMISCOE
International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion inEurope
The IMISCOE Research Network unites researchers from, at present, 28 institutes
specialising in studies of international migration, integration and social cohesion in
Europe. What began in 2004 as a Network of Excellence sponsored by the Sixth
Framework Programme oftheEuropeanCommission hasbecome,asof April2009,an
independentself-fundingendeavour.Fromthestart,IMISCOEhaspromotedintegrated,
multidisciplinary and globally comparative research led by scholars from various
branches of the economic and social sciences, the humanities and law. The Network
furthers existing studies and pioneers new scholarship on migration and migrant
integration. Encouraging innovative lines of inquiry key to European policymaking and
governanceisalsoapriority.
The IMISCOE-Amsterdam University Press Series makes the Network’s findings and
results available to researchers, policymakers and practitioners, the media and other
interested stakeholders. High-quality manuscripts authored by Network members and
cooperating partners areevaluated byexternal peerreviewsandtheIMISCOE Editorial
Committee.TheCommitteecomprisesthefollowingmembers:
TizianaCaponio,DepartmentofPoliticalStudies,UniversityofTurin/Forumfor
InternationalandEuropeanResearchonImmigration(FIERI),Turin,Italy
MichaelCollyer,SussexCentreforMigrationResearch(SCMR),UniversityofSussex,
UnitedKingdom
RositaFibbi,SwissForumforMigrationandPopulationStudies(SFM),Universityof
Neuchâtel/InstituteofSocialSciences,UniversityofLausanne,Switzerland
AgataGórny,CentreofMigrationResearch(CMR)/FacultyofEconomicSciences,
UniversityofWarsaw,Poland
AlbertKraler,InternationalCentreforMigrationPolicyDevelopment(ICMPD),Vienna,
Austria
JorgeMalheiros,CentreofGeographicalStudies(CEG),UniversityofLisbon,Portugal
MarcoMartiniello,NationalFundforScientificResearch(FNRS),Brussels/Centerfor
EthnicandMigrationStudies(CEDEM),UniversityofLiège,Belgium
MarlouSchrover,InstituteforHistory,LeidenUniversity,TheNetherlands
PatrickSimon,NationalDemographicInstitute(INED),Paris,France
MiriSong,SchoolofSocialPolicyandSociology,UniversityofKent,UnitedKingdom
IMISCOEPolicyBriefsandmoreinformationonthenetworkcanbefoundatwww.
imiscoe.org.
Immigration and Social Systems
Collected Essays of Michael Bommes
edited by Christina Boswell and Gianni D’Amato
IMISCOE Research
Cover illustration: M.C.Escher’sConcentric Rinds ©2012 The M.C.
Escher Company B.V., Baarn, The Netherlands.Allrights reserved.
www.mcescher.com
Cover design:Studio Jande Boer BNO, Amsterdam
Layout: The DocWorkers, Almere
ISBN 978 90 89644534
e-ISBN 978 90 48517299 (pdf)
e-ISBN 978 90 48517305 (ePub)
NUR 741 /763
©ChristinaBoswell and Gianni D’Amato /Amsterdam University Press,
Amsterdam 2012
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved
above,nopart ofthisbookmay bereproduced,storedinorintroduced into
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written
permission ofboth thecopyrightownerandthe author of thebook.
Table of contents
Foreword 7
Rinus Penninx
Preface 9
Christina Boswell and Gianni D’Amato
Introduction 11
Christina Boswell and Gianni D’Amato
1 Migration inmodern society 19
2 Nationalwelfare state, biography and migration: 37
Labourmigrants, ethnic Germans and there-ascription of
welfare state membership
3 Systemstheory andthe ‘ethnic inequality’of migrant workers 59
4 Welfaresystems and migrant minorities: 83
The cultural dimension ofsocialpolicies and its discriminatory
potential
5 Transnationalism orassimilation? 107
6 ‘Integration takes place locally’: 125
On the restructuring of local integrationpolicy
7 Illegal migration in modern society: 157
Consequencesand problems of national European migration
policies
8 General and specific characteristics ofnetworks 177
(with VeronikaTacke)
9 Nationalparadigms of migration research 201
(with Dietrich Thränhardt)
References 233

Foreword
IMISCOE owes a lot to Michael Bommes. It is no surprise that he was a
key figure in the groundwork and establishment of the IMISCOE Network
of Excellence. Michael took on several important roles in our organisation.
He led the research cluster on economic integration. As director of the
Institutefor Migration Research andIntercultural Studies (IMIS),he hosted
the Second Annual IMISCOE conference at the University of Osnabrück.
To this day, Michael remains irreplaceable on the IMISCOE Board of
Directors, where his modestly offered interventions and proposals were as
constructive as they were brilliant. When the Network of Excellence trans-
formed itself into the current IMISCOE Research Network, his support and
advice were always tobe found.
Although he passed away on 26 December 2010, Michael knew that
IMISCOE hoped to bring together the fruit of his labour, publishing it as a
whole. Even during his protracted period of illness, he continued to work
as much as possible. Among other things, he sharpened and updated some
of his earlier articles,whichnowform part of this manuscript.
This publication of his major contributions to the field of migration and
integration studies is a way of honouring Michael, our colleague. At the
same time, it is meant to serve the scientific community by making the na-
tionally acclaimed research of Professor Bommes available and accessible
to a wider, international readership. It was easy to carry on the momentum
of sucha scholar, motivatedandengaged till his last breath.
Rinus Penninx
Coordinator IMISCOE Research Network

Preface
Christina Boswell and Gianni D’Amato
Michael Bommes was an outstanding scholar and an enormously influen-
tial figure in the field of migration studies. With a characteristically
German background in sociology – being heavily influenced by the theory
of Niklas Luhmann – he was able to translate and export complex ideas
across his extensive network of research collaborators and students
throughout Europe, Turkey and North America. Michael himself had a
strong impact on German sociology, contributing to important theoretical
innovations and the opening up of new areas of research. He was also piv-
otal in initiating collaboration among researchers and policymakers both
within Germany and at the European level. His scholarly interest had an
unusually broad sweep, from linguistics and philosophy to economics and
organisation theory.
Inmid-2010,Michaelwasfacedwiththeprospectthathemaybeunable
to fight his illness. At the suggestion of the editors, he began to develop
the idea of publishing a book that would disseminate his contributions on
immigration and integration to a larger, English-reading audience. As col-
leagues enjoying a long-standing friendship with Michael, who have
gained much from his wise advice and unflagging support, we were hon-
oured to carry through this project. Michael put a lot of energy into the se-
lection and presentation of the articles in this, his last book. He saw the fi-
nalmanuscript before hediedon 26 December 2010.
In Michael, we lost a friend with a great sense of loyalty and humour,
but also a passionate interlocutor with broad knowledge in many fields,
from Schubert to the Bundesliga. We miss his sonorous voice, his sharp
wit and ironic insights and not least his enjoying a well-earned pint after
an intense researchdiscussion or seminar.
Our acknowledgements go to all those who were close to Michael and
who helped make this book possible. We thank Sigrid Pusch, who man-
aged his office and helped us in numerous ways to prepare the manuscript
at the project’s onset. We are particularly indebted to Andrea Lenschow,
Michael’s companion in life, and to Andreas Pott, his successor at the
University of Osnabrück. Both offered crucial comments and precious ad-
vice during the production of this edition. A special thanks goes to Karina
Hof, managing editor of the IMISCOE Editorial Committee, and to Rinus