Proceedings of a seminar held in November 1997

The purpose of local consultative bodies for foreign residents is to provide a forum for consultation between local authorities and the foreign population in Council of Europe member states. Involved in a diversity of issues such as culture, language learning, education and employment, such forums seek to promote participatory democracy and integration. This publication contains practical guidelines on how to set up new structures of this type or improve on existing ones.

Migration is an increasingly important reality for sub-national autonomous territories characterized by large historical communities or minorities. The diverse claims of these groups, on the one hand, and of new communities arising from migration, on the other, bring complexity to the management of migration issue in the territories. Migration and Autonomous Territories, edited by Roberta Medda-Windischer and Andrea Carlà, draws on the fields of migration and minority studies, to analyze the challenges associated with the need to reconcile diversity and unity in autonomous territories. The volume compares the cases of South Tyrol and Catalonia, characterized both by the presence of large historical communities and minorities, and significant migration aims, and sheds new light on how sub-national units deal with migration.

"Europe has become an immigration continent. Yet the rights of immigrants and their access to citizenship differ widely between its nation-states. This collection of essays looks into the following questions: What is the legal status assigned to immigrants in the different European states? Under which conditions can foreigners become naturalized? Do traditional definitions of national citizenship sufficiently take into account new patterns of migration in this area? Is the new citizenship of the European Union a first step towards a supranational political membership and how will it affect immigrants from other countries? Will dual citizenship be seen as an adequate legal expression of multiple social ties that connect migrants to societies of destination and origin? What can be learned from the experience of nations built from immigration, such as Canada and Australia? Finally, the normative issues are addressed: How much cultural adaptation should be involved in naturalization? What can receiving states legitimately ask from immigrants and what can immigrants expect from their hosts? Do we need a new conception of citizenship that includes all permanent residents of a society, regardless of their nationalities and passports?" "This volume contains a selection of papers presented at the international workshop From Aliens to Citizens which was held in Vienna on 5 and 6 November 1993. The workshop was jointly organized by the Institute for Advanced Studies, the Wiener Integrationsfonds and the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This report looks at integration policies in the member states of the Council of Europe. It focuses on lessons learned since 1991 in the areas of diversity and cohesion, citizenship and participation, management of migratory movements and minority protection and describes the necessary components of social cohesion policies that promote the inclusion of migrants into societies. The report identifies ways and means of establishing positive community relations for European societies through the promotion of a political, economic, cultural and legal environment favourable to diversity and the promotion of human cohesion. Migration statistics and information on the state of ratification of European conventions are included in the annex.

The story of West Indian immigrants to the United States is generally considered to be a great success. Mary Waters, however, tells a very different story. She finds that the values that gain first-generation immigrants initial success--a willingness to work hard, a lack of attention to racism, a desire for education, an incentive to save--are undermined by the realities of life and race relations in the United States. Contrary to long-held beliefs, Waters finds, those who resist Americanization are most likely to succeed economically, especially in the second generation.

This open access volume analyses the development of democracy at different levels of governance (from local to global). The Basque search for an institutional and democratic model that adapts to its social needs and solves its problems offers an interesting perspective for analyzing the way in which democracy is seeking new forms of materialization from the local to the global. The volume is divided into four parts. The chapters in Part I analyze the tensions between the neoliberal vision of democracy and the voices contesting it, with projections at different levels of government. The chapters in Part II focus on the emerging framework and scales of Western democracy. The chapters in Part III present new forms of citizen participation, paying special - though not exclusive - attention to new practical strategies for Basque society. The volume concludes with a block of chapters on the relevance of reviewing the methodological and epistemological frameworks from which knowledge about democracy and mechanisms of citizen participation is generated (Part IV). By delving deeper into the idea and practice of democratic governance, this volume will be of interest to researchers and students from all disciplines of politics, international relations, sociology and law.