Research Cluster Integration and Social Cohesion

The integration and social cohesion research group explores various facets associated with the incorporation of migrants into receiving societies and different societal domains, including employment, education, housing, and health, as well as broader aspects of civic participation and legal inclusion.  

The relation between migrants and host communities is also explored, including discrimination, racism, classism and other ideologies that justify inequality, unequal treatment, and radicalisation processes, while taking into account the inherent diversity of both groups and the dynamic nature of this relationship, understanding it as the result of both concrete interactions and the political and social construction of meaning and power imbalances associated with broader patterns of inequality and differences in social, cultural and economic capital. The research group also examines the politics of migrant integration in a multi-level governance context and the role of different actors, including politicians, policy makers, public institutions and service providers, civil society actors, and migrants themselves, in formulating relevant policies, taking into account different levels of governance, sociality (micro-meso-macro), and different geographical scales (local to supranational).  

The members of the research cluster adhere to an inter- and transdisciplinary approach. They stem from different social science disciplines, such as political science, economics, sociology, anthropology, and law/international relations.

Current related projects

• Exploring the Integration of Post-2014 Migrants in Small and Medium-Sized Towns and Rural Areas from a Whole of Community Perspective | Whole-COMM
• Measuring Irregular Migratin | MIrreM
• Mixed (ar)rivals: Perceptions of threat, inequalities and the risk of violence between different (forced) migrant groups in North Africa | MixedRivals  
• Realities of life of persons with literacy needs
• Sustainable practices of integration | SPRING (see also: integrationpractices.eu/)

• Almasri, S. (2021). The Political Economy of Nationality-Based Labor Inclusion Strategies: A Case Study of the Jordan Compact. Middle East Critique, Volume 30, Issue 2: 185-203
   
• Hynek, N.; Franczukowska, A.; Rössl, L.; Schreder, G.; Faustmann, A.; Krczal, E.; Skrivanek, I.; Sommer, I.; Zenk, L. (2020). A System Model of Post-Migration Risk Factors Affecting the Mental Health of Unaccompanied Minor Refugees in Austria—A Multi-Step Modeling Process Involving Expert Knowledge from Science and Practice. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(14):5058: doi:10.3390/ijerph17145058
   
• Kraler, A.; Rössl, L.; Skrivanek, I. (2021). Evidence Classification. SPRING - Sustainable Practices of Integration (Deliverables), Krems
   
• Kraler, A. (2022). Intersecting Barriers to Employment. In: Pisarevskaya, A.; Kraler, A.; Webb, A., Integration of newly arrived migrants in Europe. SPRING Handbook for practitioners. nn, Zenodo, Krems
   
• Pisarevskaya, A.; Kraler, A.; Webb, A.; Grujic, M.,; Kilic, H.; Kerschbaumer, T.; Palinkas, M.; Scholten, P.; Skrivanek, I.; Zentner, M. (2022). The integration of refugees and other recent migrants: A review of research on integration policy practices in the EU. Zenodo, Krems
   
• Pisarevskaya, A.; Kraler, A.; Webb, A.; Grujic, M.,; Kilic, H.; Kerschbaumer, T.; Palinkas, M.; Skrivanek, I.; Zentner, M. (2022). Integration of newly arrived migrants in Europe. SPRING Handbook for practitioners. Zenodo, Krems
   
• Skrivanek, I.; Kerschbaumer, I.; Kilic, H.; Kraler, A. (2022). Immigrant integration in small and mediumsized towns and rural areas: local policies and policymaking relations in Austria. Country Reports on multilevel dynamics. Collegio Carlo Alberto
   
• Skrivanek, I.; Kerschbaumer, T.; Kilic, H.; Kraler, A. (2022). Post-2014 migrants' access to housing, employment and other crucial resources in small- and medium-sized towns and rural areas in Austria. Country Reports on integration. Collegio Carlo Alberto
   
• Skrivanek, I.; Rössl, L.; Biffl G.; Kilic, H.; Pfeffer, T. (2021). Regionale Erwerbsintegration von Geflüchteten in Österreich aus struktureller und individueller Perspektive. Edition Donau-Universität Krems, Krems
   
• Zardo, F.; Rössl, L.; Khoury, Ch. (2022). Coping with the pandemic: the governance of public service provision for migrants in four European cities. Proceedings of the easyRights Final Conference