E.g., 04/24/2024
E.g., 04/24/2024
Social Cohesion & Identity

Social Cohesion & Identity

Large-scale immigration has led to unprecedented levels of diversity and rapid demographic change, transforming communities across major immigrant-receiving countries in fundamental ways and challenging closely held notions of national identity, particularly in an era of economic uncertainty. The research here focuses on what policymakers can do to mitigate the destabilizing effects of rapid societal change — especially changes tied or perceived to be tied to immigration — in order to create stronger and more cohesive societies.

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Reports
February 2018
By  Aliyyah Ahad and Meghan Benton
Designing Civic Education for Diverse Societies
Reports
February 2018
By  Per Mouritsen and Astrid Jaeger
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Signed into law 50 years ago, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 had several unintended consequences that have had a profound effect on the flow of immigrants to the United States and contributed to the transformation of the U.S. demographic profile. This Policy Beat explores the law's lasting impact and lessons for policymaking today.

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Japan is one of the world's most generous contributors to humanitarian appeals, yet accepts a very small number of asylum seekers—indeed only 11 were granted refugee status in 2014. Even as Japan has witnessed a record number of asylum applications, the approval rate has declined. This feature explores Japan's low acceptance of asylum seekers, including institutional barriers and negative public perceptions.

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While many countries are increasing engagement with their diasporas, U.S. policy has chiefly focused on U.S.-based diasporas from other countries, despite its own estimated overseas population of 7.6 million. This feature explores results from a survey of more than 1,400 U.S. citizens and 140 former citizens living abroad, many of whom are critical of limited U.S. government engagement with them even as restrictive financial reporting regulations have been imposed.
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With rising inflows of humanitarian and economic migrants, Norway faces a series of integration challenges. In conversation with the Migration Information Source, Solveig Horne, Norway's Minister of Children, Equality, and Social Inclusion discusses her work on integration policy, from the importance of language training and a feeling of belonging, to the protection of immigrant women and resettlement of asylum seekers.
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The United Kingdom has faced changing immigration patterns over the last two decades driven largely by EU migration, and political upheaval caused by the rise of the United Kingdom Independence Party and the Scottish National Party. Upcoming general elections in May 2015 will have a significant impact not only on immigration policies but the United Kingdom's place in the European Union.

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Palestinians constitute the world’s longest protracted refugee situation and largest stateless community. Yet their plight has often been eclipsed by more recent displacement crises and dismissed as unsolvable. Other factors have contributed to Palestinian refugees’ situation, including the near impossibility of obtaining citizenship in many host countries and precarious funding for support, as this article explains.

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Los países de América Latina y el Caribe están siendo transformados por crisis políticas y económicas, nuevos acuerdos de libre circulación y otras tendencias. La cantidad de inmigrantes que viven en la región casi se ha duplicado desde 2010, un cambio increíble en un corto período de tiempo. Este artículo da sentido a una profunda transición en curso en el hemisferio occidental.

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Political and economic crises, new free-movement arrangements, and other trends are transforming countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, a region once known primarily for its emigration. The number of immigrants living in the region has nearly doubled since 2010, an incredible change in a short period of time. This article makes sense of a profound transition underway in the Western Hemisphere.

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Historically a country of emigration, Spain rapidly transitioned to become one of Europe’s major immigration destinations in just a few years. Remarkably, this evolution occurred with minimal political backlash, even as the country suffered through a crippling economic and labor crisis. This country profile examines the trends and policies that led to this astonishing development.

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High-skilled immigration represents a potential major benefit to Czechia, which has undergone rapid economic growth since the transition from communism. The arrival of hundreds of thousands of new Ukrainians, many of whom are well educated, marks a moment for the country to re-evaluate its integration policies, as this article details.

Reports
March 2023

Although Caribbean migration is often discussed in terms of movement to North America and Europe, migration within the region has increased notably in recent years. With people on the move for work or study, to join family, and to seek safety from natural disasters or persecution, this mobility takes many forms. This report explores Caribbean migration trends and the policies and institutions put in place at national and regional levels to manage them.

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Millions of immigrants fill key sectors in Russia’s economy, help offset its demographic challenges, and support origin communities, particularly in Central Asia. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many have also been pressured into joining the military, and meanwhile face continued marginalization by Russian society. This article outlines the key issues facing these migrants, some of which have been complicated by the fallout from the war.

Expert Q&A, Audio
December 8, 2022

Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan and researcher Justin Gest discuss the confluence of polarization, nationalism, and immigration, as well as how increasingly diverse societies come up with a new definition of "we".

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