This book critically investigates the origins and consequences of the Janus-faced character of
attitudes and policies towards migrants that seek to penetrate Fortress Europe. Beginning with
an examination of its founding ambitions it locates the roots of an ingrained ambivalence in
the legacies of the post-war period and the unresolved tension between the economicism of the
European approach to labour migration and the philosophy of rights and solidarity embedded in
the EU project. It highlights how the formalization of citizenship rights has produced both
formal pathways towards inclusion for migrants and in their selective eligibility criteria
exclusive systems of civic stratification. The author links this oscillation between positions
of closure and openness to the paradoxical trade-offs in migration policies in particular
labour market integration demonstrated through unequal labour market outcomes lower social
mobility and educational attainments. The issues faced by migrants' offspring in Europe are
examined as paradigmatic of the struggle to balance competing calls for both pluralism and
uniformity: to create a diverse society that can also project a homogenous collective identity.
This balanced overview will provide an invaluable resource for students of migration studies
European politics public policy international relations and the sociology of racism.
