This is a book about the crisis of the European integration project as seen from the vantage
point of people's movements across and to the European continent. But why should the issue of
refugees or of migration have anything to do with the dynamics of the integration or
disintegration of the European Union? If anything the existing global refugee protection
regime was conceived in Europe at about the time when Europe began to integrate: It was seen as
a moral imperative in the context of European solidarity and in the face of crisis. How did
refugee protection become so controversial as to usher in a crisis of its own? Why do European
governments and their peoples see refugees and migrants as the cause of a crisis in and of
Europe? Solidarity legitimacy democracy welfare rights: How has refugee migration
undermined European positions on all that has defined EU integration so far? This collection
engages with these questions by focusing on the construction of the crisis narrative offering
an insight into distinctly European perspectives on and analyses of political responses to
refugees migration and economic challenges. The aim of the volume is to provide an empirical
and thematic context for understanding the link between refugee migration and the overpowering
perception of Europe in crisis.
