Oliver Schmidtke | Victoria University of Wellington (original) (raw)
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Papers by Oliver Schmidtke
Introduction - Oliver Schmidtke& Serhy Yekelchyk * Out of Russia_s Long Shadow - Serhy Yekelchyk ... more Introduction - Oliver Schmidtke& Serhy Yekelchyk * Out of Russia_s Long Shadow - Serhy Yekelchyk * From Soviet Ukraine to the Orange Revolution - Natalie Mychajlyszyn * Belarus in the Lukashenka Era - Per Anders Rudling * Post-Soviet Moldova_s National Identity and Foreign Policy - Steven D. Roper * The Donbas: The Last Frontier of Europe? - Hiroaki Kuromiya * In the Minority in Moldova - Hulya Demirdirek * The Promise of Europe - Oliver Schmidtke & Constantin Chira-Pascanut * Taking Ukraine Seriously - Derek Fraser * The Failed Revolution - David R. Marples * EU_Russia Relations and the Repercussions on the _In-betweens_ - Stefan Ganzle
Journal of International Migration and Integration
Over the past 20 years, Germany’s regions have developed distinct policy regimes at the subnation... more Over the past 20 years, Germany’s regions have developed distinct policy regimes at the subnational level, driven by divergent socio-economic realities, constellations in competitive party politics, and modes of including civil society stakeholders into the governance process. The article argues that policies of immigrant integration have been substantially decentralized empowering Lander and leading to a subnationally shaped, albeit regionally distinctive set of policies and administrative practices. This hypothesis is discussed with respect to the evolving role of regions as policy entrepreneurs in immigrant integration and a comparative analysis of Germany’s largest immigrant receiving Lander, North Rhine Westphalia and Bavaria. From a theoretical perspective, the findings contribute to conceptualizing the dynamic of multi-level governance policy formation in the field of immigrant integration.
Rethinking the Public Sphere Through Transnationalizing Processes, 2013
Masse — Macht — Emotion, 1997
International Journal: Canada's Journal of Global Policy Analysis, 2011
In traditional scholarly and public debate, North American societies such as Canada and European ... more In traditional scholarly and public debate, North American societies such as Canada and European societies like Great Britain and Germany are portrayed as having essentially different immigration regimes. Canada is seen as the quintessential immigrant society with consistently high levels of newcomers throughout much of the last century, and an immigration policy that is driven by the idea of attracting highly qualified migrants and integrating them swiftly into society and the labour market. By contrast, this multifaceted commitment to becoming an immigrant society has been absent from European countries until now. While some countries have factually changed from being countries of emigration to those of immigration, attracting newcomers has traditionally been more a matter of those countries' colonial legacy, or, in other cases such as Germany, one of hiring temporary workers during the postwar economic boom. This has left European countries with a distinctly different legacy of selecting immigrants and integrating them into the fabric of their societies.Yet, challenging this ideal-typical distinction between European societies and settler societies in North America, many countries in Europe have warmed up to the idea of pursuing a more elaborate and expanded immigration policy/ Individual European countries have increasingly been involved in the global competition for highly skilled migrants. At the national and European level, attracting a well-educated work force from abroad is widely perceived to be a major strategy to address the demographic transformation of western countries and to keep knowledge-based economies competitive. With low birth rates, European societies are ageing quickly and are likely to face a severe shortage of qualified labour in the near future. Across party lines, political and business communities widely agree that demographic change will be the key threat to Europe's international economic competitiveness. In spite of considerable public reservations, promoting immigration has become one of the most important answers to this challenge.Germany and the UK are pertinent examples of how this assessment has led to substantial changes in immigration policy.2 Echoing similar attempts in other European countries, Germany and the UK have introduced legislation that seeks to facilitate immigration and to target highly qualified newcomers. Not too surprisingly, the Canadian point system and its emphasis on the education and work experience of applicants has served as a blueprint for new policies designed to attract more highly qualified immigrants. The key assumption driving the adoption of these policies is that these skilled newcomers are quickly integrated into the workforce and contribute to the wellbeing of the recipient country.Rather than focusing on recent changes in immigration policy and increasing international competition for the "best minds," this article analyzes how successful Canadian and European societies have been, from a comparative perspective, in taking advantage of newcomers' skills and in providing them with equitable access to professional opportunities. In this respect, it is also worth noting several key differences in the respective countries' labour markets. Compared to their continental European counterparts, North American societies have traditionally been characterized by less regulated labour markets and a higher degree of labour mobility. However, European labour markets are now tending to move in a similar direction. We have recently witnessed a shift away from long-term employment careers toward an increase in temporary contracts, part-time work, and self-employment.3 The fate of highly skilled immigrants in the economy is shaped by these structural changes in national economies and by the more specific occupational conditions in particular professional fields.4 Keeping these complex processes of integrating highly skilled migrants into the labour market in mind, what are the achievements and challenges of policies that are designed to compete for the most qualified migrants, people who often enjoy a great degree of mobility in the globalized economy? …
International Studies
This article focuses on the governance of migration and borders as key issues of Brexit in a dual... more This article focuses on the governance of migration and borders as key issues of Brexit in a dual sense: as a contested political issue centrally fueling the Brexit debates and as an area of policy formation. First, the article addresses how Brexit has changed free movement as a key principle of the European integration project and transformed cross-border mobility between the European Union (EU) and the UK in a post-Brexit European border regime. Second, it discusses how the politicization of migration during the Brexit campaign has accentuated competing visions of political community. With a view to the effects of Brexit on the governance of migration and borders in Europe, the article demonstrates how the Brexit debates have emphasized the prominence of exclusionary nationalism, while they have simultaneously created new opportunities for the EU to launch a major reform of its migration and asylum policies.
Canadian Journal of European and Russian Studies
not available Full text available at: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v2i3.171
Canadian Journal of European and Russian Studies
Territorial politics and the prospect of minority nationalist secession have assumed renewed prom... more Territorial politics and the prospect of minority nationalist secession have assumed renewed prominence in Europe in recent years, centring on the relationships between Scotland and the United Kingdom and between Catalonia and Spain. For both cases, 2014 proved a momentous year, with Scotland holding a binding referendum on independence in September, and Catalonia holding a non-binding (and disputed) consultation vote in November. This paper explores the recent push for independence in these two contexts, employing frame analysis to assess how the pro-independence movements in Scotland and Catalonia conceptualize and articulate the ideas of nationhood, collective identity, and self-determination. It specifically explores the various political cleavages that these movements draw on in promoting the idea of autonomy or independence, and how these movements have positioned themselves within a changing European political environment. The paper demonstrates that, for both pro-independenc...
Canadian Journal of European and Russian Studies
not available Full text available at: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v4i2.198
Frontiers in Sociology
This article investigates the link between rising levels of social inequality and years of auster... more This article investigates the link between rising levels of social inequality and years of austerity on the one hand and the rise of populist, anti-establishment protest on the other. This connection is explored by analyzing the discursive practices of activists as a way of reconstructing the key argumentative and emotional structures organizing actors' understanding of politics. Empirically the article is based on 40 narrative interviews with supporters of the German right-wing, anti-immigrant party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), and the newly established left-wing movement Stand Up. The findings of the discursive analysis point to a profound sense of exclusion amongst left-and right-wing populist affiliates defined both in socioeconomic terms and with a view to being deprived of a proper political voice. At the same time, the results show that the supporters of the AfD, in contrast to those from Stand Up, develop a strong, mobilizing collective identity that is instrumental in popularizing their discontent with the political establishment: The dramatized conflict between the virtuous German people and the threatening Other-manifested primarily by immigrants and the European Union-provides an emotionally charged binary that is at the core of the contemporary populist resurgence across Western democracies. In addition, the collective identity is instrumental in offering a particular interpretation of the origins of and desirable response to growing inequality that rely more on culturalist rather than traditional class-based arguments. Building on this analysis, the article offers an interpretation of the relative weakness of the populist left that, in the German context, so far has not succeeded in using deepening socioeconomic cleavages for their political mobilization effectively.
disP - The Planning Review
Germany on the Road to Normalcy, 2004
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 13597569308420877, Nov 19, 2007
Berliner Journal Fur Soziologie, 2001
International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, 2007
Introduction - Oliver Schmidtke& Serhy Yekelchyk * Out of Russia_s Long Shadow - Serhy Yekelchyk ... more Introduction - Oliver Schmidtke& Serhy Yekelchyk * Out of Russia_s Long Shadow - Serhy Yekelchyk * From Soviet Ukraine to the Orange Revolution - Natalie Mychajlyszyn * Belarus in the Lukashenka Era - Per Anders Rudling * Post-Soviet Moldova_s National Identity and Foreign Policy - Steven D. Roper * The Donbas: The Last Frontier of Europe? - Hiroaki Kuromiya * In the Minority in Moldova - Hulya Demirdirek * The Promise of Europe - Oliver Schmidtke & Constantin Chira-Pascanut * Taking Ukraine Seriously - Derek Fraser * The Failed Revolution - David R. Marples * EU_Russia Relations and the Repercussions on the _In-betweens_ - Stefan Ganzle
Journal of International Migration and Integration
Over the past 20 years, Germany’s regions have developed distinct policy regimes at the subnation... more Over the past 20 years, Germany’s regions have developed distinct policy regimes at the subnational level, driven by divergent socio-economic realities, constellations in competitive party politics, and modes of including civil society stakeholders into the governance process. The article argues that policies of immigrant integration have been substantially decentralized empowering Lander and leading to a subnationally shaped, albeit regionally distinctive set of policies and administrative practices. This hypothesis is discussed with respect to the evolving role of regions as policy entrepreneurs in immigrant integration and a comparative analysis of Germany’s largest immigrant receiving Lander, North Rhine Westphalia and Bavaria. From a theoretical perspective, the findings contribute to conceptualizing the dynamic of multi-level governance policy formation in the field of immigrant integration.
Rethinking the Public Sphere Through Transnationalizing Processes, 2013
Masse — Macht — Emotion, 1997
International Journal: Canada's Journal of Global Policy Analysis, 2011
In traditional scholarly and public debate, North American societies such as Canada and European ... more In traditional scholarly and public debate, North American societies such as Canada and European societies like Great Britain and Germany are portrayed as having essentially different immigration regimes. Canada is seen as the quintessential immigrant society with consistently high levels of newcomers throughout much of the last century, and an immigration policy that is driven by the idea of attracting highly qualified migrants and integrating them swiftly into society and the labour market. By contrast, this multifaceted commitment to becoming an immigrant society has been absent from European countries until now. While some countries have factually changed from being countries of emigration to those of immigration, attracting newcomers has traditionally been more a matter of those countries' colonial legacy, or, in other cases such as Germany, one of hiring temporary workers during the postwar economic boom. This has left European countries with a distinctly different legacy of selecting immigrants and integrating them into the fabric of their societies.Yet, challenging this ideal-typical distinction between European societies and settler societies in North America, many countries in Europe have warmed up to the idea of pursuing a more elaborate and expanded immigration policy/ Individual European countries have increasingly been involved in the global competition for highly skilled migrants. At the national and European level, attracting a well-educated work force from abroad is widely perceived to be a major strategy to address the demographic transformation of western countries and to keep knowledge-based economies competitive. With low birth rates, European societies are ageing quickly and are likely to face a severe shortage of qualified labour in the near future. Across party lines, political and business communities widely agree that demographic change will be the key threat to Europe's international economic competitiveness. In spite of considerable public reservations, promoting immigration has become one of the most important answers to this challenge.Germany and the UK are pertinent examples of how this assessment has led to substantial changes in immigration policy.2 Echoing similar attempts in other European countries, Germany and the UK have introduced legislation that seeks to facilitate immigration and to target highly qualified newcomers. Not too surprisingly, the Canadian point system and its emphasis on the education and work experience of applicants has served as a blueprint for new policies designed to attract more highly qualified immigrants. The key assumption driving the adoption of these policies is that these skilled newcomers are quickly integrated into the workforce and contribute to the wellbeing of the recipient country.Rather than focusing on recent changes in immigration policy and increasing international competition for the "best minds," this article analyzes how successful Canadian and European societies have been, from a comparative perspective, in taking advantage of newcomers' skills and in providing them with equitable access to professional opportunities. In this respect, it is also worth noting several key differences in the respective countries' labour markets. Compared to their continental European counterparts, North American societies have traditionally been characterized by less regulated labour markets and a higher degree of labour mobility. However, European labour markets are now tending to move in a similar direction. We have recently witnessed a shift away from long-term employment careers toward an increase in temporary contracts, part-time work, and self-employment.3 The fate of highly skilled immigrants in the economy is shaped by these structural changes in national economies and by the more specific occupational conditions in particular professional fields.4 Keeping these complex processes of integrating highly skilled migrants into the labour market in mind, what are the achievements and challenges of policies that are designed to compete for the most qualified migrants, people who often enjoy a great degree of mobility in the globalized economy? …
International Studies
This article focuses on the governance of migration and borders as key issues of Brexit in a dual... more This article focuses on the governance of migration and borders as key issues of Brexit in a dual sense: as a contested political issue centrally fueling the Brexit debates and as an area of policy formation. First, the article addresses how Brexit has changed free movement as a key principle of the European integration project and transformed cross-border mobility between the European Union (EU) and the UK in a post-Brexit European border regime. Second, it discusses how the politicization of migration during the Brexit campaign has accentuated competing visions of political community. With a view to the effects of Brexit on the governance of migration and borders in Europe, the article demonstrates how the Brexit debates have emphasized the prominence of exclusionary nationalism, while they have simultaneously created new opportunities for the EU to launch a major reform of its migration and asylum policies.
Canadian Journal of European and Russian Studies
not available Full text available at: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v2i3.171
Canadian Journal of European and Russian Studies
Territorial politics and the prospect of minority nationalist secession have assumed renewed prom... more Territorial politics and the prospect of minority nationalist secession have assumed renewed prominence in Europe in recent years, centring on the relationships between Scotland and the United Kingdom and between Catalonia and Spain. For both cases, 2014 proved a momentous year, with Scotland holding a binding referendum on independence in September, and Catalonia holding a non-binding (and disputed) consultation vote in November. This paper explores the recent push for independence in these two contexts, employing frame analysis to assess how the pro-independence movements in Scotland and Catalonia conceptualize and articulate the ideas of nationhood, collective identity, and self-determination. It specifically explores the various political cleavages that these movements draw on in promoting the idea of autonomy or independence, and how these movements have positioned themselves within a changing European political environment. The paper demonstrates that, for both pro-independenc...
Canadian Journal of European and Russian Studies
not available Full text available at: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v4i2.198
Frontiers in Sociology
This article investigates the link between rising levels of social inequality and years of auster... more This article investigates the link between rising levels of social inequality and years of austerity on the one hand and the rise of populist, anti-establishment protest on the other. This connection is explored by analyzing the discursive practices of activists as a way of reconstructing the key argumentative and emotional structures organizing actors' understanding of politics. Empirically the article is based on 40 narrative interviews with supporters of the German right-wing, anti-immigrant party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), and the newly established left-wing movement Stand Up. The findings of the discursive analysis point to a profound sense of exclusion amongst left-and right-wing populist affiliates defined both in socioeconomic terms and with a view to being deprived of a proper political voice. At the same time, the results show that the supporters of the AfD, in contrast to those from Stand Up, develop a strong, mobilizing collective identity that is instrumental in popularizing their discontent with the political establishment: The dramatized conflict between the virtuous German people and the threatening Other-manifested primarily by immigrants and the European Union-provides an emotionally charged binary that is at the core of the contemporary populist resurgence across Western democracies. In addition, the collective identity is instrumental in offering a particular interpretation of the origins of and desirable response to growing inequality that rely more on culturalist rather than traditional class-based arguments. Building on this analysis, the article offers an interpretation of the relative weakness of the populist left that, in the German context, so far has not succeeded in using deepening socioeconomic cleavages for their political mobilization effectively.
disP - The Planning Review
Germany on the Road to Normalcy, 2004
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 13597569308420877, Nov 19, 2007
Berliner Journal Fur Soziologie, 2001
International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, 2007