Enduring Practices of Scrutiny: State-Centered Perspectives on Naturalization and Integration in Germany and Denmark

Abstract

The spread of liberal-democratic ideals facilitated by the discourse of human rights, globalization flows, and the rise of transnational and cosmopolitan trends continue to coexist with a tight grip on migration flows and states’ monitoring of the conditions of national membership—all on the background of persistent popular anxiety about the ability of “strangers” to ever become “insiders” and contribute to the strengthening rather than the dissolution of nation-bound assemblages. One need not look further than the apprehension around the ever-increasing numbers of immigrants and refugees seeking entry into the European continent. Some attempts end tragically as migrants lose their lives at sea—at times, because of decreased funding for joint-effort rescue teams in international waters. Others pose longer-lasting complexities for nation-states as decisions are made about who should be responsible for the newcomers’ reception, needs, and incorporation during this “Mediterranean migrant crisis” (BBC 2015). Indeed, over the course of one year, the number of migrants entering the European Union nearly tripled in 2014, to 280,000, mainly due to the conflict in Syria. While at one end of the response spectrum Germany is deemed to have overestimated its great efforts to accept the highest numbers of asylum claims (Bovens and Von Rabenau 2014), Denmark unapologetically described how favorable family reunification policies tend to increase a state’s number of claims and thus made efforts to make these policies more restrictive.