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World Population Explosion, Migration and Solidarity in Europe

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Shifting Solidarities

Abstract

World population growth has often been portrayed as a demographic “time bomb” threatening solidarity in Europe because of the combination of young and rapidly growing populations in the South and ageing and potentially shrinking populations in Europe. I argue that the “time bomb” metaphor is misleading and unproductive. I review what we know about migration from Africa to Europe. Next, I discuss how and why policy responses to immigration in Europe have been inconsistent and ineffective, as they are misguided by a combination of Malthusian fears and the framing of migration as a matter of solidarity. Europe should open up new channels of orderly migration, including labour migration. While anti-immigration sentiments are widespread, there also exist important manifestations of positive attitudes, particularly among younger generations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Jan Van Bavel

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  1. Jan Van Bavel
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Correspondence to Jan Van Bavel .

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  1. KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Ine Van Hoyweghen

  2. KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Valeria Pulignano

  3. KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Gert Meyers

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Van Bavel, J. (2020). World Population Explosion, Migration and Solidarity in Europe. In: Van Hoyweghen, I., Pulignano, V., Meyers, G. (eds) Shifting Solidarities . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44062-6_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44062-6_13

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