Engendering Integration and Inclusion

Abstract

In this chapter we turn to issues of how migrants participate in society and especially their gendered aspects. Why is gender important in this regard? It is a consideration that is usually absent from both theoretical and policy discussions of what is commonly termed integration or the basis on which migrants are incorporated into a society, a term widely used across different societies but with different meanings (Rytter, 2019). Whilst integration policies might seem to be neutral, they may in effect target women and men differently and have different outcomes for them. Such policies may also apply primarily to certain categories of migrants, although the categories and nationalities change over time. As we shall see, concerns over what constitutes problematic integration vary, such as: lack of knowledge of the language of the country, non-participation in the labour market and traditional cultural and social practices transferred from societies of origin. These have generated demands to impose integration measures and contracts as conditionalities of immigration and, if applicable, to the different stages in the pathway to citizenship.