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Uneven Borders: Family Reunification Regulations and Their Implications in Europe

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Handbook of Transnational Families Around the World

Part of the book series: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research ((HSSR))

Abstract

In light of a growing literature and a multi-disciplinary perspective, this chapter reviews the main characteristics and trends in the regulation of family migration in different European countries and the key implications of these sets of controls on the lives of families divided by borders. Contemporary migration flows have been accompanied by re-nationalising and populist outbursts, which have triggered restrictive border and immigration policies framed by an ‘emergency and crisis’ discourse. Family migration has often been a specific target of these discourses: family migrants are considered problematic because they cannot be strictly quantitatively and qualitatively selected in terms of skills, etc. Their family connections are also considered suspect and ‘improper’, as the debate on sham, forced, arranged or polygamous marriages exemplifies. This chapter demonstrates that these restrictive trends have not decreased the incidence and statistical relevance of family migration in Europe.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/germany-issued-only-half-of-maximum-quota-family-reunification-visas-in-2021-due-to-covid-19/

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Milan, Milan, Italy

    Paola Bonizzoni

  2. Flemish Research Foundation (FWO), Brussel, Belgium

    Milena Belloni

  3. Department of Sociology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Milena Belloni

  4. Human Rights Center, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium

    Milena Belloni

Authors
  1. Paola Bonizzoni
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  2. Milena Belloni
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Correspondence to Paola Bonizzoni .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Social work, Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano, Santiago, Chile

    Javiera Cienfuegos

  2. Centre on Migration, Citizenship and Development (COMCAD), Faculty of Sociology, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany

    Rosa Brandhorst

  3. Centre of African Studies, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Deborah Fahy Bryceson

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Bonizzoni, P., Belloni, M. (2023). Uneven Borders: Family Reunification Regulations and Their Implications in Europe. In: Cienfuegos, J., Brandhorst, R., Fahy Bryceson, D. (eds) Handbook of Transnational Families Around the World . Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15278-8_15

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