Migrant integration in the UK: politics, policy and practice

Dr Jill Rutter (Family and Childcare Trust)

Jill Rutter will be talking about her new book Moving up and getting on: migration, integration and social cohesion in the UK. In most developed countries border control is high on the political agenda. Yet what happens to migrants after their arrival in a new country – integration – has received less attention. She argues that an essential pre-requisite for successful integration and social cohesion policy is a clear understanding about these conditions and the role of the state in promoting them. I review theoretical and policy-focused definitions of integration, before putting forward my own choice – that integration is the capability of migrants to achieve social inclusion and wellbeing . Such capabilities are achieved by possessing English language fluency, for example, and the type of work that supports social mixing.

Dr Jill Rutter Migrant integration in the UK: politics, policy and practice

About the speaker

Jill Rutter is Head of Policy and Research at the Family and Childcare Trust. Prior to joining the organisation she was a senior research fellow in migration at the Institute for Public Policy Research, the UK’s leading think tank.  She has published over 100 books, articles and reports, mostly on migration and on family policy. These include Refugee Children in the UK ( Open University Press, 2006) and Moving Up Together (Policy Press, 2015) Before working at IPPR, Jill was a university lecturer and from 1988-2001 a Policy Advisor at the Refugee Council. Outside work Jill is a contributing editor to the political blog Left Foot Forward and a trustee of the Migration Museum Project. She is also a keen potter.

Organiser: Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies

Contact email: cb92@soas.ac.uk