This book examines how small and medium-sized towns and rural areas in Western Europe have supported the integration of migrants since 2014, and the challenges they have faced. Applying an innovative cross-locality research design and mixed-methods approach, it argues that integration policies are shaped by several factors, including the political affiliations of local policy actors, the presence and strength of radical right parties, and the dynamics of multilevel governance. The book compares integration policy-making in 36 small localities across seven countries – Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy and Austria – paying particular attention to the policy approaches and governance networks in place to support the integration of migrants, as well as to the attitudes of local residents and policymakers towards them. In doing so, the book deepens our understanding of refugee integration policy at a subnational level in Europe, which is often dominated by studies of big cities and metropolitan areas.

Tiziana Caponio is Professor of Political Science at the Department of Cultures, Politics and Society, University of Turin, Italy, and Fellow at Collegio Carlo Alberto.

Andrea Pettrachin is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Sciences, Law and International Studies, University of Padua, Italy.