Un-Welcome to Denmark - by Michelle Pace (Hardcover)

About the Book

Un-welcome to Denmark critically assesses the impact of the harsh Danish migration regime on Syrian refugees and welfare professionals and private stakeholders tasked to support their integration into their host society. It thereby traces how a once revered liberal society has turned into Europe's strictest migration regimes.

Book Synopsis

Un-welcome to Denmark critically assesses Denmark's migration regime by directly engaging the voices of multiple stakeholders impacted by its harshness. It puts forward the theory of the unwelcome migrant by undertaking an extensive analysis of the programmatic and legal foundations for the undeserving migrant as well as of the lived experiences of Syrian refugees, and welfare professionals and private businesses tasked with supporting them. It thereby documents the ways in which the Danish migration gaze produces and perpetuates the hyper precarity of the everyday lives of Syrians and the anxiety that overshadows the manner in which Syrians and those who support them navigate its maze. By so doing, it traces how a once admired, liberal, tolerant and open society with a strong reverence for human rights has turned into one of the harshest migration regimes in Europe, if not internationally.

From the Back Cover

'This brilliant and thought-provoking book explodes the myth of Denmark as a happy, liberal and welcoming society for migrants and refugees. Based on in-depth interviews with Syrian migrants and a variety of key interlocutors, Michelle Pace, with Sarah El-Abd, forensically exposes the tensions, illogicalities and injustices in Denmark's racist, illiberal, exclusionary and assimilationist policies towards asylum-seekers and refugees. Written from the perspective of critical migration studies, Un-welcome to Denmark is a must-read for scholars, students and policy-makers.'
Professor Russell King, Emeritus Professor (Geography), University of Sussex

'Michelle Pace's book Un-welcome to Denmark is a solid scientific analysis - framed through the author's very critical view on present-day Danish refugee policy. Whatever your own views, it is worth reading this book to get a nuanced grasp of the realities and the human consequences of - not least - the so called paradigm shift.'
Mogens Lykketoft, former minister, speaker and president of the UN General Assembly
Un-welcome to Denmark critically assesses the Danish migration regime from the initial enactment of its Aliens Act in 1983 up until the 2019 paradigm shift. It does so by engaging multiple stakeholders that are impacted by the harshness of this regime's gaze and maze: Syrian refuges, welfare and civil society professionals as well as private businesses CSR and diversity managers. Presenting the theory of the unwelcome migrant co-produced with these multiple stakeholders, the book documents how Denmark's migration policies and laws produce and maintain migrants' undeservedness and how they produce anxieties across those they directly target as well as those tasked with supporting them. It reveals how the Danish migration regime is effectuated - to a significant extent - by the practices of public (municipalities) and nonstate (civil society and private) actors, complementing each others' endeavours.

Review Quotes

'This brilliant and thought-provoking book explodes the myth of Denmark as a happy, liberal and welcoming society for migrants and refugees. Like several other 'Western' countries, but more than most, Denmark has seen a paradigm shift in policies on the acceptance and integration of 'outsiders'. Based on in-depth interviews with Syrian migrants and a variety of key interlocutors, Michelle Pace, with Sarah El-Abd, forensically exposes the tensions, illogicalities and injustices in Denmark's racist, illiberal, exclusionary and assimilationist policies towards asylum-seekers and refugees. Written from the perspective of critical migration studies, Un-Welcome to Denmark is a must-read for scholars, students and policy-makers.'
Professor Russell King, Emeritus Professor (Geography), University of Sussex

'Michelle Pace's book UN-WELCOME TO DENMARK is a solid scientific analysis - framed through the author's very critical view on present-day Danish refugee policy. Whatever your own views, it is worth reading this book to get a nuanced grasp of the realities and the human consequences of - not least - the so called paradigm shift.'
Mogens Lykketoft, former minister, speaker and president of the UN General Assembly

'The best account to date of how Denmark got lost in the horrifying darkness of the punishing ethno-nationalist forest with the chilling stench of racism. A must read.' Professor Dimitry Kochenov Yaroslavsky, Central European University

'An essential and bold contribution to the often-overlooked debate on racism and xenophobia in Denmark's immigration and integration policies. Michelle Pace, together with Sarah El-Abd, skillfully exposes Denmark's systemic 'Othering' of non-Western migrants while also highlighting the crucial role of welfare professionals and private stakeholders in the process of 'repair'. By amplifying the voices of multiple stakeholders, including Syrian refugees, this book compellingly reveals both the dark and hopeful sides of asylum and migration in Denmark--a must-read for anyone willing to look beyond the cliché of Denmark as merely Borgen, happiness, and social equality.' Sarah Ganty, J.S.D. candidate, Yale Law School

'As a scholar working on the geopolitics of migration, I found Un-welcome to Denmark: The Paradigm Shift and Refugee Integration to be both timely and deeply resonant. Michelle Pace (with Sarah El-Abd) offers a compelling, methodologically rich examination of how a liberal welfare state has come to embed exclusionary logics into the very structures of integration. The book's central concept of the "un-welcome migrant" provides a powerful analytical lens through which to understand the disjuncture between professed liberal values and the lived realities of asylum seekers. Drawing on over a decade of fieldwork and sustained engagement with Syrian refugees and Danish institutions, the author uncovers how securitisation, surveillance, and conditionality are quietly reshaping the European migration landscape. This is an essential contribution to the study of migration governance, welfare politics, and the erosion of liberal norms. It deserves a wide readership across political science, sociology, and Middle East studies.' Professor Gerasimos Tsourapas

'This book provides a compelling, lucid, and powerful account of how Denmark has shaped its politics of asylum and migration through various discursive practices, everyday narratives, and policies. By developing the theory of the "Unwelcome Migrant" and drawing on rich conceptual and ethnographic work, it offers valuable insights not only for those interested in Danish asylum policies but also for those seeking to understand the dynamics of exclusion and inclusion that define the global refugee regime.' Tamirace Fakhoury, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

About the Author

Michelle Pace is Professor in Global Studies at Roskilde University.