Reluctant Hosts: Europe and Its Refugees

Now reissued with a new Preface by Robin Cohen and Danièle Joly this book was originally published in 1989 at a time when the reality of a single European Community had begun to materialize the comfortable belief that many European countries offered havens for those fleeing persecution. This belief was undermined as governments sought to cope with xenophobic and racist sentiments by their indigenous populations. This book, with contributions from social scientists, policy-makers and representatives from many European countries discusses the response of European governments to the increasing demands by asylum-seekers, refugees and exiles for admission, settlement and protection: issues which remain as pertinent today as when the book was originally published.

Robin Cohen is Emeritus Professor of Development Studies at the University of Oxford. For the first decade of his academic career, he worked on comparative labour issues. His books included Labour and Politics in Nigeria (1974) and the co-edited collections The development of an African working class (1975), International Labour and the Third World (1987), African Labor History (1978) and the current title, Peasants and Proletarians. He subsequently wrote on the themes of migration, globalization and diasporas. His best-known work is Global diasporas: An introduction (3rd edition, 2022).

Danièle Joly is Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of Warwick and Associate researcher, College d’études mondiales (MSH-Paris). Formerly, European Commission Marie Curie Fellow at EHESS (CADIS); resident researcher at IEA-Paris. Prior to that, Director of the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, University of Warwick. Her publications include L'Emeute (2007), Muslims in Prison (2005), Blacks and Britannity (2001), Haven or Hell: Asylum Policy and Refugees in Europe (1996), Britannia's Crescent: Making a Place for Muslims in British Society (1995), The PCF and the Algerian War (1991). With K. Wadia, Muslim women and power (2017), winner of the PSA,WJM Mackensie Prize for Best Book in Political Sciences 2017-2018.