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Honorary Doctoral Lecture: Peter Scholten

Society and economy

Welcome to a lecture by Peter Scholten, Professor of Migration at Erasmus University Rotterdam, who has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Social 91̽»¨s. The lecture is entitled: Migration crisis? What crisis-talk teaches us about complexity, policymaking, and democracy in the 21st century.

Lecture
Date
15 Oct 2025
Time
13:00 - 14:30
Location
Dragonen, entrance via Sprängkullsgatan 19, Gothenburg.

Participants
Peter Scholten, Professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Director of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Research Centre
Chair: Gabriella Elgenus, Professor of Sociology, University 91̽»¨
Introduction by: Carl Dahlström, Dean of the Faculty of Social 91̽»¨s and Professor of Political 91̽»¨, University 91̽»¨
Image
Peter Scholten
Peter Scholten
Photo: Mattias Ahlm

About the lecture

Migration crisis? What crisis-talk teaches us about complexity, policymaking, and democracy in the 21st century. 

Policies on migration and migration-related diversity have obviously become some of the most complex and contentious policy topics of our times. But why is this so, and what does this say about policymaking and about the functioning of democracy today? The persistent crisis sensation and crisis talk seem to be about more than migration itself; they signal how ‘migration crises’ appear to be challenging policy and would contribute to decreasing trust in politics and in democratic institutions. 

Rather than seeing migration as a policy area that is ‘exceptional’, Peter Scholten sees the study of migration policymaking as a unique opportunity to learn about the logic of policymaking and on how to reinforce the quality of democracy in the 21st century. In this lecture, based on a variety of cases across the world, he will discuss the first findings on his ‘quality of policymaking’ framework. With this framework he hopes we can understand and deconstruct the notion of migration crises and provide a new perspective on how we can support the quality of democracy.

About Peter Scholten

Peter Scholten is Professor at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. He is director of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus research Centre on the Governance of Migration and Diversity, editor in chief of the journal Comparative Migration Studies, and head of the department of Policy, Politics and Society. Peter’s work focuses primary on policymaking in the migration society, comparative public policy, complexity governance and on the relation between science and politics in the fields of migration and migration-related diversity.

 

This event is organized by the Faculty of Social 91̽»¨s and Department of Sociology and Work 91̽»¨.