Unwelcome to Denmark: The Paradigm Shift and Refugee Integration

About this talk

Un-welcome to Denmark: The Paradigm Shift and Refugee Integration explores how Denmark’s increasingly harsh migration regime has reshaped not only the lives of refugees but the wider fabric of Danish society. Centering on the so-called “paradigm shift”, the book examines how a policy trajectory geared towards deterrence over inclusion influences refugees’ opportunities, wellbeing, and sense of belonging. Yet, the consequences extend far beyond those seeking protection. Welfare professionals—tasked with delivering support, fostering integration, and upholding ethical standards—find themselves working in a system where the political climate often undermines their professional judgement, constrains their practice, and places considerable emotional strain upon their daily work. At the same time, private-sector employers grappling with labour shortages face a paradox: while Denmark requires skilled and committed workers, restrictive rules and uncertain residency pathways hinder refugees’ ability to contribute fully to the labour market.

Drawing on policy and legal analysis, lived experiences, and institutional perspectives, the book reveals how this harsh migration regime reverberates across public services, workplaces, and communities. In this talk Michelle will critically interrogate the tensions between a nation’s humanitarian commitments and its political desire to project un-welcomeness, and reflect on what such a system means for democracy, cohesion, and the future of integration in Denmark.

About the speakers

Michelle Pace is Professor in Global Studies based in Roskilde, Denmark. . A political scientist by training, her interdisciplinary research and teaching focuses on the intersection between European / Middle East / Critical Migration / Democratization and Peace & Conflict Studies. She has been the Danish lead partner on the SIRIUS EU H2020 project (Skills and Integration of Migrants, Refugees and Asylum Applicants in European Labour Markets, 2018-2020), as well as the Principal Investigator on a large FACE (Fund for Academic Cooperation and Exchange between Denmark and the Middle East and North African region, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark) grant project on Syrian refugee minors in Denmark and Lebanon (successfully completed November 2017). In the past, her research has also been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the British Academy, the Wellcome Trust and the MENASP network in the UK. Her book Un-welcome to Denmark. The paradigm shift and refugee integration (with Sarah El-Abd) received a Carlsberg Monograph Fellowship in 2021.

Frowin Rausis is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Geneva and a research associate with the National Center of Competence in Research of migration and mobility studies nccr – on the move. He also co-leads work on return diplomacy between European and non-European countries within the Horizon project Finding Agreement in Return (FAiR). His research examines the global diffusion of (i)liberal asylum policies, the role of international organisations in migration governance, as well as cooperation and contestation in migration diplomacy. He has worked on Denmark’s attempt to externalise refugee protection as well as the Danish migration-development nexus in policy and practice. He has been a visiting researcher at the University of Copenhagen, the Vrije Universiteit Brussels, and is currently a visiting fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre to advance his book project ‘The Invention of Safe Countries’.