Studies on the politics and governance of migration have rarely spoken to each other. Research on migration politics has emphasised the contentious side of the migration issue, e.g. party ideologies and (populist) discourses, native citizens unfavourable attitudes, pro- and anti-immigrant social movements mobilisation and the like. On the contrary, research on governance and public policy has primarily focused on the consensual side, e.g. policy networks managing migration issues at different levels of government, implementation accommodative practices, processes of policy learning and experts’ knowledge etc. Yet, in a context of increasing politicisation of migration, governance and politics need to be thematised as the two facets of the same coin.
