The Integration Paradox ‒ Why Successful Integration Leads to More Conflict

English sample translation available
SPIEGEL-bestseller
#6 Best Non-Fiction Book in October 2018 (Die Welt)

An eye-opening book that gives a new impetus to discussions about integration

The author of this groundbreaking book offers a new outlook on integration policies: Those who assume that a lack of conflict is an indicator of successful integration and an open society are mistaken. Conflicts arise not because the integration of immigrants and minorities has failed, but because it is increasingly successful. Social coalescence generates controversy and defensive populist reactions all around the world.

Reading this book, you will:
- understand why immigration will continue to be an issue and what paradoxical effects integration has
- discover that the contrasts between opponents and supporters of an open society run straight through the conventional political categories of “right” and “left”
- find out where the extreme backlash comes from
- be better prepared in debates to counter those who romanticize multiculturalism, on the one hand, and proponents of isolationism, on the other
- realize that the challenges modern societies are facing are completely different than we thought.

Aladin El-Mafaalani gets to the bottom of the state of our society and shows why opponents of an open society have renewed clout in so many western nations.

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Sample Translations
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Italy: LUISS University Press / Russia: New Literature Observer

  • Publisher: KiWi-Taschenbuch
  • Release: 05.11.2020
  • ISBN: 978-3-462-05427-9
  • 304 Pages
  • Author: Aladin El-Mafaalani
The Integration Paradox ‒ Why Successful Integration Leads to More Conflict
Aladin El-Mafaalani The Integration Paradox ‒ Why Successful Integration Leads to More Conflict
Mirza Odabaşı
© Mirza Odabaşı
Aladin El-Mafaalani

Aladin El- Mafaalani was born in Germany’s Ruhr district in 1978. After studying political science, economics and ergonomics, he worked as a teacher at the vocational college in Ahlen, subsequently as a professor of political science at the Münster University of Applied Sciences and later as department head at the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry for Children, Families, Refugees and Integration in Düsseldorf. In the summer of 2019, he became chair of Education and Training in Migration Society at Osnabrück University.