SIXTH INTERNATIONAL METROPOLIS CONFERENCE

WORKSHOP 23: Rotterdam as a multicultural city

Tuesday, November 27, 2001
16:00 - 17:30


ORGANIZERS

Han Entzinger, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Justus Veenman, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands, e-mail: veenman@few.eur.nl

About one third of the population of Rotterdam has been born outside the Netherlands and sixty per cent of the school children are of immigrant origin. By any standard Rotterdam can be considered a multi-cultural city. The local authorities have built up a remarkable experience in meeting the challenges that this entails. In this workshop three professors of Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), will present some results of their recent research work, carried out with the support of the city that hosts this year's Metropolis conference. The papers analyse the social and economic situation of the major migrant communities in the city, the problems of undocumented (illegal) immigrants in Rotterdam and their conditions of life, and the cultural, political and religious orientations of young Muslims in the city. Comments from a transatlantic perspective will be given by Demetri Papademetriou, former co-chair of Metropolis International.
This workshop is a first opportunity to present the newly created research centre for multicultural and urban studies at Erasmus University. In this Centre several well-known members of Rotterdam's university have joined forces. The Centre focusses on comparative, policy oriented and multidisciplinary research.

Papers by:

Justus Veenman (Dept. of Economics), The Social and Economic Situation of Migrants and the Changing Labour Market in Rotterdam.

Godfried Engbersen (Dept. of Sociology), Undocumented Immigrants in Rotterdam: A Comprehensive Field Study.

Han Entzinger (Dept. of Migration and Integration Studies), Islam in a Multicultural Society: Opinions of Rotterdam Youngsters.

Discussant:

Demetri Papademetriou, Migration Policy Institute, Washington DC, USA