Discursive framing and the reproduction of integration in the public sphere: a comparative analysis of France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany

In this article we present a cross-national comparison of the discursive framing of political claims on Muslims and Islam in four European countries. We explore these issues empirically and relate the cross-national differences found in the data to a diverging logic in the different integration debates. We argue that persistent variations in discursive framing can be understood by looking at the unique conceptualisation of group categorisation and distinction used in the national integration debates. It is, furthermore, argued that these discursive and symbolic trends do not relate directly to observed differences in integration policies.