(De)constructing expertise: comparing knowledge utilization in the migrant integration “crisis”

Crises may provide windows of opportunity for policy analysis, since policymakers are likely to be interested in knowledge which helps them solve their urgent problems. But what if there are deep divisions in policy-oriented research on the nature and very existence of the crisis? This article analyses the migrant integration “crisis” after 2000 in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Italy. The findings demonstrate that what counts as expertise may constantly be contested and produced at times of crisis. The notion of “(de)constructing expertise” is introduced to describe conflict-ridden patterns of knowledge utilization, where different knowledge claims and experts compete for recognition