Pioneers of European Integration :introduction

‘Free movement has become a defining feature of European society. This important study answers the question “who are these free movers?”. Using both quantitative and qualitative research evidence, it brings new perspectives to the sociology of European migration and integration, broadening the analysis from traditional labour migrants to various new kinds of spatial and social mobility in the continent.’ – Russell King, University of Sussex and Sussex Centre for Migration Research, UK Pioneers of European Integration offers the first systematic analysis of the small but symbolically potent number of Europeans who have chosen to live and work as foreigners in another member state of the EU. The free movement of EU citizens is the most visible sociological consequence of the remarkable process of European integration that has transformed the continent since the Second World War. Based on an original survey of 5000 people moving to and from the EU’s five largest countries, the book documents the demographic profile, migration choices, cultural adaptation, social mobility, political participation and media use of these pioneers of a transnational Europe, as well as opening a window to the new waves of intra-EU East–West migrations