Anti-integration of new minorities and anti-migrant sentiment are on the rise. The integration of new minorities has become increasingly securitised, with migration and concerns about migrants’ willingness to integrate remaining highly politicised within the European Union (EU). Yet integration is often misunderstood, and understanding it remains a challenge in European society. A recent Special Eurobarometer survey across all 27 Member States found that 53% of Europeans consider integration a high priority, 62% feel poorly informed about migration and integration, and almost half believe that integration in their country is failing. This paper addresses that space of understanding by developing a conceptual framework that examines the relationship among minority rights, securitisation, and the lived experiences of integration among new minorities within the EU. Rather than conceptualising integration as a concluded policy outcome, the paper views integration as an ongoing, relational experience shaped by institutional discourses, public perceptions, and questions of belonging. The paper also introduces civic volunteerism as a proposed methodological entry point for studying integration in practice. I intend to use civic volunteerism as a framework for studying integration at the local level. In communities, organisations, and everyday encounters. I am interested in cross-sector and multi-city grassroots strategies that appear to help new minorities participate in public life and broaden communities’ understanding of integration as a shared process. Civic volunteerism helps make those environments visible. It also raises a harder question: when integration occurs through local volunteer work, who bears responsibility for making it succeed? By locating integration within a broader discussion of identity, citizenship, and political participation, this paper seeks to develop new approaches, scientific knowledge, and tools to enhance integration outcomes. Those same 53% of Europeans who consider integration a high priority also believe it is not among their national government’s top priorities. There is a societal imperative and a call to action to tackle these challenges.
