About this Event
Un–welcome to Denmark. The Paradigm Shift and Refugee Integration
This panel marks the publication of Un–welcome to Denmark. The Paradigm Shift and Refugee Integration, a timely and critical examination of Denmark’s transformation from a model of humanitarian protection to a restrictive, deterrence–based asylum regime. Drawing on legal analysis, policy developments, and integration outcomes, the book situates Danish refugee policy within broader European and global debates on migration governance. Professor Pace will discuss the social implications of the so–called "paradigm shift" in refugee protection, exploring how policy changes have reshaped integration trajectories, affected refugees' rights and everyday lived experiences and challenged long–standing assumptions about welfare states, solidarity and belonging.
Speaker Bio
Michelle Pace is Professor in Global Studies based in Roskilde, Denmark. She is also Associate Fellow, Europe Program at Chatham House, London. She has been the Danish lead partner on the Horizon Europe project SHAPEDEM-EU (2022-2025) and, prior to that, on the SIRIUS Horizon 2020 (2018-2021) project. An interdisciplinary scholar, she has been trained as a political scientist, with her research and teaching focusing on the intersection between European / Middle East / Critical Migration / Democratization and Peace & Conflict Studies.
During her time at the University of Birmingham in the UK (2003 - 2014) she was Principal Investigator on a British Academy funded project entitled A ‘Modern’ Islamist Democracy? Perceptions of democratization in the Arab-Mediterranean world and an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project on Paradoxes and Contradictions in EU democracy promotion efforts in the Middle East. Her book publications include (MUP, 2023), the (Routledge, 2021), (Routledge, 2019), (Routledge, 2018), (Routledge, 2013), Europe, the USA and Political Islam: Strategies for Engagement (Palgrave, 2011), Conceptualizing Cultural and Social Dialogue in the Euro-Mediterranean Area. A European Perspective (Routledge, 2007) and (Routledge, 2006). Michelle has been a co-editor of the peer reviewed journal and is now an active member of its editorial board. Her book was published by MUP on 16 December 2025.
This event is International State Crime Initiative; Climate Crime and Climate Justice; Centre for the Critique of Law and Society.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Room 313, Third Floor, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00
