Revising the relationship between migrant and receiving societies

We have learned where Lampedusa is located, have discussed why in 2005 French suburbs burned and understand that climate change will increase the number of immigrants to Europe. Despite this expertise, one popular fallacy still dominates Europe's immigration discourse: understanding immigration as a modern phenomenon. Sure, the IOM is rightly describing migration – besides climate change and international terrorism – as one of the key challenges of the 21st century. However, this has been always the case. Research shows that migration mattered already in the 20th century, in the 19th century and in all centuries before, since the first people immigrated to Europe. Contrary to “traditional immigration” countries, such as the USA, Canada and Australia, where immigration is part of the national identity, Europe seems to have a hard time accepting that immigration has played a crucial role across time. Recently, we see in Europe an increasing number of museums and exhibitions opening their doors to a wider audience and to the topic of immigration. Only few of them, however, deal with the subject matter in a historic perspective. But exactly such long term approach is needed to dissolve the myth of opponent receiving and migrant societies, understanding that European societies always have been pluralistic themselves.