Contested integration: hegemony projects in the field of education in Austria

ABSTRACT The Austrian policy landscape with regard to the educational integration measures directly or indirectly targeting migrant children is characterized by inconsistency and the concurrence of integrative and segregative measures. We ask how these discrepancies can be interpreted without being reduced to mere inconsistencies and why, in the context of the ongoing normalization of the political right, integrative measures have not (yet) disappeared completely. Based on interviews with experts, we identify three distinct – integrative, multicultural, and segregative – hegemony projects pursued by different social forces through various discursive and institutional strategies. The integrative hegemony project seeks social redistribution through comprehensive, rights-based measures; the multicultural project seeks to promote recognition for cultural diversity; and the segregative hegemony project seeks to re-signify integration through mechanisms of assessment, discipline and control. Although our sample is limited in terms of representation, our research speaks to the ongoing societal contestation over the means and meaning of integration.