| This project explores the extent to which the international human rights discourse has influenced the formulation of a common European Union (EU) immigration policy. It examines the conditions under which international norms, defined as ideas about appropriate behavior held in common by a group of actors with a given identity, affect (supranational) institutional change. Through the analysis of EU legislation, jurisprudence, and other primary source documents, this research investigates the human rights norms that have been taken into account by EU policymakers. The processes of norm diffusion and adoption are assessed, and then the appropriateness and adequacy of the norms that inform immigration policy are interrogated using a feminist analysis. The development and codification of the Council Directive on the Right to Family Reunification (2003/86/EC) is given detailed consideration within the broader context of immigration policymaking. Through examining the legal, economic, and social obstacles confronted by third-country immigrant women in the EU and the specific case study of family reunification policy, this research explores not only the ways in which immigration legislation in Europe has been gendered to the detriment of migrant women but also the ways in which the human rights discourse itself is gendered. |
