The Interplay of Knowledge Production and Policymaking: A Comparative Analysis of Research and Policymaking on Migrant Integration in Germany and the Netherlands

Abstract

This article speaks to the broader literature on how policy analysis does more than just “speaking truth to power”. It focuses on the relation between policy setting and knowledge production, in particular on how the politicisation of migrant integration in Germany and the Netherlands has altered the interplay between knowledge production and policymaking. The analysis shows that the interaction between both worlds affects not just policymaking but also knowledge production. It nuances the hypothesis that in depoliticised settings the chances for the monopolisation of specific knowledge claims (or a “paradigm”) are greater whereas in politicised settings a fragmentation of knowledge claims and knowledge conflicts is more likely to occur.