ABSTRACT
Mobility in a broad sense – including migration and displacement – has been a concern for politicians, civil society organizations, and the public in the European Union (EU) for decades. The influx of numbers of asylum seekers and migrants since 2015 not only led to logistical challenges to receiving refugees and processing asylum cases in a number of EU countries, but also intensified conflicts between and within member states. They reacted with restrictive internal and external policies, and also securitized (forced) migration (see Carrera et al. 2019; Lavenex 2018; Trauner 2016). While one part of civil society organizations and citizens responded with extensive support (della Porta 2018), another part of right-wing parties and movements mobilized against migrants and refugees. The latter problematized the initial gender composition of asylum seekers and migrants – about two-thirds being male – and activated prejudices among the public.
