After 50 years of research and two major research programmes on migration in Switzerland - the NRP 39 Migration and Intercultural Relations and the NCCR on the move - this special issue reflects on the knowledge production in this important domain of sociology, mainly in Switzerland. What type of research has been produced by sociologists in this field? According to which epistemologies? What public and political impact has this research had? What open questions remain, and in what direction is the sociology of migration likely to move in the future? The seven contributions of this Special issue reflect on key issues of the sociology of migration in Switzerland and Europe. They provide an important critique on both research which tends to reproduce state thought and migration policy embedded into sovereignty of nation-states and a neoliberal logic. They also provide insights into the functioning of Swiss legal and labour institutions, as well as Swiss People´s Party. Finally they offer some reflections how to solve the tension between protectionism of the welfare state and globalisation.
