Authors / Paul Scheffer

Paul Scheffer

Paul Scheffer

© Sacha de Boer

Paul Scheffer (b. 1954) worked as a Dutch correspondent in Paris and Warsaw before becoming a staff writer for NRC Handelsblad, one of the most important Dutch newspapers. His articles have appeared in Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Le Monde des Debats, El Pais, Politiken, Tagesanzeiger, De Standaard and Morgenbladet. He has been interviewed on CBS, CNN and BBC Newsnight. One if his latest works is Het land van aankomst (Immigrant Nations, 2007), a groundbreaking document on the multicultural society, was published in Germany, Denmark, England and Poland. Alles doet mee aan de werkelijkheid (It All Plays a Role In Reality, 2013) is the life story of Scheffer’s grandfather, Herman Wof, a celebrated philosopher and literary critic in the 1920s and 30s, who corresponded with Thomas Mann and Stefan Zweig. Paul Scheffer is currently Professor of Urban Sociology at the University of Amsterdam.

Press on The Land of Arrival:

In the chaos of emotions surrounding immigration and integration, The Unsettled Land comes as a relief. – De Volkskrant

The Unsettled Land is both subtle and controversial, leaving none of the conventional pieties in place, and more than that, it is the best book about migration written in the Low Countries. – De Morgen

Controversial, erudite, stunningly relevant and above all, the best book of the year. – Humo

This book resonates with the pain of the street and the suburbs. Scheffer is looking for a new balance between openness and exclusion, and we should all follow him in that. It could even become a guide to a new consensus, which everybody is looking for after years of fierce debate and polarization. – HP/De Tijd

The additional value of this book lies in its attempt to clarify the problems with immigration and place them in a broader perspective, thereby almost automatically offering a new outlook. – Trouw

It is Scheffer’s conscious move from battle to finding a modus vivendi that makes his contribution of such great value. – NRC Handelsblad

Die Eingewanderten hat sich rasch als Standardwerk zum Thema erwiesen. Es ist ein Buch, das gefehlt hat - Die Welt

… das große Verdienst des Autors, den kritischen Blick gleichermaßen auf Einwanderer und Einheimische zu richten, und zwar im Kontext einer veränderten Weltgesellschaft, international vergleichend, historisch fundiert und mit wachem Blick für die Mühen, die Integrationsprozesse allen Beteiligten auferlegen. - Handelsblatt

Scheffer liefert eine stringente Analyse, deren Lektüre nur als gewinnbringend bezeichnet werden kann. - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung