Lessons and cautionary tales from the past: Building bridges from migration history to Europeanness

This essay articulates the connections between historical migrations in Europe and the Europeanness - in practice, if not in self-identity - of its mobile inhabitants. The volume of migration has fluctuated dramatically since the seventeenth century; some migrants have stayed at destination among almost every group, but their welcome has been diminished by war, political change, and economic downturns. History has three lessons to offer: it shows that cities are the most certain, but not the only, sites of integration; it demonstrates that current configurations of migration and constructions of immigrants can change significantly; and it reveals great diversity in the migrant experience.