Culture and migrant integration: a critical reading of integration policy in Madrid

This thesis examines how the cultural dimension is discursively framed in the immigrant integration policy instruments of Madrid between 2020 and 2025. Through a Critical Discourse Analysis approach, the research explores how institutional discourses construct, manage, or omit cultural diversity within integration frameworks. The study applies Jäger and Maier's discourseanalytical toolbox to analyze municipal policy documents, participatory reports, and implementation instruments, identifying the ways in which culture is operationalized. The findings reveal a dominant pragmatic discourse that recognizes diversity in functional terms while avoiding deeper structural debates on cultural hierarchies, racism, and migrant agency. While the City Council signals openness to limited participatory mechanisms, integration policies largely reflect a managed pragmatism oriented toward maintaining social cohesion rather than advancing substantive cultural pluralism. This research contributes to contemporary debates on integration governance and demonstrates how municipal discourse simultaneously recognizes diversity while preserving institutional control over cultural definitions. The thesis concludes by identifying areas for future research, including multi-level comparisons, greater inclusion of immigrant voices, and further empirical exploration of integration as a contested governance field.