**Erik Snel is assistant professor of Sociology at Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam. ** Erik Snel studied sociology at the Utrecht University, with a specialisation in 'Sociology of public policy'. He wrote his dissertation about the way sociological knowledge and research findings are used in social policy practices ('The Translation of Science. Dutch Sociology and Practice', 1996). Since 1998, he works as assistant professor at the Department of Sociology of the Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR). He teaches about urban policies and about multicultural cities. His research interests concentrate around concrete social issues such as urban poverty, juvenile delinquency, immigration and immigrant integration, urban developments and urban policies, and so on. From 2002 until late 2005 he was also associated with Twente University on the chair Intercultural Policy-Making. In the fall of 2004, he was visiting professor at the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio (USA). Since 2006, he is also affiliated to the University College Utrecht (UCU).