By focusing on the small state of Luxembourg, this article contributes to the production of knowledge on non-iconic places of refuge. It aims to advance the conceptualization of unusualness in refugee reception. Our research is based on interviews and observations in eleven reception facilities. The conceptual framework combines small state studies with the literature on […]
Macro-Level Climate and Minority Voice: How Indigenous Multiculturalism Relates to Collective Action
Inequalities and discrimination against Indigenous minorities are pervasive in post-colonial societies. Collective action is critical for Indigenous minorities to redress these injustices. Integrating research on collective action, macro-level norms and multiculturalism, we argue that macro-level climates characterized by non-Indigenous endorsement of Indigenous multiculturalism policies are likely associated with Indigenous minorities’ collective action. Two multilevel studies […]
Every year, several hundred children are deprived of their liberty in the Polish guarded centres for foreigners. Meanwhile, international organizations are increasingly arguing that the immigration detention of minors should be prohibited due to its harmful impact on the health and development of the child. Taking into account these calls, the European Court of Human […]
The main theories explaining electoral backlash against immigration focus on citizens’ cultural, economic, and security concerns. We test these predictions in Switzerland, which opened its labor market to neighboring countries in the 2000s. Employing a difference-in-differences design, we document a substantial rise in immigrant workers in Swiss border municipalities after the border opened. This was […]
This paper presents a comparative analysis of the factors motivating transnational mobility in four categories of older adults. Qualitative data collected in 2020 and 2021 in Spain and Switzerland reveal three main reasons: climate, financial considerations, and feelings of attachment. Furthermore, the findings emphasise the importance of life course events in shaping transnational mobilities in […]
This article explores the ways in which narratives of deservingness in the field of sexual asylum become crucial elements of national border drawing and boundary work, and important instruments of a politics of belonging. Switzerland is a particularly interesting case study in which to explore these issues due to the supposed humanitarian tradition on the […]
Inclusive school climates have been related to more friendly and equal intergroup relations among majority and ethnic minority youth. Yet, comprehensive research distinguishing majority and ethnic minority group perspectives on both social and institutional inclusion, and looking beyond individual perceptions of inclusion is missing. Taking a multi-group and multi-level approach, we assessed the actual social […]
Banishment concludes the keyword discussion by arguing that we can understand the exclusionary practices of welfare states as a politics of destitution, which ultimately leads to the banishment of unwanted individuals. It argues that banishment can be helpful as a conceptual lens through which to understand the purposeful strategies that render individuals deportable, whether citizens […]
In this article we focus on contemporary processes of social differentiation and exclusion at the intersection of migration policy and welfare governance. The keyword pair looks at bureaucratic practices, their justifications, and their consequences for non-citizen subjects’ paths and moves on to theorise about the permeation of these practices into society. We discuss the effects […]
With Discipline, we focus on techniques and mechanisms that advance corporeal, attitudinal, and behavioural docility and thereby contribute to contemporary processes of social differentiation and exclusion. Exploring the intersection of migration policy and welfare governance, we discuss disciplinary measures deployed at the intersection of welfare and migration regimes with the aim of understanding how internal […]
The notion of social solidarity involves formal and informal practices, with various levels of institutionalisation. It builds on normative assumptions and discourses of reciprocal expectations of mutual help, on (perceived) ideas of sameness or neediness in relation to, among other, class, ethnicity, and/or gender and on notions of deservingness that are entangled in such ideas. […]
As a result of increased mobility and restrictive immigration policies in Europe, a growing number of people live in conditional and deportable positions with only limited social rights and access to welfare services. In this keyword, we discuss how the conception of national citizenship that underpins immigration and welfare regimes affects the position of non-citizens, […]
This article connects to broader discussions on governance and neoliberal individualisation and advances how activation policies push a focus on labour market participation no matter what the cost – leaving non-citizens vulnerable to exploitative working conditions and termination of their stay permits if they do not participate. This goes along with a responsibilisation of the […]
This article introduces a collaborative publication exploring the intricate interplay between poverty governance, migration control, and welfare provision. Adopting a ‘keywords’ approach, we investigate the terminology and concepts around which academic discussions revolve when addressing poverty and migration. Central to this examination is the figure of the ‘poor migrant’, whose experiences of inclusion and exclusion […]
How does the general public perceive immigrants, whom do they think of when thinking about “immigrants,” and to what extent are these perceptions related to the actual composition of immigrant populations? We use three representative online surveys in the United States, South Africa, and Switzerland (total N = 2,778) to extend existing work on the […]
This special issue consists of four articles, contributed by David Owen; Désirée Lim, Sahar Akhtar and (as co-authors) Mollie Gerver, Miranda Simon, Patrick Lown and Dominik Duell. These contributions address issues related to migration policies with the aim of bringing normative theories of migration and discrimination into dialogue. These theories describe the various types of […]
The closing of national borders was one of the most far-reaching policy measures adopted to limit the spread of the virus during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Despite its unprecedented nature and far-reaching impact on individual lives, blocking almost all human movements not only into but also out of states, popular support for this measure […]
Many countries use active labor market programs (ALMPs) to improve the labor market outcomes of workers with immigration backgrounds. Empirical findings on these programs’ effects are mixed, however. We shed new light on the mechanisms behind the lacking effectiveness of ALMPs in countering immigrant workers’ labor market disadvantages by arguing that the relevance of ALMPs […]
In 2021, the Danish Social Democratic government tabled a bill allowing asylum seekers to be transferred to another country to process claims and provide protection. Witnessing a Social Democratic government embracing this highly controversial idea, even though less than a handful of right-wing governments outside Europe had previously outsourced asylum, is puzzling. Policy diffusion theory […]
Our study addresses suitcase trading that involves buying goods from one country and transporting them across borders in portable packages, so as to avoid government taxes. Although a globally common practice, and a significant source of income for many, we have scant understanding of suitcase trade practices in South America. Therefore, we examine how Peruvian […]
This article explores how the lived and situated peripherality of Val-de-Travers, a Swiss valley located on the border with France, articulates with experiences and representations of difference. It ethnographically investigates how the presence of people assigned to different social categorizations of difference – in this case, refugees, cross-border workers, and cas sociaux—intersects with place-based representations […]
Relevant data on sensitive and politicised political processes might be difficult to obtain and is sometimes even purposely hidden from the public domain. Policy elite interviews constitute crucial sources of information in policy research. However, there are significant challenges associated with ‘researching up’ which sets elite interviews apart from other interview methods. Although there is […]
This article explores the dynamics of care obligations and family solidarity within Balkan-Swiss families, specifically concerning ageing parents, against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through interviews with adult children residing in Switzerland whose ageing parents reside in Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia, we uncover the challenges exacerbated by the pandemic’s global border closures and […]
The international refugee regime finds itself in a delicate balance between two conflicting principles of the liberal order: the particularism of sovereign states and the universalism of human rights. This article proposes a theory of endogenous contestation, rooted in the dialectic of law, propelling liberal aspirations, and politics, vindicating sovereign control. In doing so, we […]
This paper analyses how the principle of gender equality informs politics of belonging in Switzerland. We propose to conceptualize ‘doing belonging’ as a technology of power and we examine how actors in (non-)institutional settings employ it as part of professional and personal action. The paper draws on two case studies: an ethnography of institutions in […]
Why do people oppose granting social rights to immigrants? Previous research indicates that psychological predispositions such as authoritarianism or ethnocentrism are strong drivers, but our understanding of their roles is still incomplete. This is in part because studies have not yet systematically tested different psychological variables against other, but also in part because some other […]
Migration flows have diversified western societies, challenging the political viability of inclusive welfare states. This is very clear in research on perceptions of deservingness to social benefits, which consistently shows that immigrants are considered as less deserving of collective help than natives. At the same time, welfare states are being reoriented towards social investment, putting […]
Recently, the role of personal ties in migration decisions has received considerable attention. However, this aspect has seldom been studied in the context of retirement. This paper addresses this gap by shedding light on the composition of personal networks, types of mobility patterns and retirement locations for four groups of older adults. To this end, […]
