Transnational Migrants and Access to Social Rights. Social Citizenship Strategies in Blurred Spaces of Belonging

Abstract

Although national welfare states are inherently closed systems which establish solidarity rights and obligations among its members (Myrdal 1960), they differ greatly in the opportunities of inclusion that they open for migrants (Esping Andersen 1990). Above all, migrants' access to social rights is mediated by citizenship conceptions and by migration policies, which create different migrant categories with specific entitlements (Sainsbury 2006). However, while the citizenship and residence status determine the specific entitlements to social benefits and services, this is not enough to guarantee effective access to such rights. Other factors come here into play which introduce ambiguity in the interpretation of rights or do hinder effective access. This means that, while in theory welfare states define in clear ways the criteria for the access of non-citizens to their benefits, in practice a number of factors introduce ambiguity or barriers. This creates blurred spaces of belonging and entitlement which migrants need to navigate in order to access rights. In this panel we focus on blurred spaces of belonging and the strategies migrants and bureaucrats develop to deal (cope) with it. In our discussion we borrow Sadiq's concept of 'blurred membership' (2008) given that the ambiguity of certain migrants' legal statuses in Europe (such as undocumented migrants or EU 'poor' transnational citizens) works in a comparable way as the blurred membership of citizens without documentation in developing countries. An example would be the EU citizenship as an “in-between” status (non-citizen, non-migrant). Blurred citizenship status creates a grey area in the access of welfare entitlements, which in turn makes a fertile ground for bureaucrats’ discretion and for migrants’ coping strategies. Likewise, a change in socio-legal status when one loses his job, marries an insider citizen, becomes a widow(er) or divorce his/her partner affects one’s access to social rights in the receiving country. The panel aims to compare different cases across Europe, while attempting to theorize the consequences of blurred citizenship status. Particular attention is paid to how migrants navigate these blurred spaces of belonging, and to how such blurred spaces of belonging are constructed by laws and policies.