Challenges to Solidarity: Refugees, Immigration and Inclusion/Exclusion Policies

Abstract

The general crisis of the European welfare systems, both in its structural and practical dimensions, has hit hard countries in the southern and eastern regions and posed anew the problems of social exclusion and inclusion. We see this particularly in the case of marginalized groupings, immigration, and the current refugee crisis. The panel will look at the interconnections between governmental measures (EU as well as those of national and local authorities), the consequences – some unintended – they provoke, and the emergence of civil society agencies that attempt to address the urgent welfare needs. What implications do these interconnections have for traditional forms of social solidarity and the new forms (particularly populist right-wing nationalism) that are emerging?