Globalisation and a Diversity of Migration Experiences-The Irish Regimes

This paper questions if different welfare regime types impact on the integration of immigrants. The paper starts by focusing on the impact of globalisation, noting that even the globalization literature has devoted little attention to the internal dimensions of the globalization process within states. Arguably, the biggest globalisation impact is the movement of people across state borders and the resultant challenges of integrating race, ethnicity and migration into our understanding of welfare states (Timonen & Doyle, 2009, Esping-Andersen, 1999, 2007). Comparative research on welfare states and their impact on migrants and ethnic minorities is sorely lacking (Timonen & Doyle, 2009: 3; Sainsbury, 2006: 230; Morissens & Sainsbury, 2005: 637; Baldwin-Edwards, 2002; Borjas, 1999). The paper therefore aims to map welfare state responses to immigration and outcomes for immigrants, and posits Ireland as an exemplar case of globalization. In doing so, it highlights that three general types of incorporation regimes (differential exclusion, assimilation and multiculturalism; Schierup, Hansen & Castles (2006: 41) of immigrants can be found throughout Europe, resulting in an assortment of immigration polices encompassing restrictive and expansive tendencies and varying types of inclusion and exclusion of migrants and their families. In the Irish case, the research finds that the state has created a hybrid model giving different rights and entitlements to immigrants depending on their status.