Creating Undocumented EU Migrants through Welfare: A Conceptualization of Undeserving and Precarious Citizenship

migration; freedom of movement; citizenship; undocumented; desservingness; precarious; Italy; Belgium; European Union; Welfare; Social protection; MiTSoPro

Abstract :

[en] Following the financial and economic crisis, welfare policies across the EU are increasingly becoming instruments for limiting the mobility of certain EU migrants. In this article, we focus on EU citizens who see their freedom of movement in the EU being restricted after they have applied for social assistance or unemployment benefits in their country of residence. Doing so, we conceptualize undocumented EU migration by means of the concepts of ‘non-deportability’, ‘deservingness’ and ‘precariousness’. Overall, this article – based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted with Italian migrants in Belgium – expands our understanding of undocumented migration by demonstrating how arbitrary and intimidating bureaucratic processes undermine the exercise of EU citizenship.

Disciplines :

Sociology & social sciences
Political science, public administration & international relations

Author, co-author :

Lafleur, Jean-Michel ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences sociales > Centre d'études de l'ethnicité et des migrations (CEDEM)

Mescoli, Elsa ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences sociales > Département des sciences sociales

Language :

English

Title :

Creating Undocumented EU Migrants through Welfare: A Conceptualization of Undeserving and Precarious Citizenship

Publication date :

2018

Journal title :

Sociology

ISSN :

0038-0385

eISSN :

1469-8684

Publisher :

Sage, United Kingdom

Special issue title :

Migration and Crisis in Europe

Volume :

Issue :

Pages :

480-496

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0038038518764615

European Projects :

H2020 - 680014 - MiTSoPro - Migration and Transnational Social Protection in (post-)crisis Europe

Funders :

CE - Commission Européenne

Available on ORBi :

since 15 June 2018

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194 (11 by ULiège)

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216 (11 by ULiège)

More statistics

Scopus citations^®

116

Scopus citations^®
without self-citations

113

OpenCitations

OpenAlex citations

132

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