Migration Control and Access to Welfare: The Precarious Inclusion of Irregular Migrants in Norway

This book explores the complexities of the states response to irregular migration in Europe, highlighting the ambiguous nature of their approach and the precarious inclusion of irregular migrants in the welfare state. It draws on ethnographic fieldwork in Norway to examine the interplay between geopolitical management of territory and biopolitical management of populations.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 168 pages
Publication date: 31 May 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Over the past few decades, European countries have implemented stringent measures to restrict the access of irregular migrants to welfare services, employing them as a tool for managing migration flows. However, despite these restrictions, irregular migrants often still have limited access to certain basic services, albeit frequently of a subordinate, arbitrary, and unstable nature. In order to shed light on the complexities and ambiguities in the states response to irregular migration, this book draws on in-depth ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Norway. By carefully examining the intricate interplay between the geopolitical management of territory and the biopolitical management of populations, the book argues that irregularized migrants should be understood as precariously included within the welfare state rather than merely excluded. The notion of precarious inclusion emphasizes the insecure and unpredictable nature of the inclusive practices, underscoring how limited access to welfare does not necessarily contradict restrictive migration policies.

The book takes a situated approach, focusing on the encounters between irregularized migrants and service providers as its starting point for exploring broader questions of state sovereignty, biopolitics, and borders. Through insightful analyses of the role of life, territory, and temporality in contemporary politics, Migration Control and Access to Welfare offers valuable insights into the complex dynamics of migration and its impact on social, economic, and political systems.

This book will appeal to scholars and researchers in the fields of migration and border studies, gender research, social anthropology, geography, and sociology, as well as those interested in broader debates about the politics of inclusion, exclusion, and the management of populations in the contemporary world.

Weight: 453g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367742164