Refugees Civil Society And The State

Ludger Pries explores the important moral, social and political challenge facing Europe and the international community: the protection of refugees as one of the most vulnerable groups on the planet.

This volume analyses civil society as an important factor in the European refugee regime. Based on empirical research, the chapters explore different aspects, structures and forms of civil society engagement during and after 2015. Various institutional, collective and individual activities are examined in order to better understand the related processes of refugees’ movements, reception and integration. Several chapters also explore the historical development of the relationship between a range of actors involved in solidarity movements and care relationships with refugees across different member states. Through the combined analysis of macro-level state and European policies, meso-level organization's activities and micro-level individual behaviour, Refugee Protection and Civil Society in Europe presents a comprehensive exploration of the refugee regime in motion, and will be of interest to scholars and students researching migration, social movements, European institutions and social work.

The crisis of forced displacement is compounded by the politicization of asylum and refugee protection, which have become polarizing issues in many countries in Europe and in the United States. It has animated efforts by pro-refugee civil society groups to engage in advocacy efforts that respond to the securitization of the issue, reframe it as a human rights and humanitarian issue, and bring about policies that are favorable to refugee protection. The contrasting points of view surrounding refugee and asylum policy reveal a fundamental normative difference in what is considered the most appropriate standard of behavior to guide actions and policies in the wake of the European refugee crisis. This normative difference, and the contestation that it entails, represents the starting point for this study of specific strategies of norm-based change. The study focuses on civil society organizations (CSOs) and the deliberate ways they incorporate and use norms in framing and responding to the issue of refugee protection. It seeks to understand and explain how and why pro-refugee advocacy groups choose to use specific norm-based strategies of advocacy in their effort to shift public opinion on the issues of asylum and refugee protection and ultimately bring about policy change.

In the context of both the financial crisis and the crisis of European migration politics, the notion of solidarity has gained renewed prominence and - as this book argues - its practice has become increasingly contentious. Intersecting crises have sharpened social and political polarization and have contracted simultaneously the space for migrant and minority rights as well as the rights around political dissent. Building upon social movement and migration studies, this book maps the two sides of ‘contentious solidarity’: a shrinking civic space and its contestation by civil society. The book thereby unfolds the variety of repressive means (physical, legal, administrative and discursive) employed by governmental and non-governmental bodies against migrant solidarity, but also looks at how civil society organizations react to these restrictions through at times moderation and at times increasing contention. The diagnosis of ‘contentious solidarity’ is located within two broader trends affecting the relationship between the state and civil society in a neoliberal context in general and since the financial crisis in particular. Bridging studies on social movement studies and civil society organizations, this volume contributes to recent reflections on repression of social movements as well as of a hybridization of civil society organizations. Given its broad scope and the utmost timeliness of the issues it addresses, the volume will be of interest to a broad academic and non-academic audience.

Highly topical in subject matter, Asylum Seekers and the State reveals immigration policy as a political process which has social consequences not only for the newcomer group, but also for the wider receiver society. This work considers the obligations which receiver societies have for considering refugee claims, but at the same time assesses contemporary security concerns; it also provides an introduction to the roles of non-government organizations as stake-holders in the political process. The book also offers a study of the historical and cultural context of immigration in Germany and Australia, which demonstrates the practical impact of these issues. Taking a fresh approach to the issue of asylum seekers and refugees, this book offers unique perspectives from non-state actors as significant brokers and advocates of social and political processes.

This collection focuses on regional approaches to refugee protection, and specifically upon the norms, and the norm entrepreneurs of those approaches. It considers how recent crises in refugee protection (such as the Syrian and Andaman Sea crises) have highlighted the strengths and limits of regional approaches to refugee protection and the importance of looking closely at the underlying norms, and the identities and activities of the relevant ‘norm entrepreneurs’ at the regional level. It compares the norms of refugee protection that have evolved in three regions: the EU, Latin America and the South East Asian region, to identify which norms of refugee protection have been ‘internalised’ in the three regional contexts and to contextualise the processes. The authors demonstrate the need for awareness of the roles of different norm ‘entrepreneurs’ such as states, international organisations and civil society, in developing and promoting basic norms on refugee protection. This book was originally published as a special issue of The International Journal of Human Rights.

Migrant organizations are of vital importance for countries of residence and countries of origin, but the empirical and theoretical knowledge of the cross-border character of migrant organizations remains incomplete. It is clear that migrant transnationalism challenges the governance of nation-states on the local and national levels. This book, the outcome of an ECPR joint session, systematically and empirically analyzes the differing roles that transnational migrant organizations play in their countries of residence and origin. Drawing on research conducted in Belgium, England, Germany, Holland, Poland and Portugal, it focuses on the relations between migrant organizations and the state. Offering an opportunity for comparative analysis, it also examines why migrants and their organizations engage in different forms of border crossing activities, and how various political systems influence, and are influenced by these forms of engagement. Migration and Organized Civil Society will be of strong interest to students and researchers of political science, political sociology, migration studies, transnationalism, and Diaspora studies.

Civil Society Engagement: Achieving Better in Canada examines the process and outcomes of a particular series of civil society activism and establishes a conceptual framework through an examination of Canadian politics and societal change. Relying on qualitative and ethnographic research, document analysis and reviews of policies, the contributions focus on social possibilities, legal limits and societal roles to illuminate the national asset of human solidarity evident in civil society activism in Canada. Patricia Daenzer and her expert contributors challenge the romanticism of 'the perfected welfare democracy' and contend that civil society activism leads to the authentication of democracy. The premise is that Canadian political and policy inconsistencies fail to protect some and civil society intervention is essential for the realignment and redefinition of articulated national principles and redistributive outcomes. Although Canada is shown ultimately to be guarded in its welfare commitment, this 'guarded' progress in welfare democracy would not be possible without the activism of segments of civil society. Civil Society Engagement: Achieving Better in Canada demystifies civil society activism and urges greater awareness of current social dynamics and involvement in the lives of the most disadvantaged. Not only are new immigrants and refugees voicing for inclusion, but the very definition of persons with rights has evolved through civil society activism. This book will lead to deliberations about state legal frameworks which impact civil society reach, the purpose and scope of Canadian politics and the potential of civil society in perfecting our democracy.