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Facing Precarious Rights and Resisting EU ‘Migration Management’: South European Migrant Struggles in Berlin

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  • Celia Bouali

    (Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany)

Abstract

In this article, I trace struggles regarding EU internal mobility and migrant labour as they emerge in the mobilization of South European migrants in Berlin. The effects of the 2007–2008 financial crisis and European austerity politics have reoriented migration flows within the EU, increasing South-to-North migration with Germany as a prime destination. German public discourse on the matter reveals a view on (EU) migration that focuses on its economic ‘usefulness’ and tries to regulate it accordingly. EU citizenship turns out to be a key instrument of such EU internal ‘migration management’. The emergence of migrant activist groups, however, hints at another force at play. In their fight for social rights and better working conditions, migrant activists show they will not allow themselves to be easily ‘managed’ into precarious ‘productivity’. Against this background, I argue that EU internal mobility is a field of struggle where attempts to control migrant labour clash with moments of autonomy and resistance. My aim is to explore this field from a migration perspective, analysing rationales of EU ‘migration management’ and their impact on migrants’ lives as well as investigating the strategies that migrants develop in response. Based on an analysis of EU legislation and interviews with Italian activists in Berlin, I trace conflicts around EU internal mobility and migrant labour. Against the background of critical migration studies, I analyse EU internal ‘migration management’, especially regarding the role of EU citizenship. Then, I look at EU migrant struggles in Berlin through the lens of autonomy of migration, drawing on the example of the Italian activist group Berlin Migrant Strikers.

Suggested Citation

  • Celia Bouali, 2018. "Facing Precarious Rights and Resisting EU ‘Migration Management’: South European Migrant Struggles in Berlin," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(1), pages 166-175.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v:6:y:2018:i:1:p:166-175
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Blanco, Cristina Faraco & Kraußlach, Mariannne & Lange, Miguel Montero & Pfeffer-Hoffmann, Christian, 2015. "Die Auswirkungen der Wirtschaftskrise auf die innereuropäische Arbeitsmigration am Beispiel der neuen spanischen Migration nach Deutschland," Working Paper Forschungsförderung 002, Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Düsseldorf.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ulrike Hamann & Gökçe Yurdakul, 2018. "The Transformative Forces of Migration: Refugees and the Re-Configuration of Migration Societies," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(1), pages 110-114.

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