Fragile Fabric: Illegality Knowledge, Social Capital and Health-seeking of Undocumented Latin American Migrants in Berlin

Abstract

This paper examines how undocumented Latin American migrants in Berlin manage to access therapy in the event of sickness despite their exclusion from the regular health care system in Germany. I argue that in order to receive medical attention, undocumented migrants rely on specific illegality knowledge, which, in turn, requires social capital, as information is acquired through informal social networks, mainly consisting of other Latin American migrants. Adopting a process-centred view of migration, I show how informal social networks change over the course of the migration experience, and stress the situational aspects of therapy management practices. I will offer a critical perspective on the concept of migrant social capital, and demonstrate that the social ties that undocumented Latin American migrants create in order to be able to survive on the margins of German society are inherently fragile. Depending on informal social networks constitutes a resource as well as a liability for undocumented migrants. Throughout the paper, I will use detailed case examples to from my long-term ethnographic fieldwork conducted with undocumented Latin American migrants in Berlin (2008–2011). Further data sources include interviews with health care providers and my experience as an activist/volunteer for a Berlin-based non-governmental organisation.