Abstract
In the wake of mass-migrations of refugees seeking safety and stability in Europe, this contribution studies emerging grassroots organizations that support refugee status holders in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The municipality expects these organizations to adhere to the European trend to incorporate immigrant integration priorities in interventions that apply to all residents. The article discusses the paradox of how bureaucratic classifications regarding preferred target groups cast certain grassroots responses as fringe-activities that are less legible bureaucratically. Based on a year of ethnographic fieldwork, this article shows how this lessened legibility translates into profound insecurities for grassroots organizers. The article discusses how these insecurities, in combination with the uncertainty grassroots organizers feel regarding their employability, motivate them to play guessing games and to give in to municipal preferences to boost their eligibility for funding. It argues that this process of giving in to municipal preferences should be understood as an attempt to render their endeavors legible, reduce precariousness, secure a livelihood, and turn affective labor into a life-sustaining practice. In so doing, this contribution evokes the story of a particular grassroots organizer—a woman of color with a forced migration background.
Highlights
After the mayor of Rotterdam approved the construction of an asylum seekers center1 in 2015, tensions in the vicinity were palpable
Her initiative largely focuses on Eritrean refugee status holders, yet in public, she downplays the specificities of this target group and attempts to diversify the composition of the people she works with
Grassroots organizers strike out blindly with regard to how they should characterize the profile of their beneficiaries without risking eligibility to municipal funding
Summary
After the mayor of Rotterdam approved the construction of an asylum seekers center (asielzoekerscentrum) in 2015, tensions in the vicinity were palpable. The city of Rotterdam has a refugee support platform run by engaged residents, while migrant hostility pervades the city, too In this ambivalent environment, aspiring grassroots organizers with a forced migration background seek to provide support to refugee status holders.. In trying to adhere to the seemingly inexecutable demand to follow ‘generic’ policies whilst at the same time articulating a clearly focused target group, Aida struggles to formulate her support activities for Eritrean refugee status holders in a way that applies to all residents. Her initiative largely focuses on Eritrean refugee status holders, yet in public, she downplays the specificities of this target group and attempts to diversify the composition of the people she works with. I use pseudonyms for all research participants and organizations mentioned in this article
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