How Perceptions Matter: Organizational Vulnerability and Practices of Resilience in the Field of Migration

Abstract

This article presents a qualitative analysis of the practices of civil society organizations (CSOs) to integrate migrants into the Swiss labor market. Civil society organizations as a means of overcoming vulnerability figure prominently in the current research. However, less attention has been given to examining how organizational perceptions influence their behavior in the face of threats. Our findings illustrate that political and economic changes in the migration field result in various forms of organizational vulnerability, manifesting as internal challenges to organizations' sense-making, identification of beneficiaries and the type of services they provide. We show that CSOs negotiate diverse roles in the labor integration of migrants embedded in a dynamic system of interdependence with state institutions and labor market actors. Hence, CSOs constantly adapt and respond to challenges in the field, showing a range of resilience practices ensuring their role as key driver of migrants’ labor integration.