Transnational welfare within and beyond the nation-state: civil society responses to the migration crisis in Greece

Isabel Shutes,Armine Ishkanian

doi:10.1080/1369183x.2021.1892479

Isabel Shutes, Armine Ishkanian

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183x.2021.1892479

Copy DOI

Journal: New community	Publication Date: Mar 2, 2021
Citations: 8	License type: open-access

Affiliation: London School of Economics and Political Science

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article advances understanding of how transnational welfare has emerged in practice within and in relation to the nation-state framework, focusing on the responses of civil society actors to the European migration crisis in Greece. It draws on in-depth interviews with different types of civil society actors engaged in activities in Greece during and since the 2015 period of the migration crisis, including national and international NGOs, local solidarity groups, and international volunteers. The findings point to the ways in which transnational welfare through civil society actions arose in relation to the perceived crisis of the national state and inter-state system, in failing to address the needs of migrants and refugees but also Greek residents. However, transnational welfare also emerged through forms of collective action and identification that sought to counter the social boundaries of nation-state systems in relation to migration and welfare. It is argued that analyses of transnational welfare require attention to both those dimensions – that is, how civil society actions forge new meanings and ways of ‘doing’ welfare that may be trans-national in contesting the boundaries of nation-state systems, but also the limits to those actions in relation to the state.

Highlights

The movement of people across nation-state borders has brought about increasing attention to the transnational dimensions of welfare, including migrants’ strategies for social protection (Faist et al 2015; Levitt et al 2017)
The analysis addresses, first, the identities, motivations and relationships between international NGOs (INGOs), local actors and international volunteers; second, the ways in which civil society actions were shaped by and sought to counter state and inter-state bordering practices in relation to mobility and social welfare; and third, how those actions emerged in relation to the absence of the state in meeting the needs of different social groups, migrants and Greek residents, within Greece
We argue that analyses of transnational welfare require attention to those practices within and in relation to the nation-state framework – that is, how civil society actions forge new meanings and ways of ‘doing’ welfare that may be trans-national in contesting the boundaries of nation-state systems, and the limits to those actions in relation to the state

Summary

Introduction

The movement of people across nation-state borders has brought about increasing attention to the transnational dimensions of welfare, including migrants’ strategies for social protection (Faist et al 2015; Levitt et al 2017). These actors include national and international NGOs (INGOs), local solidarity groups, and involved Greek residents and people coming to Greece from other countries, people defined as migrants and refugees and humanitarian workers and international volunteers.

Results

Conclusion