Visites à domicile et empowerment . Effets et limites d’une stratégie de réduction des vulnérabilités des immigrés âgés à Vienne (Autriche)

Abstract

The article explores the effects and limits of home visits as a strategy to reduce vulnerability among immigrants in Vienna (Austria). This intervention aims to create a relay between the target population and the urban environment that can be seen both as a sphere of (in particular social) resources, and threatened by poverty and social exclusion. Based on a qualitative and participatory field research which was part of an international comparative research project, the article asks when, how and for how long such an intervention can stop the process of vulnerability. Our central hypothesis is that home visits are exposed to a logic of (re) production of vulnerabilities, due to mechanisms which interfere within the interactions during the home visits, and which impair the strategy of empowerment. The phenomena identified as characteristic for the investigated situations are the paradox of proximity, non-recognition and volunteer visitors strategies of informalisation, affecting the capacity to link up bridging ties and community social capital.