The contentious politics of childhood and migration : grassroots mobilisations in support of ‘non-status’ children in England and France
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Abstract
This thesis examines grassroots mobilisations in France and England in
support of children and families with no right to remain on the territory. It aims
to provide a better understanding of the influence of 'childhood' as a social
concept and 'the child' as a social actor on social mobilisations in support of
'non-status' children. It also intends to analyse the impact of national contexts
on mobilisations.
The study is comparative in scope and relies on the analysis of 1,272
claims made in newspapers and 65 interviews with grassroots campaigners.
The thesis first maps the field of contention as it applies to 'non-status'
children. It then goes on to investigate actors' pathways into campaigning
and their reasons for getting involved and sustaining involvement. It finally
considers actors' conscious work to attract and mobilise bystanders.
This thesis shows that the presence of children considerably affected
campaigning activities. First, children played an important role as key
recruiting agents and influential collective actors. Second, childhood as a
concept constituted a powerful mobilising factor, and campaigners
strategically used the image of the child as innocent and vulnerable when
making claims.
Overall, mobilisations in support of 'non-status' children and families in
France and England presented many similarities, including their strong
emotional component and the central role of schools. However, national
contexts also played a role in enabling or constraining mobilisations. I identify
both structural and discursive differences between the French and English
contexts which considerably affected campaigns. In particular, structural
differences in the implementation of migration policies had a noticeable effect
on campaigners' perceived ability to exert change. Furthermore,
mobilisations in France grew into a national network able and willing to make
political claims. By contrast, mobilisations in England remained isolated and
rarely adopted a political stance, focusing instead on the individual child or
family