Soziale Aufstiege durch Migration: Lassen sich globale Ungleichheiten durch fallvergleichende qualitative Forschung rekonstruieren?

Eine Analyse globaler Ungleichheiten kann nicht im Rahmen des Nationalstaats erfolgen. Zentral ist vielmehr das Verhältnis zwischen den Ressourcen von Personen und den vielfältigen - auch transnationalen - Kontexten, in denen die Ressourcen Wert gewinnen. Der Artikel zeigt an Fallvergleichen zwischen Süd-Nord-Migrant_innen, die ihre soziale Lage im Zuge der Migration deutlich verbessern konnten, wie diese an eine Vielzahl von Kontexten anschließen und so strukturelle Hürden überwinden. Dabei wird analytisch zwischen sozial differenzierten, politisch umkämpften und territorial gebundenen Kontextrelationen unterschieden werden. Da diese Kontextrelationen oft transnational sind, wird eine Methode wie die hier verwendete Dokumentarische Methode benötigt, die Kontextrelationen nicht nur über Selbstpositionierungen und den Lebensmittelpunkt einer Person erfasst, sondern die auch implizite Lagerungsähnlichkeiten rekonstruiert. Mit Hilfe (trans-)nationaler Vergleichsstrategien analysiert der Beitrag das komplexe Verhältnis von Personen zu (trans-)nationalen ungleichheitsrelevanten Kontexten und die daraus resultierenden Lebenschancen.The analysis of global inequalities must move beyond the nation-state frame and consider the - potentially transnational - contexts in which the resources of persons gain value. The article uses case comparisons between South-North migrants, who were able to significantly improve their social position in the course of migration, in order to show how they overcome structural barriers by connecting to a variety of contexts. Analytically we distinguish socially differentiated, politically contested and territorially bounded context relations. Considering that context relations often have a transnational scope, we need a method such as the documentary method used in this article, which reconstructs context relations not only from self-identification and place of residence, but also from implicit habitual homologies. With the help of multiple (trans-)national comparison the article shows how the complex relationship between persons and (trans-)national contexts promotes or obstructs social mobility

Migrant Organizations and Social Protection in Germany: The Functions of MOs for Their Target Groups’ Social Protection Practices

This article engages with the functions assumed by migrant organizations (MOs) in Germany in the context of the social protection of people with migration biographies. Based on document analyses and qualitative interviews with three groups of actors, we identify four functions through which MOs contribute to their target groups’ social protection practices, and show how diverging perceptions toward these functions shape the current role of MOs in a changing welfare system. In addition to providing social services themselves (service function), they mediate with the welfare system (hinging function) and advocate for the interests of people with migration biographies in public and political discourse (advocacy function). Moreover, we demonstrate that these functions are shaped and complemented by a “homemaking” function, a form of informal protection based on mutual support, trust and understanding. In this article, the discussion of the specific ways in which these functions play a role for the social protection of people with migration biographies is based on joint analysis of three data sets. Thus, we juxtapose the viewpoints of MO representatives, their target groups and people associated with welfare state institutions and political administrations. In this way, we show how MOs use these various functions to actively engage with a changing welfare landscape, whereas welfare institutions and political administrations often perceive of the work undertaken by MOs rather as an ‘integration’-oriented prerequisite for their own social service provision. As a result, contrasting and sometimes competing perspectives challenge the role of MOs within the German welfare system, even though these organizations already fulfill key functions for their target groups’ social protection

Contested Welfare: Migrant Organizations in Search of Their Role in the German Welfare State

This article examines the role of migrant organizations (MOs) in the welfare state and reflects on the transformation and negotiation processes in the organization of social protection in a society that is increasingly characterized by various forms of cross-border mobility. The article first describes various transformation trends in German social policy by highlighting the activation policy and marketization of social services. This transformation concerns not only the formal (material) forms of social protection and the relationship between migration and social policy, but also the organization of social protection within the German welfare state. By analysing qualitative interviews with representatives of migrant organizations and welfare associations, we then show which roles are ascribed to MOs by other welfare actors in the context of social protection and how the MOs position themselves. We argue that these role ascriptions are part of a negotiation process that goes along with the transformation of the German welfare state. MOs are increasingly addressed in the context of integration policy, while at the same time they are becoming more professional and are claiming a stronger role in formal security services. The discussion of the changing role of MOs in the future organization of the welfare state also sheds light on the question of the successful adaptation of social services to the needs of migrants in general