Mobilization of irregular migrants in Europe: a comparative analysis

Abstract

Abstract Why and how do those who by definition seek to avoid the attention of the public and who lack resources manage to mobilize collectively? Comparing the situation of irregular migrants in three European cities (Copenhagen, London and Paris), this article aims to provide some understanding of the reasons for the mobilization, or absence of mobilization, of irregular migrants. It also seeks to explore the processes of development in these movements. In exploring the determinants and modes of irregular migrant mobilizations, this paper builds on Axel Honneth's theory of recognition and expands the analysis provided by theories of social movements of the passage from individual suffering to collective action. Keywords: Irregular migrantsmobilizationcollective actionrightsrecognitionWestern Europe Acknowledgements Thanks to Sandro Cattacin and Mélanie Pétrémont for their participation in the research project this paper draws on. Thanks to the three anonymous reviewers, Lilian Mathieu and John Solomos for their useful comments, as well as to Linnet Taylor for proofreading this paper. Notes 1. For a critical analysis of the literature on migrants' mobilization see Però and Solomos (Citation2010). 2. This study was financed by the French Ministry of Public Works (Ministère de l'écologie, du développement et de l'aménagement durables). 3. It focuses on the 'how' question and does not answer the 'why' (Giugni Citation1995, p. 81). 4. As shown already by Marta Roca I Escoda (Citation2010). 5. 'Hurt feelings [...] can, however, become the motivational basis for collective resistance only if subjects are able to articulate them within an intersubjective framework of interpretation that they can show to be typical for an entire group' (Honneth 2005 [1995], p. 163, emphasis added). 6. According to this law a spouse can join his or her partner only if they are over 24 years old, own their home or have a three-year lease on an apartment or house; if the partner in Denmark did not receive social security during the last year; if he or she has at least the equivalent of 5,300 euros in the bank and can demonstrate his or her ability to support his or her partner; and finally if they can both prove they have a greater connection to Denmark than to another country. 7. We have chosen these two mobilizations because of their different duration: the Forgotten of Saint-Paul began in 2008 whereas the Neuvième Collectif was created 13 years ago. Saint-Paul is the name of the church where the mobilized irregular migrants have settled; they term themselves 'Forgotten' because they were not regularized after their first mobilization (Collectif des Sans-Papiers du Département des Hauts-de-Seine). The name Neuvième Collectif (ninth collective) marks their place in the lineage of Parisian immigrant collectives, as does the name Troisième Collectif (third collective). 8. For instance see Dubuc (Citation2008). 9. See www.strangersintocitizens.org.uk 10. See www.migrantsrights.org.uk 11. Ethnic minority communities whose members mainly have legal permission to stay. 12. Along with Deranty's critical perspective on Honneth (Deranty 2003, p. 191).