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Differentiation of Rights in the Norwegian Welfare State: Hierarchies of Belonging and Humanitarian Exceptionalism
[journal article]
Abstract
Controlling mobility and borders has become a central, defining feature of the state today. Using the Norwegian welfare state as a case study, I argue that the differentiation of rights depending on status categories is an important way in which the state deals with irregular migration. It is also a... view more
Controlling mobility and borders has become a central, defining feature of the state today. Using the Norwegian welfare state as a case study, I argue that the differentiation of rights depending on status categories is an important way in which the state deals with irregular migration. It is also an integral element of border construction and how mobility is managed. How is the Norwegian welfare state differentiating the rights to work, health care, and economic welfare benefits and through which argumentations does the state legitimate these differentiations? This article argues that the practice of differentiation contributes to establishing hierarchies of belonging and enforces the nexus of welfare rights–migration management. Further, the exclusion of certain categories of people from accessing basic welfare services and, consequently, creating precarious lives, is legitimized by the discourse of humanitarian exceptionalism, through which migrants gain some support outside the welfare state system. This facilitates policies and regulations that are “tough on migration”, and produces the irregular subject as apolitical, a victim, and unwanted. The differentiation of rights and the discourses that the state uses to legitimate these differentiations are keys in the negotiation of who should be entitled to which rights in the future.... view less
Keywords
Norway; welfare state; social policy; migration; illegal immigration; asylum policy; social rights; immigration policy
Classification
Migration, Sociology of Migration
Social Policy
Free Keywords
borders; differentiated rights; health care rights; humanitarian exceptionalism; irregular migrants
Document language
English
Publication Year
2018
Page/Pages
p. 162-171
Journal
Social Inclusion, 6 (2018) 3
Issue topic
Migration, Boundaries and Differentiated Citizenship
ISSN
2183-2803
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed