Family Migration as a Class Matter

Abstract

Traditionally, family migration was conceptualized as a separate form of migration from labour migration. Increasingly socio‐economic criteria (labour market participation, language competence, financial resources, independence from welfare), have been applied to family migration policies in Europe, and are harder to fulfil by those with a weaker labour market position. Hence class now plays an increasingly significant role in stratifying the right to family migration. The article examines the imposition of minimum income requirements in three countries – the Netherlands, Norway and the UK – and the significance of class in its economic and cultural dimensions in meeting the requirement. For those without sufficient economic capital to meet the requirement, cultural capital may facilitate the development of coping strategies to overcome or reduce the duration of family separation. Class is not the only stratifying element: gender, age and ethnicity interact with and reinforce the effects of class.

Social Class, Migration Policy and Migrant Strategies: An Introduction

“…Even in these analyses however, class is not centre stage. In contrast, Kofman (, in this issue) argues that: “class has become the main determinant of access to family migration”.…”

“…First, individuals and groups do not just differentiate vertically along a line separating resourceful from resourceless migrants, but also along a horizontal line defining qualitative differences between migrants based on the structure of their resources. Second, plurality allows for the convertibility of one form of capital into another, and for mechanisms of compensation (Kofman [], this issue; Elrick & Winter [], this issue). Most emblematically, migrants with little economic capital may be able to migrate or gain legal status by compensating for their low material resources with cultural or social capital (van Hear, , ; Bréant, ; Wray et al., forthcoming).…”

“…Eleonore Kofman () argues that “class has become the main determinant of access to family migration”. She maps the “economic drift” of family migration policies in North‐Western Europe, as social and humanitarian rationales for the admission of family migrants have increasingly made way for economic rationales focused on self‐sufficiency and productivity.…”

“…Students of migrant integration policies in Europe have observed a restrictive turn since the early 2000s, which has been interpreted as a shift towards renewed assimilationism, neo-nationalism, or communitarianism (Kostakopoulou et al, 2009;Kofman, 2005;Van Houdt et al, 2011) in the context of a "culturalization of citizenship" (Duyvendak, Geschiere & Tonkens, 2016). While these perspectives offer valuable insights, they downplay the role of norms regarding economic participation and financial independence in discourses on the "failure" of multiculturalism or migrant integration more broadly.…”

“…Gender complicates the assessment of international migrants' class identities. For example, it structures the differential construction of skills for men and women by deskilling the recruitment channels of female labour migrants (Docquier et al, 2009;Kofman, 2013), which may also create avenues for certain streams of unskilled female migration (Bonizzoni [2018] in this issue). Classed conceptions of masculinity shape the motivations and modalities of men's migrations in crucial ways (Sinatti, 2014;Prothmann, 2018 in this issue).…”