IMISCOE Research Series Alistair Hunter Retirement Home? Ageing Migrant Workers in France and the Question of Return IMISCOE Research Series This series is the official book series of IMISCOE, the largest network of excellence on migration and diversity in the world. It comprises publications which present empirical and theoretical research on different aspects of international migration. The authors are all specialists, and the publications a rich source of information for researchers and others involved in international migration studies. The series is published under the editorial supervision of the IMISCOE Editorial Committee which includes leading scholars from all over Europe. The series, which contains more than eighty titles already, is internationally peer reviewed which ensures that the book published in this series continue to present excellent academic standards and scholarly quality. Most of the books are available open access. For information on how to submit a book proposal, please visit: http://www. imiscoe.org/publications/how-to-submit-a-book-proposal. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13502 Alistair Hunter Retirement Home? Ageing Migrant Workers in France and the Question of Return Alistair Hunter University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, UK ISSN 2364-4087 ISSN 2364-4095 (electronic) IMISCOE Research Series ISBN 978-3-319-64975-7 ISBN 978-3-319-64976-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-64976-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017952369 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018. This book is an open access publication. 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Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland In memory of my migrant grandmothers, Jean and Lorna, and my grandfathers, Sam and Tom. Acknowledgements I could not have completed this book without the support and goodwill of so many others. Above all I owe a debt of gratitude to the men who received me in the hostels. Their wisdom, forbearance and generosity frequently overwhelmed me. In particu- lar, I would like to thank the following individuals for welcoming me into their lives and families: Ali, Djiby, Cheikhou, Ahmed, Demba, Idrissa, Yamadou and Yakhouba. I will never forget these moments and can only hope that what I have written has done justice to their experiences. Many other individuals – not living in hostels but with a professional and human- itarian commitment to those who do – generously gave their time, advice and exper- tise. Above all I am indebted to Didier, Clarinda, Anne and Muriel at Adoma; Rémi Gallou and colleagues at the Unité de Recherche sur le vieillissement (CNAV); Gilles Desrumaux at Unafo; Françoise Bitatsi-Trachet at Migrations Santé; Ali El Baz (GISTI/ATMF); Benjamin Do at Action, Formation, Insertion; Stéphanie at CATRED; Hamid Salmi; and Alliatte Chiahou (ATMF). Completing this book was my apprenticeship in the craft of social science research and writing. I recognise how lucky I am to have benefited from the guid- ance of two inspirational mentors at the University of Edinburgh, Christina Boswell and Richard Freeman. In revising the manuscript, I am also extremely grateful to Anoeshka Gehring, Audrey Lenoël, Carolin Fischer, Eva Soom Ammann and Tim Peace for their perceptive comments on draft chapters. As ever, responsibility for what is written herein lies with me alone. The research could not have proceeded without the generous financial support and training provided by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council. I am very grateful to the IMISCOE Research Network for facilitating open-access publi- cation and to the Award Committee of the IMISCOE Maria Ioannis Baganha Dissertation Award. Special thanks go to the anonymous reviewer and to Warda Belabas at IMISCOE for liaising with my wonderful editors at Springer, Evelien Bakker and Bernadette Deelen-Mans. Finally, I could not have completed this work without the constant love and encouragement of my parents Noreen and Michael and my wife Catherine. Bisous! vii Contents 1 Journey’s End? Old Age in France’s Migrant Worker Hostels ............ 1 1.1 Post-war Migrants to Western Europe: Settling into Old Age ...................................................................................... 4 1.2 France’s Migrant Worker Hostels and the Question of Late-in-Life Return ........................................................................ 7 1.3 Purpose, Title and Structure of the Book ........................................... 19 References ................................................................................................... 24 2 Points of Departure: Geographical, Historical and Theoretical Contexts.......................................................................... 29 2.1 Contexts of Emigration ...................................................................... 29 2.2 The Three Ages of the Hostels: Sonacotral—Sonacotra—Adoma ...................................................... 34 2.3 Theories of Migration and Return ..................................................... 42 2.4 Methods at the Margins ..................................................................... 48 References ................................................................................................... 55 3 Your Papers, Please: The Temporal and Territorial Demands of Welfare State Inclusion ....................................................... 61 3.1 Timetabled Lives at Retirement ......................................................... 63 3.2 Migration, the Welfare State, and Non-standard Biographies ........... 66 3.3 Suspect Mobility, Enforcement and Tactics of Evasion .................... 73 3.4 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 78 References ................................................................................................... 80 4 Home/Sick: The Health–Migration Order ............................................. 83 4.1 Health and Mobility in Later Life ...................................................... 85 4.2 Inclusion in the French Healthcare System ....................................... 89 4.3 Non-standard Biographies Impede Healthcare .................................. 92 4.4 Healthcare Provision in Countries of Origin ..................................... 97 4.5 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 100 References ................................................................................................... 102 ix x Contents 5 Return to Sender: Remittances, Communication and Family Conflict .................................................................................. 105 5.1 Breadwinner Migrants: Remittance Sending as a Way of Life ................................................................................. 106 5.2 Continued Dependency on Remittances Past Retirement .................. 111 5.3 Gender, Generation and Conflict in Transnational Families .............. 114 5.4 Communication Technologies: Impeding Not Empowering Return .................................................................... 116 5.5 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 123 References ................................................................................................... 125 6 Getting One’s Bearings: Re-integration in the Home Community .......................................................................... 129 6.1 Sketches of Dembancané (Senegal) and Tiznit (Morocco) ............... 130 6.2 Physical Bearings: Constructing a Place to Return to ....................... 135 6.3 Re-integration and the Role of Hometown Associations ................... 139 6.4 Social Bearings: Negotiations