Reconciling migrants’ well-being with the public interest Welfare state, fi rms and citizenship in transition Trends in social cohesion, No. 19 This publication has received political and fi nancial support from the Directorate General of Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities of the European Commission. The opinions expressed in this work are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily refl ect the offi cial policy of the Council of Europe. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated, reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic (CD-Rom, Internet, etc.) or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the Public Information and Publications Division, Directorate of Communication (F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex or [email protected]). Cover design: Graphic Design Studio, Council of Europe Council of Europe Publishing F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex http://book.coe.int ISBN 978-92-871-6285-4 © Council of Europe, May 2008 Printed in Belgium TITLES IN THE SAME COLLECTION No. 1 Promoting the policy debate on social exclusion from a comparative perspective (ISBN: 978-92-871-4920-6, €8 / US$12) No. 2 Trends and developments in old-age pension and health-care fi nancing in Europe during the 1990s (ISBN: 978-92-871-4921-3, €8 / US$12) No. 3 Using social benefi ts to combat poverty and social exclusion: opportunities and problems from a comparative perspective (ISBN: 978-92-871-4937-4, €13 / US$20) No. 4 New social demands: the challenges of governance (ISBN: 978-92-871-5012-7, €19 / US$29) No. 5 Combating poverty and access to social rights in the countries of the South Caucasus: a territorial approach (ISBN: 978-92-871-5096-7, €15 / US$23) No. 6 The state and new social responsibilities in a globalising world (ISBN: 978-92-871-5168-1, €15 / US$23) No. 7 Civil society and new social responsibilities based on ethical foundations (ISBN: 978-92-871-5309-8, €13 / US$20) No. 8 Youth and exclusion in disadvantaged urban areas: addressing the causes of violence (ISBN: 978-92-871-5389-0, €25 / US$38) No. 9 Youth and exclusion in disadvantaged urban areas: policy approaches in six European cities (ISBN: 978-92-871-5512-2, €15 / US$23) No. 10 Security through social cohesion: proposals for a new socio-economic governance (ISBN: 978-92-871-5491-0, €17 / US$26) No. 11 Security through social cohesion: deconstructing fear (of others) by going beyond stereotypes (ISBN: 978-92-871-5544-3, €10 / US$15) No. 12 Ethical, solidarity-based citizen involvement in the economy: a prerequisite for social cohesion (ISBN: 978-92-871-5558-0, €10 / US$15) No. 13 Retirement income: recent developments and proposals (ISBN: 978-92-871-5705-8, €13 / US$20) No. 14 Solidarity-based choices in the marketplace: a vital contribution to social cohesion (ISBN: 978-92-871-5761-4, €30 / US$45) No. 15 Reconciling labour fl exibility with social cohesion – Facing the challenge (ISBN: 978-92-871-5813-0, €35 / US$53) No. 16 Reconciling labour fl exibility with social cohesion – Ideas for political action (ISBN: 978-92-871-5813-0, €35 / US$53) 3 No. 17 Reconciling labour fl exibility with social cohesion – The experiences and specifi cities of central and eastern Europe (ISBN: 978-92-871-6151-2, €39/ US$59) No. 18 Achieving social cohesion in a multicultural Europe – Concepts, situation and developments (ISBN: 978-92-871-6033-1, €37 / US$56) 4 CONTENTS Preface .......................................................................................................11 Alexander Vladychenko Foreword ..................................................................................................13 Gilda Farrell and Federico Oliveri Part I – Migrants and social cohesion: a problem of “cultural diversity”? ............................................................. 23 I. Policies for a fair multicultural society. On the use and abuse of “culture” in relation to migration issues ....................................................................... 23 Federico Oliveri 1. Migrations and integration through the mirror of “cultural diversity” ................................................................................. 23 2. Critical paths through multiculturalism(s) ................................................ 28 3. The agenda for a fair multicultural society............................................... 36 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 50 Bibliography...................................................................................................... 53 II. Religious pluralism and social cohesion: making religions an element of mutual recognition ................... 57 Hans Ucko Part II – Migrants, diversity and changes in the welfare state ............................................................ 63 A. Insecurity of migrants – controlled by the state, feared by the community ................................................................... 63 I. Modern migrants and new slaves. How the UK welfare state denies well-being, enforces immigration control and creates slavery ................................................................................63 Steve Cohen 5 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 63 1. The shift in controls .................................................................................... 65 2. The welfare state and the migrants .......................................................... 68 3. How migrants slide into new slavery ........................................................ 75 4. What is to be done? Some fi nal observations ......................................... 83 Bibliography...................................................................................................... 88 II. What security for migrants and their children? Thoughts inspired by the Catalan example ................................. 91 Laurent Bonelli Introduction ...................................................................................................... 91 1. Migrants in Catalonia ................................................................................. 92 2. (In)discipline and competition ................................................................... 97 3. What security in our advanced societies? .............................................. 105 Bibliography.................................................................................................... 109 III. Migration and demographic issues in Europe: policy implications ....................................................................... 111 Luc Legoux Introduction .................................................................................................... 111 1. Ageing: a concept that is inappropriate for describing a complex phenomenon .......................................................................... 111 2. Exploitation of demographic fears .......................................................... 115 3. The demographic confl ict of interest and the issue of inequality ........ 118 4. Migration as an alternative, but on what conditions? .......................... 121 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 126 Bibliography.................................................................................................... 128 B. The welfare state: between inequality and universalism conscious of diversity ......................................... 129 I. Welfare systems and migrant minorities: the cultural dimension of social policies and its discriminatory potential ...............................................................129 Michael Bommes Introduction .................................................................................................... 129 1. Modern welfare systems .......................................................................... 130 2. Welfare cultures – the basis of cultural discrimination? ....................... 134 6 3. Is cultural discrimination inscribed in the structural relation between migrants and European welfare states? ................................. 136 4. Structural reasons for disadvantages of migrants in welfare states .... 144 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 152 Bibliography.................................................................................................... 154 II. “Cultural otherness” or the ethnicisation of poverty? Some considerations on how post-communist welfare reforms affect Hungary’s Roma minority ..................... 159 Julia Szalai 1. Varying contexts of “cultural otherness”: the case of Roma in Hungary ................................................................................................. 159 2. Post-communist welfare reforms and the rise of a dual order ............. 165 3. The ethnicised ghetto of poverty built from the bricks of “cultural otherness”: the social exclusion of Roma .......................... 171 Bibliography.................................................................................................... 179 III. Tailoring a universal health-care system to diversity: the hospital’s good intentions put to the test by its immigrant users ................................................................