| Popis: |
This thesis revisits how we understand the role of welfare in migration, taking the initial meaning of welfare, faring well, as starting point. Through a mixed-methods, multi-sited case study of Moroccan migration to Europe from the late 1990s to 2020, the thesis inquires how people born in Morocco understand and experience welfare regimes in Morocco, Spain and Norway, and how their understandings and experiences shape their migration aspirations and decisions. The thesis reveals that continued migration from Morocco to Europe during this period stems from people’s unfulfilled aspirations and expectations around material security and subjective well-being, which earlier migration has partly shaped. The thesis demonstrates that welfare can be an intrinsic part of aspired lifestyles. It illustrates that while informal arrangements in welfare regimes can be a source of insecurities, they also can represent a resource and a safety net when other opportunities are not available. How people understand and experience material security and subjective well-being depends on their position in labour markets (welfare regimes are segmented, just like labour markets) but also on their imaginations, expectations, aspirations and social comparisons. The thesis integrates welfare theories with migration theories and presents a new, comprehensive welfare and migration framework. It contributes to how we understand welfare’s role in migration in three new ways: by considering welfare’s structural aspects from the perspective of individuals; by focusing on welfare’s subjectivities; and by examining people’s subsequent reactions in terms of aspirations and their decisions to migrate or stay put. |
