Autore
Kremmel, Katrin

Titolo
On «integration activities». «Volunteering» among asylum seekers in western Austria as invisibilised labour
Periodico
Etnografia e ricerca qualitativa
Anno: 2025 - Fascicolo: 3 - Pagina iniziale: 457 - Pagina finale: 478

This article explores interconnections between asylum policies, humanitarian governance and labour exploitation by analysing «volunteering» practices among asylum seekers within European refugee protection regimes. Existing scholarship predominantly views volunteering in this context as civic participation performed by established urban residents. In order to expand upon these dominant frames, I draw upon ethnographic material to discuss the Wir sind aktiv (We are active) initiative in western Austria, which involved asylum seekers in «volunteering» to facilitate their «integration». I show how processes of legal and social categorisation construct «volunteering» among asylum seekers as «non-work», rendering invisible its contribution to public services and social reproduction in the region. I argue that labour exploitation enabled by global humanitarian regimes and asylum policies must be analysed in relation to concrete localities and processes of governance beyond the humanitarian sector. By doing so, I contribute to the literature on the contemporary entanglements of migrant labour and social reproduction in receiving localities.



SICI: 1973-3194(2025)3<457:O«A«AA>2.0.ZU;2-Z
Testo completo: https://www.rivisteweb.it/download/article/10.3240/118727
Testo completo alternativo: https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.3240/118727

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