Firewalls as a resource for resistance: separating border policing from social service provision in Sweden and the UK

Andy Jolly*, Jacob Lind

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Firewalls separate rights provision for undocumented migrants from the border policing of migration authorities. In this article, we compare how firewalls have been negotiated during recent years in Sweden and the UK. Firewalls have been partly strengthened in the UK as a result of the ‘Windrush scandal’. Simultaneously, firewalls have been increasingly contested in Sweden after the 2015 ‘long summer of migration’ as a result of continuously more repressive migration policies. On the basis of this detailed comparison, we argue that firewalls are a useful conceptual lens to understand migrant struggles and the development of migration policies. Moreover, we suggest that firewalls can be a useful resource for social service providers using their discretion to resist repressive migration governing at different levels and scales and for organizing political work by and for people at risk of deportation.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)183-196
Number of pages14
JournalNordic Social Work Research
Volume11
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Sept 2021

Keywords

  • Firewalls
  • undocumented migration
  • border policing
  • human rights
  • social work

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