Deservingness and uneven geographies of asylum accommodation

Novak, Paolo

Abstract

The arrival of over six million asylum seekers in Europe since 2011 has engendered profound and ongoing governance transformations, which this article examines through the understudied perspective of asylum seekers’ accommodation. The article uncovers the unevenness of accommodation standards across reception centres in an Italian province, demonstrating how this heterogeneity selectively dis/enables the meaningful participation of asylum seekers in the social life of communities surrounding them. Second, it reveals how the circulation of asylum seekers across these facilities responds to performance-based deservingness criteria. Deservingness functions as a disciplining mechanism that mediates access to better forms of accommodation.

Citation

Novak, P. (2021). Deservingness and uneven geographies of asylum accommodation. Social Policy and Society, 20(3), 452-463. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746420000779

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 16, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Feb 1, 2021
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Feb 8, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 8, 2021
• Journal: Social Policy and Society
• Print ISSN: 1474-7464
• Electronic ISSN: 1475-3073
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 452-463
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746420000779
• Keywords: Deservingness, asylum, reception centres, Italy