Choose your battles

How civil society organisations choose context‐specific goals and activities to fight for immigrant welfare rights in Malaysia and Argentina

Bibliographic Data

ID11198243
AuthorsJakob Henninger (0000-0002-2620-180X, University of Bremen, Collaborative Research Centre 1342 "Global Dynamics of Social Policy", Institute for Intercultural and International Studies (InIIS) Bremen Germany), Friederike Römer (0000-0002-1935-3602, University of Bremen, Collaborative Research Centre 1342 "Global Dynamics of Social Policy", Institute for Intercultural and International Studies (InIIS) Bremen Germany, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume55
Issue6
Pages1112-1128
Publication date2021-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Policy and Administration (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0144-5596 • E-ISSN: 1467-9515
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/spol.12721
OpenAlexW3136791615
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited54

How do the goals and activities of civil society organisations (CSOs) that are active in the field of immigrant welfare rights differ between autocracies and democracies? In this paper, we argue that a mechanism of CSO engagement plays out differently in these two political contexts because organisations adapt their goals and activities to the political regime they operate in. In the empirical analyses, we compare democratic Argentina and electoral‐authoritarian Malaysia using data from CSOs' public mission statements as well as from interviews with CSO members from both countries. We find that in Argentina, more universalistic constitutional provisions and commitments to international treaties allowed CSOs to reference norms of equal treatment, arguing for immigrant access to a variety of programmes, including non‐contributory social assistance benefits. In Malaysia, CSOs relied on moral frames of equality to a lesser extent. Instead, they advocated for inclusion in contributory schemes on the basis of deservingness of migrants given their contributions to society, focusing on minimum standards to guarantee that basic needs are met

Authoritarianism · Autocracy · Civil society · Context (archaeology · Democracy · Human rights · Immigration · Inclusion (mineral · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Variety (cybernetics · Welfare · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Gender Studies · International Development and Aid · Law · Public Administration · Religion, Society, and Development

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