34. Migration, Institutional Trust, and Social Citizenship

Anne-Britt Djuve (Oslo Metropolitan University)

Karen Nielsen Breidahl (Aalborg University) 

Maristella Cacciapaglia (University of Milan) 

Albert Kraler (University of Krems) 

The phenomenon of migration has become a defining feature of the 21st century, reshaping societies and challenging traditional notions of citizenship and social cohesion. High levels of trust are essential for the legitimacy and stability of the welfare state, and trust in institutions is crucial for their proper functioning. Increased immigration has created both new needs and new opportunities for studies of institutional trust. In this stream we will particularly focus on the impact of both migration and social policies for migrants with different legal statuses, including encounters with street level bureaucrats. This stream aims to explore the intricate relationships between migration, trust, and social citizenship, focusing on how these dynamics influence and are influenced by policy, social structures, and individual experiences.  

Objectives:

- Analyze Trust Dynamics: Explore processes of trust building and -breaking, among different groups of migrants and in different contexts. Investigate the interplay between experiences with host country institutions at macro, meso and micro levels and trust building.

- Role of policies: Discuss how migration and social policies can foster or hinder trust and social citizenship.

- Comparative Analysis: Present findings that highlight comparisons across migrant groups and policy regimes

- Future Directions: Identify future research and develop policy recommendations to enhance social cohesion and trust in the context of migration. 

We invite papers that address the following questions:

- What are the key factors that influence institutional and political trust among different groups of migrants?

- How do social and migration policies influence migrants’  trust in host country institutions? How do host country institutions as well as street-level practices affect migrants’ trust?  

- How does exclusion and marginalisation of migrants, notably in terms of legal status, affect institutional trust amongst migrants and non-migrants? Do inclusionary policies (such as regularisation of irregular immigrants) increase or undermine institutional trust?