Migrant Solidarity and Social Movements (Europe)

Mobilizations by and in support of migrants have proliferated since the 1980s in response to the securitization of migration policies and the increasing diversification of societies in various parts of the world. In Europe, these practices amplified and gained broad public visibility during the so-called “long summer of migration” of 2015, when hundreds of thousands of migrants escaped from war-torn regions in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa to seek asylum in Europe, moving from the countries of first arrival to those of desired destination. Along their way, civil society organization mobilized at an unprecedented level in solidarity with migrants, performing both protest and direct social assistance. Analytically, in these mobilizations “acts of citizenship” by migrants claiming access to rights interacted with acts of solidarity, in which individuals and groups engaged on behalf of others. This entry has a threefold structure. First, we recall how both “contentious moves” by migrants a pro-beneficiary mobilizations unfolded during the “long summer of migration.” Second, we discuss practices of migrant support as complex and hybrid forms of engagement, often at the border between contentious politics and humanitarianism. Third, we document how migrant support is increasingly challenged by a shrinking space for civil society in a polarized social climate, in which migration and cultural diversity are at the core of political conflict.