Subjectivity in Welfare Mobilities: Rethinking Welfare as a Structure, a Process, and an Experience

Abstract

This article reflects on what migration studies have accomplished when researching the role of welfare in migration. It highlights that conventional migration theories do not sufficiently account for how people understand welfare and how they interpret and react to welfare perceptions. The article calls for more attention to the interplay of welfare's subjectivity and migration processes to better understand (im)mobility aspirations and decisions. This dynamic interplay can be captured through the concept of welfare mobilities and studied by combining old and new migration theories within a more integrated analytical framework. The article provides an empirical example of the insights that this approach can bring and shows the need to conceptualize welfare as a structure, a process, and an experience to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of its role in migration decision making.