Contestations of citizenship

Investigating the conditions of vulnerability experienced by migrant workers during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Kerala, India

“…However, if this entitlement to welfare support continues to be delivered through contractors, the issues that migrant workers face in terms of receiving their full pay on time or at all are unlikely to be addressed; the middleman still exists. As Kodoth (2021) argues, state-conferred visibility in the form of welfare does not guarantee enfranchised citizenship.…”

“…So, while Kerala has provided more support to migrant workers than other Indian states, the situation remains problematic. Kodoth (2021) makes this point when criticising the Government of Kerala's position as the ‘benevolent state’, caring for people who are colloquially termed guest workers. This serves to other migrant workers and formalise their position outside of the normal Keralite citizen–state contractual relationship (Peter, Sanghvi, and Narendran, 2020).…”

“…This serves to other migrant workers and formalise their position outside of the normal Keralite citizen–state contractual relationship (Peter, Sanghvi, and Narendran, 2020). This othering is also a racialised, gendered, and cultural issue, as male migrant workers in particular are viewed as intellectually inferior to ‘Malayalees’ 7 and are often profiled based on their physical characteristics, which may indicate that they are from northern and north‐eastern states (Kumar, 2011; Kodoth, 2021). Kodoth (2021) describes this contradictory stance as comprising a view of migrants both as a threat to public order who must therefore be subject to state surveillance and as apolitical actors whose achievements and relative levels of economic support showcase the ‘progressive credentials’ of the state.…”

“…This othering is also a racialised, gendered, and cultural issue, as male migrant workers in particular are viewed as intellectually inferior to ‘Malayalees’ 7 and are often profiled based on their physical characteristics, which may indicate that they are from northern and north‐eastern states (Kumar, 2011; Kodoth, 2021). Kodoth (2021) describes this contradictory stance as comprising a view of migrants both as a threat to public order who must therefore be subject to state surveillance and as apolitical actors whose achievements and relative levels of economic support showcase the ‘progressive credentials’ of the state. Peter, Sanghvi, and Narendran (2020) make a similar argument and suggest that the aforementioned Aawaz scheme works more effectively as a biometric surveillance scheme than as something which addresses the needs of guest workers.…”

“…Nonetheless, migrant protests in Kerala suggest that the state government's treatment of ‘guest workers’ was far from perfect (Onmanorama Staff, 2020; TNM Staff, 2020). Indeed, Kodoth (2021) argues that they often found themselves in conditions during the pandemic that made them vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, and economic hardship.…”