Shadows of the shadow state: Grassroots, refugee-led organizations within a multi-scalar and contested resettlement institutional domain

Abstract

In discussions of welfare state restructuring, the focus has largely been on institutions that are well established and funded by the state. This study, focusing on the U.S. refugee resettlement institutional domain, theoretically examines organizational entities that are refugee- run and grassroots, and how they fit as peripheral to their larger, state-funded counterparts. Third-order devolution, as conceptualized in this paper, is the extended delegation of social responsibilities from the state and then unto state-contracted organizations of the third sector, and then further unto state-detached organizations of the informal sector. “Informal,” “unofficial,” “quasi”-organizations run by and for refugee communities in these most peripheral levels at the grassroots are forwarded as shadows of the shadow state. That is, pressure is exerted further downward, but without means nor legitimacy, in multiscalar governance of U.S. refugee resettlement. The contestations and relationalities that constitute the shadow state must thus be viewed against a voluntary sector that is heterogeneous, multi-scalar and power-laden, rather than unitary. Theoretical considerations also raise questions about new organizational forms in addressing resettlement and migration, and the tripartite relationship between the state, state-contracted/funded organizations, and state-detached organizations at the grassroots.

The political economy of healthcare access and Chicagoland health-oriented non-profit organizations

“…However, these coalitions relying on the state as their primary financial support also reinforces the “junior partner” status Trudeau, 2008 proposes these organizations are pushed to inhabit. Notably, the mention of mutual aid organizations who helped Chicago-based nonprofits make direct donations without limitations to their communities in the early pandemic operates under the “shadow of the shadow state” framework Benson, 2022 conceptualizes. Here, I see Benson 2022’s theoretical framework of the shadows of the shadow state, constructed specifically in examining the welfare state relationships with grassroots refugee community organizations, as directly relevant to the mutual aid organizations working in the Chicagoland area during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…As this applies to urban health systems specifically, the voluntary sector is multiscalar, diffused, and uneven in capacity, resources, and support, creating an unsteady structure of healthcare (Power and Skinner, 2017). Broadly, within the third sector, the unevenness in types of organizations and their community roles and in relation to the state and to one another was defined in relation to refugee community organizations (RCOs) (Benson, 2022).…”

“…Here, I see Benson 2022's theoretical framework of the shadows of the shadow state, constructed specifically in examining the welfare state relationships with grassroots refugee community organizations, as directly relevant to the mutual aid organizations working in the Chicagoland area during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the infrastructure of civic institutions is valuable, being embedded within the system of the state and part of the third sector, the development of an infrastructure of civic institutions in the suburbs mimicking an urban one could in turn, recreate the same shadows of the shadow state seen with grassroots refugee community organizations, but with mutual aid organizations (Benson, 2022). Further, if this same infrastructure of civic institutions becomes supported heavily by philanthropic organizations, those larger donors can exert similar pressures as the state, but with less oversight from the public (Cohen, 2021).…”

“…As U.S. state and local governments continue relying on a neoliberal governance model, community organizations are seeing state expectations rise to include service provision to underserved communities (Benson, 2022; Wolch, 1999). However, accomplishing these tasks requires navigating multiple constraints, including lack of funding, federal and state government restrictions on funding usage, and community organizations’ own activist interests and goals (Trudeau and Veronis, 2009).…”

Beauty and Beautification in Refugees’ Lives and Their Implications for Refugee Policy

“…For refugees, homemaking entails a losing and remaking in each of these different dimensions (Hammond, 2004;Korac, 2009;Pérez Murcia, 2020). Beyond the personal level, homemaking can be political (Beeckmans et al, 2022;Benson, 2022;Brun & Lund, 2008;Katz, 2022) and, for migrants specifically, transnational (Beeckmans et al, 2022, p. 15;Koptyaeva, 2017;Trapp, 2015;Walsh, 2006). Increasingly, "home" is more practice than place, more verb than noun (Boccagni, 2022b;Hammond, 2004;Pérez Murcia, 2020;S.…”