CRITICAL SOCIAL POLICY

Distanciation as a technology of control in the UK hostile environment
Potter JL and Meier I
This article considers how distanciation, understood as the active production of different forms of distance as a method of control, is used to manage people racialised and criminalised as migrants within the UK's hostile environment. Analysing different policies introduced under the hostile environment agenda, as well as the more recent New Plan for Immigration, we argue distanciation is a key tactic that shapes these policies and their implementation as well as offers us insight into changing forms of governing migration. Drawing on the analysis of a wide range of policy documents, the paper attends to different forms of distanciation used as a method of control within the UK's wider hostile environment and then presents the results of a case-study of how distanciation is mobilised within the English National Health Service, under the Migrant and Visitor Cost Recovery Programme in particular, which was introduced in 2014 to ensure the NHS receives 'a fair contribution' from people racialised as migrants. Addressing different forms of distanciation such as - spatial, legal and emotional - we argue that the lens of distance can offer insights into how detachment - increasing distance between different agents in immigration law and border enforcement is an intentional design to control empathy, solidarity and resistance. Tracing ways these forms of distanciation are designed into legislative and administrative measures helps us better understand how hostile environment policies work as well as locating agencies and possibilities of resistance within different spaces, agents and subjects of bordering.
Pregnant racialised migrants and the ubiquitous border: The hostile environment as a technology of stratified reproduction
Lonergan G
This article explores the impact of the 'hostile environment' on racialised migrant women's experiences of pregnancy and childbirth in England, arguing that the 'hostile environment' functions as a technology of 'stratified reproduction.' First coined by Shellee Colen, the concept of stratified reproduction describes the dynamic by which some individuals and groups may be supported in their reproductive activities, while others are disempowered and discouraged. This paper locates the stratified reproduction produced by the 'hostile environment' as intertwined with wider gendered and racialised discourses around British citizenship which have been 'designed to fail' racialised residents of the UK. Drawing on interviews with racialised migrant mothers in the north of England, this paper analyses how the proliferation and intensification of immigration controls interacts with gender, race, class, and other social regimes to differentially allocate the resources necessary for a safe and healthy pregnancy and childbirth, and how this is experienced materially by pregnant migrants.
'Do they ever think about people like us?': The experiences of people with learning disabilities in England and Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic
Scherer N, Wiseman P, Watson N, Brunner R, Cullingworth J, Hameed S, Pearson C and Shakespeare T
People with learning disabilities in England and Scotland have experienced an increased risk of illness and death during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on data of a longitudinal qualitative study with 71 disabled people and 31 disability organisations, this article examines the experiences of 24 people with learning disabilities in England and Scotland during the pandemic, reflecting on what rendered them vulnerable and placed them at risk. Qualitative interviews were conducted with participants and key informants at two timepoints; June-August 2020 and February-April 2021. Findings emerged across four key themes: failure to plan for the needs of people with learning disabilities; the suspension and removal of social care; the impact of the pandemic on people's everyday routines; and lack of vaccine prioritisation. The inequalities experienced by people with learning disabilities in this study are not particular to the pandemic. We explore the findings in the context of theoretical frameworks of vulnerability, including Fineman's conceptualisation of a 'vulnerability paradigm'. We conclude that the structured marginalisation of people with disabilities, entrenched by government action and inaction, have created and exacerbated their vulnerability. Structures, policies and action must change.
COVID-19 vaccination requirements for Ireland's healthcare students
Monaghan LF and Begley A
International debate on COVID-19 policy issues, notably negative social consequences, is vital when grappling with the pandemic legacy. Drawing from the second author's experiences in the Irish healthcare and higher education sectors, this commentary scrutinises measures that discriminated against students who declined novel COVID-19 pharmaceuticals. In so doing, it serves as a point of contrast to fear-based interventions. Connections are made with relevant literature when urging those in authority to ensure that policies intended to maximise vaccine coverage are seen to be fair and convincing. The commentary concludes with some reflections that could underpin more defensible policymaking and inform future research.
Sex workers' peer support during the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons learned from a study of a Portuguese community-led response
De Jesus Moura J, Pinto M, Oliveira A, Andrade M, Vitorino S, Oliveira S, Matos R and Maria M
To respond to the consequences felt by the COVID-19 pandemic, a community-led intervention was developed by the Portuguese national Movement of Sex Workers. With this exploratory study, we aimed to document their work and analyze their perceptions of this impact. To do so, we interviewed them individually, between May and August of 2020. Additionally, we analysed an Excel Sheet that contained the needs assessment and the support provided by the Movement. The content analysis of both suggests that the impact of the pandemic might have been exacerbated by the social inequalities caused by the prostitution stigma and characteristics such as gender, migration status, race, and socioeconomic status. This study calls for the inclusion of sex workers' voices in the design of policies and responses related to the commerce of sex. The consolidation of a Portuguese Movement of Sex Workers is also noted.
Navigating multiple pandemics: A critical analysis of the impact of COVID-19 policy responses on gender-based violence services
Mantler T, Wathen CN, Burd C, MacGregor JCD, McLean I and Veenendaal J
COVID-19 illustrated what governments can do to mobilise against a global threat. Despite the strong governmental response to COVID-19 in Canada, another 'pandemic', gender-based violence (GBV), has been causing grave harm with generally insufficient policy responses. Using interpretive description methodology, 26 interviews were conducted with shelter staff and 5 focus groups with 24 executive directors (EDs) from GBV service organizations in Ontario, Canada. Five main themes were identified and explored, namely that: (1) there are in fact four pandemics at play; (2) the interplay of pandemics amplified existing systemic weaknesses; (3) the key role of informal partnerships and community support, (4) temporary changes in patterns of funding allocation; and (5) exhaustion as a consequence of addressing multiple and concurrent pandemics. Implications and recommendations for researchers, policy makers, and the GBV sector are discussed.
COVID-19 and (mis)understanding public attitudes to social security: Re-setting debate
Orton M and Sarkar S
The Covid-19 pandemic has seen emerging debate about a possible shift in 'anti-welfare commonsense' i.e. the orthodoxy previously described in this journal as solidifying negative public attitudes towards 'welfare'. While a shift in attitudes might be ascribed to the circumstances of the crisis it would still be remarkable for such a strongly established orthodoxy to have changed quite so rapidly. It is appropriate, therefore, to reflect on whether the 'anti-welfare' orthodoxy was in fact as unequivocal as claimed? To address this question, challenges to the established orthodoxy that were emerging pre-pandemic are examined along with the most recently available survey data. This leads to discussion of broader issues relating to understanding attitudes: methodology; 'messiness' and ambivalence of attitudes; attitudes and constructions of deservingness; and following or leading opinion. It is argued that the 'anti-welfare' orthodoxy has always been far more equivocal than claimed, with consequent implications for anti-poverty action and re-setting debate.
The case of a needle exchange policy debate in Fresno, California
Clarke K
Needle exchange is one of the most effective public health interventions to prevent the transmission of infectious disease by injecting drug users. Despite the preponderance of scientific evidence, US federal funding for needle exchange programmes has been banned since 1988. This prohibition has resulted in the lack of a centralised policy on needle exchange and has given birth to a patchwork of diverse practices and regulations throughout the nation. This article focuses on how various local players interpreted the meaning of needle exchange through the debate on an unauthorised site in Fresno, California. In exploring a specific context, this study delineates the narratives used to outline competing views about needle exchange and to offer a snapshot of how the issue of widespread injecting drug use was handled in an impoverished and socially conservative region of the United States.