Security Net and Ambassadors for Social Inclusion? The Role of Intermediaries in Host-Refugee Relationships in Homestay Programs
Brinker, Lara-Désirée (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Antropologia Social i Cultural)

Date:	2021
Abstract:	In response to refugees' social marginalisation and lack of appropriate housing, homestay programs have emerged as a new approach to refugee accommodation. However, caring relationships between asylum-seekers and refugees and locals are prone to reproduce power imbalances. As a countermeasure, flatshares initiated by the organisation Refugees Welcome are created within a three-fold network of hosts, social workers, and volunteers. The volunteers serve as intermediaries and provide refugees with personalised support to become more rooted in society. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and thirty in-depth interviews with hosts, refugees, intermediaries, and social workers in Catalonia (Spain), this article explores the responsibilities and struggles of intermediaries in the hosting networks. Results show that intermediaries give refugees and hosts a sense of security during the flatshare and keep social workers informed, yet their role varies considerably.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Family hosting ; Housing ; Migration ; Refugees ; Volunteering
Published in:	Social inclusion, Vol. 9 Núm. 4 (2021) , p. 232-242, ISSN 2183-2803

Adreça alternativa: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/4511
DOI: 10.17645/si.v9i4.4511

11 p, 163.6 KB

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