Refugee Today – Precariat Tomorrow? Capital Use and Participation Effects of Refugees from Eritrea and Syria in the Transition to Gainful Employment

Abstract

"Participation in the labor market plays a central role in the social integration and recognition of refugees. Employment often does not initially lead to stable, fulltime employment that ensure livelihood, but rather to precarious peripheral areas of the labor market. Given the differences in educational biographies, the article examines how different groups of refugees use formal and informal capital acquired in the countries of origin to find work in Germany. Two subsamples (N = 14 from Eritrea and N = 23 from Syria) from an ongoing qualitative study show how the situations in countries of origin, social and ethnic belongings can ›bring‹ convertibility and moderate the acquisition of new capital in the host country. Interviews with labor market-related actors shed light on institutional and structural aspects of refugees’ labor market integration. In addition to the relevance of recognition of certificates from countries of origin, other types (social, symbolic and incorporated cultural) of capital are also important for the transition process and the further course of employment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Seidelsohn, K., Verlage, T., Flick, U. & Hirseland, A. (2020): Heute Flüchtling – morgen Prekariat? Zu Kapitaleinsatz und Teilhabeeffekten von Geflüchteten aus Eritrea und Syrien beim Übergang in Arbeit. In: Z'Flucht. Zeitschrift für Flucht- und Flüchtlingsforschung, Vol. 4, No. 2, p. 244-277. DOI:10.5771/2509-9485-2020-2-244