Approaching new migration through Elias’s ‘established’ and ‘outsiders’ lens

When considering social positions and features that become distinguishing for migrants’ positioning, scholars quite often rely on empirical descriptions, based on discrete and supposedly clearly definable factors. Whereas elements such as legal position, citizenship, etc. are of huge relevance in numerous contexts, in other domains relying on such delineations while studying discriminatory processes oversimplifies the picture. In this paper, a conceptual issue regarding the understandings of the positions of migrants (particularly recent migrations to the Western Europe) is raised. After a discussion of the definitions of ‘new migrations’, a broad heuristic device for thinking about ‘new’ migrants’ positioning will be outlined. This framework – inspired by Elias and Scotson’s The Established and the Outsiders (1994 [1965]) – can be adapted in different manners by academics addressing topics related to definition, marginalisation, and discriminatory processes. The central point is that although various characteristics (e.g. ethnicity, legal position) can be assigned importance in human figurations, the relationships of othering, inequality, and domination need to be seen in the light of the configuration of social relationships and power imbalances