Since 2015’s long summer of migration (Hess et al. 2016), rural spaces and SMSTs in France have played an increasing role in the reception of asylum seekers, which can be traced back to housing opportunities in these spaces on the one hand (Berthomière et al, 2020), and local and national policies on the other (Aisling, Flamant, Fourot, 2020). _x000D_
This new dynamic brings about challenges (political acceptability; accessibility in landlocked spaces) and opportunities (reducing housing vacancy and demographic decline). Under these conditions, different profiles of newcomers and natives build together sociabilities and invest in public space, including in areas with low demographic density, shaping these rural spaces in terms of social composition and economic activities. _x000D_
The proposed paper presents findings from two research projects investigating the reciprocal impact of forced migrants and their rural spaces of arrival in France: The territory of Ambert and the Nièvre. Our paper focuses on the initiatives implemented by local actors in solidarity with asylum seekers. Exceeding the city-limits of Nevers, a support network in the Nièvre manages arrival and pushes for a welcoming territory. Here, local associations seek solutions to match newcomers with jobs “en tension.” In the territory of Ambert, a residence was created by a support network to accommodate rejected asylum seekers, serving as a place for political deliberation, while other supporters focus on the organization of cultural events for awareness raising, or language course provision. The analysis of these practices shows that people commit themselves in connection with their professional skills, their political and activism commitments, their religious convictions, etc., reinvesting thus their social, cultural and symbolic capitals in such actions.
Norma Schemschat* and Mohammed Rafik Arfaoui**
*Département de Géographie à l’Ecole normale spérieure Paris and Department of Sociology at University of Amsterdam, ** GRITIM, Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona, Spain) and French Collaborative Institute on Migration
ID Abstract: 718