An iron fist in a velvet glove: neoliberal government of the migrant poor and other in Salt, Catalonia

Abstract

This article assesses the changes in local-level ‘immigrant policies’ and the ‘politics of culture’ in the small town Salt, Catalonia. Following a series of conflicts, the local administration implemented policies aimed at curbing the negative consequences of ‘the crisis’ and increasing diversification. The article shows how although these policies were in their essence a continuation of earlier trends, they constitute a double movement in the field of the management of the poor, racialised, urban populations, operating both in the social domain, with policies aimed at strengthening the ‘social cohesion’, and the repressive one, through policing and zero-tolerance policies aimed at calming discontent and unrest. Consequently, relying on data collected throughout a long-term fieldwork study, the article contributes to the literature on zero-tolerance policies with its critical approach to recent immigrant policies. It shows how we might be seeing a new social policy trend in which repressive measures are paired with ‘soft policies’, such as civil bylaws, which indirectly target the migrant population, and integration policies and charitable projects, which often favours group-focused attention rather than universal public service. This way, the local administration handles conflicts, product of the social inequalities, via the employment of apparently universal and non-discriminatory social policies which, however, end up affecting unequally.