Overview

This book unravels the emotional tapestry of refugee support in Slovakia and suggests a framework for studying interaction in migration contexts that fuses approaches to emotion and morality. This ethnography explores the political quandaries and personal dilemmas that refugee supporters - volunteers and NGO employees - in Slovakia face while working with their target group. Operating in a refugee-hostile political and public climate, they navigate scarce or absent refugee care infrastructures and strict supervision by state authorities. Building on extensive participant observation in three different refugee support organisations, the book shows how moral codes and emotional templates shape the implementation of refugee support, structuring encounters and clashes between refugees, helpers, and bureaucrats. The ethnography illustrates how, despite a plenitude of divergent constraints, the actors produce remarkably permanent makeshift solutions for 'good enough' care. At the same time, it is on the level of personal encounters and clashes that ideological and practical delineations between state and non-state actors, and between refugee-hostile and refugee-friendly positions, become blurred: NGO refugee supporters sometimes converge with state policies in practices of control while state authorities occasionally become deeply invested in providing empathetic care. The book revisits narratives of illiberal backsliding and xenophobia in Central and Eastern European countries by describing the complicated emergence and perpetuation of refugee-hostile sentiments in an exemplary setting.

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9781839991240

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Reviews

“Refugee Support and Moral Practice in Slovakia depicts the perseverance albeit imperfection of refugee support. Non-state actors work within informality and improvisation in regular collaboration but also disobedience toward the state and hostile policies. This ethnography is very timely given the broader rise in nativism and right-wing extremism in contemporary Europe.” — Katerina Rozakou, Assistant Professor of Social Anthropology, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens “Walther delves deeply into the dynamics and moral dilemmas of activists’ care for refugees, concentrating on Slovakia. This vivid ethnographic account of blurred boundaries between state and non-state practices offers a welcome addition to scholarship on Western Europe that contributes original insights to current debates, raising new questions on populism and moralities.” — Tatjana Thelen, Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna “Eva-Maria Walther’s insightful exploration offers findings that challenge the black-and-white portrayal of Slovakia. Rather than a dichotomy of morally defined camps, her research unveils a complex tapestry of societal dynamics. Through her analysis, Walther carefully shows Slovakia’s position, untainted by colonial ventures, yet intertwined with the narrative of the oppressed.” — Helena Tužinská, Assistant Professor, Department of Archaeology and Cultural Anthropology, Comenius University, Bratislava “Eva-Maria Walther offers a compelling and insightful exploration of the complexities of refugee care in Slovakia. She shed light on the emotion and moral challenges faced by NGOs and public authorities supporting asylum seekers, emphasizing the importance of empathy, clear communication, and unified standards to better serve refugees and supporters alike. Essential reading for policymakers and humanitarian workers alike, this book offers practical solutions to enhance efficiency and empathy in refugee care.”—Dr Nicolette Makovicky, Senior Lecturer in Russian and East European Studies, Oxford School of Global and Area Studies, University of Oxford

Author Information

Eva-Maria Walther is a social anthropologist with a focus on migration and refugee studies and Central Eastern Europe.

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