Routes into Destitution: Identifying vulnerabilities and coping strategies in the life course of undocumented Central and Eastern European citizens in Switzerland

Abstract

In Switzerland, there is a growing number of destitute mobile Central and Eastern European citizens relying on homelessness care. The research project aims at scrutinizing the available social, financial, physical and human resources and revealing social coping strategies of destitute CEE migrants in two Swiss cities: Geneva and Zürich. Doing so, we analyse vulnerability through the life course of destitute CEE from the interdisciplinary viewpoints of social geography (geographic migration and its effect on vulnerability), sociology (social networks and social status), social work (lifeworld and coping strategies) as well as social policy and social rights (institutional resources and their availability).