Since January 2019 Luca Pfirter is a doctoral researcher at the Laboratoire d'études des processus sociaux (LAPS, Neuchâtel) and at the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) – on the move at the University of Neuchâtel. He writes his dissertation in the context of the project Governing Migration and Social Cohesion through Integration Requirements: A Socio-Legal Study on Civic Stratification in Switzerland under the direction of Prof. Christin Achermann (University of Neuchâtel), working together with Prof. Stefanie Kurt and Dr. Lisa Borrelli (HES-SO Sierre).

Luca Pfirter holds a master’s degree in Anthropology (University of Neuchâtel) and in Development Studies (IHEID, Geneva). His master’s dissertation at the University of Neuchâtel has focused on the mobilisation of social assistance as an integration requirement and its manifestation in administrative practices through the study of case-files. He spent time in Colombia and Argentina, and worked for the Swiss Observatory for Asylum and Foreign Nationals Law (SBAA, Bern).

His research interests concern contemporary forms of governing migration, mobility, and social cohesion; as well as elaborating connected processes of b/ordering.

List of Publications

Peer reviewed articles:

Pfirter, L. (2019): Constructing ‘unteachability’ through menacing warnings: The coupling of welfare benefits and migration control in Switzerland, Journal of Legal Anthropology, 3(2): 29-49. https://doi.org/10.3167/jla.2019.030203

Borrelli, L. M., S. Kurt, C. Achermann and L. Pfirter (2021): (Un)Conditional Welfare? Tensions Between Welfare Rights and Migration Control in Swiss Case Law, Swiss Journal of Sociology, 47(1): 93-114. https://doi.org/10.2478/sjs-2021-0008

Book Chapters:

Pfirter, L., L.M. Borrelli, D. Ruedin and S. Kurt (2021): Citizenship models and migrant integration – Rethinking the intersection of citizenship and migrant integration through (b)ordering. in: Handbook of Citizenship and Migration, edited by Giugni, M. and M.T. Grasso, 52-65. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Other:

Borrelli, L.M., Kurt, S., Achermann, C. und Pfirter, L. (2021): Armut ist kein Verbrechen – (Un)bedingte Wohlfahrt in der Schweizer Rechtsprechung. «décodage» – Blog der Schweizerischen Akademie der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften (SAGW): https://sagw.ch/sagw/aktuell/blog/details/news/armut-ist-kein-verbrechen-unbedingte- wohlfahrt-in-der-schweizer-rechtsprechung/

Achermann, C., Borrelli, L. M., Kurt, S., Niragire Nirere, D. and Pfirter, L. (2021): Die zunehmende Verschränkung von Migrationskontrolle und Sozialhilfe. Solidarité sans frontières: https://www.sosf.ch/de/themen/migrationspolitik/informationen-artikel/die-zunehmende-verschraenkung-von- migrationskontrolle-und-sozialhilfe.html

Achermann, C., Borrelli, L. M., Kurt, S., Niragire Nirere, D. and Pfirter, L. (2021): L’ intrication croissante du contrôle des migrations et de l’aide sociale. Solidarité sans frontières: https://www.sosf.ch/fr/sujets/politique- migratoire/informations-articles/die-zunehmende-verschraenkung-von-migrationskontrolle-und-sozialhilfe.html

Achermann, C., Pfirter, L., Kurt S. and Borrelli, L. M. (2020). The Making of Social Cohesion: A Critique of Migration Law and Practices in Switzerland. National Center of Competence in Research – The Migration-Mobility Nexus Blog: https://blog.nccr-onthemove.ch/the-making-of-social-cohesion-a-critique-of-migration-law-and-practices- in-switzerland/?lang=de

Kurt S., Achermann, C., Borrelli, L. M. and Pfirter, L. (2020). Zuwanderungs- und Aufenthaltssteuerung via Sozialhilfe? National Center of Competence in Research – The Migration-Mobility Nexus Blog. Available at: https://blog.nccr-onthemove.ch/zuwanderungs-und-aufenthaltssteuerung-via-sozialhilfe/?lang=de