ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the challenges to the nationalist paradigm of the welfare state, in the sending and receiving nations, posed by the existence of international migrant workers. It argues that a reduction in formally regulated employment and in state-financed services in the global South has driven people to migrate. Anne Stewart argues that the shift in government priorities has affected the nature of the welfare state in the global North. Its former role in underpinning and supporting the traditional labor contract of the male breadwinner citizen, who has social benefits and public services, has changed. The author's data indicates that Ghanaians are not averse to paying for health insurance once they have settled in the Netherlands. One of the most exciting and innovative aspects of Anne Stewart's work is her attempt to formulate an alternative approach to organizing solidarity based on concepts of responsibility, accountability, engagement and solidarity.
