ABSTRACT
The concept of ‘embedded liberalism’ has been used by scholars to account for the steady accumulation of rights which immigrants have been able to enjoy in mature capitalist countries. This chapter argues that this liberal bias had its high point in the mechanisms which facilitated redistribution under the terms of the welfare state. The turn towards market-led social policies from the 1980s onwards severely eroded rights-based liberalism, with profound consequences for groups most reliant on the active role of the state for protection against oppressive and exploitative conditions of life. Immigrants were particularly vulnerable to worsening conditions as the state retreated from its role in providing social protection. As a consequence, strategies aimed at securing rights for migrants can no longer rely on the presumption that the passage of time and a bias towards liberalism will work in favour of social justice. The recent revelations about the treatment of migrants of the Windrush generation are evidence of this turn of events. The chapter concludes with a consideration of alternative approaches to securing progressive outcomes for immigrants, arguing for a plurality of approaches to sustain campaigns and struggles in defence of human, social, and economic rights.
