Belonging on a Continuum: Legal Status Journeys and Social Membership

Ulrike Bialas

Legal statuses are an essential part of social stratification—at once a reflection and a driver of diversity and inequality. Most asylum applications in Germany are rejected, resulting in a large population of migrants living with legal statuses that are temporary but indefinite and often come with diminished opportunities, freedoms, and stability. This project examines the proliferation of precarious legal statuses—their increasing prevalence as well as their increasing differentiation—in Germany and beyond.