Trans-national migration and the dynamic nature of rights

This article addresses the position of transnational migrants with respect to their access to rights and their more general standing in society. Steering a path between two polarised positions, which respectively highlight national closure and post-national expansion, the article outlines the concept of ?civic stratification? and its use as a means for the management of migration. This concept was first developed by David Lockwood (1996) in relation to the inequalities generated within citizenship, and it refers to a pattern of inequality by virtue of rights granted or denied by the state. In the present article it is given a broader application in addressing the position of transnational migrants. The formal dimension of civic stratification, referring to legal status, and its informal dimension, which refers to ?moral and material resources?, are used to outline a possible relationship between the treatment of migrants through the structuring of immigration law and broader public perceptions of their standing in society.