Contribution short abstract:

This paper examines tensions in migration-focused NGOs through Amsterdam-based Here to Support. Navigating state deportation policies and asylum procedures, these organizations blur activism and bureaucracy, challenging insider/outsider boundaries.

Contribution long abstract:

The figure of the activist is often defined as a progressive agent, working within social movements to challenge systems of oppression. Yet, what happens when activism unfolds within the constraints of state funding, bureaucratic entanglements, and the absence of a broader movement? This paper interrogates these limits by examining the case of Here to Support, an Amsterdam-based NGO which advocates for undocumented people.

Positioned within the Dutch deportation landscape, Here to Support embodies the tensions between activism and a state aligned NGO landscape. Through its reliance on public funding, and its participation in the asylum process, the NGO performs functions that are believed to be the state's responsibility. This complicates its selfproclaimed activist stance, as its work tacitly stabilizes the deportation regime it seeks to resist. Using ethnographic insights, this paper critically addresses the following questions: How are these NGO workers perceived by others in the field, by undocumented people, and by themselves? Do their activist identities survive when they receive salaries from their activities?

This paper argues that NGOs like Here to Support challenge anthropology’s understanding of activism by occupying a liminal space. Their position problematizes the binary of insider/outsider and activist/bureaucrat, and offers a lens to rethink the limits and possibilities of activism from within the system. By drawing on this case, the paper contributes to a broader interrogation of what ‘counts’ as activism and who gets to claim the title of ‘activist’ within politically charged landscapes.