Front stage contestation and back stage consultation: how Amsterdam navigated the governance of undocumented migrants

Migration governance is one of the most contentious issues of our time, not just between political orientations but also between different levels of government. At the local level, the reality of undocumented migrants’ existence often places municipal authorities in an awkward split between acting in accordance with intransigent national policies and the need to guarantee public order and provide basic care. The academic literature on the ‘local turn’ in migration governance has not given attention to how municipal authorities may navigate the interplay between contestation and consultation in their relations with their national government. Focusing on two periods in which Amsterdam’s executive authorities tried to establish a form of shelter for undocumented migrants, we find that municipal authorities may publicly contest national authorities and privately consult with them at the same time. While the escalation of front stage contestation actually gives birth to back stage consultation, back stage consultation is continually constrained and threatened by the pressures on both municipal and national political actors to act out expected positions on the front stage. Over time, increased knowledge and trust between municipal and national actors can mitigate this vulnerability and stabilise backstage consultation to some extent.