The Effect of Universal Service Delivery on the Integration of Moroccan Immigrants in Spain: A Case Study from an Anti-Oppressive Perspective

The ‘progressive's dilemma’ questions the ability of public social services to facilitate the integration of immigrants into modern welfare states. The rationale is that majority groups react negatively towards minorities when they perceive their prerogatives threatened, which creates a backlash against immigrants' integration. In this article, we argue that universal social services, as opposed to means-tested programmes, can help to overcome the ‘progressive's dilemma’ by facilitating the interaction of immigrants and members of the receiving community. To illustrate our argument, we describe a structural coexistence initiative of universal service delivery designed to facilitate the integration of Moroccan immigrants into a rural municipality of Spain. The discussion examines the coexistence initiative from an anti-oppressive perspective of social work with immigrant minorities.