Labour Mobility Regimes: Multi-Scalar Governance of Worker Migration in the Global South
- Dr. Katharine Jones (Coventry University)
- Prof. Nicola Piper (Queen Mary University of London)
Labour regime analysis is enjoying a resurgence as a way of (re-)centring workers at the heart of questions about how we understand and approach the global economy (Baglioni et al, 2022). Building on this renewed interest, this stream seeks to consider international labour mobility and migration governance in the context of fair and decent work in the Global South.
Contemporary labour regimes are historically evolved and geographically specific, yet multi- scalar, phenomena arising out of the articulation of contested social relations, formal and informal governance arrangements, and commercial demands of firms in global production networks (Baglioni et al, 2022). Adopting a labour regimes lens enables an extended analysis of labour process and worker resistance strategies beyond the worksite, including of the governance roles of diverse actors. In this conceptualisation, social reproduction – reproduction of workers as well as of capitalist relations – is a critical component to understanding labour processes.
Migrant workers are increasingly central to the contemporary operation of global capitalism. In this context, labour mobility regimes transcend national borders and governance arrangements. In the Global South, rising numbers of private sector recruitment intermediaries mediate cross-border labour mobility and migrants’ working conditions, sometimes under the auspices of state-to-state bilateral labour agreements (Jones et al, 2022). These processes are intensely racialised and gendered whilst often detrimental to labour conditions (Piper et al. 2017; Jones, 2021; Hennebry et al. 2022).
Consequently, migration from and to the Global South is increasingly a leading topic area for global governance processes (Jensen and Piper, 2022). In 2018, states committed to a major new global governance framework which aims to ‘[f ]acilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people’ (GCM 2018). Whilst inclusive of some ILO labour standards for fair and decent work, this framework also represents a more explicit pivot by states to support capital’s demands for low-waged, highly regulated, migrant labour (Likic-Bronic, 2018). This raises questions as to what a fair and decent work agenda for migrants can realistically achieve.
With the aims of advancing theorisation of labour mobility regimes as well as amplifying opportunities for solidarity we propose to bring together scholars of labour regimes, political economy of migration, migrant worker strategies of resistance and migration governance. In this stream, we invite papers which address the following in the context of the Global South:
- Historical-geographical and multi-scalar configurations of labour mobility regimes
- Comparative analysis of labour mobility regimes
- Interaction of labour mobility regimes with uneven development and colonialization, including how global governance processes relate to and impact on the Global South
- Race and gender in the context of labour mobility regimes and global governance of migration
- Workers’ organisations and resistance strategies in the context of labour mobility regimes
- The role of the private sector and transnational private regulation in labour mobility regimes
- Social reproduction and labour mobility regimes
- Obstacles and possibilities for advancing fair and decent work for migrant workers.
Abstracts should be between 350 and 500 words. Key words should be given that indicate the focus of research and the methods used. The abstract should address theoretical orientation, findings, methodology, and contribution to knowledge. We especially invite contributions from scholars from the Global South.
References
Baglioni, E.,Campling, L., Coe, N.M., Smith, A. (eds) (2022) Labour Regimes and Global Production. Newcastle: Agenda Publishing
GCM (Global Compact on Safe, Regular and Orderly Migration) (2018) Intergovernmentally Negotiated and Agreed Outcome. 13 July 2018. Available at: https://refugeesmigrants.un.org/sites/default/files/180713_agreed_outcome_global_comp act_for_migration.pdf
Hennebry, J, Piper, N, Hari, KC and Williams, K. (2022) ‘Bilateral Labor Agreements as Migration Governance Tools: An Analysis from a Gender Lens’, Theoretical Inquiries in Law 23(2): 184-205
Jones, K. (2021) ‘Brokered discrimination for a fee: the incompatibility of domestic work placement agencies with rights-based global governance of migration’. Global Public Policy and Governance 1: 300-320
Jones, K., Ksaifi, L., Clark, C. (2022, in press) ‘‘The biggest problem we are facing is the running away problem’: Recruitment and the paradox of facilitating the mobility of immobile workers.’ Work, Employment and Society
Likic-Brboric, B. (2018) ‘Global migration governance, civil society and the paradoxes of sustainability’. Globalisations 15(6): 762- 778
Piper, N., Rosewarne, S. and Withers, M. (2017) ‘Migrant Precarity: ‘Networks of Labour’ for a rights-based governance of migration’, in: Development and Change 48(5): 1089-1110