scholarly journals Dealing with Deportability: Deportation Laws and the Political Personhood of Temporary Migrant Workers in Singapore

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charanpal S. BAL
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
The Political ◽  
Governmental Organization ◽  
Workplace Conditions ◽  
Temporary Migrant ◽  
Construction Firm ◽  
Multi Level

AbstractBy severely constraining the political personhood of temporary migrant workers, states’ use of deportation laws seeks to curb agitation among these workers. Despite this, various episodes of unrest have been witnessed in both liberal and illiberal regimes across Asia. Drawing on a case study of Bangladeshi migrant construction workers in Singapore, this paper examines the development of migrant labour politics as deportation laws, and their enforcement, construct these workers as “use-and-discard” economic subjects. Data for the paper are drawn from multi-level sources—government, industry, media, and non-governmental organization (NGO) reports; interviews with key actors; and a participant observation stint in a construction firm—collected between 2010 and 2014. The paper argues that, rather than solely constraining, deportability serves as a constituent of certain forms of tactical worker contestations in the workplace. Specifically, under different workplace conditions, deportability can translate into differing forms of worker tactics, ranging from accommodation to confrontation and desertion. The outcomes of these strategies, in turn, have significant repercussions for the ways in which civil society groups and state-actors, respectively, challenge and reconfigure the political personhood of temporary migrant workers.

Conclusion

2019 ◽  
pp. 110-120
Author(s):  
Leah F. Vosko
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Agricultural Worker ◽  
Work Program ◽  
Incremental Change ◽  
Migration Management ◽  
Legal Case ◽  
Temporary Migrant ◽  
Migrant Work

This concluding chapter reflects on the significance of the legal case of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) employeess at Sidhu & Sons for expanding understandings of the meaning of deportability and its applicability to temporary migrant work program (TMWP) participants laboring not only in Canada but also in other relatively high-income host states embracing migration management and the measures it prescribes. Obstacles to limiting deportability writ large will persist so long as migration management dominates paradigmatically. Nevertheless, in combination with the forward-looking organizing efforts already being undertaken by unions and worker centers, in areas where unionization is difficult to achieve partly because of the still-dominant Wagnerian-styled model of unionization, certain modest interventions in policy and practice hold promise in forging change and curbing deportability among temporary migrant workers. Because the foregoing case study focused on the SAWP, the alternatives outlined in this chapter primarily address this TMWP. Given, however, that the SAWP is often touted as a model of migration management, they seek to provide meaningful avenues toward incremental change in other TMWPs in Canada and elsewhere.

scholarly journals The political economy of unfree labor and the state: An Indonesian case study

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-78
Author(s):  
Benni Yusriza
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Unfree Labor ◽  
Victim Protection ◽  
Trafficking Victims

Employing the concept of unfree labor, this article explores the role of the state in reinforcing victims’ vulnerability and shaping the political economy of trafficking practices. Based on a case study of trafficking victims in Benjina and Ambon, Maluku Province, Indonesia, I argue that Indonesian authorities’ intervention was driven not by humanitarian interest, nor by the concern for the protection of migrant workers’ rights, but rather by the intent to advance a political and economic agenda against the Thai fishing industry. Consequently, the intervention ignored the exploitative relations of production that underpinned the vulnerability of victims, despite being conducted in the name of victim-protection and improving livelihoods.

Foreign Bodies at Work: Good, Docile and Other-ed

2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noorman Abdullah
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Bodies ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Foreign Worker ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Total Institution ◽  
Foreign Workers ◽  
Discursive Practices ◽  
Depth Interviews

AbstractThe lived, and oftentimes silenced, experiences of "foreign workers" articulate the negotiation of power relations between "citizen" and "foreigner", and "Us" and "Them". These are translated into discursive practices that, in effect, legitimize and entrench differences — hence, inequalities — that effectively discipline the "foreign worker" as "not one of Us". By taking the example of Bangladeshi construction workers in Singapore as a case study, I argue in this paper that the workspaces of "foreign construction workers" in Singapore typify that of a "total institution", which correspondingly moulds the worker into a discursive ideal — the "good, docile Other". Such impositions and productions of Otherness, however, face rupture as workers (re)negotiate, (re)work, and (re)inscribe their everyday lives through the employment of what James Scott (1985, 1987) terms "everyday 'resistances'" in rising above that which subjugates them. I will present in this paper primary data elicited and collated from direct participant observation, fieldwork, and in-depth interviews conducted in a construction project in Singapore.

Disrupting Deportability

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah F Vosko
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Labor Rights ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
Agricultural Worker ◽  
Work Program ◽  
Collective Representation ◽  
Temporary Migrant ◽  
Migrant Work

This book highlights obstacles confronting temporary migrant workers in Canada seeking to exercise their labor rights. It explores the effects of deportability on Mexican nationals participating in Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP). The book follows the decade-long legal and political struggle of a group of Mexican SAWP migrants in British Columbia to establish and maintain meaningful collective representation. The case study reveals how modalities of deportability—such as termination without cause, blacklisting, and attrition—destabilize legally authorized temporary migrant agricultural workers. Through this detailed exposé, the book concludes that despite the formal commitments to human, social, and civil rights to which migration management ostensibly aspires, the design and administration of this “model” temporary migrant work program produces conditions of deportability, making the threat possibility of removal ever-present.

Unfreedom Unbound: Developing a Cumulative Approach to Understanding Unfree Labour in Singapore

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 925-941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sallie Yea ◽  
Stephanie Chok
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Common Elements ◽  
Multiple Forms

This article proposes a cumulative approach to contemporary manifestations of unfree labour based on an exploration of dynamic combinations of common elements of the phenomenon. This understanding challenges enumerative and depoliticized tendencies in current approaches to both characterizing unfree labour and identifying victims. A cumulative approach recognizes the interlocking impacts of multiple forms of compulsion and duress, which shape the choices migrant workers make when their alternatives are severely limited and agency constrained. To illustrate this approach the article draws on a case study of Bangladeshi contract migrant construction workers in Singapore.

scholarly journals Risk – coping strategies of undocumented workers: Case study of Vietnamese migrants to Thailand

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-141
Author(s):  
Nguyen Xuan Anh
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Undocumented Migration ◽  
Domestic Migration ◽  
Rural Workers ◽  
The North ◽  
Observation Methods ◽  
New Research

Sofar, studies on labour migration in Vietnam have often focused on domestic migration, international migration, refugee migration, force migration; ignored the cross – border undocumented migration. At the North Central Coast provinces: Ha Tinh, Nghe An, many rural workers always choose Thailand as the destination because of convenience transport and seeking job easily. However, the lack of supplying labour official or contract papers legally, they often faced to risks and uncertainties. This paper aims to provide an analysis of these undocumented migration flows from Vietnam to Thailand by indepth interview and participant observation methods. The main issues in this article include: (1) describes the risks of Vietnamese workers through employment, housing, legal status in Thailand and (2) analysis the coping – risk strategies of Vietnamese workers in Thailand. Inside these, express on the renewal and completion of visa such as a special trick helps them respond to risky types. Finally, the article contributes to the development of new research directions on policies for these undocumented migrant workers.  

scholarly journals New Vulnerabilities for Migrants and Refugees in State Responses to the Global Pandemic, COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 342
Author(s):  
Claudia Tazreiter ◽  
Simon Metcalfe
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Racial Capitalism ◽  
Neoliberal Capitalism ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Humanitarian Interventions ◽  
Australian State ◽  
Temporary Migrant ◽  
The Social ◽  
State Responses

This article examines the global pandemic, COVID-19, through the lens of responses to vulnerable migrants, asking what state responses mean for the future of human rights values and for humanitarian interventions. The responses of the Australian state are developed as a case study of actions and policies directed at refugees and temporary migrant workers through the COVID-19 pandemic. The theoretical framing of the article draws on racial capitalism to argue that the developments manifest during the ‘crisis times’ of COVID-19 are in large part a continuity of the exclusionary politics of bordering practices at the heart of neoliberal capitalism. The article proposes that a rethinking of foundational theoretical and methodological approaches in the social sciences are needed to reflect contemporary changes in justice claims, claims that increasingly recognize the multi-species nature of existential threats to all life.

Machtsrelevantie van multi-level structuren : een algemene verkenning

Res Publica ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-101
Author(s):  
Carl Devos
Keyword(s):  
General Question ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Capacity ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
General Proposition ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Theoretical Reflection

The general question of this theoretical reflection concerns the impact of the multi-level organisation of policy processes for the division of power between collective social actors.  Firstly, We deal with the shrinking of the political capacity in the contemporary era of postfordism and deterritorialisation. In this framework, attention is paid to the ideological significance of governance.Using the concept of 'jumping of scales', We then consider the different consequences of the sui generis European multi-level setting for organised labour and capital, which serves as a case-study for our general proposition. Multi-level governance is looked upon as a new gestalt of scales, which enables some actors and hinders others to build their own jumping strategy between the different levels. The conclusion is that the European multi-level setting is the result of, as well as, the platform for power relations.

Positioning construction workers' vocational training of Guangdong in the global political-economic spectrum of skill formation

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Pan ◽  
Le Chen ◽  
Wenting Zhan
Keyword(s):  
Vocational Training ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
The State ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Economic Environment ◽  
The Political ◽  
Skill Formation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Economic

PurposeThis paper explores the vocational training of construction workers in Guangdong Province of China and identifies its position in the global political-economic spectrum of skill formation.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews construction vocational education and training (VET) of major political economies to develop a theoretical framework that guides an in-depth case study of Guangdong. Document analysis, field trip observations, meetings and semi-structured interviews were combined to explore the political-economic environment, political stakeholders and quality assurance mechanisms of industrial training in Guangdong's construction sector. The findings were compared with construction VET of other economies reported in the literature.FindingsConstruction training in Guangdong is deeply rooted in the local history and culture, under strong dominance of the state, while continually evolves to respond to the fluid market and therefore can be conceptualised as “market-in-state”. The political stakeholders are embedded within the state to ensure that skills policies are implemented in-line with industry policies. The differences between the training of Guangdong and its foreign counterparts are attributed to their divergent political-economic models.Research limitations/implicationsAs the case study was undertaken only with Guangdong, the generalisability of its findings can be improved through future research within a broader context of multiple provinces of China through both qualitative and quantitative research approaches.Practical implicationsPlausible foreign VET approaches are likely adaptable to the Chinese context only when conducive political-economic environment could be enabled. The findings are useful for developing countries to learn from the VET experience of industrialised economies. Construction workers' training in Guangdong can be improved by strengthening labour regulation at lower subcontracting levels and ensuring the presence of industrial associations and unions for collective training supervision.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the field of construction engineering and management with a theoretical framework that guides empirical studies on the influence of the political-economic environment upon the ways political stakeholders develop and participate in construction VET. The exploration based on this framework revealed the position of the vocational training of construction workers in Guangdong in the global political-economic spectrum of skill formation.

Visible, legitimate, and beautiful justice: A case study of music education formalization within a Haitian NGO

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-402
Author(s):  
Kevin Shorner-Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
Community Leadership ◽  
Organizational Legitimacy ◽  
Marching Band ◽  
Governmental Organization ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations

When music education is formalized within schools and non-governmental organizations, it often becomes aligned with justice-oriented aims of providing universal access to music education. This qualitative case study examines the formation of a marching band within a Haitian school in northeastern Haiti. Data sources collected and analyzed included participant-observation experience, participant interviews, non-governmental organization Facebook posts, and newsletters. Findings indicate the marching band became a form of justice, solidarity, organizational legitimacy, and community leadership. The marching band was related to justice because it made the honorable humanity of participants visible and satisfied a moral calling for talent development. A case study of the cholera epidemic in Haiti reveals how the marching band afforded the school a forum for legitimate community leadership. Students, teachers, parents, and administrators had differing views about the purpose of formalized music education. Students saw music education as important because it cultivated the beautiful.

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