Policy Press

The Politics of Migrant Labour

Exit, Voice, and Social Reproduction

By Gabriella Alberti and Devi Sacchetto

Published

Jan 22, 2024

Page count

286 pages

Browse the series

Understanding Work and Employment Relations

ISBN

978-1529227734

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press

Published

Jan 22, 2024

Page count

286 pages

Browse the series

Understanding Work and Employment Relations

ISBN

978-1529227758

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press

Published

Jan 22, 2024

Page count

286 pages

Browse the series

Understanding Work and Employment Relations

ISBN

978-1529227758

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press
The Politics of Migrant Labour

The turnover of labour and its significance for workers and employers has usually been considered at the organizational level as individual exit behaviour, and seldom in relation to the cross-border mobility practices of migrant workers within and without the workplace.

Drawing from labour process theory, the autonomy of migration, social reproduction, and industrial relations, this book explores the relationship between labour mobility and international migration under a global and historical perspective.

Uncovering both the individual and collective actions by migrants inside and outside worker organizations, the authors develop a new understanding of migrants’ everyday mobilities as creative and life-sustaining strategies of social reproduction and labour conflict.

“An exciting exposition of mobility in modern work. It unites labour process theory and migration theory, in a coherent synthesis around labour mobility and migration, with many illustrative cases that back up carefully crafted analysis. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in work in the modern world.” Chris Smith, Royal Holloway, University of London

"In a historical moment where the immobilization and persecution of migration dominates public discourse and political governance, this rare and important book reveals that labour struggles and migration movements are inseparable. It makes a renewed case for the power of autonomy and migrant mobility to unsettle the rise of regressive nationalism and upend the capital control of work and social reproduction." Dimitris Papadopoulos, University of California, Santa Cruz

Gabriella Alberti is Associate Professor of Work and Employment Relations and Researcher at the Centre for Employment Relations Innovation and Change (CERIC) at the University of Leeds.

Devi Sacchetto is Professor of Sociology of Work at the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology at the University of Padova,.

Introduction: Migration and Labour Turnover

1. Theorizing Labour Mobility Power

2. The Logistics of Living Labour

3. Enclaves of Differentiated Labour

4. The Field of Social Reproduction

5. Migrant Organizing

Conclusion: Rethinking Worker Power Through Mobility