Class, Labour Migration and Globalization

Aim

After completion of the course the student shall on an advanced level be able to

• critically review theories on migration, welfare and labour regimes at global, regional and national levels;
• link trans-national class formation with migration and segmentation of labour markets in emerging structures of global political economy;
• identify and demonstrate key problems and debates within the literature and current policy dilemmas at transnational and national levels;
• describe key demographic challenges and how they are related to migration.

Content

The course addresses international migration, emerging labour regimes and transnational class formations in globality. Against the background of the global economic crisis and neoliberal policy responses, the course introduces contemporary problems of increasing inequalities between and within countries and the role of migration in meeting these challenges. Issues of citizenship, inclusion and exclusion within post-Fordist capitalism are linked to central concepts such as race, racialization, ethnicity and gender. This includes addressing the issue of unequal migration, informalization of the economy, precarization of working life marked by ethnic, racial and gender segmentation of labour force, as well as transnational class formation. Focus will be set on analyzing and problematizing new class formations and interrogate the effects of austerity measures on the vulnerable workers.

The course will also address the demographic challenges and the question on how migration regimes interact with welfare and gender regimes around issues of global production chains, distribution, recognition and representation. The concepts such as global value chains are related to migrant workers and circular migration to the labour shortages of “ageing Europe” and upcoming deficits in service and care sectors.