scholarly journals Singapore’s Extreme Neoliberalism and the COVID Outbreak: Culturally Centering Voices of Low-Wage Migrant Workers

2021 ◽  
pp. 000276422110004
Author(s):  
Mohan Jyoti Dutta
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
The State ◽  
Migrant Work ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Culture Centered ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Digital Spaces

I draw on the key tenets of the culture-centered approach to co-construct the everyday negotiations of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) among low-wage male Bangladeshi migrant workers in Singapore. The culture-centered approach foregrounds voices infrastructures at the margins as the basis for theorizing health. Based on 87 hours of participant observations of digital spaces and 47 in-depth interviews, I attend to the exploitative conditions of migrant work that constitute the COVID-19 outbreak in the dormitories housing low-wage migrant workers. These exploitative conditions are intertwined with authoritarian techniques of repression deployed by the state that criminalize worker collectivization and erase worker voices. The principle of academic–worker–activist solidarity offers a register for alternative imaginaries of health that intervene directly in Singapore’s extreme neoliberalism.

scholarly journals Migrant health as a human right amidst COVID-19: a culture-centered approach

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohan J. Dutta
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Migrant Health ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Migrant Work ◽  
Health Experiences ◽  
Culture Centered

Purpose The purpose of this manuscript is to examine the negotiations of health among low-wage migrant workers in Singapore amidst the COVID-19 outbreaks in dormitories housing them. In doing so, the manuscript attends to the ways in which human rights are constituted amidst labor and communicative rights, constituting the backdrop against which the pandemic outbreaks take place and the pandemic response is negotiated. Design/methodology/approach The study is part of a long-term culture-centered ethnography conducted with low-wage migrant workers in Singapore, seeking to build communicative infrastructures for rights-based advocacy and interventions. Findings The findings articulate the ways in which the outbreaks in dormitories housing low-wage migrant workers are constituted amidst structural contexts of organizing migrant work in Singapore. These structural contexts of extreme neoliberalism work catalyze capitalist accumulation through the exploitation of low-wage migrant workers. The poor living conditions that constitute the outbreak are situated in relationship to the absence of labor and communicative rights in Singapore. The absence of communicative rights and dignity to livelihood constitutes the context within which the COVID-19 outbreak emerges and the ways in which it is negotiated among low-wage migrant workers in Singapore. Originality/value This manuscript foregrounds the interplays of labor and communicative rights in the context of the health experiences of low-wage migrant workers amidst the pandemic. Even as COVID-19 has made visible the deeply unequal societies we inhabit, the manuscript suggests the relevance of turning to communicative rights as the basis for addressing these inequalities. It contributes to the extant literature on the culture-centered approach by depicting the ways in which a pandemic as a health crisis exacerbates the challenges to health and well-being among precarious workers.

scholarly journals Postcolonial migrations in Russia: the racism, informality and discrimination nexus

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 52-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Kuznetsova ◽  
John Round
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Migration Policy ◽  
Constant Factor ◽  
The State ◽  
Security Risk ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Migration Research ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Depth Interviews

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to the challenges of bringing postcolonial, racism and migration research into a meaningful dialogue. Based on the research examining migration from Central Asia into Russia, the paper analyses migration policy and the everyday experiences of migrants.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on mixed methodologies, including narrative, semi-structured and in-depth interviews with migrants from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in Russian cities and those who returned to their country of origin (over 300 people), interviews with representatives of NGOs, state officials and journalists in 2013–2016 and an analysis of the legislation and mass-media regarding migration from Central Asia.FindingsThe paper demonstrates that experiencing racism is a part of everyday life for migrants from Central Asia living in Russia. Whether this is in interactions with the state, fear of persecution on the street by the police or in the workplace, it is a constant factor. It argues that the political and everyday xenophobia and racism demonstrates deeply rooted imperial views in Russia’s inner politics and shapes attitudes toward migrants.Social implicationsThe paper contributes to broader debates on the linkages between migration and racism in Europe, in particularly questioning the positionality of migrants from “not-European” countries.Originality/valueMbembe’s approach to “let die” is pertinent in understanding postcolonial migration. Racism continually plays a role in “normalization” of abuse toward migrants and restrictive migration policy. Blaming “the migrant” for acting informally, draining healthcare resources and for posing a security risk provides a much-needed scapegoat for the state.

scholarly journals Ambivalent Strategies: Student-Migrant-Workers’ Efforts at Challenging Administrative Bordering

Sociology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003803852110331
Author(s):  
Olivia Maury
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Undocumented Migrants ◽  
Residence Permit ◽  
Capitalist Production ◽  
Highly Skilled Migration ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Pragmatic Strategies ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Scholarly Inquiry

Migrants’ struggles against borders have been examined extensively among refugees and undocumented migrants, whereas the everyday struggles in contexts of administrative bordering have remained insufficiently examined within the framework of so-called highly skilled migration. Drawing on in-depth interviews (N=34) with migrants holding a student residence permit in Finland, this article addresses the means of challenging administrative borders in a constrained situation produced by the border regime. I argue that student-migrant-workers employ pragmatic strategies by making use of the legal framework to secure their right to residence. However, the efforts at circumventing the constraints of the border regime often become re-inscribed within the framework of capitalist production, displaying the ambivalence of migrant practices. This article contributes to the scarce sociological literature on the struggles around administrative borders and the vague scholarly inquiry into student-migrants' efforts at challenging migration control.

Kuwaiti Women with Deportable Families: Marginality, Intimacy and Labor

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-32
Author(s):  
Pellegrino A. Luciano ◽  
Dana Al-Otaibi
Keyword(s):  
Work Force ◽  
The State ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Migrant Labor ◽  
Migrant Status ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Foreign Labor ◽  
Migrant Work ◽  
And Control ◽  
Depth Interviews

This paper examines the experiences of Kuwaiti women married to foreigners. We analyze the gendered definitions of citizenship via an intimacy transformation, and assess the ensuing denial or access to rights and resources associated with the stigma attached to the tenuous migrant status of spouses and children. We describe gender and citizenship in Kuwait in the context of national dependency and control of foreign labor. The marginality of Kuwaiti women married to foreigners resonates with the way migrant labor is exploited and disciplined. The data presented is based on ethnographic research conducted in Kuwait and based on a content analysis of in-depth interviews with eleven Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis. In addition we analyze thirty structured interviews with Kuwaiti men and women expressing their views on mixed citizenship marriages. We also incorporate data from law and media representations. We argue that the struggle over the meaning and control of intimacy leading to marriage leaves women and their families vulnerable to deportation but also shows how the state is vulnerable to its own biopolitics of citizenship. Kuwaiti women married to foreigners stand out as “dually unruly” because as citizens, they challenge the male biased way the state creates subjects, and by law, their spouses and children are categorized as part of the large migrant work force seen as temporary and contingent to the labor needs of country.

Analysis Of Open Selection Mechanism In The Government Of Bantul District 2016

ARISTO ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Vindhi Putri Pratiwi ◽  
Muhammad Eko Atmojo ◽  
Dyah Mutiarin ◽  
Awang Darumurti ◽  
Helen Dian Fridayani
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
The State ◽  
Selection Mechanism ◽  
Government Bureaucracy ◽  
The Government ◽  
Bureaucratic Reform ◽  
Depth Interviews

The purpose of this research is to see the open selection mechanism in the government of Bantul district. Because the success of bureaucratic reform is a part of human resources within the government bureaucracy. Therefore it is necessary to have human resource management to realize a state of civil apparatus with integrity, professionalism and competence. In this study, researchers used qualitative approach methods. Where in the technique is done in-depth interviews to get information and gather other supporting documents on this research. Human resource management could be done by structuring employees through an open selection mechanism. The Government of Bantul District has conducted an open selection in structuring employees who are in their government. Because the open selection is considered a solution in the screening of the state civil apparatus. Moreover, the Bantul Government in the open selection process uses several stages including administration selection, competency tests, interviews, and paper presentations. With the existence of several stages carried out in the open selection process by the Bantul Government, it is expected to capture and create a state civil apparatus who are professional and competent in running of bureaucracy in the government. So the existence of the state civil apparatus competent then will be influenced in its performance.

Labour migration and its impact on employment in the Republic of Bashkortostan

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-74
Author(s):  
G. V. Yakshibaeva
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Close Relation ◽  
The State ◽  
Labour Migration ◽  
Rational Selection ◽  
Labor Migrants ◽  
Republic Of Bashkortostan ◽  
The Republic ◽  
External Migration

The problem of providing the most efficient and rational selection, distribution, use of migrant workers, with regard to both internal and external migration in close relation to socio-economic and demographic interests of the state are currently of particular relevance. Scientific novelty of work consists in the identification of factors and directions of flows as departing and arriving labor migrants in the Republic of Bashkortostan, the characteristics of the development of labour migration and its impact on employment, which allowed to identify problems and negative trends.

scholarly journals On the Social Sustainability of Industrial Agriculture Dependent on Migrant Workers. Romanian Workers in Spain’s Seasonal Agriculture

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1062
Author(s):  
Yoan Molinero-Gerbeau ◽  
Ana López-Sala ◽  
Monica Șerban
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Industrial Agriculture ◽  
Temporary Migration ◽  
Agricultural Work ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Migrant Work ◽  
The Social ◽  
Migration Program ◽  
The Eu

Since the beginning of the 21st century, Romanian migrants have become one of the most significant national groups doing agricultural work in Spain, initially coming via a temporary migration program and later under several different modalities. However, despite their critical importance for the functioning of Europe’s largest agro-industry, the study of this long-term circular mobility is still underdeveloped in migration and agriculture literature. Thanks to extensive fieldwork carried out in the provinces of Huelva and Lleida in Spain and in the counties of Teleorman and Buzău in Romania, this paper has two main objectives: first, to identify some of the most common forms of mobility of these migrants; and second, to discuss whether this industrial agriculture, hugely dependent on migrant work, is socially sustainable. The case of Romanian migrants in Spanish agriculture will serve to show how a critical sector for the EU and for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations, operates on an unsustainable model based on precariousness and exploitation.

The State Policy towards the Homeless in Moldova between the ‘Left Hand’ and the ‘Right Hand’. The Case of Chișinău Shelter

Südosteuropa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-195
Author(s):  
Petru Negură
Keyword(s):  
Homeless People ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
The State ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Right Hand ◽  
Binary Approach ◽  
The One ◽  
The Right ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract The Centre for the Homeless in Chișinău embodies on a small scale the recent evolution of state policies towards the homeless in Moldova (a post-Soviet state). This institution applies the binary approach of the state, namely the ‘left hand’ and the ‘right hand’, towards marginalised people. On the one hand, the institution provides accommodation, food, and primary social, legal assistance and medical care. On the other hand, the Shelter personnel impose a series of disciplinary constraints over the users. The Shelter also operates a differentiation of the users according to two categories: the ‘recoverable’ and those deemed ‘irrecoverable’ (persons with severe disabilities, people with addictions). The personnel representing the ‘left hand’ (or ‘soft-line’) regularly negotiate with the employees representing the ‘right hand’ (‘hard-line’) of the institution to promote a milder and a more humanistic approach towards the users. This article relies on multi-method research including descriptive statistical analysis with biographical records of 810 subjects, a thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with homeless people (N = 65), people at risk of homelessness (N = 5), professionals (N = 20) and one ethnography of the Shelter.

The State Connection in China's Rural-Urban Migration

2005 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 354-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Guang
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Special Kind ◽  
The State ◽  
Urban Migration ◽  
Migration Process ◽  
State Textile ◽  
Facilitative Role ◽  
Rural Urban Migration ◽  
Urban State

This study explores the role of China's rural local state-owned and urban state-owned units in its rural-urban migration process. Most studies on Chinese migration have focused on migrants moving from rural to urban areas through informal mechanisms outside of the state's control. They therefore treat the Chinese state as an obstructionist force and dismiss its facilitative role in the migration process. By documenting rural local states' “labor export” strategies and urban state units' employment of millions of peasants, this article provides a corrective to the existing literature. It highlights and explains the state connection in China's rural-urban migration. Labor is … a special kind of commodity. What we do is to fetch a good price for this special commodity. Labor bureau official from Laomei county, 1996 If we want efficiency, we have to hire migrant workers. Party secretary of a state textile factory in Shanghai, 1997

Serving the state or serving the people? The dilemma of social work graduates in Mainland China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajendra Baikady ◽  
Cheng Shengli ◽  
Gao Jianguo
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
The State ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
The People ◽  
The Government ◽  
And Function ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Schools Of Social Work ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article reports on the result of an exploratory qualitative study with in-depth interviews conducted with postgraduate students in Chinese universities. The data were collected from five schools of social work, covering three provincial-level administrative regions of Beijing, Shanghai and Shandong. The principal aim of this article is to understand the development of social work and student perspectives on the government’s role in social work development and the function of social work in China. The study shows that Chinese social work is still developing, and the expansion and function of social work education and practice is mandated by the state. Despite a robust authoritarian hold by the government, the study finds hope among the graduate students about the mission and future of social work in China.

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