Rethinking labour migration: Covid-19, essential work, and systemic resilience
Abstract Many of the ‘essential workers’ during the Covid-19 pandemic are migrants, playing an important role for the continued functioning of basic services – notably health services, social care, and food supply chains. We argue that this role should be taken into account when assessing the impact...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Comparative Migration Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-021-00252-2 |
| _version_ | 1818587005800415232 |
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| author | Bridget Anderson Friedrich Poeschel Martin Ruhs |
| author_facet | Bridget Anderson Friedrich Poeschel Martin Ruhs |
| author_sort | Bridget Anderson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Many of the ‘essential workers’ during the Covid-19 pandemic are migrants, playing an important role for the continued functioning of basic services – notably health services, social care, and food supply chains. We argue that this role should be taken into account when assessing the impacts of migrant workers and in the design of labour migration and related public policies. Existing studies highlight how the employment of migrant workers in essential services is shaped by interests of employers, sectoral policies, and national institutions. Considerations of how migrants may affect the systemic resilience of essential services – in a pandemic or similar crises – are pervasively absent, not only in policy-making but also in research. Drawing on several disciplines, we outline the concept of systemic resilience and develop implications for the analysis and regulation of labour migration. We call for shifting the focus from the role of migrants in specific occupations and sectors in particular countries to transnational systems of production and service provision. To study how migrant workers affect systemic resilience, we propose an agenda for comparative research along three lines: comparing migrants to citizens within the same system, comparing migrants’ roles across systems, and comparing strategies for resilience adopted in different systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T09:01:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-faef0e9fba6d41a6b834293af8e15e62 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2214-594X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T09:01:59Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Comparative Migration Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-faef0e9fba6d41a6b834293af8e15e622022-12-21T22:37:09ZengSpringerOpenComparative Migration Studies2214-594X2021-09-019111910.1186/s40878-021-00252-2Rethinking labour migration: Covid-19, essential work, and systemic resilienceBridget Anderson0Friedrich Poeschel1Martin Ruhs2Migration Mobilities Bristol, University of BristolMigration Policy Centre, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University InstituteMigration Policy Centre, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University InstituteAbstract Many of the ‘essential workers’ during the Covid-19 pandemic are migrants, playing an important role for the continued functioning of basic services – notably health services, social care, and food supply chains. We argue that this role should be taken into account when assessing the impacts of migrant workers and in the design of labour migration and related public policies. Existing studies highlight how the employment of migrant workers in essential services is shaped by interests of employers, sectoral policies, and national institutions. Considerations of how migrants may affect the systemic resilience of essential services – in a pandemic or similar crises – are pervasively absent, not only in policy-making but also in research. Drawing on several disciplines, we outline the concept of systemic resilience and develop implications for the analysis and regulation of labour migration. We call for shifting the focus from the role of migrants in specific occupations and sectors in particular countries to transnational systems of production and service provision. To study how migrant workers affect systemic resilience, we propose an agenda for comparative research along three lines: comparing migrants to citizens within the same system, comparing migrants’ roles across systems, and comparing strategies for resilience adopted in different systems.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-021-00252-2Covid-19Essential servicesSystemic resilienceMigrant workersLabour migration policies |
| spellingShingle | Bridget Anderson Friedrich Poeschel Martin Ruhs Rethinking labour migration: Covid-19, essential work, and systemic resilience Comparative Migration Studies Covid-19 Essential services Systemic resilience Migrant workers Labour migration policies |
| title | Rethinking labour migration: Covid-19, essential work, and systemic resilience |
| title_full | Rethinking labour migration: Covid-19, essential work, and systemic resilience |
| title_fullStr | Rethinking labour migration: Covid-19, essential work, and systemic resilience |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rethinking labour migration: Covid-19, essential work, and systemic resilience |
| title_short | Rethinking labour migration: Covid-19, essential work, and systemic resilience |
| title_sort | rethinking labour migration covid 19 essential work and systemic resilience |
| topic | Covid-19 Essential services Systemic resilience Migrant workers Labour migration policies |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-021-00252-2 |
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