Abstract
This chapter provides concluding reflections from a set of nineteen case studies of transnational and intranational migration and mobility. It contrasts the ‘sedentary bias’ present in policy regimes and associated thought centred on nation-states, where movement is seen as exceptional, including normatively exceptional, with the centrality of movement in the processes of socio-economic change and evolution, particularly those promoted under capitalist systems of economic organization. While market capitalist and nation-state principles of organization differ, they combine in hybrid systems, such as those currently being elaborated in policy regimes for temporary migrant workers, to exploit migrant labour. Many of these arrangements mirror the indentured labour regimes of earlier eras. The chapter presents by contrast a perspective based on principles of human rights and human security that uses a global framework both for understanding and for evaluation and then adds an explicit gender-aware enrichment of that perspective, in order to do justice to the special vulnerabilities and exploitation of women’s migrant labour. A human security perspective, in particular, helps to base concern for human rights in an awareness of bodily and emotional needs, of global interconnections, and of the intersecting circumstances in people’s everyday lives; but it requires, and lends itself to, gender-enrichment through partnership with insights from feminist theory, as illustrated in the book’s various case studies. The systems of the nation-state, market capitalism, and gender power that are discussed in this chapter, that structure the experiences of migrant women workers, are very deeply established. The chapter suggests directions for possible re-cognition, to reduce and counter the invisibility and misframing of migration, and of women and their work; it also suggests priority areas for research and networking following the format employed for the book: linking researchers, policy practitioners and migrant advocates, South-South-North.
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
References
Abella, Manolo, 2013: Contribution by Manolo Abella, former Director of ILO International Migration Program, to AP-MagNet Talkshow #1: Social Protection for Migrant Workers (March 2013); at: <http://apmagnet.ilo.org/podcast>.
Annan, Kofi, 2006: The Secretary-General’s address to the High-Level Dialogue of the General Assembly of the United Nations on International Migration and Development, New York, 14 September 2006; at: <http://www.un.org/migration/sg-speech.html>.
Bell, Daniel, 1996: The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism [20th anniversary edition] (New York: Basic Books).
Brauch, Hans Günter, 2009: “Human Security Concepts in Policy and Science“, in: Brauch, Hans Günter; Oswald Spring, Úrsula; Grin, John; Mesjasz, Czeslaw; Kameri-Mbote, Patricia; Behera, Navnita Chadha; Chourou, Béchir; Krummenacher, Heinz (Eds.): Facing Global Environmental Change: Environmental, Human, Energy, Food, Health and Water Security Concepts (Berlin – Heidelberg – New York: Springer-Verlag): 965–990.
Breman, Jan, 2009: “The Great Transformation in the Setting of Asia”. Public lecture to accept honorary doctorate (The Hague: International Institute of Social Studies).
Burgess, J. Peter, 2007: Promoting Human Security: Ethical, Normative and Educational Frameworks in Western Europe (Paris: UNESCO).
Campillo Carrete, Beatriz; Gasper, Des, 2011: “Managing Migration in the IOM’s World Migration Report 2008”, in: Truong, Thanh-Dam; Gasper, Des (Eds.): Transnational Migration and Human Security (Berlin – Heidelberg – New York: Springer): 117–132.
Carens, Joseph, 1987: “Aliens and Citizens – the case for open borders”, in: The Review of Politics, 49,2: 251–273.
Castles, Stephen, 2009: “Development and Migration – Migration and Development: What Comes First? Global Perspective and African Experiences”, in: Theoria, 56, 121: 1–31.
Chatterjee, Partha, 1993: The Nation and its Fragments (Delhi: Oxford University Press).
Cholewinski, Ryszard, 2010: “Labour migration management and the rights of migrant workers”, in: Edwards, Alison; Ferstman, Carla (Eds.): Human Security and Non-Citizens (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press): 273–313.
CHS / Commission on Human Security (2003) Human Security Now, New York. UN Secretary-General’s Commission on Human Security.
Chun, Jennifer Jihye, 2009: Organizing at the Margins: The Symbolic Politics of Labor in South Korea and the United States (Ithaca, NY: ILR Press).
Collins, Patricia Hill, 2000: Black Feminist Thought (New York: Routledge).
De Genova, Nicholas, 2005: Working the Boundaries: Race, Space, and “Illegality” in Mexican Chicago (Durham, NC: Duke University Press).
De Haas, Hein, 2012: “The Migration and Development Pendulum: A Critical View on Research and Policy”, in: International Migration, 50(3): 8–25.
Doneys, Philippe, 2011: “En-Gendering Insecurities: The Case of the Migration Policy Regime in Thailand”, in: International Journal of Social Quality, 1, 2: 50–65.
Dower, Nigel, 1998: Global Ethics (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press).
Edwards, Alison; Ferstman, Carla, 2010: “Humanising noncitizens: the convergence of human rights and human security”, in Edwards, Alison; Ferstman, Carla (Eds.): Human Security and Non-Citizens (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press): 3–46.
Edwards, Alison; Ferstman, Carla (Eds.), 2010: Human Security and Non-Citizens (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Farmer, Paul, 1996: “Social Inequalities and Emerging Infectious Diseases”, in: Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2,4: 259–269.
Gasper, Des, 2005a: “Beyond The Inter-National Relations Framework: An Essay In Descriptive Global Ethics”, in: Journal of Global Ethics, 1,1: 5–23.
Gasper, Des, 2005b: “Securing Humanity – Situating ‘Human Security’ as Concept and Discourse”, in: Journal of Human Development, 6,2, 221–245.
Gasper, Des, 2009: “Global Ethics and Human Security”, in: Honor, Fagan G.; Munck, Ronaldo (Eds.): Globalization and Security: An Encyclopedia (two vols.) (Westport, CT: Greenwood): Vol.1, 155–171.
Gasper, Des, 2010: “The Idea of Human Security”, in: O’Brien, Karen; St. Clair, Asunción Lera; Kristoffersen, Berit (Eds.): Climate Change, Ethics and Human Security (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press): 23–46.
Gasper, Des, 2011: “International Migration, Well-Being and Transnational Ethics”, in: Truong, Thanh-Dam; Gasper, Des (Eds.): Transnational Migration and Human Security: The Migration-Development-Security Nexus: The Migration-Development-Security Nexus (Berlin – Heidelberg – New York: Springer): 259–272.
Gasper, Des, 2013: “Concepts of Human Security”, in: Martin. Mary; Owen, Taylor (Eds.): The Routledge Handbook of Human Security (London: Routledge).
Gasper, Des; Roldan, Bernice, 2011: “A Chance to Frame the Issues in a Way that Allows You to Move Forward Together”? Kofi Annan’s Rhetorical Strategy for The Global Forum on Migration and Development”, in: African Journal of Rhetoric, 3: 156–195.
Gasper, Des; Truong, Thanh-Dam, 2005: “Deepening Development Ethics – From economism to human development to human security”, in: European Journal of Development Research, 17,3: 372–384.
Gasper, Des; Truong, Thanh-Dam, 2010a: “Movements of the ‘We’: International and Transnational Migration and the Capabilities Approach”, in: Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 11,2: 339–357.
Gasper, Des; Truong, Thanh-Dam, 2010b: “Development Ethics through the Lenses of Caring, Gender and Human Security”, in: Esquith, Stephen Lawrence; Gifford, Fred (Eds.): Capabilities, Power and Institutions: Towards a More Critical Development Ethics (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press): 58–95.
Goldin, Ian; Cameron, Geoffrey; Balarajan, Meera, 2011: Exceptional People – How migration shaped our world and will define our future (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).
Gomez, Oscar A.; Gasper, Des; Mine, Yoichi, 2013: Good Practices in Addressing Human Security through National Human Development Reports; Report to Human Development Report Office, UNDP, New York.
Gough, Ian; Wood, Geof (Eds.), 2004: Insecurity and Welfare Regimes in Asia, Africa and Latin America (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Haq, Mahbub ul, 1999: Reflections on Human Development (Delhi: Oxford University Press).
Hiemstra,. Nancy, 2010: “Immigrant ‘Illegality’ as Neoliberal Governmentality in Leadville, Colorado”, in: Antipode, 42, 1: 74–102.
Hintjens, Helen; Kumar, Richa; Pouri, Ahmed, 2011: “Pro-asylum Advocacy in the European Union: Challenging the State of Exception”, in: Truong, Thanh-Dam; Gasper, Des (Eds.): Transnational Migration and Human Security: The Migration-Development-Security Nexus (Berlin – Heidelberg – New York: Springer): 209–223.
Huijsmans, Roy, 2011: “The Theatre of Human Trafficking: A global discourse on Lao stages”, in: International Journal of Social Quality, 1,2: 66–84.
Human Rights Watch, 2010: “Trigger Happy – Excessive Use of Force by Indian Soldiers at the Bangladesh Border”, at:<http://www.hrw.org/reports/2010/12/09/trigger-happy-0> (23 March 2013).
IOM, 2008: World Migration Report 2008 (Geneva: International Organization for Migration).
Kapur, Ratna, 2010: Makeshift Migrants and the Law (Delhi: Routledge).
Kaye, Jeffrey. 2010: Moving Millions – how coyote capitalism fueled global immigration (New York: Wiley).
Kusakabe, Kyoko, 2013: Commentary at the Final Workshop of research project on Migration, Gender and Social Justice, in Trivandrum, India, February.
Leichenko, Robin; O’Brien, Karen, 2008: Environmental Change and Globalization: Double Exposures (New York: Oxford University Press).
Lester, Eve, 2010: “Socio-economic rights, human security and survival migrants: Whose rights? Whose security?”, in: Edwards, Alison; Ferstman, Carla (Eds.): Human Security and Non-Citizens (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press): 314–356.
McAdam, Jane; Saul, Ben, 2010: “An insecure climate for human security? Climate-induced displacement and international law”, in: Edwards, Alison; Ferstman, Carla (Eds.): Human Security and Non-Citizens (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press): 357–403.
Marin, Maria Lourdes S., 2013: Commentary at the Final Workshop of research project on Migration, Gender and Social Justice, in Trivandrum, India, February.
Mine, Yoichi, 2011: “Migration Regimes and the Politics of Insiders/Outsiders: Japan and South Africa as Distant Mirrors”, in: Truong, Thanh-Dam; Gasper, Des (Eds.): Transnational Migration and Human Security: The Migration-Development-Security Nexus (Berlin –Heidelberg – New York: Springer): 287–296.
Mushakoji, Kinhide, 2011: “State and Immigrant Diaspora Identity in Contemporary Japan: From a Developmentalist National Ethic towards a Multicultural Development Ethic of Common Human Security”, in: Truong, Thanh-Dam; Gasper, Des (Eds.): Transnational Migration and Human Security: The Migration-Development-Security Nexus (Berlin – Heidelberg – New York: Springer): 297–310.
Nagel, Thomas, 2005: “The Problem of Global Justice”, in: Philosophy and Public Affairs, 33, 2: 113–147.
Oberoi, Pia, 2010: “Empowering migrants: human security, human rights, and policy”, in: Edwards, Alison; Ferstman, Carla (Eds.), 2010: Human Security and Non-Citizens (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press): 227–272.
Oishi, Nana, 2005: Women in Motion: Globalization, State Policies and Labor Migration in Asia (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press).
Pearson, Ruth; Kusakabe, Kyoko, 2012: Thailand’s Hidden Workforce: Burmese Migrant Women Factory Workers (London: Zed Books).
Piore, Michael, 1979: Birds of Passage: Migrant Labor and Industrial Societies (New York: Cambridge University Press).
Rawls, John, 1999: The Law of Peoples (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).
Scheffer, Paul, 2007: Het Land van Aankomst (Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij).
Scheffer, Paul, 2011: Immigrant Nations (Cambridge: Polity Press).
Sen, Amartya, 2009: The Idea of Justice (London: Penguin).
Sukamdi, 2008: “Indonesia”, in: Asia and Pacific Migration Journal, 17, 3–4: 325–334.
TIP, 2010: Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State).
Truong, Thanh-Dam; Gasper, Des, 2008a: “Trans-Local Livelihoods and Connections – Embedding a Gender Perspective into Migration Studies”, in: Gender, Technology and Development, 12, 3: 285–302.
Truong, Thanh-Dam; Gasper, Des (Eds.), 2008b: Trans-Local Livelihoods and Connections. Special issue on transnational migration and multi-local livelihoods; in: Gender, Technology and Development, 12, 3: 285–507.
Truong, Thanh-Dam; Gasper, Des, 2011a: “Transnational Migration, Development and Human Security”, in: Truong, Thanh-Dam; Gasper, Des (Eds.): Transnational Migration and Human Security: The Migration-Development-Security Nexus (Berlin – Heidelberg – New York: Springer): 3–22.
Truong, Thanh-Dam; Gasper, Des (Eds.), 2011b: Transnational Migration and Human Security: The Migration-Development-Security Nexus (Berlin – Heidelberg –New York: Springer).
UNDP, 1990: Human Development Report 1990 – Concept and measurement of human development (New York: Oxford University Press).
UNDP, 1994: Human Development Report 1994: – New dimensions of human security (New York: Oxford University Press).
UNDP, 2003: Latvia Human Development Report: 2002–2003: Human Security (Riga: UNDP; <http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/national/europethecis/latvia/name,3194,en.html>.)
UNDP, 2009: Human Development Report 2009 – Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development (New York: Palgrave).
UNESCO, 2008: Human Security – Approaches and Challenges (Paris: UNESCO).
United Nations, 2001: Replacement Migration: Is It a Solution to Declining and Ageing Populations? (New York: United Nations).
Wallerstein, Immanuel, et al., 1996: Open The Social Sciences – Report of the Gulbenkian Commission on the Restructuring of the Social Sciences (Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
This chapter is published under an open access license. Please check the 'Copyright Information' section either on this page or in the PDF for details of this license and what re-use is permitted. If your intended use exceeds what is permitted by the license or if you are unable to locate the licence and re-use information, please contact the Rights and Permissions team.
Copyright information
© 2014 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gasper, D., Truong, TD. (2014). 21 ‘Women in Motion’ in a World of Nation-States, Market Forces, and Gender Power Relations. In: Truong, TD., Gasper, D., Handmaker, J., Bergh, S. (eds) Migration, Gender and Social Justice. Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace, vol 9. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28012-2_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28012-2_21
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-28011-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-28012-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)