This workshop starts from the premise that the supremacy of western understandings in the regulation of international labour migration and in the promotion of migrant labour rights by international forums and labour organisations has contributed to reproducing unequal relations between centre and periphery countries and regions. Although they respond to the socio-economic and political needs of advanced liberal economies, Western standards of development and classification of migrants have been sanctioned as ‘universal’ by the international community and international treaties on migrant workers’ rights implemented worldwide. 

 

The aim of this workshop is therefore to map the existence of research and sources which can shed light on non-western experiences and perspectives, as well as solidarities and struggles, that encountered, negotiated and/or challenged the established liberal order in the regulation of labour migration (whether locally, nationally or internationally) and its underlying narrative about migrant workers’ rights and their role in generating development. Critically, the workshop aims to assess the extent to which conscious alternatives to the dominant liberal paradigm emerged, were articulated and institutionalised, and survived during the Cold War and after. The working hypothesis is that alternatives did exist, given the existence of the Cold War dynamic, but also because of conscious attempts by some actors in the Global South and Non-aligned States to resist the hegemony of the Global North. These alternatives and attempts did not cease with the end of the Cold War but transformed into other forms of cooperation, struggles and solidarities. 

 

The workshop 'Labour Migration in the Cold War and beyond' seeks to provide a space and opportunity for working group members to meet and exchange experiences and ideas as well as to expand cooperation between the working group and other subjects focused on the interconnectedness of labour and migration in academia and beyond.

 

The event is open to the public. Please register no later than June 27 to receive the link to join the workshop.

Please register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/workshop-labour-migration-in-the-cold-war-and-beyond-tickets-159481189531

Organisers:

Sara Bernard, University of Glasgow

Yannis Papadopoulos, University of Brasília

Rory Archer, University of Graz/University of Konstanz