Abstract
Over the years, the European Union has increasingly found itself in a paradoxical struggle to tighten its borders, on the one hand, and to deal with a growing demand for a migrant work force on the other. As a result, according to the editors, ‘the EU has multiplied its borders by pushing them both outwards and inwards’ (p. 1), seeking to meet the demands of certain sectors by including some labour migrants, while at the same time excluding others ‘through a system of differentiated and limited rights’ (p. 5). This book explores specifically the inward extension of borders, not geographically, but through restrictions, rights and permissions. It has two key objectives. First, to go beyond the debates in Europe on inclusion and exclusion of migrants, by embracing discussions on capital–labour relationships, race, ethnicity, gender and class. Second, to look at the relation between the different status of migrant workers and changes in employment in Europe. The main distinction of this volume is precisely its focus on these two objectives.
The first section is dedicated to concepts and policies concerning changes in employment and migration in the EU. The three chapters in this section contextualise these changes, addressing topics such as neoliberalism and the liberalisation of employment, and assessing the impact of neoliberal changes in employment on the vulnerability of workers. Woodcock argues that there has been a shift towards ‘flexicurity’ in the EU, leading to an increase of precarity among workers. Egan writes about the contradictions between economic and political regimes in the EU, as the former seeks migrant workers and the latter rejects migrants. Sahraoui, Polkowski and Karolak look at migration policies in the UK, Poland, France and Spain. They argue that despite a ‘borderless Europe’, with freedom of movement and access to labour markets, EU migration policies have become restrictive, limiting the number of low-skilled intra-EU migrants. Together, the three chapters do make a solid case for how the stratification of migrant workers by EU countries may push the former to precarity, through changes in employment and immigration policies.
Migrants’ experiences of inclusion and exclusion are the focus of the book’s second section. The four chapters aim to give voice to the individual experiences of migrants with migration and employment. Polkowski looks at ‘hidden injuries’ and the impact that the migrants’ sending country, in this case Poland, can have on their choices and practices. Aziz centres on the experience of Polish women migrant workers in the UK, and Karolak analyses the experience of return migrants from the UK to Poland, and double return migrants back to the UK. Finally, Sahraoui analyses the experience of non-EU migrant workers in private, older-age care facilities in London. This section’s focus on migrants’ lived experience with work, and on how neoliberal changes in employment and shifts in immigration policies have affected them in practice, is rather noteworthy. Yet, its emphasis on European migrants might appear disheartening to some readers. Only one chapter in the section explores the plight of non-EU migrants, while the other three chapters focus exclusively on Polish migrant experiences. Non-EU migrants, nonetheless, are the workers who may perhaps experience the impact of neoliberal changes and precarity the most.
The third section looks into migrant workers’ collective experience and response to precarity, with unions, social movements or networks. Aziz, Egan and Polkowski conduct a study in England, Northern Ireland and Italy to understand how trade unions approach migrant workers. Lundsteen and Sabaté investigate the anti-repossession movement Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH) in Catalonia to understand to what extent the movement overcomes the divide between migrants and non-migrants. Looking at non-EU highly skilled migrants in the UK, Ejiogu finds that migrant networks play an important part in resisting precarity; yet, in some cases, the evidences indicate that they socially reproduce precariousness. Apostolova analyses Bulgarian migrant workers in Munich and Romanian workers in Berlin. She argues that EU border principles make collective response and solidarity among migrants more difficult. The four case studies in this section offer insightful analyses on the possibilities and, most importantly, the barriers for solidarity among workers in precarity. We learn the difficulty that exists in bringing together migrant and non-migrant workers for collective responses, despite their shared experiences of precarity, because of differences in race, ethnicity, gender and class. The section leaves the reader uncertain as to how solidarity between migrant and non-migrant workers can ensue and if it is possible at all.
This book offers an engaging discussion of migrant worker experiences in the midst of changes and flexibility in the EU. A limitation to be noted is that it dedicates fairly little to studies of non-EU migrants. Nonetheless, this volume is a stimulating read and a solid contribution to understanding the complexities of labour migration in the EU.
