Labour coercion and commodification: from the British Empire to postcolonial migration states

From “United in Exploitation” To “United in Diversity”: Postcolonial Perspectives Regarding Europe’s Economic Migration Fluxes

“…To put it clearly in a broader context, the actions taken by imperial powers to create or sustain the disrupted economic, social, and political structures in the formerly colonised countries fuelled the migratory movements and displacements while they were concomitantly imposing the borders, immigration control, and sanctions to only provide this migration as a privilege for the selected ones, who are truly believed to boost the economic development and enhance the growth of the Western countries. The postcolonial lens to migration provides insight into the continuity of the contemporary ways of forced, coercive, and exploitative practices towards immigrant labour (Sadiq & Tsourapas, 2023). Hence, the postcolonial perspective on migration crystalises through the explicit continuation of colonial formations in today's population movements and what is called migration governance by imperialist powers (Çağlar, 2021).…”