Managing Migrant Workers : moral economies of temporary labour in the Swedish IT and wild berry industries

Abstract

Temporary migrant workers and circular migration constitute a growing global phenomenon as the management of migration becomes increasingly important to policymakers. This thesis takes academic discussions on citizenship and migration as its starting point, and examines the role of employers in terms of defining temporary migrant workers and their role in the Swedish labour market. The concept of moral economy is applied in particular to analyse the justifications and negotiations through which working conditions of migrant workers, and their role in local and transnational economies, are established and contested. The role of capital in migration management is studied through ethnographic fieldwork and through interviews with managers in the Swedish wild berry and IT industries; two very different industries that are, however, both shaped by particular structures of seasonal labour and international outsourcing and that increasingly rely on temporary foreign workers from Thailand and India respectively. The conceptualisation of supply chains in these industries offers a particular framework through which relations, as well as management discourses, can be analysed. The study explores how notions of circularity, nation, cultural difference, and transnational economic difference, are managed by private sector actors. It also explores how managers relate to public discourse and emotions in the face of global economic restructuring and changing citizenship, which situates temporary migrants as part of, yet different from, Swedish labour.Temporära migrantarbetare och cirkulär migration utgör ett växande globalt fenomen till följd av intresset bland regeringar och myndigheter att styra genom sk ”managed migration”. Denna avhandling tar avstamp i forskning om medborgarskap och migration för att undersöka vilken roll arbetsgivare får när det gäller att definiera tillfälliga migrantarbetare och deras roll på den svenska arbetsmarknaden. Begreppet moralisk ekonomi används för att lyfta fram och analysera de praktiker genom vilka migrantarbetarnas arbetsvillkor förhandlas och rättfärdigas, samt hur deras roller i lokala och transnationella ekonomier befästs eller förändras. Ekonomins roll i migrationshantering studeras i denna avhandling genom etnografiskt fältarbete och intervjuer med chefer inom den svenska bärindustrin samt IT industrin; två mycket olika industrier som dock båda struktureras av säsongsarbete respektive internationell outsourcing, och som alltmer använder tillfällig utländsk arbetskraft från Thailand respektive Indien. Genom begreppet utbudskedjor (supply chains) möjliggörs en analys av de relationer, samt de managementdiskurser, som påverkar dessa industrier. Avhandlingen utforskar hur föreställningar om cirkularitet, nation, kulturella skillnader, samt transnationella ekonomiska skillnader, förhandlas av aktörer inom näringslivet. Vidare diskuteras hur chefer relaterar till de diskurser och emotioner som en global ekonomisk omstrukturering och ett förändrat medborgarskap ger upphov till, vilket positio...

Problematising refugee migrants in the Swedish forestry sector

“…There are also references to refugees being 'used to hardship' [translation by author], implying they are suitable for rough work and trying circumstances (Jönsson, 2015). In an interesting parallel, Krifors (2017) concludes that importing Asian migrants for the quite demanding harvesting of wild berries is legitimised by arguments about their physical suitability for the work. These are examples of constructions of ethnic 'them' differences, echoing historical constructions, for example in the recruitment of Finnish forestry workers (Anderson 2015;Svanberg, 2010;Vallström, 2010;Vesterberg, 2015).…”

“…There are also references to refugees being 'used to hardship' [translation by author], implying they are suitable for rough work and trying circumstances (Jönsson, 2015). In an interesting parallel, Krifors (2017) concludes that importing Asian migrants for the quite demanding harvesting of wild berries is legitimised by arguments about their physical suitability for the work.…”

Strategies for recruiting highly skilled migrants from India and China: a case study of firms in Sweden

“…Furthermore, there are difficulties associated with asking direct questions about wages to managers (cf. Krifors, ). One problem is that the informant might be reluctant to acknowledge that lowering the cost of labour is a motivation, since this could potentially imply a breach of regulations.…”

“…This migration model has little to do with the image of a transnational elite that moves more or less freely in the world (cf. Krifors, ). Rather, it is a form of privatised guest‐worker system that has been made possible by the development of information technology and the accompanying reorganisation of the world of work.…”

Towards a Decent Labour Market for Low-Waged Migrant Workers

“… Woolfson et al, n. 8, p. 148;K. Krifors (2017), 'Managing Migrant Workers -moral economies of temporary labour in the Swedish IT and wild berry industries,' Linköping Studies inArts and Sciences No.…”