Conference Programme (PDF, 1019KB) - Trinity College Dublin

abstracts by stream and session
literature on migrants’ incorporation into host societies. Since union membership is a potential means for migrant workers to exercise an
important range of social rights, such as protection of working conditions, safety, and income, we argue that it should be viewed as one of
the most important indicators of migrant workers’ incorporation into host societies. To answer the question of whether the relatively low
rate of foreign workers’ unionization can be attributed to socio-demographic characteristics and occupational (in term of industries)
segregation between foreigners and locals we have carried out an initial quantitative analysis of the available survey data. The data for the
analysis are obtained from the four rounds (2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008) of the European Social Survey [ESS]. Since in our sample
individuals are nested in countries and since we assume that the effect of migrants’ status on the relative odds of being a union member
may vary across countries we use HLM procedure (hierarchical models). Then, in an exploratory way, we examine patterns in trade
unions’ institutional positions that may explain the variation in the differences between citizens’ and non citizens’ unionization rates
across new- and old- immigration countries in Europe.
SESSION 1c Migration, Mobility and Careers
Liquid migration and labour market careers
*Godfried Engbersen, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Snel Erik, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Free movement of labor, introduced in Europe by lifting up restrictions in the access to the majority of the EU labor markets in both 2004,
2006 and 2007 have enhanced people’s mobility, especially those from the Central and Eastern Europe and have encouraged them to be
constantly on the move, to ‘circulate’ between places of origin and diverse destinations. This new migration patterns differ from seasonal
migration. They are longer-term, more with being ‘there’ (destination) than ‘here’ (origin) but also with no rooting, and flexibility in taking
and changing jobs and places.
The paper is going to argue that after EU enlargements temporary migration has been extended into ‘long-lasting temporariness’ which
will be classified called ‘liquid migration’. It is a ‘post-accession phenomenon’ that is made possible by open borders. Liquidity of
post-accession migration has been initially recognized as a specific pattern generated mostly by free movement of labor, but also by
changing demographic patterns especially those connected to the life cycle and people’s life attitudes translated to more single and
individualistic life approaches, loosened connections to family and family tradition and to a household.
The concept of liquid migration is inspired by Zygmunt Bauman’s work on liquid modernity (Engbersen et al. 2010). Central to the notion
of liquidity is the idea that ‘thick’ and stable social institutions (class, family, labour, community, neighbourhood and nation state) are
fading away and replaced by flexible, ‘thin’ institutions. Migration has always been strongly embedded in patterns of family, community,
local labour markets, and the nation state. The transformation of these institutions, together with ever more advanced communication
technologies and the disappearance of internal borders following EU enlargement, has changed migration patterns in post-industrial
societies and has made migration less predictable.
The fluid nature of East-West migration emphasizes the contrasts between the so-called guest worker migration of the 1960s-1970s and
contemporary migrant workers from the CEE countries, who do not settle down permanently in the receiving countries where they work
but, at least until now, often tend to return to their home countries. Large group of workers go home when the job is finished and they
return when necessary or are available on demand when certain work is to be done (for instance in building industries). A crucial
difference between both episodes of international migration is the institutional context. The earlier migrant workers, the so-called guest
workers, arrived in a period when national borders were still very real and significant. The current labour migration from East to Western
Europe takes place in a different institutional constellation, that is in a context in which national borders – at least within the EU – have
lost their significance. East-West migration is strongly labor-motivated – like the guest workers migration in the 1960s and 1970s - but
nowadays workers can come and go as they choose. However, the other factors continue to be of relevance.
In this paper we will operationalize this ‘liquid pattern’ as a new pattern of temporary, circular migration. Among variables to be
discussed in this paper are: type of settlement, type of migration, migration status, labour market position and career, diverse destination
countries, family responsibilities and migration habitus. We will base our analysis on the findings of an explanatory Dutch study of 750
CEE migrants (mainly from Poland, Bulgaria and Romania) and on the first finding of a recent large scale study of Polish, Bulgarian and
Romanian labor migrants in seven municipalities in the Netherlands (N=600), including big cities like Rotterdam and The Hague and
small agricultural municipalities. The aim of our paper is to discuss the nature of liquid migration (including labor careers) and the
consequences it has for local communities The temporary stay of many new labor groups requires a flexible urban structure (in terms of
housing, health care, education and integration) that can deal effectively with this new migration patterns. At present in many Dutch
cities, improvised solutions are devised to accommodate CEE labor migrants.
International Middle Class Migration and Mobility: French Nationals Working in the UK
Rueyling Tzeng, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
Studies on international migration have generally focused on either high-level managers and specialists transferred by multinational
corporations, or laborers/blue collar workers who move from developing to developed countries. However, international migration
patterns are clearly more diverse in composition and structure. One under-researched group consists of middle class job seekers. This
paper looks at the estimated 500,000 French men and women, mostly under the age of 35, who are currently living and working in the
United Kingdom. London is now home to an estimated 250,000-300,000 French citizens, making it the world’s fourth largest French city
after Paris, Lyon, and Marseilles.
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