Restricted entitlements for skilled temporary migrants: the limits of migrant consent
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2017-01-01
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Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
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Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Melbourne Authors
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School of Social and Political Sciences
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Journal Article
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Boese, M. & Macdonald, K. (2017). Restricted entitlements for skilled temporary migrants: the limits of migrant consent. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43 (9), pp.1472-1489. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2016.1237869.
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Abstract
Temporary labour migration programmes have often attracted
significant controversy, particularly with regard to provisions that
restrict the social entitlements available to temporary migrant
workers, compared with other categories of residents. Advocates
of such restrictions have argued that migrants freely choose to
participate in temporary migration schemes on the prevailing
terms, and are free to leave at any time if such participation no
longer serves their interests. Our central goal in this paper is to
critically evaluate such consent-based justifications for restricted
social entitlements of temporary migrant workers, with reference
to empirical evidence concerning the practical social and
economic conditions of choice experienced by these temporary
migrants. Drawing on evidence from one major receiving country
– Australia – we show that consent-based justifications for
restricted social entitlements fail to fully account for either the
practical complexity of individual migration choices, or the de
facto operation of Australia’s skilled temporary migration
programme as a ‘test run’ for potential future permanent
residents or citizens. By bringing sociological analysis of lived
migrant experiences into critical engagement with normative
debates about restricted social entitlements, we contribute to the
bridging of empirical and normative migration debates, which too
often evolve in parallel.