Becoming a Migrant at Home: Subjectivation Processes in Migrant‐Sending Countries Prior to Departure

Robyn M. Rodriguez; Helen Schwenken

doi:10.1002/psp.1779

journal article Apr 17, 2013

Becoming a Migrant at Home: Subjectivation Processes in Migrant‐Sending Countries Prior to Departure

Robyn M. Rodriguez Helen Schwenken

Population, Space and Place Vol. 19 No. 4 pp. 375-388 · Wiley

View at Publisher Save 10.1002/psp.1779

Abstract

ABSTRACTLabour emigration is not merely the business of states and governmental policies, but comes with a range of wider societal practices. This includes the production of – and contestation over – the ‘ideal migrant subject’. This paper examines the complex interplay of actors and practices involved in migrant subject‐making processes paying close attention to the pre‐employment temporary labour migration process step by step from screening, recruitment, pre‐departure training up to employment‐matching. It asks how prospective migrants are transformed into ‘ideal’ migrant subjects. This contribution primarily draws from data from the Philippines and India. It is argued that migrants actually become migrants before they ever leave their home country: Labour‐sending states set the regulatory frameworks and co‐produce ‘ideal migrant subjects’ from which other social actors draw or contest. In contrast to most studies on the governance of labour migration, the authors highlight the role of subject formation as an important element of modern migration management. To the scholarship that actually takes into account subjectivation processes, this paper adds material both on the labour‐sending state as well as on non‐state actors. The paper, moreover, draws out subject‐making from previous studies where it is less central and more implicit. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Details

Published: Apr 17, 2013
Vol/Issue: 19(4)
Pages: 375-388
License: View

Authors

R

Robyn M. Rodriguez

Asian American Studies Department University of California Davis CA USA

H

Helen Schwenken

International Centre for Development and Decent Work (ICDD) University of Kassel Kassel Germany

Cite This Article

Robyn M. Rodriguez, Helen Schwenken (2013). Becoming a Migrant at Home: Subjectivation Processes in Migrant‐Sending Countries Prior to Departure. Population, Space and Place, 19(4), 375-388. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.1779

Becoming a Migrant at Home: Subjectivation Processes in Migrant‐Sending Countries Prior to Departure

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