The Anthropology of International Labor Migration

Do the inhabitants of low-income countries have a human right to compete for jobs in high-income countries? Millions of Latin Americans and other peoples of the Global South perceive that their only chance for a better life is moving to a high-income country. Meanwhile, millions of Americans and Europeans fear that rising numbers of migrants will take their jobs and change their countries beyond recognition. This course will focus on international labor migration, the social forces that increase it, and the implications for sending and receiving communities. We will apply ethnographic research to debates over borderlands, remittance economies, low-wage labor markets, and immigration policies, with a focus on Latin American migration to the U.S., African migration to Europe, and South Asian migration to the Middle East. (Not open to students who have taken FYSE 1287 or SOAN 1021) 3 hrs. lect./disc. (Anthropology) (Critical Race Feminisms)