&quot;Amar beton khub e kom&quot; :  The Role of Commercial Recruitment Intermediaries in Reinforcing Gendered and Racialised Inequalities

Shah, Heila; Bhuiyan, Mohammad Rashed Alam

doi:10.13169/zanjglobsoutstud.5.1.0012

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Zanj: The Journal of Critical Global South Studies

Volume 5, Issue 1/2

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"Amar beton khub e kom" : The Role of Commercial Recruitment Intermediaries in Reinforcing Gendered and Racialised Inequalities

Author(s): Heila Shah ¹ , Mohammad Rashed Alam Bhuiyan ²

Publication date (Electronic): 14 June 2022

Journal: Zanj: The Journal of Critical Global South Studies

Keywords: Global South, migration, recruitment agencies, migrant domestic workers, gender, race , inequalities, Asia, economic development, trade unions

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Abstract

The 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development explicitly links the goal of reducing inequality between and within countries to the encouragement of orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration. Yet to date there has been little discussion on how migration processes, especially those which occur through commercialised recruitment intermediaries may, in fact, enhance rather than reduce socio-economic inequalities. In particular, existing research shows that migrant workers from the Global South, especially in Asia, are often recruited by intermediaries into low paid, temporary and precarious jobs such as domestic service and hospitality work, agriculture and construction, manufacturing and mining. Such workers are often recruited as cheap, flexible labour and denied access to the right to organise in trade unions. Moreover, intermediaries often charge migrants fees for recruitment which inhibit their ability to maximise their earnings and remit monies home. This article addresses one of the hitherto neglected yet most fundamental aspects of international migration: how commercialised recruitment intermediaries serve to reinforce racialised and gendered inequalities. The article draws on a content analysis of recent articles published in the media on Bangladeshi migrant workers, aiming to contribute to discussions of gender, race and inequality in international migration and domestic labour through the lens of intersectional analysis.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Title: Zanj: The Journal of Critical Global South Studies

ISSN: 2515-2149

Publication date (Electronic): 14 June 2022

Volume: 5

Issue: 1/2

Pages: 164-192

Affiliations

[1 ] Coventry University

[2 ] Coventry University, Dahkar University

Author information

Heila Shah https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2019-5007

Article

DOI: 10.13169/zanjglobsoutstud.5.1.0012

SO-VID: 1b527780-fabc-42b3-92a7-e12d693f4952

License:

Published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International ( CC BY 4.0). Users are allowed to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially), as long as the authors and the publisher are explicitly identified and properly acknowledged as the original source.

History

Data availability: Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

ScienceOpen disciplines: Economic development,Political science,Labor & Demographic economics,General social science,Development studies,Cultural studies

Keywords: Global South,migration,recruitment agencies,migrant domestic workers,gender,race ,inequalities,Asia,economic development,trade unions

References

Afsar Rita. Contextualizing Gender and Migration in South Asia: Critical Insights. Gender, Technology and Development. Vol. 15(3):389–410. 2011. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]
Anderson Bridget. Migration, immigration controls and the fashioning of precarious workers. Work, Employment and Society. Vol. 24(2):300–317. 2010. SAGE Publications. [Cross Ref]
Anthias Floya. Transnational Mobilities, Migration Research and Intersectionality: <i>Towards a translocational frame</i>. Nordic Journal of Migration Research. Vol. 2(2)2012. Helsinki University Press. [Cross Ref]
Awumbila Mariama, Deshingkar Priya, Kandilige Leander, Teye Joseph Kofi, Setrana Mary. Please, thank you and sorry – brokering migration and constructing identities for domestic work in Ghana. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Vol. 45(14):2655–2671. 2019. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]
Barrientos Stephanie Ware. ‘Labour Chains’: Analysing the Role of Labour Contractors in Global Production Networks. Journal of Development Studies. Vol. 49(8):1058–1071. 2013. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]
Bastia Tanja. Intersectionality, migration and development. Progress in Development Studies. Vol. 14(3):237–248. 2014. SAGE Publications. [Cross Ref]
Bélanger Danièle, Rahman Mahmuda. Migrating against all the odds: International labour migration of Bangladeshi women. Current Sociology. Vol. 61(3):356–373. 2013. SAGE Publications. [Cross Ref]
Bhopal Kalwant. South Asian women within households: Dowries, degradation and despair. Women's Studies International Forum. Vol. 20(4):483–492. 1997. Elsevier BV. [Cross Ref]
Ada Cheng Shu‐Ju. Rethinking differences and inequality at the age of globalization. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal. Vol. 32(6):537–556. 2013. Emerald. [Cross Ref]
Choo Hae Yeon, Ferree Myra Marx. Practicing Intersectionality in Sociological Research: A Critical Analysis of Inclusions, Interactions, and Institutions in the Study of Inequalities. Sociological Theory. Vol. 28(2):129–149. 2010. SAGE Publications. [Cross Ref]
Christian Michelle, Namaganda Assumpta. Transnational intersectionality and domestic work: The production of Ugandan intersectional racialized and gendered domestic worker regimes. International Sociology. Vol. 33(3):315–336. 2018. SAGE Publications. [Cross Ref]
Crow Ben, Zlatunich Nichole, Fulfrost Brian. Mapping global inequalities: Beyond income inequality to multi-dimensional inequalities. Journal of International Development. Vol. 21(8):1051–1065. 2009. Wiley. [Cross Ref]
Deshingkar Priya. The making and unmaking of precarious, ideal subjects – migration brokerage in the Global South. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Vol. 45(14):2638–2654. 2019. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]
Deshingkar Priya, Abrar C. R., Sultana Mirza Taslima, Haque Kazi Nurmohammad Hossainul, Reza Md Selim. Producing ideal Bangladeshi migrants for precarious construction work in Qatar. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Vol. 45(14):2723–2738. 2019. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]
Fernandez Bina. Household Help? Ethiopian Women Domestic Workers' Labor Migration to the Gulf Countries. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal. Vol. 20(3-4):433–457. 2011. SAGE Publications. [Cross Ref]

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Afsar Rita. Contextualizing Gender and Migration in South Asia: Critical Insights. Gender, Technology and Development. Vol. 15(3):389–410. 2011. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]

[2] Anderson Bridget. Migration, immigration controls and the fashioning of precarious workers. Work, Employment and Society. Vol. 24(2):300–317. 2010. SAGE Publications. [Cross Ref]

[3] Anthias Floya. Transnational Mobilities, Migration Research and Intersectionality: <i>Towards a translocational frame</i>. Nordic Journal of Migration Research. Vol. 2(2)2012. Helsinki University Press. [Cross Ref]

[4] Awumbila Mariama, Deshingkar Priya, Kandilige Leander, Teye Joseph Kofi, Setrana Mary. Please, thank you and sorry – brokering migration and constructing identities for domestic work in Ghana. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Vol. 45(14):2655–2671. 2019. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]

[5] Barrientos Stephanie Ware. ‘Labour Chains’: Analysing the Role of Labour Contractors in Global Production Networks. Journal of Development Studies. Vol. 49(8):1058–1071. 2013. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]

[6] Bastia Tanja. Intersectionality, migration and development. Progress in Development Studies. Vol. 14(3):237–248. 2014. SAGE Publications. [Cross Ref]

[7] Bélanger Danièle, Rahman Mahmuda. Migrating against all the odds: International labour migration of Bangladeshi women. Current Sociology. Vol. 61(3):356–373. 2013. SAGE Publications. [Cross Ref]

[8] Bhopal Kalwant. South Asian women within households: Dowries, degradation and despair. Women's Studies International Forum. Vol. 20(4):483–492. 1997. Elsevier BV. [Cross Ref]

[9] Ada Cheng Shu‐Ju. Rethinking differences and inequality at the age of globalization. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal. Vol. 32(6):537–556. 2013. Emerald. [Cross Ref]

[10] Choo Hae Yeon, Ferree Myra Marx. Practicing Intersectionality in Sociological Research: A Critical Analysis of Inclusions, Interactions, and Institutions in the Study of Inequalities. Sociological Theory. Vol. 28(2):129–149. 2010. SAGE Publications. [Cross Ref]

[11] Christian Michelle, Namaganda Assumpta. Transnational intersectionality and domestic work: The production of Ugandan intersectional racialized and gendered domestic worker regimes. International Sociology. Vol. 33(3):315–336. 2018. SAGE Publications. [Cross Ref]

[12] Crow Ben, Zlatunich Nichole, Fulfrost Brian. Mapping global inequalities: Beyond income inequality to multi-dimensional inequalities. Journal of International Development. Vol. 21(8):1051–1065. 2009. Wiley. [Cross Ref]

[13] Deshingkar Priya. The making and unmaking of precarious, ideal subjects – migration brokerage in the Global South. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Vol. 45(14):2638–2654. 2019. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]

[14] Deshingkar Priya, Abrar C. R., Sultana Mirza Taslima, Haque Kazi Nurmohammad Hossainul, Reza Md Selim. Producing ideal Bangladeshi migrants for precarious construction work in Qatar. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Vol. 45(14):2723–2738. 2019. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]

[15] Fernandez Bina. Household Help? Ethiopian Women Domestic Workers' Labor Migration to the Gulf Countries. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal. Vol. 20(3-4):433–457. 2011. SAGE Publications. [Cross Ref]