Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/11687
Title: Labour Brokers in Migration: Understanding Historical and Contemporary Transnational Migration Regimes in Malaya/Malaysia
Contributor(s): Kaur, Amarjit  (author)
Publication Date: 2012
Open Access: Yes
DOI: 10.1017/S0020859012000478Open Access Link
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/11687
Abstract: Labour brokerage and its salient role in the mobility of workers across borders in Asia has been the subject of recent debate on the continuing usefulness of intermediaries in labour mobility and migration processes. Some researchers believe that labour brokerage will decline with the expansion of migrant networks, resulting in reduced transaction costs and a better deal for migrant workers. From an economic standpoint, however, reliance on brokers does not appear to have a "use-by date" in south-east Asia. Labour brokers have played an important role in organizing and facilitating officially authorized migration, particularly during the contemporary period. They undertake marketing and recruitment tasks, finance migrant workers' travel, and enable transnational labour migration to take place. Consequently, both sending and destination states have been able to concentrate on their role as regulatory "agencies", managing migration and ensuring compliance with state regulatory standards and providing labour protection. Private recruitment firms have simultaneously focused on handling the actual recruitment and placement of migrant workers. Notwithstanding this, the division of responsibilities in the migration regimes has also led to uncontrolled migration and necessitated intervention by the state during both periods. These interventions mirror the ethos of the times and are essential for understanding past and present political environments and transnational labour migration in south-east Asia.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Grant Details: ARC/DP0666015
Source of Publication: International Review of Social History, 57(Supplement S20), p. 225-252
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Place of Publication: United Kingdom
ISSN: 1469-512X
0020-8590
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 160305 Population Trends and Policies
160303 Migration
149999 Economics not elsewhere classified
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 440305 Population trends and policies
430319 Migration history
389999 Other economics not elsewhere classified
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 910102 Demography
910103 Economic Growth
940304 International Political Economy (excl. International Trade)
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 150202 Demography
150203 Economic growth
230304 International political economy (excl. international trade)
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article

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