IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/socinc/v2y2014i4p38-52.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Brokerage in Cross-Border Mobility: Social Mechanisms and the (Re)Production of Social Inequalities

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Faist

    (Faculty of Sociology, Bielefeld University, Germany)

Abstract

Brokerage is an essential yet understudied function in social life. In one of the classics in the field of sociology, Georg Simmel differentiated three types of the “third” which help to analyse brokerage: the disinterested mediator or arbitrator, tertius gaudens and divide et impera . Studies that conceptualise traffickers and smugglers as brokers are extremely rare. Scholars lack a typology which can serve as a basis for comparative research. To advance scholarship on brokerage this article seeks to develop a conceptual-typological matrix by setting out to explore three questions: Why does brokerage exist? What kind of social mechanism is brokerage? What are the implications of brokerage for social inequalities and equalities? The analysis concludes with the consequences of different types of brokerage for the (re)production of social inequalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Faist, 2014. "Brokerage in Cross-Border Mobility: Social Mechanisms and the (Re)Production of Social Inequalities," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 2(4), pages 38-52.
  • Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v2:y:2014:i:4:p:38-52
    DOI: 10.17645/si.v2i4.29
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/29
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/si.v2i4.29?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v2:y:2014:i:4:p:38-52. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.