IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v38y2024i3p615-635.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Temporary Migrants as Dehumanised ‘Other’ in the Time of COVID-19: We’re All in This Together?

Author

Listed:
  • Dimitria Groutsis

    (University of Sydney, Australia)

  • Annika Kaabel

    (Diversity Council Australia, Australia)

  • Chris F Wright

    (University of Sydney, Australia)

Abstract

Temporary migrants comprise a substantial component of the Australian workforce. Evidence of the tensions and contradictions in Australia’s reliance on temporary migrant workers was spotlighted during the COVID-19 global health crisis, particularly with regards to the actions and responsibilities of key players in the attraction, recruitment, deployment and ultimately abandonment of these workers. In this article, we interrogate the public framing of temporary migrant workers within the context of the pandemic. We employ a discourse analysis and build upon theories of precarity and dehumanisation. In doing so we demonstrate how the precarious state within which temporary migrant workers found themselves saw them cast as a dehumanised and unwelcome ‘other’, a burden to the labour market, the state and the broader society.

Suggested Citation

  • Dimitria Groutsis & Annika Kaabel & Chris F Wright, 2024. "Temporary Migrants as Dehumanised ‘Other’ in the Time of COVID-19: We’re All in This Together?," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(3), pages 615-635, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:38:y:2024:i:3:p:615-635
    DOI: 10.1177/09500170221142723
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09500170221142723
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/09500170221142723?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Diane van den Broek & Dimitria Groutsis, 2017. "Global nursing and the lived experience of migration intermediaries," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(5), pages 851-860, October.
    2. Elsa Underhill & Dimitria Groutsis & Diane Broek & Malcolm Rimmer, 2018. "Migration Intermediaries and Codes of Conduct: Temporary Migrant Workers in Australian Horticulture," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(3), pages 675-689, December.
    3. Ruhs, Martin & Chang, Ha-Joon, 2004. "The Ethics of Labor Immigration Policy," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 58(1), pages 69-102, February.
    4. Yahya Thamrin & Dino Pisaniello & Cally Guerin & Paul Rothmore, 2019. "Correlates of Work-Study Conflict among International Students in Australia: A Multivariate Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-11, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kristian Alm & David S. A. Guttormsen, 2023. "Enabling the Voices of Marginalized Groups of People in Theoretical Business Ethics Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(2), pages 303-320, January.
    2. Richard B. Freeman, 2006. "People Flows in Globalization," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(2), pages 145-170, Spring.
    3. Richards B. Freeman, 2007. "Migracje w procesie globalizacji," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 1-2, pages 99-129.
    4. Schiff, Maurice, 2007. "Optimal Immigration Policy: Permanent, Guest-Worker, or Mode IV?," IZA Discussion Papers 3083, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Martin RUHS, 2006. "The potential of temporary migration programmes in future international migration policy," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 145(1-2), pages 7-36, March.
    6. David Bartram, 2010. "The normative foundations of ‘policy implications’: reflections on international labour migration," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 24(2), pages 355-365, June.
    7. Gibney, Matthew, 2009. "Precarious Residents: Migration Control, Membership and the Rights of Non-Citizens," MPRA Paper 19190, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Irina Y. Yu & Morgan X. Yang & Haksin Chan & Bradley R. Barnes, 2022. "Promoting sustainable human resource management by reducing recruitment discrimination: A cross‐cultural perspective," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 503-512, August.
    9. Sybil Rhodes, 2022. "Migration flows and the future of democracy and world order," Academicus International Scientific Journal, Entrepreneurship Training Center Albania, issue 26, pages 116-127, July.
    10. Dong Hoang, 2019. "Labour Standards in the Global Supply Chain: Workers’ Agency and Reciprocal Exchange Perspective," Societies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-25, May.

    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:sae:woemps:v:38:y:2024:i:3:p:615-635. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    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.