Overview

For several decades, wealthy states, international development agencies and multinational corporations have encouraged labour migration from the Global South to the Global North. As well as providing essential workers to support the transformation of advanced economies, the remittances that migrants send home have been touted as the most promising means of national development for poor and undeveloped countries. As Immanuel Ness argues in this sharp corrective to conventional wisdom, temporary labour migration represents the most recent form of economic imperialism and global domination. A closer look at the economic and social evidence demonstrates that remittances deepen economic exploitation, unravel societal stability and significantly expand economic inequality between poor and rich societies. The book exposes the damaging political, economic and social effects of migration on origin countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and how border and security mechanisms control and marginalize low-wage migrant workers, especially women and youth. Ness asserts that remittances do not bring growth to poor countries but extend national dependence on the export of migrant workers, leading to warped and unequal development on the global periphery. This expert take will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of migration and development across the social sciences.

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9781509553990

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Reviews

“Whether named colonialism, neocolonialism or globalization, imperialism still organizes much of the world economy. This book systematically locates labour migration within the capitalist imperialism that overdetermines it . . . thereby adding an overdue critical perspective to the study of labour migration.” Richard D. Wolff, The New School, New York “In this insightful critique of the migration‒development nexus, Ness argues for rethinking migration as a benefit to sending countries. Through a global economic imperialism lens, he proposes that labor migration is one more peg in the extractive history of wealthy countries, further disempowering poorer sending countries. This meaningful intervention in debates about labour migration will be of great interest and will be read widely.” Cecilia Menjívar, University of California, Los Angeles “Manny Ness is a tireless labor historian whose many works occupy significant space on any well-stocked bookshelf. His latest release […] shows that there is an urgent need to tie [migration and imperialism] together.” LeftTwoThree “In this well researched and informative book, Ness digs into multiple facets of the global economy of migration. […] The essential role of migrant labor in global capitalism tends to be underappreciated, and Ness performs a valuable service in exposing the widespread and destabilizing dynamics of that process.” Counterpunch “There is a need to revive and update the theory of unequal exchange and dependency theory in general to the features of twenty-first-century capitalism. Ness’s book is an important contribution to this task.” Monthly Review “It has become politically fashionable in both the US and western Europe to scapegoat the most desperate victims of economic crisis, while continuing to implement the policies that cause the problem. These images of desperation are shown to be the tip of the iceberg in Migration as Economic Imperialism.” Hollywood Progressive “Ness’s book effectively challenges […] triumphalist views, showing the growth in migration rates to be a direct consequence of entrenched social inequalities fueled by neo-liberal economic policies, which yield little benefit for countries in the Global South.” Jeremy Kuzmarov, CovertAction Magazine

‘Whether named colonialism, neocolonialism or globalization, imperialism still organizes much of the world economy. This book systematically locates labour migration within the capitalist imperialism that overdetermines it . . . thereby adding an overdue critical perspective to the study of labour migration.’ Richard D. Wolff, The New School, New York ‘In this insightful critique of the migration‒development nexus, Ness argues for rethinking migration as a benefit to sending countries. Through a global economic imperialism lens, he proposes that labor migration is one more peg in the extractive history of wealthy countries, further disempowering poorer sending countries. This meaningful intervention in debates about labour migration will be of great interest and will be read widely.’ Cecilia Menjívar, University of California, Los Angeles

‘Whether named colonialism, neocolonialism or globalization, imperialism still organizes much of the world economy. This book systematically locates labour migration within the capitalist imperialism that overdetermines it . . . thereby adding an overdue critical perspective to the study of labour migration.’ Richard D. Wolff, The New School, New York ‘In this insightful critique of the migration‒development nexus, Ness argues for rethinking migration as a benefit to sending countries. Through a global economic imperialism lens, he proposes that labor migration is one more peg in the extractive history of wealthy countries, further disempowering poorer sending countries. This meaningful intervention in debates about labour migration will be of great interest and will be read widely.’ Cecilia Menjívar, University of California, Los Angeles ‘Manny Ness is a tireless labor historian whose many works occupy significant space on any well-stocked bookshelf. His latest release […] shows that there is an urgent need to tie [migration and imperialism] together.’ LeftTwoThree

Author Information

Immanuel Ness is Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College, City University of New York and Visiting Professor of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg.

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