Bringing Labour Back to Migration History: A Report on the Activities of the Working Group Labour Migration History

Abstract

While the search for (better) employment and the uneven distribution of wealth are among the principal triggers of migration worldwide, migration is often discussed as a humanitarian emergency, a social and a security problem, but rarely as a labour issue. This paper aims to foster debate on the interconnectedness of migration and labour history. Re-reading migration and labour history by exploring their interconnectedness is crucial to overcoming Eurocentric and nation-state centric approaches to labour and migration history. This paper discusses the findings of papers presented at two events organised by the ELHN Working Group Labour Migration History in 2021. The first part suggests new lines of inquiry which critically reassess Western-centric understandings and experiences of labour migration during the Cold War. The second part argues in favour of cross-disciplinary study of relations between migration, workers, and the state firmly contextualised as part of global processes of change.