Patterns of Exploitation: Understanding Migrant Worker Rights in Advanced Democracies

Migrant workers are an essential component of contemporary businesses but often lack legal protections. Patterns of Exploitation by Anna K. Boucher examines workplace violations across four major immigration countries and uses legal storytelling to document individual migrant experiences and assess the patterns of exploitation. Migrant experiences vary across ethnicity, gender, occupational sector, visa status, trade union membership, and enforcement policy, and the solutions that can best protect migrants against workplace violations are discussed.

Format: Hardback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 20 April 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

Migrant workers are a vital component of contemporary businesses, numbering an estimated 164 million globally. Despite their significant presence and importance in the global economy, migrant workers often lack the legal protections afforded to other workers. They often work in isolated sectors, lacking advocates and trade union representation, and may be undocumented, further exacerbating their ability to assert their rights. Migrant workers face a range of workplace violations, including underpayment of wages, unsafe work conditions, sexual assault, and industrial manslaughter. The extent to which this exploitation occurs varies across different countries. What factors explain the differences and similarities in migrant worker destinations?

In her book, Patterns of Exploitation, Anna K. Boucher seeks to answer these questions by examining workplace violations across four major immigration countries: the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Through a combination of interviews, the Migrant Worker Rights Database, and in-depth analysis of court cases, Boucher documents individual migrant experiences and assesses the patterns of exploitation that emerge in case narratives. Migrant experiences vary widely across factors such as ethnicity, gender, occupational sector, visa status, trade union membership, and enforcement policies, as well as the industrial relations systems within each destination country. Boucher outlines the various forms of exploitation to which migrants are subjected, discernible patterns within migrant workers' experiences, and potential solutions to protect them against workplace violations.

This unique mixed-methods approach offers a novel understanding of migrant workplace violations across diverse immigration contexts. By combining legal analysis with qualitative data, Boucher provides a comprehensive account of the challenges faced by migrant workers and the need for effective protections and remedies. Patterns of Exploitation is a valuable contribution to the literature on migrant labor and human rights, shedding light on the experiences of those who work in the shadows of the global economy.

Dimension: 235 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197599112