Cross-Border Labor Mobility

Dowlah follows the movement of workers across national borders from the earliest systems of forced labor to the present. The early chapters cover slavery in Africa and among the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, as well as the indenture arrangements that sent Indian and Chinese laborers abroad.

Later chapters turn to guestworker programs and to labor migration today, with the United States, the European Union and the Gulf region as the main focal points. The author examines the economic and political forces behind these patterns, including the rise of hostility toward immigrants and the restrictive measures that developed countries have adopted in response.

The book also outlines several forces likely to keep cross-border mobility expanding in the years ahead. Written across multiple disciplines, it is intended for researchers, students, academics and policymakers.