We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, February 21, 2013

The Migration and Labor Question Today: Imperialism, Unequal Development, and Forced Migration

Click here to access article by Raúl Delgado Wise from Monthly Review

The author explains, unfortunately in academese, that one of the deleterious effects of neo-liberalism is the prevalence of highly vulnerable populations forced to move in a desperate search for a means of support both within countries and across national borders. While always seeking profitable opportunities, capitalist agents have, for themselves, to a considerable extent succeeded in the elimination of national barriers to better exploit the cheapest labor available throughout the world. On the other hand, workers removed from the social supports provided by their original communities and governments are placed in extremely precarious life circumstances, and thus, easily preyed upon by global corporations. Likewise, in their migrations workers are subject to rigorous control under border policies of governments who serve neoliberal interests. 
The conditions under which forced migrations develop involve multiple risks and dangers, particularly in the case of the most vulnerable groups. These involve permanent exposure to conditions of labor insecurity and instability, and social exclusion in host societies. Furthermore, as has been mentioned, international migration is increasingly subjected to criminalization policies and practices, racialization, and race- and gender-based discrimination, which not only increases vulnerabilities and risk, but also often endangers life itself.