MACMILLAN Cross-Border Labor Mobility: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

This book presents a comprehensive review of cross-border labor mobility from the ancient forms of slavery to the present day. The book covers African and Amerindian slaveries, indentured servitude of the Indians and the Chinese, guestworker programs, and contemporary labor migration focusing on the United States, the European Union, and the Gulf Region. The book highlights the economics and politics that condition such trends and patterns by addressing growing anti-immigrant sentiments, as well as restrictive measures in the developed world, and outlines inexorable forces that are likely to propel further expansion of cross-border mobility in the future.   This multidisciplinary volume provides a highly dependable scholarly reference to researchers, students, academics as well as policy makers. Review “In this masterful volume, Caf Dowlah conveys the historical panorama not only of slavery and indentured labor, but also of human tides drawn by economic opportunity and evicted by civil war.  Essential reading for a critical but neglected facet of globalization.” (Gary Clyde Hufbauer, Senior Fellow, the Peterson Institute for International Economics) “Caf Dowlah brings a big-picture perspective to the study of labor market dynamics across borders and through time. This global, long-term perspective helps reveal important structural factors and nuances that are much harder to bring into focus when the aperture of inquiry is set to a narrower gauge. This is an important work for anyone thinking about why labor, migration and markets are regulated the way they are today.” (James Cockayne, Director, United Nations University Centre for Policy Research) “In this brilliant work, Caf Dowlah leads us to a fascinating tour of the third leg of economic globalization―cross-border mobility of labor―reappraising and re-excavating many of the enduring questions of dignity of labor beginning from the ancient civilizations to the contemporary world. A must read for anyone interested in the discourses on the progress of human civilization, industrialization, and capital accumulation over the centuries.” (Paul Marchese, Professor and former Provost and Vice-President for Academic Affairs, Queensborough College of the City University of New York, USA) From the Back Cover This book presents a comprehensive review of cross-border labor mobility from the ancient forms of slavery to the present day. The book covers African and Amerindian slaveries, indentured servitude of the Indians and the Chinese, guestworker programs, and contemporary labor migration focusing on the United States, the European Union, and the Gulf Region. The book highlights the economics and politics that condition such trends and patterns by addressing growing anti-immigrant sentiments as well as restrictive measures in the developed world and outlining inexorable forces that are likely to propel further expansion of cross-border mobility in the future.   This multidisciplinary volume provides a highly dependable scholarly reference to researchers, students, academics as well as policy makers. About the Author Caf Dowlah, currently a consultant with the Development and Modern Slavery Project of the United Nations, is a former professor of economics with the City University of New York. He has also taught at several other colleges and universities in the United States, Japan and Bangladesh, and has worked with the World Bank, the UNDP, and the World Food Program in advisory and consultancy capacities.