IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-04693081.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

‘Fettered mobility’ and translocality: Irregular farm workers and the informal labour market in rural Taiwan

Author

Listed:
  • Isabelle Cockel

    (University of Portsmouth)

  • Beatrice Zani

    (LISE - Laboratoire interdisciplinaire pour la sociologie économique - Cnam - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [Cnam] - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Jonathan Parhusip

    (NYCU - National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University [Taipei])

Abstract

Investigating the multi-layered mobility of Southeast Asian irregular farm workers in rural Taiwan, this article examines the formation of their mobility in a physical, geographical, occupational and socio-economic sense. Focusing on frequent movement in these four aspects, this article coins the term ‘fettered mobility' for workers' constant relocation in the villages' informal farm labour market. In tandem with the focus of this Special Issue on the ongoing transformations of migration at the crossroad between the legal, social and economic obstacles dictated by nation states and the market, and new patterns of movement, this article shows how ‘fettered mobility' is an unintentional result of the Taiwanese state's mobility regime, which regulates foreign nationals' mobility by categorizing a hierarchical legal status. Fettered mobility is facilitated by the translocal migrant community constituted by the co-ethnic link between migrant workers and migrant spouse farmers, and also by the inter-ethnic link between the migrant community on the one hand and Taiwanese farmers and unlicensed brokers on the other. When migration is reconfiguring at a global, regional and local scale, fettered mobility is an assemblage in which the state, market and individual amalgamate into a networked, mobile, irregular and precarious labour force in which unprotected migrant workers are vulnerable to the state's power to repatriate. Repatriation is an omnipresent threat, and anyone who knows of a migrant worker's fettered mobility can put an end to their migration. Presenting fettered mobility as an assemblage, this article enriches the ongoing debate on the relationship between mobility and immobility and underlines its conditionality and instability.

Suggested Citation

  • Isabelle Cockel & Beatrice Zani & Jonathan Parhusip, 2024. "‘Fettered mobility’ and translocality: Irregular farm workers and the informal labour market in rural Taiwan," Post-Print hal-04693081, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04693081
    DOI: 10.1386/tjtm_00060_1
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://cnam.hal.science/hal-04693081v1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cnam.hal.science/hal-04693081v1/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1386/tjtm_00060_1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Douglas S. Massey, 1990. "The Social and Economic Origins of Immigration," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 510(1), pages 60-72, July.
    2. Colin C. Williams & Jan Windebank, 2002. "The Uneven Geographies of Informal Economic Activities: a Case Study of Two British Cities," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 16(2), pages 231-250, June.
    3. Weiqiang Lin & Johan Lindquist & Biao Xiang & Brenda S. A. Yeoh, 2017. "Migration infrastructures and the production of migrant mobilities," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 167-174, March.
    4. Hwei‐Lin Chuang & Ning Hsieh & Eric S. Lin, 2010. "Labour Market Activity Of Foreign Spouses In Taiwan: Employment Status And Choice Of Employment Sector," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(4), pages 505-531, October.
    5. Linda McDowell & Adina Batnitzky & Sarah Dyer, 2007. "Division, Segmentation, and Interpellation: The Embodied Labors of Migrant Workers in a Greater London Hotel," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 83(1), pages 1-25, January.
    6. Cristina E. Bradatan & Dumitru Sandu, 2012. "Before Crisis: Gender and Economic Outcomes of the Two Largest Immigrant Communities in Spain," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 221-243, March.
    7. Biao Xiang & Johan Lindquist, 2014. "Migration Infrastructure," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48, pages 122-148, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Niels van Doorn & Darsana Vijay, 2024. "Gig work as migrant work: The platformization of migration infrastructure," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 56(4), pages 1129-1149, June.
    2. Nomkhosi A. Mbatha & Leah Koskimaki, 2024. "Temporalities of Arrival: Burundian Barbershops as an Arrival Infrastructure in a South African Township," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9.
    3. Lieke van der Veer, 2024. "“Activism Is a Good Means to Connect Things”: Brokering as World-Making Against Competitive Tendering in Newcomer Support," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9.
    4. Heike Hanhörster & Susanne Wessendorf, 2020. "The Role of Arrival Areas for Migrant Integration and Resource Access," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 1-10.
    5. Chloe Tarrabain & Robyn Thomas, 2024. "The Dynamics of Control of Migrant Agency Workers: Over-Recruitment, ‘The Bitchlist’ and the Enterprising-Self," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(1), pages 27-43, February.
    6. Lei Niu & Lulu Yuan & Zhongmin Ding & Yifu Zhao, 2023. "How Do Support Pressure and Urban Housing Purchase Affect the Homecoming Decisions of Rural Migrant Workers? Evidence from Rural China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-28, July.
    7. Elaine Swan & Rick Flowers, 2018. "Lasting Impressions: Ethnic Food Tour Guides and Body Work in Southwestern Sydney," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 24-41, January.
    8. Ian Clark & Trevor Colling, 2018. "Work in Britain's Informal Economy: Learning from Road†Side Hand Car Washes," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(2), pages 320-341, June.
    9. Weiqiang Lin & Johan Lindquist & Biao Xiang & Brenda S. A. Yeoh, 2017. "Migration infrastructures and the production of migrant mobilities," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 167-174, March.
    10. Zhang, Qi & Jin, Cai & Cao, Jing & Hu, Jing & Dai, Chun & Bilsborrow, Richard E. & Li, Tan & Song, Conghe, 2025. "Understanding the role of land attachment in the emergence of hollow villages based on the agent-based complex system framework," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    11. Allen Scott, 2008. "Production and work in the American metropolis: a macroscopic approach," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 42(4), pages 787-805, December.
    12. Rydzik, Agnieszka & Kissoon, Chavan Sharma, 2022. "The shaping of the neoliberal worker: Socialisation of young adults through flexible hospitality work," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    13. Negar Elodie Behzadi & Lucia Direnberger, 2022. "Inégalités socio-spatiales et imbrications des rapports de pouvoir," Post-Print halshs-03508261, HAL.
    14. Jiyoung Park & Seongwoo Lee & Jonghoon Park, 2024. "The Economic Decision of International Migration: Two Empirical Evidences from the United States and Canada," Economies, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-21, August.
    15. José María Martín Martín & Juan De Dios Jiménez Aguilera, 2017. "Socioeconomic Factors of Immigrants’ Location Choices. Evidence for the South of Europe," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-14, May.
    16. repec:osf:osfxxx:z6wyn_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Terence Gomez & Pietro Masina & Silvia Vignato, 2020. "“Development and Transformation in Southeast Asia: The Political Economy of Equitable Growth”," Post-Print halshs-03151964, HAL.
    18. Pankaj C. Patel & Cornelius A. Rietveld & Jack I. Richter, 2022. "The relation between public assistance and self-employment in census tracts: a long-term perspective," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 891-927, July.
    19. Shafei Gu & Eric Fong, 2022. "Migration from Muslim-Majority Countries: A Tale of Two Patterns," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(4), pages 1853-1872, August.
    20. Carola Vasileiadi & Thomas Swerts, 2024. "Keeping Faith: Faith-Based Organizations as Urban Migration Infrastructures for Illegalized Migrants in Rotterdam," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9.
    21. Huw Vasey, 2017. "The Emergence of a Low-Skill Migrant Labour Market: Structural Constraints, Discourses of Difference and Blocked Mobility," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 863-879, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04693081. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.