Volume 12, 2003

Issue N. 1-2: Gender, Migration and Governance in Asia

Keiko Yamanaka and Nicola Piper

An Introductory Overview

Nicola Piper

"Bridging Gender, Migration and Governance: Theoretical Possibilities in the Asian Context," Vol. 12 (1-2), p. 1-48, 2003

This paper examines international labor migration within the broader framework of social justice and ‘politics of migration’ from a ‘bottom up perspective.’ In view of governments’ inability or lack of political will to deal with labor migration issues from the perspective of migrant workers’ well-being, it is very much up to non-state actors, such as NGOs, to take up the role as advocates to assert pressure on policymakers. Conceptually, this links up with the extensive literature on the revival of civil society and social movements, in a national as well as transnational setting. These linkages (between governmental or elite politics and civil society activism) in the context of international migration have not been explored sufficiently by existing scholarship and need to be integrated into a new normative framework to migration studies. Also, the issue of states’ failure in addressing social issues raised by much of the literature on globalization is of importance in this context. At each of these levels, there are gender implications. The international women’s movement and feminist contributions in development studies can serve as a model for migration scholars and activists.

Christine B.N. Chin
"Visible Bodies, Invisible Work: State Practices Toward Migrant Women Domestic Workers in Malaysia," Vol. 12 (1-2), p. 49-74, 2003
 

The changing characteristics of labor migration in Asia today elicit an important question regarding the nature and consequences of state involvement in the entry and employment of low wage migrant workers. This paper offers an analysis of the labor-receiving state's practices toward migrant women domestic workers in Malaysia. I ascertain that the exercise of a particular kind of state power as evinced from policies and legislation, consistently make visible migrant womens' presence in society even as their labor in households is rendered invisible. A key consequence of this is the fragmentation of public support for migrant workers, and the contraction of what can be considered legitimate space for Malaysian NGO advocacy on migrant labor rights. To counteract this, some NGOs have adopted alternative strategies and targets that begin to reveal the possibility for constructing alternative forms of governance.

Shirlena Huang and Brenda S.A. Yeoh
"The Difference Gender Makes: State Policy and Contract Migrant Workers in Singapore," Vol. 12 (1-2), p. 75-98, 2003

The increasing numbers of men and women involved in international labor migration at all skill levels have raised crucial policy issues and concerns for both sending and receiving countries, not only in the area of migration and employment legislation, but also in terms of how migrant workers are positioned within the larger society. Using the case of Singapore, we adopt a gendered analysis to examine the central role of state policies and practices in the incorporation vis-à-vis non-incorporation of male versus female contract migrant workers into Singapore society, in terms of their differential access to legal protection; the differential effects of state medical surveillance of their bodies; the different ways in which their ‘skills’ are valorized; as well as differences in the efforts invested into the social control of these workers in public space.

Pei-Chia Lan
"Political and Social Geography of Marginal Insiders: Migrant Domestic Workers in Taiwan," Vol. 12 (1-2), p. 99-126, 2003
 

This paper looks at the incorporation and marginalization of female migrant domestic workers in Taiwan. The first part sketches the political geography of foreign workers by examining how the government regulates, marginalizes, and disciplines foreign contract workers. The second part portrays the social geography of migrant domestic workers in Taiwan by discussing how they establish multiple forms of communities and networks. I also compare Filipina and Indonesian migrant domestic workers in terms of how they are discursively constructed by employment agencies and how they gather in different spatial patterns on Sundays.

Hye-Kyung Lee
127 Gender, Migration and Civil Activism in South Korea," Vol. 12 (1-2), p. 127-154, 2003
 

Since the late 1980s, Korea has experienced an influx of migrant workers from neighboring Asian countries. The total number of migrant workers in 1990 was less than 20,000, but rose to 340,000 in 2002. International migration in South Korea shows less extensive feminization than in comparable receiving countries in East Asia. This paper examines why female migration, which accounts for only 30-35 percent of all migrant workers, is less extensive in South Korea, and why domestic work, the major occupation which has accelerated female migration in the region, is not popular in South Korea. It also assesses the current state of migrant and civil society movements providing assistance to migrant women in South Korea. Although the number of these NGOs is small, their activities have highlighted the problems and issues in international marriages and the entry of foreign female entertainers in the sex industry. The paper argues that civil movements for migrant women have contributed to reconsiderations of notions of nationality and citizenship in Korea.

Keiko Yamanaka
"Feminized Migration, Community Activism and Grassroots Transnationalization in Japan," Vol. 12 (1-2), p. 155-188, 2003
 

Japan’s 1990 revised immigration law established a renewable ‘long-term resident’ visa category for non-citizens with Japanese ancestry (Nikkeijin) and their dependents. By the mid-1990s, this had resulted in an influx of more than 200,000 Nikkeijin workers, most of them from Brazil, of whom more than 40 percent were female. In the absence of governmental policy to incorporate immigrants into the nation’s political and legal structure, Brazilian children growing up in Japan have encountered great difficulty in acquiring an adequate education. In response, a group of Brazilian mothers founded an organization, ALA Brasil, to help their children cope with study in a public school in Hamamatsu, Japan. In so doing, they collaborated with Japanese parents, teachers, local administrators and community activists, many of whom were also women. Global migration has thus brought dedicated citizens and non-citizens together in pursuit of shared goals, stimulating among them multicultural awareness and grassroots activism. In this process, gender has been found to play a pivotal role. This underlines the importance of gender analysis in achieving an understanding of social processes that can lead to the expanded participation of women in public roles in this era of decentralized power.

DISCUSSION NOTES
 

Tri Nuke Pudjiastuti
"The Changing Roles of NGOs in Relation to Female Indonesian Labor Migration," Vol. 12 (1-2), p. 189-208, 2003
 

The patterns and processes of female labor migration from Indonesia to major destination countries are extremely complex, as are the related gender issues. The high demand for female labor migrants, rapid economic growth in destination countries and the current socio-economic situation in Indonesia have resulted in greater priority being given to meeting government targets for female labor export than to protecting the female labor migrants themselves. The very nature of domestic work puts unskilled females in a highly unequal power relationship with recruiters, agencies and employers in the destination countries. Each change in the Indonesian government and its policies toward migrants gives new opportunities for NGOs to carve out roles for themselves in community development. Even though female labor migration only concerns a few NGOs in Indonesia, their role – in defining the issues, approaches, strategies and ideologies surrounding Indonesian female migration – is widening and evolving, leading them to develop new modes of collaboration between government and non-governmental institutions.

Shreen Saroor
Advocating for the Voting Rights of Sri Lankan Migrant Workers," Vol. 12 (1-2), p. 209-216, 2003

Labor migration from Sri Lanka has been dominated by women migrant workers who take up domestic work, mostly in the Middle East. Remittances from women migrant workers have been a major boon to Sri Lanka’s economy. However, the social costs of female migration have also been considerable. Migrant NGOs have advocated to effect changes to protect the rights of women migrants. In 2000, a migrant NGO started the campaign to extend voting rights to migrant workers as a means to improve their leverage to influence policy making. The campaign has gained the support of different political parties and government agencies.

DOCUMENTATION

"Labor Migration Ministerial Consultations for Countries of Origin in Asia," Vol. 12 (1-2), p. 217-222, 2003



BOOK REVIEWS

L. Ling-chi Wang

"Dreaming of Gold, Dreaming of Home: Transnationalism and Migration Between the United States and South China, 1882-1943"
By Madeline Yuan-yin Hsu, Vol. 12 (1-2), p. 223-227, 2003

Carmen Voigt-Graf
"Age Narrative and Migration: The Life Course and Life Histories of Bengali Elders"
By Katy Gardner, Vol. 12 (1-2), p. 228-230, 2002

A. Gary Dworkin

"India’s Missed Opportunity: India’s Relationship with Non-Resident Indians"
By M.C. Lall, Vol. 11 (3), p. 231-232, 2003

Janet Salaff
"Muslims in the Diaspora: Somali Communities of London and Toronto"
By Rina Berns McGown, Vol. 11 (3), p. 233-234, 2003