Blockseminar mit Einführungssitzung International labour migration in the non West The case of labour migration to the Arab Gulf countries

It is commonly acknowledged that international migration is an important phenomenon having economic, social and political impacts on sending and receiving countries and that especially international labour migration should be considered as a central element of the global labour market. A review of the widespread literature on international migration reveals, however, that the academic interest has been largely focussing on East-West or South-North migration, especially on migration to Europe and North America. In contrast, South-South migration in general and the migration in, from or to the Middle East in specific gained relatively less attention. The aim of this course is to pay close attention to labour migration to the Arab Gulf countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) which together constitute one of the largest regions in the world receiving migrants and which host a relatively large number of temporary migrant workers. The course will elaborate the historical development of labour migration to the Arab Gulf region, its economic impact and political and legal regulation as well as its socio-spatial and class aspects.   At the end of the course students should be familiar with international migration flows and the related theories of international migration and know how the region of the Middle East in general and the Arab Gulf region in specific could be situated within the broader process of international migration. More specifically, after having attended the course students should be able to have basic knowledge on the history of labour migration to and the political and legal regulation of labour migration in the Arab Gulf region. In addition, they should be able (1) to assess economic, socio-spatial and class aspects of labour migration to the region; (2) to critically evaluate the working and living conditions of migrant workers, the differences between nationals and migrant workers as well the differences within the migrant working class itself and; (3) to elucidate what the contradiction between the heavy dependence on migrant workers on the one hand and the political efforts of nationalising the labour force on the other hand means for the monarchies of Arab Gulf countries. Basic reading   Mehran Kamrawa and Zahra Babar (eds) (2012). Migrant labor in the Persian Gulf, London: Hurst. Abdulhadi Khalaf, Omar AlShebabi and Adam Hanieh (eds) (2015). Transit states. Labour, migration and citizenship in the Gulf, London: Pluto Press. FB 05 Gesellschaftswissenschaften Uni Kassel WiSe 2016/17 Global Political Economy Yalcin Serhat