Contents
Acknowledgments
vii
Abbreviations
xi
Chapter 1
The Rights of Migrant Workers: Reframing the Debate
1
Aims and Approach of the Book
2
Outline of the Chapters and Main Arguments
4
Terminology and Scope of This Book
10
Chapter 2
The Human Rights of Migrant Workers: Why Do So Few Countries Care?
13
International Migrant Rights Conventions
Ratification: Record and Obstacles
16
Effectiveness
22
Migrant Rights, Citizenship Rights, and Immigration Policy
23
Chapter 3
Nation-States, Labor Immigration, and Migrant Rights: What Can We Expect?
26
The Objectives of Labor Immigration Policy
Constraints and Variations in the Migration State
33
Three Hypotheses
39
Chapter 4
An Empirical Analysis of Labor Immigration Programs in Forty-Six Countries
53
Existing Research and the Scope of My Analysis
Indicators for Measuring Openness to Labor Immigration
59
Indicators for Measuring Migrant Rights
65
Methods, Data, and Limitations
71
Openness to Labor Immigration
74
Migrant Rights
80
Summary of Findings
87
Chapter 5
Regulating the Admission and Rights of Migrant Workers: Policy Rationales in High-Income Countries
91
Explaining Greater Openness to Higher-Skilled Migrant Workers
Why More Rights for Skilled Migrant Workers?
104
Explaining Trade-Offs between Openness and Rights
111
The National Interest: Expected Impacts Drive Labor Immigration Policies
120
Chapter 6
Labor Emigration and Rights Abroad: The Perspectives of Migrants and Their Countries of Origin
122
Migrants: Emigration, Rights, and Human Development
Sending Countries: Interests and Policy Choices
134
Engaging with Trade-Offs
152
Chapter 7
The Ethics of Labor Immigration Policy
154
What Consequences Should National Policymakers Care about, and for Whom?
156
The Ethics of Temporary Labor Immigration Programs
166
What Rights Restrictions Are Justifiable, and for How Long?
172
Making Temporary Migration Programs Work
178
Summary: The Case for Tolerating Some Trade-Offs between Openness and Rights
185
Chapter 8
The Price of Rights: What Next for Human Rights–Based Approaches to International Labor Migration?
187
Blind Spots and Unintended Consequences of Human Rights
189
UN Agencies’ Reluctant Engagement with the Price of Rights
191
Reframing the Human Rights–Based Approach to Migration
196
Open Debate
199
Appendix 1 Tables A.1–10
201
Appendix 2 Overview of Openness Indicators
217
Appendix 3 Overview of Migrant Rights Indicators
221
References
227
Index
243
