Abstract
What is the role of the state in gendering transnational migration? Although a central question to studies of the migration-gender nexus, our existing knowledge concerning this relationship is still rudimentary. In the few studies that have sought to uncover this dynamic, the focus has been on the role of the sending countries. By contrast, our general knowledge of the role that receiving states and their migration policies play in this process is less profound. How do their policies gender migratory flows? Are the instrument formulations intentional or unintentional?
This chapter seeks to offer some insights to these two questions by looking at the most recent European Union (EU) migration instrument known as the mobility partnerships. Presented by the European Commission in 2007 as a new instrument for implementing the global approach to migration, EU mobility partnerships are specific arrangements – covering a broad range of issues – established by certain member states and chosen third countries to facilitate circular migration.
This chapter shows that the techniques embodied in these mobility partnerships gender migratory flows by tailoring programmes according to the labour market demands of the receiving countries. At the same time, given the strong European emphasis on maintaining security through cooperation with key transit and sending countries, there are few alternatives for migrants to legally enter and reside in the EU. The implication of this is that EU migration policies may actually contribute to furthering gender stereotypes and their associated negative consequences.
More
EU Mobility Partnerships and Gender: Origin and Implications
Meng-Hsuan Chou
DOI: 10.1108/S2041-806X(2012)0000010006
in Ragnhild Aslaug Sollund (ed.)
Transnational Migration, Gender and Rights
Advances in Ecopolitics, Volume 10, pp.11-31
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
ISBN: 978-1-78052-202-9