Women's labour migration in the context of globalisation

Migration is an integral part of today`s process of global economic, social and political integration. Nowadays, no country in the world is unaffected by migration. There are diverse reasons and causes for migrating, but labour migration driven by large economic and social inequalities in the world is a key aspect in this context.

Today, large Transnational Corporations (TNCs) drive and control the production and trade of goods and services and technological development all over the world.Factories are closed and reopened in new areas or countries, natural resources and common goods are privatised, traditional knowledge is patented, agricultural production is ‘modernised’ through export orientation, and labour is exploited in both the formal and informal economies.

In particular migrant women are affected by these immense economic restructuring processes in many ways. Growing unemployment and underemployment, reduced social services, labour displacement, increasing poverty and inequality, and violence against women have created and will continue to create rising pressure on women to look for new survival strategies for themselves and their families in foreign countries.


The report Women's labour migration in the context of globalisation offers an introduction to important contemporary political analysis on the influence of globalisation on women`s work, mobility and empowerment.