The institutionalization of labor migration in Israel

Rebeca Raijman,Adriana Kemp

doi:10.3989/arbor.2016.777n1005

Abstract

In this paper we shed light into the process of institutionalization of labor migration in Israel. Specifically, we show the ways by which state regulations created a fertile ground for the creation of a precarious and captive labor force of non-citizens in the Israeli labor market. We focus on the following four main dimensions: (1) the policy of quotas, work permits, and subsidies; (2) the binding system which regulates employment relations; (3) the creation of an infrastructure for manpower agencies that over time became the main stakeholder in the institutionalization of labor migration; and (4) the creation of a complementary mechanism for the “discipline” and control of workers in the form of the deportation policy.

Highlights

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKSince the late 1970s, the global economy has beenWe argue that systemic features of official labor a289 characterized by liberalization of trade, services, in- migration schemes embedded in neo-liberal logics of vestment, and capital, and by transnational move- governance and institutionalized power relations be-The institutionalization of labor migration in Israel ments of people in search of better lives and employ- come powerful catalysts in the creation of an unfree ment opportunities in developed countries
Anderson (2010) suggests focusing on three main dimensions of immigration controls that lead to the emergence of “precarious” status among migrant workers: (1) the creation of categories of entrant, (2) the influencing of employment relations and, (3) the institutionalization of uncertainty
The deportation policy in Israel is sectors were assigned annually quotas, the LTC sector aimed at maximizing the state surveillance over labor has no limitations regarding work permits based on migrants’ by punishing those who do not comply with the understanding that with longer life expectancy, the the terms of employment

Summary

INTRODUCTION

We argue that systemic features of official labor a289 characterized by liberalization of trade, services, in- migration schemes embedded in neo-liberal logics of vestment, and capital, and by transnational move- governance and institutionalized power relations be-. The deportation policy in Israel is sectors were assigned annually quotas, the LTC sector aimed at maximizing the state surveillance over labor has no limitations regarding work permits based on migrants’ by punishing those who do not comply with the understanding that with longer life expectancy, the the terms of employment It is the threat need for domestic caregivers for the elderly population of deportation or “deportability” per se that effective- would only increase over the years. The policy of quotas and permits, and the system of subsidies for employing labor migrants, illustrate two important issues: first, the state’s commitment to providing a cheap and unprotected labor force to Israeli employers; and second, the creation of conditions for preferring labor migrants over Palestinian. The influencing of employment relations these laws enables them to be applied without discrimination to all inhabitants of Israel, regardless of

The Binding System

The Institutionalization of Uncertainty

Findings

CONCLUSIONS