Congrès Mondial des Études sur le Moyen-Orient et l'Afrique du Nord

Barcelone, du 19 au 24 julliet 2010

· NOT_DEFINED language: English / Français

· NOT_DEFINED description:

Paper presenter: Ahlame Rahmi (Doctorante en Sociologie-Laboratoire Mediteranéen de Sociologie, France), “ Le soupçon migratoire; organisation sociale et traitement politique du travail saisonnier des ouvrières marocaines en Espagne”
Actuellement au Maroc, l’envoi d’ouvrières agricoles marocaines pour les saisons de fraises à Huelva, entrant dans le registre de ce qu’on nomme « migration circulaire » tient le devant de la scène politique et médiatique. Les médias comme les politiques qui l’organisent, tant au Maroc qu’en Espagne, font de cette expérience une sorte de modèle, exemplaire et réussie de gestion des flux migratoires. La convention spécifique, signée entre l’Agence Nationale de Promotion de l’emploi et des compétences marocaine (ANAPEC) et la commune de Cartaya pour le recrutement de travailleurs saisonniers. En 2005, 1.370 femmes ont été recrutées, 2.299 en 2006, 5.115 en 2007, 12. 000 en 2008 et 16. 000 étaient prévues pour l'année 2009 mais seules 10500 ont bénéficié d'un contrat. Les conditions stipulées dans le projet sont : un CDD de 3 à 6 mois, un salaire de 34 à 37 euros/jour travaillé, la possibilité d’effectuer des heures supplémentaires rémunérées, un logement à la charge de l’employeur, un congé hebdomadaire d’un jour, le transport du lieu de résidence en Espagne au lieu de travail à la charge de l’employeur. La couverture médicale est assurée en Espagne et au Maroc seulement pendant la période de travail. Quelques chercheurs commencent à s’intéresser dans une perspective critique à ce programme. Ils dénoncent à juste titre la violence symbolique faite aux travailleurs dans le fait que, sous prétexte de recentrer l’action politique sur le thème migratoire, on la décentre de la régulation du travail, livrant alors ces femmes à des formes d’exploitation très brutales. Sans remettre en cause ces analyses, il me semble néanmoins nécessaire de questionner la construction même des évidences, l’effet de vérité de ces politiques. Car après tout, pour le dire abruptement, en quoi ces femmes sont elles des « migrantes »? En quoi ce qu’elles accomplissent, qui s’inscrit plus profondément dans la réalité des mobilités saisonnières très traditionnelles du travail agricole, serait « migration »? N’y a-t-il pas dans ces politiques des intentions dont la logique n’est pas seulement de masquer un retour au plus brutales formes de dépendance et de soumission patronale, ce qu’elles sont aussi ‘ Ce sont donc ces « effets de vérité » qu’on veut interroger ici, tant du point de vue des procédures mises en ouvre que du point de vue, souvent oublié, des projets et vécus personnels des femmes concernées.

Paper presenter: Namie Tsujigami (Research Fellow-Kobe University, Japan), “Not Just Vulnerable Victims: Foreign Domestic Workers and Their Employers in Saudi Arabia”
This paper aims to explore the power relations between foreign domestic workers and their employers in Saudi Arabia. Expanding transnational labour migration caused a worldwide phenomenon of feminization of the labour migration. The Gulf States were not exceptions. More and more Asian women continue to enter into the labour market as domestic servants. These foreign domestic workers in the Gulf have often been portrayed particularly by the media and international human rights organizations as vulnerable victims of their inhumane and exploitive employers. It is true that there are dreadful cases of slavery-like conditions including labour exploitation and human trafficking. Yet this paper proposes the necessity of closely looking at power relations between domestic workers and their employers. This study utilizes observations and interviews with both foreign domestic workers and their employers in the course of the author's fieldwork research in Saudi Arabia. The author's ethnographic qualitative research revealed that power is exercised interactively between two parties, rather than the employers being absolute master while domestic workers being a powerless victim. Both parties attempt to seek and exercise bargaining tactics and hidden strategies. This study examines how power is exercised between employers and employees based on Michel Foucault's account on power which pertains to the pervasiveness and its non-unilateral nature. Simultaneously, it attempts to integrate Albert Hirschman's theory of 'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty' in arguing the processes of negotiation and bargaining. With the concepts of exit, voice and loyalty, Hirschman explains the behavioural mechanisms of individuals, firms, organizations and states when each actor faces deteriorating situations. Finally, this study proposes that the relationship between foreign domestic workers and their employers should also be envisaged within the processes of exit, voice and loyalty. By elaborating examples of bargaining tactics and hidden strategies of both domestic workers and their employers, this paper particularly looks at how they succeed or fail to voice, develop loyalty, and as a result avoid exit.

Paper presenter: Sharon Nagy (Associated Professor-DePaul University, USA), “Families and Bachelors: social differentiation among Bahrain's migrant populations”
Based on ethnographic research among foreign residents in Bahrain, this paper examines how immigration and employment practices in the Gulf States shape the social structure of the various foreign populations resident in Bahrain and impact the personal or family status of individual residents. Comparing Arab, Indian and Filipino migration to Bahrain, the paper describes how the unique histories and circumstances of each population’s recruitment and migration to Bahrain contribute to the variable social structures within and among each of the nationalities in Bahrain. The longer standing nationalities are more complexly structured along axes of class, ethnicity and family status. Nationalities that have only recently begun to constellate in Bahrain are not (yet) as evidently divided along these axes. A major factor emerging from this comparison is the distinction between family status and single status immigration. The overwhelming majority of foreign workers are in Bahrain without family. Such workers are commonly referred to as ‘bachelors’ whether or not they are single or married. Until recently, single status workers were almost exclusively male. With the expansion of the service sector and the entry of South East and East Asian workers into the recruitment pool, single females have become ubiquitous among Bahrain’s labor force as they have among migrants globally. The balance between single and family status visa holders in the foreign population has direct impact on the personal and family lives of individual migrants and serves as an important axis of differentiation within the foreign populations resident in Bahrain.

Paper presenter: Shahira Samy (Jarvis doctorow Junior Research Fellow in International Relations and Conflict Resolution in the Middle East-University of Oxford), “Socio-political dynamics of irregular migration in the southern and eastern Mediterranean”
This presentation covers socio-political aspects associated with irregular migration (IM) in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEM) countries. The coverage and analysis provided depart from the dynamics of the phenomenon in the following countries: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. These countries experience a number of similarities and differences in their hosting of various categories of irregular migrants, particularly refugees and asylum seekers, transit and economic migrants. While the analysis departs from idiosyncrasies of each of the above countries, the main objective is to take a larger regional perspective, offering a conceptual framework for identifying and understanding the socio-political dynamics at stake in the region. It is worth noting that while much of the scholarship and available literature focus on the patterns of IM from the region, the focus here is on the situation in those countries. How state policies address problems of irregular migration in a region void of adequate protection frameworks, what aspects of irregularity are associated with the presence of large numbers of irregular migrants and how this population reacts and adapts to aspects of irregularity; are issues explored so as to conceptualize this phenomenon on a regional level. This analysis and conceptualization are based on recent research and extensive fieldwork in the countries under focus.

Paper presenter: Pelin Köklü (Research Assistant, Izmir University of Economics), "The Integration of Third-Country Nationals in Europe: Measures of the European Union and National Integration Policies of the Netherlands and Germany"
As the European Union (EU) Member States agree on the wisdom of the single economic market and desire increased economic growth, they find themselves discussing matters like immigration although this area was not originally the part of the European Union's mandate. A significant dimension of the immigration issue is the integration of third-country nationals (TCNs) living in different parts of Europe. As currently constituted, the EU possesses limited competence for issues impacting upon immigrant integration. However, with the Amsterdam Treaty, the European Commission in particular has had the possibility to develop a comprehensive and legally binding framework for the integration of TCNs even though its role has been restricted and in some cases hindered by opposition from the EU Member States. In this research, the foremost aim is to discover the role of the EU with regards to the issue of TCNs by investigating European-level initiatives, in particular the adoption of Directive 2003/109/EC which is the most recent and relevant legislation establishing the status of TCNs. I wish to state, however, that the aim of this research is not to announce a successful model of integration of TCNs in Europe. Nor is it my aim to normatively assess that one country is more successful in integration than another. Instead, the primary concern of this research is to understand the dynamics that have contributed to the adoption of Directive 2003/109/EC by the EU. By carefully examining the negotiation process of this Directive, I expect to see whether it is the Member States who influence European policies or it is the EU affecting them and contributing to the convergence of integration policies in the Member States. In order to understand this, I will try to assess whether the adoption of the Directive may be explained with the constructivist view that the Commission has a strong supranational role as a political entrepreneur that promotes common norms and values, or it is a reflection of the prevalence of intergovernmentalism and the rationalist motivations of the Member States to promote their interests when reaching a final compromise. With regards to methodological considerations, primary sources adopted by the EU institutions, together with official documents, speeches and press declarations published by the national governments of the Member States in question will be used in order to gather the necessary research data. Secondary sources related to immigration and immigrant integration will also be made use of.