The world economy is becoming ever more integrated. Goods, capital, finance, technology and information flow across borders with increasing ease. Yet most people today remain firmly fixed in particular countries. The passport is now the universal symbol mof a world in which, like the serfs of the Middle Ages, we are all tied to a single piece of soil. This book examines migration as a response to changes in the world economy. He shows that despite tighter controls, increasing numbers of workers are moving, whether legally or nor, between countries. Unskilled immigrant workers play a vital role in improving standards of living in the developed world. In turn, the countries from which they have come benefit in a major way from the earnings sent back home. Arguing that few of the fears about immigration are justified, and that increased imigration tends to mean that jobs and incomes expand, this work shows why governments will have to ensure the freedom of people to come and go as they choose.

SUBJECT CLASSIFICATION(S):
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Political economy
Labour economics
Immigration & emigration
Civil rights & citizenship

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Capitalism and migration: capitalism historically considered; the socialized state; the resumption of economic growth; international migration; a new world economy?; social crisis. The sweated trades in the developed countries: women workes and paid employment; part-time work; the low paid; home-working; child workers; illegal migration; conclusion. The sweated trades in the developing countries: the oil-producing Middle East; an cosmopolitan labour force; internationalization; fighting the labour market; the domestic helots; a world labour market. Immigration and the state: population control; immigration control in the developed countries; nationality; refugees. Social networks and migration: recruitment, destinations; occupations; politics; the homelands; the new rich. The reproduction of the labour force: substitutions; the shortage of labour; reproduction costs; too many workers or too few?; the roles of immigrants; the future; social security; immigrants. Arguments and evidence: does poverty push out the poor?; immigrants and the employment of the native-born; the pursuit of national homogeneity; an inferior people; do immigrants live on welfare?; do immigrants damage the host society?; do immigrants damage the sending society?; conclusions. The freedom to move: the structure of the world's labour force; morality and migration; the future.

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