ABSTRACT

Temporary labour migration might be one of the most easily recognised forms of migration, yet the ostensible straightforwardness of its three inherent components also makes it one of the most illusive ones. Although many studies do focus on migrant workers with temporary work visas, undertaking hard labour over long hours and with limited rights, others take a much broader approach and include virtually any person migrating to another country for the purpose of finding employment. The primary aim of this chapter is to disentangle the three different components that make up the concept and, by doing so, argue that each in their own way builds on problematic assumptions. These assumptions tend to replicate the way receiving nations organise and manage their inflow of migrants through highly specific categories. By taking a critical approach to the way migration research is generally organised along the lines drawn by migration regimes of receiving nations, this chapter contributes to a growing awareness that this is ultimately an inadequate way of understanding migration.