A Multi-Fractured Governance: Understanding the Many Pasts and Presents of European Labor Mobilities

Abstract

This postface reviews the main findings of the nine contributions that comprise this Special Issue. Starting from current trends in migration research that critically engage with (academic) knowledge production on migration, the postface examines how the articles contribute to the further development of these perspectives. I argue that critical and reflexive approaches tend to overlook less contested physical movements such as European labor mobility. In this context, the postface contours the added value that the sociohistorical approach of this Special Issue provides. The articles invite us to broaden our analytical perspectives by incorporating issues related to social rights and social security, which have long been less considered in migration research. The postface suggests placing special emphasis on three elements that recur throughout the articles: the postcolonial legacy of categorizing European labor mobility; the particular impact of migrant agency in contesting, negotiating, and shaping the governance of labor migration; and the fragmented, contingent nature of transnational governance schemes.