Mobility power, state and the sponsored labour regime

Anita Hammer; Ayman Adham

doi:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09500170221080373

Mobility power, state and the sponsored labour regime

Anita Hammer, Ayman Adham

Human Resource Management

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

This article draws on the ‘double indeterminacy of labour power’, a key conceptual development in labour process theory, to examine mobility power in Saudi Arabia. State control over the mobility of migrant workers is crucial to the labour process and the wider political-economy of Saudi Arabia. However, little is known about mobility–effort bargaining and the specific forms of mobility power in the Saudi context. This article argues that not only is mobility–effort bargaining at the core of capital–labour relations in Saudi Arabia, but that mobility and effort are variably controlled by different sponsors/agents of control. Importantly, the control exercised by the state, capital and other sponsors over migrants’ mobility is not absolute. Developing mobility power further, the article details the multiplicity of mobilities and labour contracts to delineate a ‘sponsored labour regime’, and highlights the underexplored role of the state, and other agents of control, in conceptualising mobility–effort bargaining.

Original language	English
Journal	Work, Employment and Society
DOIs	https://doi.org/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09500170221080373
Publication status	Published - 6 May 2022

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title = "Mobility power, state and the sponsored labour regime",

abstract = "This article draws on the {\textquoteleft}double indeterminacy of labour power{\textquoteright}, a key conceptual development in labour process theory, to examine mobility power in Saudi Arabia. State control over the mobility of migrant workers is crucial to the labour process and the wider political-economy of Saudi Arabia. However, little is known about mobility–effort bargaining and the specific forms of mobility power in the Saudi context. This article argues that not only is mobility–effort bargaining at the core of capital–labour relations in Saudi Arabia, but that mobility and effort are variably controlled by different sponsors/agents of control. Importantly, the control exercised by the state, capital and other sponsors over migrants{\textquoteright} mobility is not absolute. Developing mobility power further, the article details the multiplicity of mobilities and labour contracts to delineate a {\textquoteleft}sponsored labour regime{\textquoteright}, and highlights the underexplored role of the state, and other agents of control, in conceptualising mobility–effort bargaining.",

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Mobility power, state and the sponsored labour regime

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