France: political economy of labor migration, early 21st century

This essay is designed to explain the political economy of labor migration and immigration in France since the turn of the 21st century. In using the term “political economy,” the contribution seeks to move beyond simply a critical examination of political discourses, to encompass the interrelationship between the French government's perceived or calculated labor-market demands, and the politics and policies of the French government with respect to migration (entry) and immigration (settlement). The key argument is that that one cannot disentangle the political economy of labor migration (whether this is about “low-skilled” or “highly skilled” labor migrants) from the politics surrounding other forms of migration (such as asylum-seeking, student migration, family-oriented movement, and so forth), not least because migrants entering through nonwork channels are likely to eventually search for work, sometimes illegally, and draw to one extent or another on social services, much to the worry of successive French administrations.