Perpetual Temporariness through Migration Programs: The Construction of the Perfect Neoliberal Worker - The Female Migrant Worker


Thuva Navaratnam, York University

This study delves deep into the intricate dynamics of neoliberalism, migration, and social reproduction, with a specific focus on the exploitation faced by female migrant domestic workers. The research primarily highlights the plight of racialized women from the global South, who find themselves at the receiving end of exploitation orchestrated by states in the global North, particularly Canada. Employing a Marxist political economy analysis, the study expands the theory of primitive accumulation to introduce the concept of “expansion by expulsion”, a kinetic model that elucidates how the violent processes inherent in capitalism persist in modern times, notably within the framework of neoliberalism, detrimentally affecting migrant workers by constraining them to a state of perpetual temporariness. In the realm of neoliberalism, an unprecedented level of expulsion and expansion takes place, rendering migrant workers—predominantly racialized women—as surplus labour to meet the reproduction needs of the global North. The research explores the phenomenon of “double expulsion”, where women from the global North are expelled from their homes in the form of unpaid reproductive transport labour, while women from the global South, in addition to their own social reproduction, are expelled to fulfill the social reproductive needs of the women from the global North. This process serves as a striking example of the feminization of international migration in the neoliberal era. The study delves further into the role of nationalism, borders, and othering through categorization, such as citizen or migrant worker. It underscores how policies, including Canada’s Non-Immigrant Employment Authorization Program (NIEAP) and the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP), position migrant workers as surplus and disposable entities, perpetuating a state of extreme precarity through perpetual temporariness. Within the neoliberal capitalist economy, migrant workers’ rights deliberately face limitations, transforming them into transient servants. This system efficiently serves capital by offloading social reproduction and maintaining a continuous supply of surplus labour. Simultaneously, through remittances, states in the global South, such as Mexico and the Philippines, also offload reproduction. However, this reliance on exporting labour to the global North places the global South in a disadvantageous and exploitable position, perpetuated by strategic policies implemented by the global North. Over the past quarter century, globalization and neoliberal policies have triggered significant shifts in welfare states worldwide. Robust welfare states in the global North have given way to privatization and free-market frameworks, while the global South has witnessed the fragmentation of social protection efforts. This shift has resulted in the privatization of reproduction, with female migrant labour contributing to the perpetuation of traditional gender roles and the never-ending spiral of reliance on the state for social policy. In conclusion, this research underscores the paradox of the feminization of the workforce within the context of neoliberalism, constraining migrant workers to a state of perpetual temporariness. Female migrant domestic workers, often racialized and invisible, embody the perfect neoliberal worker, concealing the gaps in state provisioning essential for the daily and generational maintenance of societies. The study emphatically calls for a critical examination of neoliberal policies and their impact on the most marginalized, advocating for a more equitable and just approach to migration and social reproduction.

This paper will be presented at the following session: