Temporary Migration: Category of Analysis and Category of Practice

Abstract

This paper builds on the line of research that focuses specifically on temporary migration, on one hand, and on the interplay between drivers and agency on the other. The paper develops an analytical framework that seeks to make sense of the role of policies on one hand, and of migrant agency, on the other in the increasing prevalence of different forms of temporary migration. The paper looks therefore at temporariness as a policy category, and as a category of practice. As a policy category, the paper examines the role of the state or of international conventions that regulate migration and distinguishes among forced temporariness (refugees, people seeking temporary international protection); regulated temporariness: people who come as seasonal or temporary migrants for a limited period of time; and flexible temporariness: people who can circulate relatively freely within a given world region – within what is called ‘an enhanced mobility regime’ (such as the EU, or NAFTA, MERCOSUR or also ECOWAS). Looking at temporary migration as a category of practice, the paper explores the relationship between temporary migration and migrant agency: is temporariness intentional, planned or befallen upon the migrant? How do migrants react to the opportunities and limitations forced upon them by policies and other structural factors (labour markets). How do they work around them? Does it make sense to distinguish between planned temporariness and unplanned/unforeseen or open-ended temporariness, where the initial intention is not fully thought through? The paper aims at building an analytical framework for better understanding temporary migration and uses examples from different countries and programs to illustrate the theoretical arguments.