Abstract
This chapter addresses the experiences of skilled migrant women in the labour market and how these are linked to issues of citizenship. I begin by discussing different concepts of citizenship, the relation between citizenship and paid work, and its impact on migrant women. Then I present two cases studies, of migrant women of Turkish background1 in which I discuss the obstacles they encountered in having their skills recognized in Britain and Germany. While these obstacles are a common experience for migrant women, my case studies focus on how the interviewees overcame these difficulties. I examine the resources they mobilized to realize their skills and access a skilled labor market, and thus highlight women’s agency. I look at their agency in the context of gendered and ethnocised processes of skilling, de-skilling and re-skilling. In earlier feminist debates the gendered division in the social construction of skill and professionality has been pointed out (Cockburn, 1986; Philipps & Taylor, 1986; Witz, 1992), here I would like to include the dimension of migration and ethnicity in the social construction of skill.
Who can be regarded as a citizen? Which boundaries separate citizens from those partially or wholly excluded from citizenship? Thus citizenship is not only seen as changing and evolving over time, but as a contested concept, which can at any stage of social development be invoked by those excluded, if the rights of citizens come to be seen as merely privileges lacking legitimation. (Bauböck, 1991, p. 15)
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Erel, U. (2003). Skilled migrant women and citizenship. In: Morokvasic, M., Erel, U., Shinozaki, K. (eds) Crossing Borders and Shifting Boundaries. Schriftenreihe der Internationalen Frauenuniversität »Technik und Kultur«, vol 10. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-09529-3_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-09529-3_12
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