Ep.11 (S4): G.Tsourapas & K.Sadiq on the transnational social contract in the Global South

The Migration Podcast

“Theoretical categories that we have had from this emphasis on South North have to be rethought, or maybe we need innovation and new categories to be introduced.” In this episode, Roos Derrix chats with Gerasimos Tsourapas and Kamal Sadiq about their latest project on the politics of South-South labour migration, and the development of a transnational social contract between states and their migrant populations. They explain how, in the context of labour migration to the Gulf Cooperation Council states, migrant agency is curtailed through surveillance and labour commodification, while novel forms of dependence are created between countries of origin and destination. Gerasimos and Kamal argue that innovative methods and further work on postcolonial migration states are needed to further untangle and to understand these practices. Kamal Sadiq is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Director of the Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of California, Irvine. Gerasimos Tsourapas is a Professor of International Relations in the School of social and political sciences at the University of Glasgow. Are you interested in reading Kamal and Gerasimos work? Look at these: Malit, F. T. and Tsourapas, G. (2021) Migration diplomacy in the Gulf – non-state actors, cross border mobility, and the United Arab Emirates. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 47(11), pp. 2556-2577. (doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2021.1878875) Malit, F. T. and Tsourapas, G. (2021) Weapons of the weak? South-south migration and power politics in the Philippines-GCC corridor. Global Studies Quarterly, 1(3), ksab010. (doi: 10.1093/ isagsq/ksab010) Sadiq, K., & Tsourapas, G. (2021). The postcolonial migration state. European Journal of International Relations, 27(3), 884-912. https://doi.org/10.1177/13540661211000114 Sadiq, K., & Tsourapas, G. (2023). The Transnational Social Contract in the Global South. International Studies Quarterly, 67(4), sqad088. https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqad088 Sadiq, K., & Tsourapas, G. (2023). Labour coercion and commodification: from the British Empire to postcolonial migration states. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2023.2269778 Tsourapas, G. (2021) Migration Diplomacy in the Middle East and North Africa: Power, Mobility, and the State. Manchester University Press: Manchester. ISBN 9781526132093 Tsourapas, G. (2020) The long arm of the Arab state. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 43(2), pp. 351-370. (doi: 10.1080/01419870.2019.1585558) The research behind this interview was funded by the UK Research and Innovation (grant reference no. EP/X019667/1) If you enjoy the Migration Podcast, please consider “liking” and “following” us. Thank you for listening!