Migration and Irregular Work in Europe (MIGIWE)

While irregular migrant labour has attracted considerable attention in public discourse, to date there is little systematic, let alone comparative, European research on the topic. However, the growing complexity and dynamics of irregular labour migration movements in an ever-wider European space constitute an important aspect of social reality today and merit a concentrated effort of scientific research at European level. At the same time, the latest round of EU enlargement is likely to entail significant changes in the structure and dynamics of irregular migration patterns and irregular foreign employment across the EU-25 - both in "old" and "new" EU states - as well as in non-EU states. Moreover, new evidence suggests that existing, apparently unrelated, patterns of irregular labour migration are in fact interrelated, though in complex and as yet little understood ways. This project therefore aims to fill several large gaps in social science research, both on the national and international levels, and to contribute to two disciplines: migration research and labour market research. At the national level, the researchers will employ three compatible research approaches - secondary data analysis, expert interviews and narrative interviews with irregular migrant workers. At the international level, the Austrian research team will collaborate closely with their European partners from "old", "new" and non-EU Member States (IMES - Netherlands, SFM - Switzerland, CeSPI - Italy, efms - Germany, CEFMR - Poland, GES - Spain, Charles University - Czech Republic, Panta Rhei - Hungary) to ensure comparability of national results and to develop comparative international perspectives and insights. In doing so, the Austrian research team, which has considerable experience in researching "clandestine migration" and has initiated and coordinated the current research proposal among the European partners, proposes to further act as a coordinator of this European Collaborative Research Project in the Social Sciences.

While irregular migrant labour has attracted considerable attention in public discourse, to date there is little systematic, let alone comparative, European research on the topic. However, the growing complexity and dynamics of irregular labour migration movements in an ever-wider European space constitute an important aspect of social reality today and merit a concentrated effort of scientific research at European level. At the same time, the latest round of EU enlargement is likely to entail significant changes in the structure and dynamics of irregular migration patterns and irregular foreign employment across the EU-25 - both in "old" and "new" EU states - as well as in non-EU states. Moreover, new evidence suggests that existing, apparently unrelated, patterns of irregular labour migration are in fact interrelated, though in complex and as yet little understood ways. This project therefore aims to fill several large gaps in social science research, both on the national and international levels, and to contribute to two disciplines: migration research and labour market research. At the national level, the researchers will employ three compatible research approaches - secondary data analysis, expert interviews and narrative interviews with irregular migrant workers. At the international level, the Austrian research team will collaborate closely with their European partners from "old", "new" and non-EU Member States (IMES - Netherlands, SFM - Switzerland, CeSPI - Italy, efms - Germany, CEFMR - Poland, GES - Spain, Charles University - Czech Republic, Panta Rhei - Hungary) to ensure comparability of national results and to develop comparative international perspectives and insights. In doing so, the Austrian research team, which has considerable experience in researching "clandestine migration" and has initiated and coordinated the current research proposal among the European partners, proposes to further act as a coordinator of this European Collaborative Research Project in the Social Sciences.