From nations of immigrants to states of transience: Temporary migration in Canada and Australia

Abstract

This article analyzes temporary migration schemes in Canada and Australia. Unlike the bulk of affluent states, both countries eschewed guestworker programs for most of the twentieth century, embracing migrants as permanent settlers and future citizens. Acting within neoliberal templates of government, political officials have recently promoted temporary migration as a mechanism of labor market regulation. While valorized workers are extended opportunities to transition to permanent status, for less-skilled workers state-imposed legal categories and regulations are being employed to attenuate attachment to the receiving society and heighten their flexibility and tractability. This research argues such trends embody and extend transformations concerning the restructuring and globalization of labor markets, the regulatory profile of states, and nature and significance of citizenship.