Migration Beyond Capitalism

Harshly exploited migrant labour plays a fundamental role in the political economy of contemporary capitalism. The abstract and utopian theorising of many liberals and leftists on the migration question often ignores or downplays patterns of displacement and brutal class dynamics, which divide and weaken working people while empowering the ruling class.  In this important new book, Hannah Cross provides a sober analysis of the class antagonisms of migration in the context of the nation, social democracy, and the racialized ordering of the world. Bringing Marxist methodology and strategy to a careful analysis of existing emancipatory movements, she sets out the programmes and approaches that are needed to promote global worker solidarity and create a future in which cheap labour is no longer a mainstay of wealthy economies. This focus on the labouring classes allows her to identify some important new directions for migration in a world beyond capitalism, exploitation and injustice.  This book will be essential reading for students, scholars and general readers interested in the politics and political economy of migration in a world unhelpfully caught between racist authoritarian capitalism and the wishful-thinking of contemporary left-liberalism.

Preface and Acknowledgements Abbreviations 1 Introduction: Migration Politics and the Left Migration in Capitalism The Left and Migration Politics Organization of the Book 2 Socialism, Marxism and Migration The Irish Question, Imperialism and Class The Great Mystifications Colonialism, Class and National Questions Social Democracy and Its Potential for Transformation 3 Imperialism and Migrant Labour in the Capitalist World Economy Migration, Growth and Population Fanaticism Imperialism and Displacement Militarism Global Capitalism Dominates Diverse Modes of Production around the World Mexico–US Migration and Dependency Migration, Remittances and Economic Development 4 Borders, Militarism and Inequality Borders and Militarism Immigration Control in the US EU Borders: The ‘Long Summer of Migration’ The Making of the European Union: From the ‘Golden Age’ to Neoliberalism Capitalism Does Not Live Up to Its Idealized Form 5 Wages, Organized Labour and Post-Work Utopianism Migration, Labour Standards and Unions Working Conditions in Global Production Migration, Wages and Labour Markets in the Global North It Is Easier to Imagine the End of Capitalism than Full Automation 6 The Production of Class Antagonisms in Capitalism Anti-Irish Racism, Colonialism and Development Racial Antagonisms in Britain in the Neoliberal Era Class Antagonisms in the US Labour Movement The State, Media and Class Antagonisms in the UK Lindsey Oil Refinery Strikes Who Are the Imperialist Worker Elites? 7 Strikes, Internationalism and Solidarity Emancipation from Exploitation Renewal of the World Labour Movement Migrant Cleaners and Worker-Led Alliances in and around the City of London Emancipation from Racism and Class Division Emancipation from Borders 8 A Socialist Approach to Migration A Socialist Idea of Migration How is Socialist Transformation Achieved? The National Question and Universalist Demands Towards Equality of Movement References Index