ABSTRACT
Migration, markets, and the law are among the major factors that have facilitated globalisation across regions and continents. State sovereignty is a barrier to the globalisation of laws that would parallel the globalisation of the economic processes that underlie the globalisation of migrations. This chapter focuses on the legal position of migrant workers, defined as those workers whose movement is determined by economic factors, not necessarily of their own choosing. It discusses three "waves" of migration—slaves, indentured labourers, and free migrants—free migrants of course in a formal sense, because most of them have been driven by economic or political pressures. The regime of slavery reflected the laissez-faire economy of the time, with the major responsibility for developing juridical norms vested in the judiciary. The slave was reduced to a commodity, and his or her owner disposed of him or her like any other chattel. The system of indentured labour was found on a statutory scheme, with the rudiments of regulation.
