ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book launches a long-term re-assessment of the interaction between states regarding labour migration and shifting paradigms of control regarding movement of persons. It focuses beyond how migration is controlled on a national basis and the experiences of one geographic region by shifting the attention to 'the global politics of labour migration'. The book has a diverse geographical coverage, spanning over five continents. Furthermore, it brings together a mix of scholars from various disciplines, all sharing a keen interest in migration and the construction of controls around borders and the mobility of persons. Labour migration as a term presupposes a particular relationship between the migrant and the economic system. The migrant will be a worker, a term redolent of claims for workers' rights and trade unionism.
