International Health Worker Migration and Recruitment: Global Governance, Politics and Policy

This book is the first comprehensive study of international health worker-migration and -recruitment from the perspective of global governance, policy and politics.

Covering 70 years of history of the development of this global policy field, this book presents new and previously unpublished data, based on primary research, to reveal for the first time that international health worker-migration-and -recruitment have been major concerns of global policy-making going back to the foundations of post-war international cooperation. The authors analyse the policies and programmes of a wide range of international organisations, from WHO, ILO and UNESCO to the IOM, World Bank and OECD, and feature extended analysis of bilateral agreements to manage health worker migration and recruitment, critiquing the claim that they work in the interests of all countries. Yeates’ and Pillinger’s ground-breaking analysis of global governance presents an assiduously researched study showing how the interplay and intersections of several global institutional regimes – spanning labour, migration, health, social protection, trade and business, equality and human rights – shape global policy responses to this major health care issue that affects all countries worldwide. It discusses the growing challenges to public health as a result of the globalisation of health labour markets, and highlights how global and national policy can realise the health and health-related Sustainable Development Goals for all by 2030.

This research monograph will be of key interest to students and scholars of Global Governance, Global Public Policy, Global Health, Global Politics, Migration Studies, Health and Social Care, Social Policy and Development Studies. Policy makers and campaign activists, nationally and globally, will appreciate the practical relevance and applications of the research findings.

Nicola Yeates is Professor of Social Policy in the Department of Social Policy and Criminology at The Open University, UK. Notable books include Globalizing Care Economies and Migrant Workers (2009), Understanding Global Social Policy (2014), The Global Social Policy Reader (2009), World-regional Social Policy and Global Governance (2010), Social Justice (2008) and Globalization and Social Policy (2001).

Jane Pillinger is an independent social policy researcher and policy advisor working in the areas of migration, employment and gender equality. She has carried out research and policy advice for global unions, social partner organisations, international organisations such as ILO, IOM and UNWomen, as well as national and European organisations and advocacy movements. She is a Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of Social Policy and Criminology at The Open University, UK.