International Labour Migration to Europe’s Rural Regions (Routledge Advances in Sociology)

Emerging in the throes of a global pandemic that threatens Europe’s economies and food security, International Labour Migration to Europe’s Rural Regions combines a diverse range of empirically rich, in-depth case studies, analysis of their rural context specificities, and insights from labour market and migration theories, to critically examine the conditions and implications of rural labour migration.

Despite its growing political, economic and social importance, our understanding of international labour migration to Europe’s rural regions remains limited. This edited volume provides intricate descriptions of lived experience, critical theoretical analyses, analytical synthesis, and policy recommendations for this novel and developing phenomenon that has the potential to transform the lives of international migrants and local communities. The book’s 25 authors represent a wide range of social science disciplines, with coverage of a vast range of Europe’s rural regions, and diverse types of rural labour in areas such as horticulture, shepherding, wild berry picking and fish processing.

The volume will be of interest to policy makers at local, regional, national and European levels, and scholars and students in a broad range of areas, including migration, labour markets, and rural studies.

This book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com.

Johan Fredrik Rye is Professor in sociology at the Department of Sociology and Political Science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He has studied varies forms of mobility in late modern societies, including international labour migration, domestic migration of youths, and leisure mobilities, combining a range of qualitative and quantitative materials and research methods. Rye is currently leading the international comparative research project Global Labour in Rural Societies (Glarus).

Karen O’Reilly is Emeritus Professor of Sociology, at Loughborough University, and an Independent Research Academic. She has been researching migration since the early 1990s and is author of numerous books and articles including The British on the Costa del Sol, Ethnographic methods, and International Migration and Social Theory. She is currently co-investigator on the ESRC-funded project Brexit Brits Abroad, and is on the International Advisory Board of Glarus.