At a time when Europe is tense over the issue of immigration, we are observing mobilizations in China to take into account the social rights of millions of internal migrant workers living in cities. As in Europe in 1900, it is through migration that the social state develops, and not against it.
The situation of internal migrant workers in China today can, in many respects, be compared to that of foreign migrants in Europe at the end of the XIXe century. A hundred years apart, in two contexts of strong industrialization and economic globalization (Susan Berger, Our first globalizationThe Republic of Ideas, 2003), millions of rural people cross national or provincial borders to find work near big cities and in the most dynamic employment areas. They face legal barriers that limit their citizenship and movement rights compared to those of nationals (in Europe) or city dwellers (in China). At the same time, however, their economic role implies conferring them social rights. Even more, their very vulnerability provides an argument for developing and disseminating forms of legal labor protection. To what extent has labor migration contributed to the building of European welfare states, and is this process happening before our eyes in China ?
La Vie des Idées interviewed two specialists in the relationship between migration and social protection. One, Paul-André Rosental, is a historian at Sciences Po and is interested in Europe at the end of the XIXe century and the beginning of XXe century, at the time of the first globalization “. The other, Chloé Froissart, is a sinologist at Rennes 2 University and devotes her research to the citizenship of migrant workers in contemporary China. This comparison a century apart, between two continents, provides valuable historical and sociological lessons, but also political lessons, to the extent that it sheds new light on the relationship between globalization, migration and social protection.
What is the scale of migratory flows? ?
Europe in 1900:
China in the 2000s:
Are these migrations supervised by States? ?
Europe in 1900:
China in the 2000s:
What rights do migrants have? ?
Europe in 1900:
China in the 2000s:
What is the strategy of migrant defense associations to extend these rights? ?
Europe in 1900:
China in the 2000s:
What is the place of migrants in these mobilizations? ?
Europe in 1900:
China in the 2000s:
Filming and editing carried out by Emilie Frenkiel.