Migration and the spatial fix: geographies of low-waged labour migration to core economies

Scott, Sam ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5951-4749 and Jakobsen, Thomas Sætre (2025) Migration and the spatial fix: geographies of low-waged labour migration to core economies. In: Handbook of Labour Geography. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp. 290-303. ISBN 9781785363399

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Abstract

Across core economies employers have turned to migrant labour to fill low-wage vacancies. This has been true in sectors like food production, construction, hospitality, tourism, care and cleaning work since at least the 1990s. Essentially, cheaper and/or more productive labour is recruited from relatively peripheral areas, representing an in situ ‘spatial fix’ that helps maintain profitability and stave off crisis in core economies. We investigate and explain the in situ spatial fix. We then examine key geographical dimensions associated with it, namely: labour market segmentation and precarious work; the migrant work ethic; a mobility-immobility contradiction shaping low-waged work; the role of the state in ‘moulding’ migrant workers; and the agency of low-waged migrants. The principal aim of the chapter is to highlight the centrality of space and place in understanding the complexities of contemporary low-waged labour migration to core economies.

Item Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	This is a draft chapter/article. The final version is available in Handbook of Labour Geography edited by Andrew Herod, published in 2025, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785363405 It is deposited under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Core-periphery; Labour; Geography; Low-waged work; Migration; Spatial fix
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General) G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GF Human geography. Human ecology. Anthropogeography H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > Countryside and Community Research Institute
Depositing User:	Sam Scott
Date Deposited:	10 Nov 2025 16:01
Last Modified:	10 Nov 2025 16:15
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/15482

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