Migration and Work in the United Kingdom: Mobility and the Social Order

In this paper we seek to highlight the interconnectedness between work and migration and the maintenance of the new social order in the United Kingdom. The content of this article is based upon a number of qualitative research projects that the authors have been involved with over recent years. These research projects have shown the way in which work is interwoven into the migration and settlement experiences of various new migrants, and how this relates to mobility within UK society. Under this common theme we explore the role of immigrants within the United Kingdom's division of labour, and how in turn economic mobility and mobility in terms of work is described, experienced and managed by migrants themselves. We analyse how issues of governance relate to issues of mobility for citizens and migrants. We explore how the official framework for the regulation of labour migration is reflected and refracted in the accounts given by a range of migrants in the United Kingdom, including foreign recruits, irregular workers, asylum seekers and work 'visa' holders.