Summary

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The conference aims to create a space for an interdisciplinary and international conversation between scholars on bilateral labor agreements, the motivations behind them, their implications for migration governance, the rights of workers and their unique character as international law documents. Papers will be considered for publication in a special issue of the journal Theoretical Inquiries in Law (TIL).

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Links to Recorded Conference Sessions:

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June 6, 2021

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Introduction to the conference: Hila Shamir and Tamar Megiddo

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Setting the Stage

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The Design of BLAs

Adam Chilton, University of Chicago Law School;  Bartek Woda, University of Chicago Law School

Discussant: Avinoam Cohen, College of Management and TraffLab

 

Gaining Control? Bilateral Labor Agreements and the Shared Interest of Sending and Receiving Countries to Control Migrant Workers and the Illicit Migration Industry 

Yuval Livnat, TraffLab, Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law;  Hila Shamir, TraffLab, Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law;

Discussant: Nicola Piper, Queen Mary University of London School of Law

 

Liminal Spaces

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Bilateral Labor Agreements Bans on Domestic Work in Nepal: Spaces of Entrapment and Exclusion and Their Intimate Consequences

Ayushman Bhagat, TraffLab, Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law;

Discussant: Rebeca Raijman, Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Haifa

 

In the Zone: Work at the Intersection of Trade and Migration

Jennifer Gordon, Fordham University School of Law

Discussant: Hila Shamir, TraffLab, Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law

 

June 7, 2021

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Appraising Bilateralism

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Advancing Migrant Workers' Social Protection: A Critical Evaluation of Bilateralism

Marius Olivier, University of Western Australia Law School

Discussant: Rebekah Smith, Labor Mobility Partnerships (LaMP) & Center for Global Development 

 

Labor Migration in France’s Bilateral Agreements on the Management of Migration and Development

Marion Panizzon, World Trade Institute 

Discussant: Tamar Megiddo, College of Law and Business and TraffLab

 

Categorizing Rights

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Global Interstate Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements (BLMA) as Migration Governance Tools: An Analysis from a Gender Lens

Nicola Piper, Queen Mary University of London School of Law; Jenna Hennebry, Wilfrid Laurier University

Discussant: Yahel Kurlander, TraffLab and Tel Hai Academic College 

 

Delivering on the Promise of BLAs: the Need for a Quality Mobility Industry, Rebekah Smith, Labor Mobility Partnerships (LaMP) & Center for Global Development; Zuzana Cepla, Labor Mobility Partnerships (LaMP); Discussant: Jennifer Gordon, Fordham University School of Law 

 

June 8, 2021

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Migration Governance and Migrant Vulnerabilities

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Understanding the Gaps Between the Bilateral Regularizing of Migration and Workers’ Rights: The Case of Agricultural Migrant Workers in Thailand, Sudarat Musikawong, Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University

Discussant: Marius Olivier, University of Western Australia Law School

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Bilateral Agreements, Precarious Work and the Vulnerability of Migrant Workers in Israel

Rebeca Raijman, Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Haifa; Nonna Kushnirovich, Dept. of Economics and Management, Ruppin Academic Center

Discussant: Jenna Hennebry, Wilfrid Laurier University

 

Scales of Governance

 

BLAs as Sites of Organizational Institutionalization

Yahel Kurlander, TraffLab  and Tel Hai Academic College; Avinoam Cohen, College of Management  and TraffLab;

Discussant: Marion Panizzon, World Trade Institute

 

Secrecy and Informality

 

Secrecy & Non-Bindingness, Tamar Megiddo, College of Law and Business and TraffLab

Discussant: Adam Chilton, University of Chicago Law School

 

Informalization, Obfuscation and Bilateral Labor Agreements, Margaret Peters, Dept. of Political Science, UCLA ; Tijana Lujic, Institute of Political Science, Heidelberg University

Discussant: Janie Chuang, American University, Washington College of Law

and Concluding Remarks

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