Claiming reproductive citizenship through interactive need interpretation: The case of temporary labour migrant women in Japan

Abstract

Japan's Technical Intern Trainee Program (TITP) can be considered as a temporary labour migrant programme (TLMP), which prohibits migrant workers from bringing family members with them. This study explores how such a ban leads to the regulation of workers’ reproductive practices and rights, either explicitly or implicitly. Moreover, drawing on documents related to trials, interviews, and other information associated with the judicial cases involving TITP workers giving birth in isolation, this study examines how their reproductive citizenship was claimed through the lens of ‘interactive need interpretation’ among the migrant women, migrant rights organisations and individuals supporting the workers. It argues that the interactions between those in structurally different positions offer critical insights into the structural injustice of the TITP and temporary labour migrant programmes.