Re-conceptualizing Labor Law in an Era of Migration and Precarity

Abstract

The terms “economic” and “irregular” migrant support a particular construction of the subject of labor law, whereby the exclusion of some from a formal employment relationship renders them necessary precarious laborers. The experience of precarious work is not an experience limited to migrant workers. However, the relationship between labor regulation and the most precarious of workers is one that has been gaining critical attention. Building on existing studies of migration, precarity and labor, I question the boundaries and frame of labor law with regard to precarious workers through Jean-Luc Nancy’s confronted community. Re-thinking the legal citizen-subject of labor law is necessary before remedies to address the exploitation of workers in precarious situations can be successful.