Ordinary Forms of Interaction between Unskilled Labour Migrants and Employers in Receiving Societies (The Case of Russian, Greek, and French Cities)

Abstract

Pavel P. Lisitsyn – PhD, associate professor Saint Petersburg State university of Economics; Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia. Email: fox_sociology@mail.ru

 Alexander M. Stepanov – research fellow Saint Petersburg State university of Economics; assistant
Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia. Email: 9160001@inbox.ru

This paper examines the informal rules of interaction between the main participants of migration process – unskilled migrants and employers – in Russia, Greece, and France. In spite of differences in migration policies, these countries share one basic characteristic: their labour markets comprise a large number of unskilled migrants with limited educational and vocational qualifications. The paper analyses data gathered during empirical research in 2016–17 in nine cities of the three countries: Moscow, St.Petersburg, Ivanovo, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Tolyatti, Athens, Thessaloniki, and Paris. 186 indepth interviews were conducted with unskilled migrant workers, employers, representatives of state institutions, as well as ‘buffers’ (intermediaries) (Lisitsyn et al., 2011) introduced by the employers, labour migrants or government to uphold their interests. Labour migrants in Russia were often citizens of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, those in France were from Morocco, Ukraine and Russia, where as those in Greece hailed from Russia and Ukraine. Informants were engaged in typical areas of employment for migrants such
as construction, textile industry, trade, and the service sector. The conceptual frame of the article is based on the distinction between formal (legal) rules and informal rules reproduced in the everyday practices of actors. The paper characterizes the ‘migration rules’ of interaction between labour migrants, employers and the state that are formed by the balance of participants’ social and economic interests. These rules this research uncovered are: (1) the existence of a ‘grey’ legal field for migrants; (2) the demand for unqualified foreign labour force in large and medium enterprises; (3) the ‘migrantization’ of some
economic sectors that allow the emergence of ‘ethnic economic niches’; (4) the precarious position of migrants in host countries. The forms of interaction presented in the article are not only fixed, reproduced and broadcast in the daily practices of actors, but also supported by the participants, despite their contradiction with the formal, legal rules of the official institutions.