Occupational (im)Mobility in the Global Care Economy
Margaret Walton-Roberts, Professor, Geography and Environmental Studies; Associate Dean, School of International Policy and Governance; Associate Director, International Migration Centre, Wilfrid Laurier University
Friday. 14.Oct.2016. 3:00-5:00pm.
SS2125. 100 St. George Street
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ABSTRACT
I use the case of nursing to highlight four key areas where economic geographers can make important contributions to the debate about the emerging contours of the global care economy. First, the interlocking dimensions of care chain analysis demands a focus on occupationally specific hierarchies, and here labour and economic geographers are well positioned to contribute. Second, migration is central to care chains, but this demands geographical sensitivity to how regional labour markets articulate with the global organisation of specific occupations such as nursing. Third, the interlocking nature of care chains demands an understanding of institutional geographies of education and professional regulation, and approaches economic geographers have developed can be useful in such analysis. Forth, the gendered structures of labour markets marks different modes of engagement with certain types of female migration, and reflect nationally, or regionally differentiated tendencies in gender relations. Overall the paper encourages greater connection between economic geography and critical scholarship on global care chains and feminist readings of the global care economy.
Intersections: Lectures, etc., Department of Geography and Planning, University of Toronto
Development Seminar, Faculty of Arts and Science, University of Toronto
