Thesis-2011-Semmelroggen.pdf (5.11 MB)
A critical discourse analysis of the policy formation process of the 2009 action programme on skilled labour migration in Germany
thesis
posted on 2012-06-14, 14:26 authored by Jan SemmelroggenThis thesis analyzes the political discourse on skilled labour migration in Germany
between 2005 and 2009 and investigates how and why skilled labour migration polices are
negotiated in the Federal Republic of Germany. In particular the thesis highlights the
significance of underlying policy maker motives within the policy formation process of
Germany s 2009 Action Programme on Skilled Labour Migration as well as their ultimate
imprint on the legislation. The critical discourse analysis of parliamentary debate in
Germany between 2005 and 2009 in conjunction with interviews with relevant national
policy makers, institutional actors, labour market stakeholder, and independent policy
advisors reveals that there is a significant discrepancy between policy maker intent in
regards to skilled labour migration legislation and the stated intent of the 2009 Action
Programme. While the stated aim of the Action Programme is to facilitate and promote
skilled labour migration to Germany, the analysis of relevant political debate and the
stakeholder interviews reveals that German policy makers are primarily motivated to
protect and promote preferential labour market access for domestic workers while at the
same time restricting undesired labour migration to Germany. As a result, the policy
measures of the 2009 Action Programme on Skilled Labour Migration have a strong
protectionist and restrictionist emphasis.
Moreover, the thesis reveals that the complex and multilayered power-negotiations
over skilled labour migration legislation between the various policy makers, institutional
actors, and labour market stakeholders are largely shaped and framed by domestic political
considerations. Notwithstanding the widely acknowledged global competition over skilled
workers and the need for German labour market to maintain competitive within the global
economy, immigration policy makers in Germany are primarily motivated by factors that
are firmly embedded within the national political sphere and that aim to control, limit, and
restrict territorial access of foreign workers into the national labour market. This in turn
highlights the need for migration scholars to reposition and re-conceptualize the role of the
nation-state and as an active agent in shaping international labour migration flows.
History
School
- Social Sciences
Department
- Geography and Environment
Publisher
© Jan SemmelroggenPublication date
2012Notes
A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University.EThOS Persistent ID
uk.bl.ethos.587923Language
- en