The Future of Migration and Work

Rapid technological advances, climate change, and political and social transformations are simultaneously disrupting labor markets, reshaping the organization of work, and redefining the conditions and consequences of (im)mobility. Artificial intelligence threatens some forms of labor while creating new demands for others; digitalization detaches work from place even as human mobility remains tightly regulated by borders; and climate change makes mobility increasingly necessary for some while rendering others more vulnerable to immobility. All the while, political shifts challenge assumptions about citizenship, borders, and labor rights.

These interconnected transformations raise urgent and fundamental sociological questions about who can work, where, under what conditions, and with what rights, and the implications for social inequality.

This session welcomes research that examines how contemporary social, political, and technological changes are (re)shaping the intertwined futures of work and migration. The session is open to conceptual, empirical, and/or methodological papers that develop new theoretical lenses, challenge conventional assumptions, and/or experiment with innovative data and methods for studying these rapidly changing and interconnected social realities.