Saskia Sassen

American Behavioral Scientist, November 2008

Abstract

The key variable is the incipient formation of global labor markets at the top and bottom of the economic system. At the top there is the transnational market for high-level managerial and professional talent across economic sectors, from finance to engineering; this market is increasingly shaped by public and private regulations. At the bottom one finds an amalgamation of mostly informal flows, with the “global care chains” among the most visible ones. There are sites of complex intersection between these two markets. The two sites singled out for examining the formation of these labor circuits are the global city and a set of Global South countries subject to the international debtfinancing regime that puts governments, firms, and households under enormous constraints to survive. Emigration and people trafficking now generate money flows that help governments, firms, and households survive. The focus is especially on lower labor circuits and their feminizing.

View the article hereTwo Stops in Today’s New Global Geographies: Shaping Novel Labor Supplies and Employment Regimes