Problems and Contradictions of Capital and Nomadic Workers during Migration

Abstract

This contribution approaches the problem of migration from a Marxist perspective. Already in the times in which Marx and Engels lived, capitalism required an underpaid and exploited workforce in almost unlimited quantities. The founders of Marxism saw in this one of those pressing needs that capitalism had to satisfy to consolidate and prosper: the forced and massive transfer of low-wage workers from one corner of the planet to another. If at the time of Marx and Engels this phenomenon was only in its infancy, in the twenty-first century this dynamic has exploded in all its power. Drawing on the reflections of the founders of Marxism, as well as other contemporary Marxists, I intend to propose a new perspective on the migratory phenomenon, highlighting its underlying ambiguity and potential dangers in relation to workers’ rights, class solidarity between workers and compression of social and trade union rights.