This programme brings together researchers whose work relates to the following theme. In western societies, the relations between migrations and labour have evolved, leading to the development of research that takes into consideration the diversification of employment forms and the status and the professional relations involving the migrant worker. The effects of these changes on certain categories of the national working population, in particular those with immigrant family heritage, are also topics for analysis within this programme. The three-way intersection between flexibility, economic insecurity and illegality is at the heart of these transformations. The questioning focuses on the identification and the interpretation of these new means of employment, and sets them in relation to the individuals’ origin or group membership, whether real, perceived or claimed. This work must also contend with a paradoxical fact: the host countries are (and admit to be) dependant on the work of foreigners, particularly in the most deregulated forms, whereas their legislation is increasingly xenophobic, which complicates migrant entry and settling. This coexistence of the pull, considered necessary, for a non-native workforce and the rejection of those deemed undesirable or inassimilable opens a new field of research that this programme may lead. One area concerned is the new juridical and economic ties that have developed between residence permits and work contracts that are allotted to foreigners. Another area concerned is the interrelations between discriminatory factors (nationality, ethnic identity, gender, age, qualification) and new forms of employment. Atypical employment sectors, including illegal or illegally practiced activities, play an important part in this field of research.
