Informality, Migrant Precarity and Exploitation in Nordic Context: Uzbek Migrant Workers in Sweden and Finland

Despite the increased attention to immigration in recent years, there still remains a confusion with respect to and limited knowledge on immigrants’ lives, how different groups of migrants build their life in a host society.

This research project aims to develop new theoretical and comparative insights on migrant precarity, exploitation and informal activities in the Global North.

The project seeks to reach this goal by studying implications of migrant precarity for the emergence of parallel labour market based on cheap and legally unprotected labour force in Sweden and Finland.

The research also aims to contribute to informal (shadow) economy debates by demonstrating how “working under shadows” triggers other forms of vulnerabilities and risks (e.g. radicalization, emergence of ethnic enclaves, etc.).

It will use the case of Uzbek immigrants in Sweden and Finland.This ethnographic study of immigrants explores (1) how, why and when migrants manoeuvre around law and resort to the help of informal institutions; (2) how precarious working and living conditions reflect on working life of migrants and impact their perceptions of host society; and finally (3) what consequences these experiences and strategies have for the possibility to improve the working life of migrants in Sweden and Finland.The research project, with its focus on migrants’ informal practices on the one hand and precarious lives and exploitation on the other, will contribute knowledge that directly can inform policies directed at minimising undocumented migration and exploitation.

Moreover, by gaining access to migrants’ own stories, the research will gain knowledge on the strategies that migrants and employers utilise to adapt to, use and resist laws that regulate working conditions.