PhD confirmation seminar presentation

1. A ‘reserve army of labour’ dividing the
working class

2.  The study will concentrate on exploring:
◦ phenomenon of Syrian labour migration into
Lebanon
◦ The labour market position of Syrian migrant
workers in Lebanon, are they part of the primary
labour market or are they the part of the ‘reserve
army of labour’
◦ The relationship of these workers with the overall
market, are they part of the overall working class?

3.  Migration overview- Guest workers
 Marxist literature
◦ Marx’ s labour market theories- Industrial reserve
army and its relation to capital
◦ Modern Marxists migration literature- applying the
‘reserve army of labour’ theory to migrant workers
in Europe
 Dualist theory literature
◦ Labour market segmentation theory

4.  Eastern European guest workers in
UK
 South Asian guest workers in the
Gulf
 Mexican workers in the US
 Migrant workers in Hong Kong
 Guest workers in Australia
 Syrian migrant workers in Lebanon

5.  Brief history of the phenomenon
 Literature dealing with Syrian migrant
workers in Lebanon
 Syrian workers are victims of external factors
as much they are victims of their work-
related factors
 Concentration of Syrian workers in terms of
industries- Over 70% of them work in the
construction industry

6.  The research will concentrate mainly on
Syrian migrant workers in the construction
industry
 The research will canvass the opinions of:
◦ Lebanese union officials
◦ Lebanese government officials
◦ Lebanese construction companies management
◦ Lebanese construction workers

7.  Do Syrian migrant workers constitute a reserve army
of labour which is readily available for exploitation by
Lebanese capital?
 Given the precarious nature of their jobs and the
sectors they work in, what is the position of Syrian
migrant workers in the Lebanese labour market?
 Are these migrant workers unwittingly dividing the
Lebanese labour market and creating a ‘dual labour
market’ consisting of a primary labour force
consisting mainly of Lebanese workers and a
secondary labour market consisting primarily of
migrant workers?
 Do Lebanese workers believe Syrian migrant workers
are undercutting their wages, conditions and stealing
their jobs?

8.  Do Lebanese unions officials believe that
Syrian workers are splitting the working class
in Lebanon?
 What policies these unions are putting
together to deal with the situation?
 How do they feel about this cycle of
exploitation presumably perpetuating a
divided working class too weak to fight for
better conditions and higher pay?