Exploring Cross-Border Labor Commuting as a Practice of Tactical Mobility
Abstract
Within the last few years there has been an increased interest in the interplay of structure and agency in border studies. Following the strategic-relational approach, these studies generally focus on territorial actors, particularly subnational institutions and how they use their capacities, to establish transnational cooperation and networks, to overcome the obstacles resulting from national and / or multi-governmental policies. Like subnational organizations and institutions on border regions, cross-border commuters develop and use tactics to overcome the socio-economic and legal risks and crises. Based on the thematic analysis of the semi-structured interviews with commuters from Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Poland, it is demonstrated that by being mobile across the borders, commuters aim at gaining flexibility and a relatively advantageous position in housing and labor markets of different countries. This paper, by referring to the strategic-relational approach, argues that cross-border mobility is practiced as a form of tactical mobility in which commuters constantly revise their mobility practices, depending on new, emerging socio-economic conditions. Moreover, by referring to the concept of de Certeau’s (1984) tactic, three main typologies of cross-border mobility are conceptualized.
Keywords:
border asymmetries, cross-border commuting, labor mobility, strategic-relational approach, tactical mobilityReferences
Arthur, S., and J.Y. Nazroo. 2003. “Designing Fieldwork sStrategies and Materials.” In Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers, edited by J. Ritchie and J. Lewis, 109-137. London: Sage.
Google Scholar
Baas, T., H. Brücker. 2011. “Mehr Chancen als Risiken für Deutschland”. Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung. IAB-Kurzbericht. https://doku.iab.de/kurzber/2011/kb1011.pdf.
Google Scholar
Balogh, P. 2013. “Sleeping Abroad but Working at Home: Cross‐Border Residential Mobility Between Transnationalism and (Re)Bordering.” Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography 95 (2): 189-204. doi: 10.1111/geob.12016
Google Scholar
Barthel, F. 2010. Auswirkungen der Immigration polnischer Bürger auf den Landkreis Uecker-Randow am Beispiel Löcknitz. Neubrandenburg: Hochschule Neubrandenburg.
Google Scholar
Braun, V., and V.Clarke. 2006. “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology”. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2): 77-101. doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Google Scholar
Braun, V., and V. Clarke. 2012. “Thematic Analysis.” In APA Handbook of Research Methods in Psychology edited by H. Cooper, P. M. Camic, D. L. Long, A. T. Panter, D. Rindskopf and K. J. Sher,, Vol. 2: Research Designs: Quantitative, Qualitative, Neuropsychological, and Biological,57-71. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Google Scholar
CBS (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek). 2022a. “Grensdata. Grensoverschrijdende statistieken“. (Accessed January 17, 2022). https://opendata.grensdata.eu/#/InterReg/nl/.
Google Scholar
CBS (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek). 2022b. “House Prices: New and Existing Dwellings Price Index 2015=100“. (Accessed January 17, 2022). https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/en/dataset/84064ENG/table?ts=1642516868634
Google Scholar
Clarke, V., and V. Braun. 2016. “Thematic Analysis.” In Analysing Qualitative Data in Psychology, edited by E. Lyons and A. Coyle, 84-103). London: SageClarke, V., V. Braun, G. Terryand N. Hayfield. 2019. “Thematic Analysis.” In Handbook of Research Methods in Health and Social Sciences, edited by P. Liamputtong, 843-860. Singapore: Springer.
Google Scholar
de Certeau, M. 1984. The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Google Scholar
DeWalt, K. M., and B.R. DeWalt. 1998. “Participant Observation.” In H. Handbook of Methods in Cultural Anthropology, edited by H. Russell Bernard, .259-300. Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press.
Google Scholar
Dowlah, C. 2020. Cross-Border Labor Mobility: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
Google Scholar
Drevon, G., and Gerber, P. 2012. “Soziodemografische Profile, die starken Veränderungen unterworfen sind.“ Die Mobilität der in Luxemburgbeschäftigten Grenzgänger: Dynamik und Perspektiven, edited by F. Schmitz, G. Drevon, and P. Gerber, 8–11. Esch-sur- Alzette: CEPS/INSTEAD.
Google Scholar
Eliasson K., U. Lindgren, and O. Westerlund. 2003. “Geographical Labour Mobility: Migration or Commuting?.” Regional Studies 37(8): 827-837. doi: 10.1080/0034340032000128749.Eurostat. 2022.
Google Scholar
Federal Foreign Office [Auswärtiges Amt]. 2022. “Germany and Luxembourg: Bilateral relations”. Federal Foreign Office. April 6. https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/aussenpolitik/luxembourg/227960.
Google Scholar
Giddens, A. 1984. The Constitution of Society: Outline of The Theory of Structuration. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Google Scholar
González-Gómez, T., and Estrella Gualda. 2017. "Disclosing the Relational Structure of Institutional Cross-border Cooperation in Two Cross-border Regions in Europe." Journal of Borderlands Studies, DOI: 10.1080/08865655.2017.1399810.
Google Scholar
Gottholmseder G., and E. Theurl. 2007. “Determinants of Cross‐Border Commuting: Do Cross Border Commuters Within the Household Matter?.” Journal of Borderlands Studies 22 (2): 97-112. doi: 10.1080/08865655.2007.9695679.
Google Scholar
Hansen, C., and M. Schack. 1997. Grænsependling mellem Landesteil Schleswig og Sønderjylland [Cross-border Commuting between Schleswig and Sønderjylland]. Aabenraa: Institut for Grænseregionsforskning.
Google Scholar
Huber P., and J. Nowotny 2013. “Moving across Borders: Who is Willing to Migrate or to Commute?.” Regional Studies 47 (9): 1462-1481. doi: 10.1080/00343404.2011.624509.
Google Scholar
Information and Technology North Rhine-Westphalia State Statistical Office [Information und Technik Nordrhein-Westfalen]. 2020. “42 700 Arbeitnehmer pendelten 2018 täglich zur Arbeit in die Niederlande“. https://www.it.nrw/42-700-arbeitnehmer-pendelten-2018-taeglich-zur-arbeit-die-niederlande-101885.
Google Scholar
Janicka, A., and P.Kaczmarczyk. 2016. “Mobilities in the Crisis and Post-Crisis Times: Migration Strategies of Poles on the EU Labour Market.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2016.1162350.
Google Scholar
Janssen, M. 2000. “Borders and Labour-Market Integration.” In Borders, Regions, and People, edited by M. van der Velde and H. van Houtum, 47-68. London: Pion.
Google Scholar
Jessop, B. 2001. Institutional Re(Turns) and the Strategic – Relational Approach. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 33, no. 7: 1213–35. doi:10.1068/a32183.
Google Scholar
Jessop, B. 2008. State Power: A Strategic-Relational Approach. Cambridge: Polity.
Google Scholar
Jessop, B. 2013. 'Dynamics of regionalism and globalism: a critical political economy perspective', Ritsumeikan Social Science Review, vol. 5, pp. 3-24.
Google Scholar
Kaczmarczyk, P., and M. Okólski. 2008. “Demographic and Labour-Market Impacts of Migration on Poland.” Oxford Review of Economic Policy 24 (3): 599–624. URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23606905#metadata_info_tab_contents.
Google Scholar
Kahveci, C., Elifcan Karacan & Kira Kosnick. 2020. Tactical mobility: navigating mobile ageing and transnational retirement between Turkey and Germany. A comparison between Turkish-German and German retirees. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2020.1724532
Google Scholar
Kajta, J., and E. Opiłowska. 2021. “The Impact of Covid-19 on Structure and Agency in a Borderland. The Case of Two Twin Towns in Central Europe.” Journal of Borderlands Studies. doi: 10.1080/08865655.2021.1996259.
Google Scholar
Kawulich, B. B. 2005. “Participant Observation as a Data Collection Method.” Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research 6 (2), Art. 43. URL: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0502430.
Google Scholar
Klatt M. 2014. “(Un)Familiarity? Labor Related Cross-Border Mobility in Sønderjylland/Schleswig Since Denmark Joined the EC in 1973.” Journal of Borderlands Studies 29 (3): 353-373. doi: 10.1080/08865655.2014.938968,
Google Scholar
Knotter, A. 2014. “Perspectives on Cross-Border Labor in Europe: “(Un)familiarity” or “Push-and- Pull”?.” Journal of Borderlands Studies 29 (3): 319-326. doi:10.1080/08865655.2014.938972.
Google Scholar
Mathä T., and L. Wintr. 2009. “Commuting Flows across Bordering Regions: a note”. Applied Economics Letters 16 (7): 735-738. doi: 10.1080/13504850701221857.
Google Scholar
Mohino, I., and J. M. Ureña. 2020. “Mobility, Housing and Labour Markets in Times of Economic Crises.” Regional Studies 54(4): 443-449. doi: 10.1080/00343404.2020.1711879.
Google Scholar
MOT (Transfrontier Operational Mission). 2022. “Görlitz-Zgorzelec”. MOT. Accessed August, 4, 2022. http://www.espaces-transfrontaliers.org/en/resources/territories/territory-factsheets/territories/territory/show/goerlitz-zgorzelec/.
Google Scholar
Nienaber, B., and Christian Wille. 2020. "Cross-Border Cooperation in Europe: A Relational Perspective." European Planning Studies 28, no. 1: 1–7. doi:10.1080/09654313.2019.1623971.
Google Scholar
Palumbo, L., and Corrado, A. 2020. Are Agri-Food Workers Only Exploited in Southern Europe? Case Studies on Migrant Labour in Germany, The Netherlands, and Sweden. Open Society Foundations.
Google Scholar
Plangger, M. 2018. "De-and Re-Bordering the Alpine Space: How Cross-Border Cooperation Intertwines Spatial and Institutional Patterns of Exclusion and Inclusion, Subordination and Horizontality." Journal of Borderlands Studies 35, no. 3: 443–65. doi:10.1080/08865655.2018. 1493943.
Google Scholar
Plangger, M. 2019. Exploring the Role of Territorial Actors in Cross-Border Regions. Territory, Politics, Governance 7, no. 2: 156–76. doi:10.1080/21622671.2017.1336938.
Google Scholar
Statista. 2022a. “Average annual wages for selected European countries in 2020”. Statista. Accessed January 17 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/557777/average-annual-salaries-in-europe/.
Google Scholar
Statista 2022b. “Average annual wages in the Netherlands from 2000 to 2020”. Statista. Accessed January 17 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/419495/average-annual-wages-netherlands-y-on-y-in-euros/.
Google Scholar
Statistics Poland. 2022. (Accessed January 11, 2022). https://bdl.stat.gov.pl/bdl/start.
Google Scholar
Strüver A., 2005. “Spheres of Transnationalism within the European Union: On Open Doors, Thresholds and Drawbridges along the Dutch–German Border.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 31 (2): 323-343. doi: 10.1080/1369183042000339954.
Google Scholar
Sujata, U., A. Weyh, M. Zillmann. 2020. Kurzstudie zur Bedeutung von Grenzpendelnden für den sächsischen Arbeitsmarkt. Sachsen: Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung. URL: https://doku.iab.de/regional/S/2020/regional_s_0320.pdf.
Google Scholar
UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe). 2022. “Gross Average Monthly Wages by Country and Year”. UNECE Statistical Database. Accessed January 17 2022. https://w3.unece.org/PXWeb2015/pxweb/en/STAT/STAT__20-ME__3-MELF/60_en_MECCWagesY_r.px/.
Google Scholar
Van Houtum H., and R. Gielis. 2006. “Elastic Migration: The Case of Dutch Short-Distance Transmigrants In Belgian And German Borderlands”. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie Vol. 97, No. 2:195–202. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9663.2006.00512.
Google Scholar
Wiesböck, L., Verwiebe, R., Reinprecht, C., and R. Haindorfer. 2016. “The Economic Crisis as a Driver of Cross-Border Labour Mobility? A Multi-Method Perspective on the Case of the Central European Region.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 42 (10): 1711-1727. doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2016.1162354.
Google Scholar
Wiesböck, L., and R. Verwiebe. 2017. “Crossing the Border for Higher Status? Occupational Mobility of East–West Commuters in the Central European Region.” International Journal of Sociology 47 (3): 162-181. doi: 10.1080/00207659.2017.1335514.
Google Scholar
Statistics
Downloads
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Border and Regional Studies
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
