The threshold of indifference; rethinking immobility in explaining cross-border labour mobility

Abstract

In the current aftermath the post-modern era more and more scholars within social studies are working with the concept of mobility, sometimes metaphorically termed liquidity or fluidity, to denote and typify the present assumed debordering and interwovenness of our current society. At the heart of the assumed debordering is the implicit normative principle and idea that mobility has a positive connotation, and immobility a negative one. In this contribution we critically address and explore the usage of this assumption, especially in the context of cross-border labour mobility in the European Union. We argue that although our world is ever more interlinked in terms of the mobility of goods, money and information, it is still seen as 'normal' to first think in terms of 'we-here'- categorisations when it comes to the migratory and commuting movements of people. We argue that a further understanding of why and how this reference is still taken-for-granted and assumed in our daily lives, helps to explain why migratory movements are seen as exceptions and not as the common pattern. Focusing on and drawing empirically from the negligible existence of the Dutch-German cross-border labour market we argue that it is a further understanding of the concept of IMmobility more than mobility, which should be at the core of our research on cross-border labour markets. A critical comprehension of the power of immobility is crucial helping making sense of the non-existence of a fluid international labour market.