Risky Business?

This book is about migration as a form of risk-taking. Based on Ukrainian women’s experiences in the Polish domestic work sector, it presents a new approach to analyse movements of female migrants responding to the demand for household labour around the world. Risks involved in migration and in migrant domestic work are accounted for in detail alongside an analysis of the migration decision-making processes. This study shows how social ties and migrant institutions effectively reduce the otherwise radical asymmetry of power between an individual migrant, the state and an employer. A Risky Business? brings to light the complex risk structures of migrants’ activities and their sophisticated responses to them. With their innovative strategies, migrants challenge government-imposed constraints and thus reduce the risks of migration.

"Kindler demonstrates how cultural science-oriented risk analysis can contribute to migration studies. This book relates structural constraints to horizons of action, opening a new field of comparative research. A must for students of illegal migration and policymakers." -- Werner Schiffauer, Chair of Comparative Social of Cultural Anthropology, European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) "This book brings us to the crossroads of several topics that attract the attention of sociologists, economists as well as police and immigration officers. We get fascinating insights into home as a place of female migrant work, strategies that migrants and employers apply, the migrants' fears, expectations and resilience." -- Dariusz Stola, Professor, Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Science

Marta Kindler is a research fellow at the Centre of Migration Research at the University of Warsaw, who has participated in various projects on labour immigration and migrant integration issues. She received her PhD from European University Viadrina in 2009 and completed her MA at Central European University in 1998.