Top

Published in:

2020 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

6. Measuring ‘Well-Governed’ Migration: The IOM’s Migration Governance Indicators

Author : Corey Robinson

Published in: The International Organization for Migration

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

This chapter examines how the International Organization for Migration (IOM) intervenes in global migration governance through the production of knowledge and the deployment of technical expertise. It analyses the IOM’s Migration Governance Indicators, a migration governance benchmarking metric created to define well-governed migration, evaluate institutional capacity to manage migration and monitor state progress towards the implementation of the migration-related targets contained in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. It argues that the Migration Governance Indicators translate the meaning of well-governed migration into material form and make it possible for the IOM to govern at a distance by issuing symbolic judgements regarding states’ institutional capacity to manage migration. While the IOM describes itself as a non-normative organisation acting in the service of states, the Migration Governance Indicators serve a social and political purpose. Far from being politically impartial, the Migration Governance Indicators empower the IOM by consolidating its expert authority, enrolling various actors into the agenda of well-governed migration and legitimising its newfound institutional identity as the UN migration agency.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

previous chapter Between Migration and Development: The IOM’s Development Fund

next chapter The IOM in Building and Supporting Migration Management in China

This chapter is a substantially revised version of a previously published article: Corey Robinson, ‘Making Migration Knowable and Governable: Benchmarking Practices as Technologies of Global Migration Governance’, International Political Sociology 12.4: 418–437. Note: the IOM changed the name of the Migration Governance Index to the Migration Governance Indicators in 2018 (see IOM 2017c, 6). This chapter uses materials produced by the IOM to study the organisation’s activities. Utilising the IOM materials to interrogate the organisation poses obvious difficulties for conducting empirical research since these documents are biased towards the IOM’s self-interest. For a discussion about the methodological perils of using information produced by intergovernmental organisations in critical research, particularly as this problem pertains to the analysis of benchmarking, see Davis et al. 2012, and Broome and Quirk 2015.

Barry distinguishes between a technical device—‘a material or immaterial artefact’—and a governing technology, which refers ‘not just to device in isolation but also to the forms of knowledge, skill, diagrams, charts, calculations and energy which make its use possible’ (2001, 9).

Following Corry, a governance-object is distinct, malleable and politically salient (2013, 87). The global dialogue on migration implies that migration has become a distinct entity in its own right. Migration has become more politically salient than ever before—the global dialogue on migration suggests the international community recognises the global implications of migration. Migration is malleable insofar as actors seek to ‘steer’ it through governing technologies. Finally, migration is a global governance-object not because governing technologies span literally the whole world; rather, governing technologies are premised on a specific problematisation of migration as a global reality to address through multilateral cooperation (Geiger and Pécoud 2012).

Andrijasevic, R., and W. Walters. 2010. The International Organization for Migration and the International Government of Borders. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 28 (6): 977–999.CrossRef

Barnett, M., and M. Finnemore. 2004. Rules for the World: International Organizations in Global Politics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Barry, A. 2001. Political Machines: Governing a Technological Society. London: A&C Black.

———. 2013. The Translation Zone: Between Actor-Network Theory and International Relations. Millennium: Journal of International Studies 41 (3): 413–429.CrossRef

Betts, A. 2010. The Refugee Regime Complex. Refugee Survey Quarterly 29 (1): 12–37.CrossRef

———. 2011. Global Migration Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRef

Betts, A., and G. Loescher, eds. 2011. Refugees in International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bhagwati, J. 2003. Borders Beyond Control. Foreign Affairs 82 (1): 98–104.CrossRef

Broome, A., and J. Quirk. 2015. Governing the World at a Distance: The Practice of Global Benchmarking. Review of International Studies 41 (5): 819–841.CrossRef

Corry, O. 2013. Constructing a Global Polity: Theory, Discourse and Governance. London: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRef

Davis, K.E., B. Kingsbury, and S.E. Merry. 2012. Introduction: Global Governance by Indicators. In Governance by Indicators: Global Power Through Quantification and Rankings, 1–28. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRef

Geiger, M., and A. Pécoud. 2012. The Politics of International Migration Management. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Geiger, M., and A. Pécoud, eds. 2013. Disciplining the Transnational Mobility of People. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

———. 2014. International Organisations and the Politics of Migration. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 40 (6): 865–887.CrossRef

Hale, T., and D. Held, eds. 2011. Handbook of Transnational Governance. Cambridge: Polity.

Hansen, R., J. Koehler, and J. Money. 2011. Migration, Nation States, and International Cooperation. London: Routledge.

IOM. 2010. World Migration Report: The Future of Migration Governance and Regional Consultative Processes. At http://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/wmr2010_governance_regional_consultative_processes.pdf

———. 2013. International Migration and Development: Contributions and Recommendations of the International System. At https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/ceb_gmg_web.pdf

———. 2016a. IOM Becomes a Related Organization to the UN. At https://www.iom.int/news/iom-becomes-related-organization-un

———. 2016b. International Dialogue on Migration No. 26: Follow-Up and Review of Migration in the Sustainable Development Goals. At https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/rb26_en.pdf

———. 2016c. Measuring Well-Governed Migration: The 2016 Migration Governance Index. At https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/migration_governance_index_2016.pdf

———. 2016d. Measuring Well-Managed Migration: The Migration Governance Index. Presentation by Leo Abruzzese, Economist Intelligence Unit. At https://gmdac.iom.int/sites/default/files/presentations/Abruzzesse.pdf

———. 2017a. International Dialogue on Migration. At https://www.iom.int/idm

———. 2017b. International Dialogue on Migration 2017: Strengthening International Cooperation on and Governance of Migration Towards the Adoption of a Global Compact on Migration in 2018. At https://www.iom.int/international-dialogue-migration-2017-strengthening-international-cooperation-and-governance

———. 2017c. World Migration Report 2018. At https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/wmr_2018_en.pdf

Kalm, S. 2012. Liberalizing Movements? The Political Rationality of Global Migration Management. In The Politics of International Migration Management, ed. M. Geiger and A. Pécoud, 21–44. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Koslowski, R., ed. 2011. Global Mobility Regimes. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Kunz, R., S. Lavenex, and M. Panizzon. 2011. Multilayered Migration Governance: The Promise of Partnership. Abingdon: Taylor and Francis.CrossRef

Lavenex, S. 2016. Multilevelling EU External Governance: The Role of International Organizations in the Diffusion of EU Migration Policies. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 42 (4): 554–570.CrossRef

Martin, S.F. 2014. International Migration: Evolving Trends from the Early Twentieth Century to the Present. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Pécoud, A. 2015. Depoliticising Migration: Global Governance and International Migration Narratives. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Sending, O.J., and J.H. Sande Lie. 2015. The Limits of Global Authority: World Bank Benchmarks in Ethiopia and Malawi. Review of International Studies 41 (5): 993–1010.CrossRef

UN. 2017. High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). At https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf

———. 2018. Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. A/CONF.231/1. 10 December. At http://undocs.org/en/A/CONF.231/3

UN General Assembly. 2015. Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. A/RES/70/1. 21 October. At http://www.refworld.org/docid/57b6e3e44.html

———. 2016. Agreement Concerning the Relationship Between the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration. A/RES/70/296. 5 August. At https://documents-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N16/234/26/PDF/N1623426.pdf?OpenElement

Title: Measuring ‘Well-Governed’ Migration: The IOM’s Migration Governance Indicators
Author: Corey Robinson
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: The International Organization for Migration
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-32975-4

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-32976-1

Copyright Year: 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32976-1_6