A GAME CHANGER? THE 2022 WORLD CUP AS A GLOBAL STAGE TO DISCUSS LABOR MIGRANT RIGHTS Amédé Schmitz 0143422932 University of Helsinki Faculty of Social Science Sociology Master’s thesis May 2015 Abstract The 2022 World Cup in Qatar has already generated extensive media attention prior to the event. Migrant workers at construction sites connected to the staging of the football championship are at the center of this attention: various actors criticize the working conditions of migrant workers and call for more rights for labor migrants. This discourse represents a global problem, depicting the vulnerable situations for many migrants in the country of destination. The host countries often neglect rights of migrant workers, while the country of origin has only limited power to protect their workers abroad. But how and by whom, then, are migrant workers protected if neither by the residing country nor by the country of origin? Based on the discourse about the rights of migrant workers in Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup, this study analyzes how different actors negotiate the rights of migrant workers in times where there are yet no clearly institutionalized frameworks that adequately protect migrants. In order to reveal the discourse participants and subsequent analyze their claims, this research applies a unique combination of media analysis and document analysis. Through the theoretical framework of Sassen’s concept of studying globalization (2003) and Fraser’s theory of abnormal justice disputes (2008), the research analyzes ten reports of various state and non-state, national and international actors that engage in the discourse about rights of migrant workers. As the results show, the discourse participants identify Qatar’s legislations as the most powerful framework to protect migrant workers. While too weak to actually enforce rights, the international human and labor rights system nevertheless acts as a guideline for national legislations. Moreover, beyond the national governance (in form of a government) and the international governance (in form international organizations and NGOs), the discourse as such provides an abstract form of governance. Aside from these results, the study furthermore contributes to the methodological discussion about how to frame and scrutinize a discourse about a complex and divers topics, such as rights of migrant workers, and further develops the theoretical debate about justice claims in a globalized world. Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 1 2. IDENTIFYING MIGRANT LABOR RIGHTS ON THE GRAND SCALE OF GLOBALIZED SOCIAL ISSUES ........ 4 2.1 LABOR RIGHTS IN TIMES OF MOBILE LABOR FORCE .......................................................................................... 4 2.1.1 New challenges of discussing labor rights ................................................................................. 4 2.1.2 Rights of labor migrants ............................................................................................................ 6 2.2. QATAR AS UNIQUE AND SIMULTANEOUSLY REPRESENTATIVE CASE OF A LABOR MIGRATION DESTINATION COUNTRY .... 10 2.2.1 Qatar's history of migrant workers .......................................................................................... 10 2.2.2. Labor migration in Qatar today .............................................................................................. 11 2.2.3 Framing the rights of migrant workers in Qatar ...................................................................... 12 2.3 SPORTING MEGA-EVENTS AS PLATFORMS FOR CLAIMS-MAKING ON GLOBAL SOCIAL ISSUES ................................... 14 2.3.1 The scope of mega-sporting events ......................................................................................... 14 2.3.2 Mega-sporting events and human rights activism .................................................................. 16 2.3.3 World Cup 2022 – a stage to discuss rights of migrant workers? ............................................ 19 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .............................................................................................................21 3.1 GLOBAL EVENTS AND THE MULTI-SCALARITY OF LOCAL ISSUES ......................................................................... 21 3.2 THE ISSUE OF LABOR MIGRATION AND ABNORMAL JUSTICE DISPUTES ............................................................... 25 3.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ....................................................................................... 28 4. METHODS AND MATERIALS ..............................................................................................................31 4.1 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY .......................................................................................................................... 31 4.2 DOCUMENTS AS DATA ............................................................................................................................ 33 4.3. THE METHODOLOGY OF ANALYZING DOCUMENTS........................................................................................ 34 4.3.1 Constituting the field ............................................................................................................... 34 4.3.2 Documents in action ................................................................................................................ 35 4.3.3. Textual content........................................................................................................................ 36 4.4 CONSTITUTION OF THE DISCOURSE ........................................................................................................... 37 4.4.1 Entering the field ...................................................................................................................... 38 5. CENTRAL CLAIMS OF DISCOURSE PARTICIPANTS AND THE INSTITUTIONAL SETTING OF LABOR MIGRANT RIGHTS .................................................................................................................................47 5.1 ACTORS PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF LABOR MIGRANTS ................................................................................. 47 5.1.1 Injustice based on economic maldistribution ........................................................................... 48 5.1.2 Injustice based on political misrepresentation ......................................................................... 51 5.1.3 Injustice based on cultural misrecognition .............................................................................. 52 5.1.4 Proposed measures .................................................................................................................. 53 5.2 QATARI ORGANIZATIONS AS EMERGENT PARTIES IN THE DISCOURSE ON THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF LABOR MIGRATION ............................................................................................................................................... 58 5.2.1 Injustice based on economic maldistribution ........................................................................... 59 5.2.2 Injustice based on political misrepresentation ......................................................................... 62 5.2.3 Injustice based on cultural misrecognition .............................................................................. 63 5.2.4 Proposed measures .................................................................................................................. 63 5.3 PRIVATE LAW FIRM AS STATE ADVOCATE IN A GLOBAL DEBATE .......................................................................... 68 5.3.1 Proposed measures: Mending the institutional framework .................................................... 69 5.4 INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AS THE WATCHDOG FOR THE ADHERENCE TO THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL SYSTEM .... 73 5.4.1 Injustices based on economic maldistribution ......................................................................... 74 5.4.2 Injustices based on Political Misrepresentation ....................................................................... 78 5.4.3 Injustice based on cultural misrecognition .............................................................................. 79 5.4.4 Proposed measures .................................................................................................................. 80 5.5 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................... 85 6. INSTITUTIONAL AND DISCURSIVE MANDATES IN THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION AND CONSOLIDATION OF THE MIGRANT LABOR RIGHTS DISCOURSE ......................................................................................88 6.1 CONSENSUAL INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKS ............................................................................................... 88 6.2 CONFLICTING INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKS ............................................................................................... 91 6.3 THE GAPS OF NATIONAL REGULATIONS ....................................................................................................... 94 6.4 DYNAMIC FRAMEWORK ......................................................................................................................... 95 6.5 CONCLUSION: INTERNATIONAL AND LOCAL STANDARDS VERSUS NATIONAL LAW ................................................