Markets, citizenship and rights: state regulation of labour migration in Malaysia and Spain

The State regulation of labour migration seems to be confronted with a double dilemma. First, while markets require a policy of open borders to provide as many migrant workers as demanded, citizenship seems to require some degree of closure to the outside. Second, while the exclusive character of citizenship demands closed membership, civil and human rights seem to undermine the State capacity to exclude foreigners once in the country. The present thesis analyses this trilemma between markets, citizenship and rights by considering how Malaysia and Spain have responded to the demand for foreign labour. While being similar in terms of markets, these two countries seem to be different both in terms of citizenship and rights. The question then is: to what extent do different features in terms of citizenship and rights lead to different State responses to the demands for foreign labour?