Contested Ground

Network Governance in Australia's Migration Industry

Bibliographic Data

ID9953371
AuthorsMarina Khan (0000-0002-1972-4397, Western Sydney University Sydney, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume57
Issue3
Pages295-309
Publication date2019-03-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Migration (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-7985 • E-ISSN: 1468-2435
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/imig.12568
OpenAlexW2920834815
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited31

This article challenges current understandings of the Australian migration industry's position in a network governance framework by shedding light on Registered Migration Agents’ ( RMA ) lived experiences of their profession. Using qualitative interview data collected from ten migration intermediaries across Australia, this article examines their experiences of their role in relation to the state and industry bodies. Placing migration intermediaries at the meso‐level of analysis, between macro‐level forces of the state and micro‐level agency of their clients, I argue primarily that the migration industry of Australia is a “contested ground” where intermediaries are embedded within complex negotiations with the state and legal frameworks, whilst also negotiating their legitimacy in a stigmatised profession. The findings of this study reveal migration intermediaries’ experiences of network governance as pivotal stakeholders, operating within a space characterized by complex configurations of autonomy and bureaucratic control

Agency (philosophy · Autonomy · Bureaucracy · Business · Corporate governance · Intermediary · Legitimacy · Negotiation · Network governance · Political economy · Political science · Public relations · Social science · Sociology · State (computer science · Employment and Welfare Studies · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Marketing · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Public Administration

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