Reimagining transnational mobility regulations : An anti-imperialist and utopian reading of the Model International Mobility Convention
Lundberg, Anna LU
(2026)
In Economic and Industrial Democracy
p.1-22
- Abstract (Swedish)
- In this article I rethink international migration law by analysing the Model International Mobility Convention (MIMC) through a concrete-utopian lens. Starting from the premise that coloniality remains an active structure of the global order, I show how progressive legal projects often reproduce the hierarchies they seek to overcome. Combining Gary Wilder’s concrete utopianism with Ruth Levitas’s utopia as method, I examine how MIMC’s provisions on residency, differentiated rights and representation both open and limit possibilities for post-sovereign mobility governance. I argue that the Model’s transformative potential depends on integrating decolonial and explicitly anti-imperialist perspectives that centre migrant experience and... (More)
- In this article I rethink international migration law by analysing the Model International Mobility Convention (MIMC) through a concrete-utopian lens. Starting from the premise that coloniality remains an active structure of the global order, I show how progressive legal projects often reproduce the hierarchies they seek to overcome. Combining Gary Wilder’s concrete utopianism with Ruth Levitas’s utopia as method, I examine how MIMC’s provisions on residency, differentiated rights and representation both open and limit possibilities for post-sovereign mobility governance. I argue that the Model’s transformative potential depends on integrating decolonial and explicitly anti-imperialist perspectives that centre migrant experience and confront the material and historical inequalities structuring the contemporary border order. By situating mobility regulation within debates on labour precarity, the article highlights implications for collective organisation and transnational labour rights.
(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/ea6568bb-52a6-45e4-8e1a-fef644189e36
- author
- Lundberg, Anna
LU
- organization
- alternative title
- En nytolkning av reglerna för rörelse över gränser. : En antiimperialistisk och utopisk tolkning av MIMC
- publishing date
- 2026-05-25
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- subject
- keywords
- concrete utopianism, international migration law, Model International Mobility Convention (MIMC), transnational mobility governance, utopia as method
- in
- Economic and Industrial Democracy
- pages
- 22 pages
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105040109684
- ISSN
- 0143-831X
- DOI
- 10.1177/0143831X261450774
- project
- Human Rights Mobilisation of Welfare Professionals Against the Informers Act - Arguments, Strategies and Practices
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- DOI: 10.1177/0143831X261450774
- id
- ea6568bb-52a6-45e4-8e1a-fef644189e36
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-08 15:15:57
- date last changed
- 2026-06-10 08:45:48
@article{ea6568bb-52a6-45e4-8e1a-fef644189e36,
abstract = {{In this article I rethink international migration law by analysing the Model International Mobility Convention (MIMC) through a concrete-utopian lens. Starting from the premise that coloniality remains an active structure of the global order, I show how progressive legal projects often reproduce the hierarchies they seek to overcome. Combining Gary Wilder’s concrete utopianism with Ruth Levitas’s utopia as method, I examine how MIMC’s provisions on residency, differentiated rights and representation both open and limit possibilities for post-sovereign mobility governance. I argue that the Model’s transformative potential depends on integrating decolonial and explicitly anti-imperialist perspectives that centre migrant experience and confront the material and historical inequalities structuring the contemporary border order. By situating mobility regulation within debates on labour precarity, the article highlights implications for collective organisation and transnational labour rights.<br/>}},
author = {{Lundberg, Anna}},
issn = {{0143-831X}},
keywords = {{concrete utopianism; international migration law; Model International Mobility Convention (MIMC); transnational mobility governance; utopia as method}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{05}},
pages = {{1--22}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{Economic and Industrial Democracy}},
title = {{Reimagining transnational mobility regulations : An anti-imperialist and utopian reading of the Model International Mobility Convention}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0143831X261450774}},
doi = {{10.1177/0143831X261450774}},
year = {{2026}},
}