01/07/2026 09:00 - 16:00

HALL: Pola - AT12

Contact: Broghammer M.

Chair: Mandry C.

Work-related migration is one of the key fault lines in contemporary debates on religion and (in)equality. Across Europe, political and public discourses oscillate between the perceived economic necessity of labor migration and concerns about its social consequences. At the same time, work-related migration is a global phenomenon: migration routes connect European contexts with regions across the world, shaped by colonial histories, post-Cold War transformations, and current efforts to address labor shortages.


This panel examines work-related migration from two complementary perspectives: first, the role of religious actors as agents, institutions, and stakeholders in labor migration; second, the critical ethical, theological, and philosophical reflections on migration and work found within religious traditions.


Historically as well as today, religious actors play a significant role in labor migration. In the field of health care, for example, Christian missionary organizations were involved in providing medical services in destination countries, producing figures that have been both admired and critically debated, such as Mother Teresa or Albert Schweitzer. In contemporary Europe, religious organizations remain major public actors through their involvement in health care infrastructures, including hospitals and nursing homes. As such, they are directly implicated in strategies of recruiting migrant workers and must position themselves within broader political, ethical, and economic frameworks.


Beyond institutional involvement, religious traditions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam offer long-standing and ongoing reflections on migration, work, justice, and inequality. These traditions provide normative resources that engage questions of power, vulnerability, responsibility, and postcolonial entanglements, and that can critically inform current debates on work-related migration.