Presentations by Streams

The temporary employment of Yugoslav citizens in western countries was one of the most important migration phenomena in socialist Yugoslavia. In the early 1970s, one in every four Yugoslavs employed outside of agriculture and craft work was a Gastarbeiter. Legalised in 1963, the temporary employment abroad of Yugoslav workers made Yugoslavia an exceptional case, since no other socialist country in Cold War Europe allowed its citizens to work in the capitalist West. Because of that, the Yugoslav Gastarbeiter migration has received considerable scholarly attention. Yet there are still important gaps in the literature. One of those is the absence of gender perspectives. Although women were a large proportion of Yugoslav Gastarbeiter, we know very little about their migration experience. The impact of Gastarbeiter migration on gender norms, and on gender and labour policies in Yugoslavia as well as the countries of employment remains poorly investigated.

This panel addresses these gaps from different geographic and thematic perspectives. Covering topics such as the female experiences of employment abroad, return and reintegration, as well as the impact of Gastarbeiter migration on female employment in Yugoslavia, the panel offers unique insight into a phenomenon which has for too long been biased against female migrant workers. Given that the Gastarbeiter migration was one of the most important migratory phenomena not only in Yugoslavia but in post-1945 European history, the panel will be of interest not only for Yugoslav specialists but for anyone with an interest in gender and migration in contemporary European history.