State-sanctioned uncertainty: governing the labour market participation of Syrian refugees in Adana, Irbid and Gothenburg

In the wake of policies that facilitate access to the formal labour market, refugees encounter skills devaluation, precarious employment and exploitation. Scholarship on the political economy of refugee governance has not only pointed to the economic rationale behind such marginalisation, but has also highlighted the significance of state-capital relations. Relying on interview material with Syrian refugees and state and non-state actors in the cities of Adana, Irbid, and Gothenburg, this article further advances our understanding of the operations of the capitalist state in two important ways. First, putting literature on the political economy of refugee governance into conversation with work on uncertainty as a tool of refugee governance, this article analyses how the marginalisation of refugee labour is furthered through inconsistencies, ambiguities and fragmentation underpinning state responses. Second, by analysing refugees’ experiences of uncertainty in Turkey, Jordan and Sweden, we highlight the economic significance of uncertainty in refugee labour governance across North/South binaries. Overall, this article contends that the austerity-induced fragmentation of the state, its ambiguous policies and implementation gaps strengthen its role as an actor that caters towards capital’s interests.