5 - The Hidden Space of Mediation: Migrant Volunteers, Immigration Lawyers, and Interpreters

Summary

The previous two chapters have discussed different ways in which migrant workers negotiate the mismatch between their physical presence and lack of opportunities to speak when enacting citizenship. Chapter 3 focused on migrant workers, mainly from English-speaking countries, who challenged the gap between visibility and audibility. In the Nambu union where Japanese was predominantly used, some migrant workers perceived the lack of opportunity to speak on their own as a problematic sign of inequality between citizens and foreigners. To reclaim their voice and create a truly ‘democratic’ union, where anyone can speak regardless of nationality, the migrant workers set up their own trade union, Tozen, where English was used as the main working language.

Meanwhile, migrant workers discussed in Chapter 4 exploited the mismatch between their visibility and silence. Some migrant members of Kanagawa City Union (KCU) used their silence as a means to make personal gains. The purpose of joining union activities for these migrant workers was to demonstrate their commitment to union activism so that Japanese unionists would agree to handle their labour disputes. While the migrant workers needed Japanese activists to solve their own labour cases, the latter needed the former's physical presence to increase the authenticity of their claims. The migrant members, therefore, did not regard their silent position as signalling a hierarchical relationship between migrant protesters and their local supporters, as discussed in Chapter 3. Instead, silence was a tool for migrant workers to protect their own interest as workers. In exchange for performing a silent role in union activities, migrant workers ensured that their labour disputes were addressed by Japanese activists and in this way, pursued what they saw as their rights as workers.

As this chapter will show, the process of negotiating the mismatch between visibility and audibility does not simply involve migrant workers themselves. It also involves people who act as agents for migrant workers. These include volunteer organisations organised by migrants, lawyers working for migrant workers, and interpreters facilitating communication between migrant protesters and their Japanese counterparts. These people lend their professional skills and knowledge to assist migrants. Through their professional positions, migrant volunteers, lawyers, and interpreters act for migrant workers, conveying their demands to employers and judges.