PURITY AND DANGER IN SPANISH AGRICULTURE: FARM WORKERS DURING THE PANDEMIC

The aim of this paper is to carry out a sociological analysis of the implications of what could be referred to as the paradox of farm labourers during the pandemic. That is, their designation as essential workers turned them simultaneously into high-risk workers and a source of public alarm. Based on the analysis of the logics of purity and danger of Mary Douglas (1991), this article analyses how some of the public health strategies developed by the institutions during the pandemic contributed to reinforcing the invisibility and vulnerability of migrant workers. The article shows how, being placed in the realm of the impure and dangerous, foreign agricultural workers were not able to receive the health care they required, and their living spaces thus became environments conducive to the spread of the virus. Through an exploration of secondary sources, a review of pertinent documents and in-depth interviews with key informants, this article firstly offers a description of the institutional process by which foreign agricultural workers in the Region of Murcia were converted into essential workers facilitated the spread of infections. Secondly, it explores the link between the precariousness of the working and living conditions of farm labourers and the absence of the ethics of self-care, which was at the heart of the chain of Covid-19 infections suffered by this population. Finally, it focuses on institutional responses to the threat posed by the threat posed by increased infections among immigrant farm workers. Copyright ©2022 CSIC.

Covid and US Farm Labor

Many governments closed their borders in spring 2020 to prevent the spread of Covid, but they also made exceptions to allow farm employers to recruit temporary foreign workers to fill seasonal farm jobs. The pandemic changed many parameters of food systems. Closed restaurants led to widespread layoffs in leisure and hospitality, rates of Covid were high among nonfarm food processing and meatpacking workers, and there was less Covid than expected among the foreign workers who increased their share of employment in production agriculture. The pandemic accelerated three major changes that were already underway, viz., more labor-saving mechanization, more foreign workers, and increased imports of labor-intensive commodities. Mechanization increases the resilience of production agriculture to labor supply shocks. © 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Hostel frictions: backpackers living under lockdown

This article focuses on the ‘frictions' felt by international backpackers who have been stuck and locked-down while they were living and working in regional Australian hostels. Backpackers play a central role as both tourists and migrant workers in Australia, where they undertake significant periods of required farm work in order to extend their visas. They are a highly visible and long-standing mobile population in Australia and are relatively under-studied given their significance to tourism cultures and economies. Based on forty semi-structured interviews with backpackers living and working in Bundaberg, Australia, we explore how experiences of immobilities prior to and during the pandemic restrictions manifest as experiences of escalating and alleviating frictions. Friction is understood as an embodied and relational feeling of tension produced by a shortage of space. Friction has always been a feature of hostel living but prolonged lockdowns and inconsistent health messaging escalated frictions into open conflict. We propose that the concept of friction sits between mobilities and immobilities, and that particular mobility contexts exacerbate such frictions. The article contributes to ongoing discussions on pandemic immobilities and the interwoven concerns of tourism, migration, and labour mobilities. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Labor Issues in the Food Supply Chain Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The impacts of COVID-19 on labor in the food supply chain and on workers' decisions to accept essential jobs are discussed. We then analyze surveys administered to low-skilled domestic workers before and during the pandemic to assess respondents' attitudes toward food production, guest workers, immigration policy, and the government's response to COVID-19. Results suggest the outbreak resulted in respondents, on average, shifting their view toward food being a national security issue and a higher degree of empathy for H-2A workers. Regression analysis shows that gender, current agricultural workers, and information on COVID-19 and agricultural field workers influenced respondents' answers.

Viewpoint: The future of work in agri-food.

As countries develop, agriculture's role as domestic employer declines. But the broader agri-food system also expands, and the scope for agriculture-related job creation shifts beyond the farm. Historically, technological revolutions have shaped, and have been shaped by, these dynamics. Today, a digital revolution is taking hold. In this process of structural transformation, societies evolve from having a surplus to a shortage of domestic farm labor, typically met by foreign agricultural wage workers. Yet anti-immigration sentiments are flying high in migrant-destination countries, and agricultural trade may be similarly challenged. Robots in the fields and packing plants offer an alternative to a diminishing labor supply. COVID-19 will reinforce trends of digitization and anti-globalization (including in food trade), while slowing economic growth and structural transformation. In the world's poorest countries, particularly in Africa, labor productivity in agriculture remains at historically low levels. So, what role can the agri-food system play as a source of employment in the future? This viewpoint elaborates on these trends and reviews several policy options, including inclusive value chain development, better immigration policies, social insurance schemes, and ramp up in agricultural education and extension.