Full Description
Over the last three decades there has been a rapid expansion of intensive production of fresh fruit and vegetables in the Mediterranean regions of south and west Europe. Much of this depends on migrating workers for seasonal labour, including from Eastern Europe, North Africa and Latin America. This book is the first to address global agro-migration complexes across the region.
It is argued that both intensive agricultural production and related working conditions are highly dynamic. Regional patterns have developed from small-scale family farming to become an industrialized part of the global agri-food system, which increasingly depends on seasonal labour. Simultaneously, consumer demand for year-round supply has caused relocations of the industry within Europe; areas of intensive greenhouse production have moved further south and even into North Africa. The authors investigate this Mediterranean agri-food system that transcends borders and is largely constituted by invisible seasonal work. By revealing the story of food commodities loaded with implications of private profit seeking, exploitation, exclusion and multiple insecurities, the book unmasks the hidden costs of fresh food provisioning.
Three case study areas are considered in detail: the French region of Provence, a traditional centre of fresh fruit and vegetable cultivation; the Spanish Almería region where intensive production has, accelerated dramatically since the 1970s; and Morocco where counter-seasonal production has recently been expanding. The book also includes commentaries that refer to complemetary insights on US-Mexico, Philippines-Canada and South Pacific mobilities.
Contents
Part 1: Introduction 1. Seasonality and Temporality in Intensive Agriculture 2. B/ordering the Mediterranean: Free Trade, Fresh Fruits and Fluid Fixity Part 2: France: Traditional Centre of Fruit and Vegetable Production 3. Shared Insecurities? Farmers and Workers in Bouches-du-Rhône 4. Super/markets: Beyond Buyer-drivenness in Southern France 5. Fruit Production in France and Argentina: Globalizing Standards and Labour Markets 6. The Transnational Recruitment of Temporary Latino Workers in European Agriculture 7. Sans-papiers: Self-censored Social Identities of Farm Workers in Southern France Commentary: Neoliberal Market Mystifications in the Social Costs of Eating Fresh - Philippines-Canada Comparisons Part 3: Spain: Symbol and Embodiment of Industrial Agriculture 8. The Political Economy of El Ejido: Genealogy of the 2000 Conflict 9. The Industrial Agriculture: A 'Model for Modernization' from Almería? 10. Mobility Partnerships and Circular Migration: Managing Seasonal Migration to Spain 11. 'Origin Matters': Working Conditions of Moroccans and Romanians in the Greenhouses of Almería 12. 'We Don't have Women in Boxes': Channelling Seasonal Mobility of Female Farmworkers between Morocco and Andalusia Commentary: From Fresh Produce to Poultry - Shifting Labour Regimes in the Global Agri-food System Part 4: Morocco: Booming Sites of Counter Seasonal Production 13. Which Agricultural Policy for which Food Security in Morocco? 14. Facilitating the Export of Fruit and Vegetables: The Role of State Institutions in Morocco 15. Disrupted Livelihoods? Intensive Agriculture and Labour Markets in the Moroccan Souss 16. Labour and Gender Relations in Moroccan Strawberry Culture 17. Between Hope and Disillusionment: The Migration of Nomadic Pastoralists to Europe 18. Border Makers: Clandestine Migration from Morocco Commentary: New Migration and New Communities - Social Changes Born from Agricultural Changes Part 5: Conclusion 19. Comparative Perspective: Insights from New Zealand's Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme 20. Epilogue: The Social Costs of Eating Fresh
