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From Fields of Power to Fields of Sweat: the dual process of constructing temporary migrant labour in Mexico and Canada

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  • Leigh Binford

Abstract

This article examines the social construction of migrant labour forces through an analysis of the exterior and interior conditioning in an agricultural contract labour programme between Mexico and Canada. I argue that forms of exterior conditioning, especially employers' point-of-production control, establishes the context within which migrant workers' experience unfolds, for which reason it contributes to their ‘interior conditioning’. But I argue as well that the result is shaped by workers' employment of a ‘dual frame of reference’ through which they gauge Canadian wages and working conditions the only way they can, which is in relationship to Mexican ones. Given that neoliberal policies have reduced the options available in Mexico, and diminished the attractiveness of those that remain, contract labour in Canada presents one of the few opportunities many poor, rural Mexicans have to acquire the income necessary for a minimally dignified life. Consequently most workers in this programme do everything possible to please their employers and continue in the programme.

Suggested Citation

  • Leigh Binford, 2009. "From Fields of Power to Fields of Sweat: the dual process of constructing temporary migrant labour in Mexico and Canada," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 503-517.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ctwqxx:v:30:y:2009:i:3:p:503-517
    DOI: 10.1080/01436590902742297
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    Cited by:

    1. Chantal Robillard & Janet McLaughlin & Donald C. Cole & Biljana Vasilevska & Richard Gendron, 2018. "“Caught in the Same Webs”—Service Providers’ Insights on Gender-Based and Structural Violence Among Female Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 583-606, August.
    2. Natascha Klocker & Olivia Dun & Lesley Head & Ananth Gopal, 2020. "Exploring migrants’ knowledge and skill in seasonal farm work: more than labouring bodies," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(2), pages 463-478, June.
    3. Leah F. Vosko & Tanya Basok & Cynthia Spring & Guillermo Candiz & Glynis George, 2022. "Understanding Migrant Farmworkers’ Health and Well-Being during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada: Toward a Transnational Conceptualization of Employment Strain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-19, July.
    4. J. Adam Perry, 2018. "Living at Work and Intra-worker Sociality Among Migrant Farm Workers in Canada," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1021-1036, November.
    5. Leah F. Vosko, 2013. "National sovereignty and transnational labour: the case of Mexican seasonal agricultural workers in British Columbia, Canada," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5-6), pages 514-532, November.

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