Romania's agricultural workers. Return mobilities and modes of food production

Abstract

AbstractThis article examines the dynamics of Romanian seasonal migration and its effects on farming and rural areas. We connect labour migration to changes in modes of food production in Western and Eastern Europe. Based on the fieldwork in seven Romanian localities with 40 semi‐structured interviews, we interrogate how seasonal work is shaped by regimes of mobility and economic and social inequalities. Studying the case of Romania's large rural population raises critical questions regarding migration, development and change in rural areas. Answering such questions requires disentangling different categories of seasonal migrants and their return prospects. Looking at how agricultural labour is structured, we examine labour experiences and analyse how migrants' agency operates in precarious contexts. Observing the consequences of seasonal migration and return, we discovered diverging processes of agricultural diversification through entrepreneurialism and a radical change in peasant farming resulting in an increased concentration of farmland.