The production of precariousness and the racialisation of Pacific Islanders in an Australian horticultural region

Abstract

ABSTRACT Over the last ten years, temporary migration schemes in the horticultural sector have received increasing attention in the Global North. The often precarious conditions of such work have been recognised, however, little attention has been paid to horticultural workers with migration backgrounds who have gained permanent residency or citizenship in the host countries. Ethnographic fieldwork with Pacific farmworkers and their families with various migration statuses in Australia, including seasonal workers, irregular migrants, and permanent residents, revealed that precarious employment conditions in horticultural work impact Pacific people across and beyond different legal statuses, challenging the notion of a clear correlation between irregularity and precariousness. This includes the children of migrants with Australian citizenship who are often employed as casual farmworkers and find it difficult to secure any other work. We argue that their experiences are fundamentally related to their position as ‘racialised’ workers. This paper sheds light on this racialisation of farmwork and its implications for the experiences of Pacific people as residents and workers in regional Australia.