Guest Workers Research Articles

Gig work as migrant work: The platformization of migration infrastructure

With markets concentrating predominantly in and around large cities, gig platforms across the globe seem to depend as much on the cheap labor of migrants and minorities as on investment capital and permissive governments. Accordingly, we argue that there is an urgent need to center migrant experiences and the role of migrant labor in gig economy research, in order to generate a better understanding of how gig work offers certain opportunities and challenges to migrants with a variety of backgrounds and skill levels. To fill this research gap, this article examines why migrant workers in Berlin, Amsterdam, and New York take up platform labor and how they incorporate it into their everyday lives and migration trajectories. Additionally, it considers the extent to which gig platforms are emerging as actors in the political economy of migration, as a result of how they absorb migrant labor and mediate migrant mobilities. We move beyond the existing parameters of gig economy research by engaging with two strands of literature on migration and migrant labor that, we feel, are particularly useful for framing our analysis: the autonomy of migration approach and the migration infrastructures perspective. Combining these conceptual lenses enables us not only to critically situate migrant gig workers’ experiences but also to identify a broader development: the platformization of low-wage labor markets that are an integral component of migration infrastructures.

Single-Center Experience With Paraquat Exposure in Nine Patients.

Paraquat dichloride is a widely used, highly toxic chemical herbicide and a significant cause of fatal poisonings. Toxicity is thought to be secondary to generation of reactive oxygen species. Hours after exposure, patients may experience signs and symptoms ranging from nausea to multisystem organ failure. To mitigate complications and death, immunosuppression with cyclophosphamide and corticosteroid-based therapies has shown to be an effective option in limited studies. Our objective is to report our center's experience treating patients that had been exposed to paraquat over a 2-day period. Patients were identified using our Institutional Burn Center registry and linked to the clinical and administrative data. Demographics, length of stay (LOS), costs, and mortality were evaluated. There were nine patients admitted from the exposure. All were male. All survived. Eight were undocumented migrant farmers. The average age was 36 years (25-59 years). The average LOS was 3.3 days (2-5 days). Seventy-eight percent had cutaneous injury, but only one required debridement and placement of a skin substitute. Thirty-three percent complained of continued shortness of breath after discharge. Average total hospital cost was $28,131 ($9,500-$51,000). Paraquat is a highly toxic herbicide and exposure can be fatal if not treated promptly. Immediate decontamination and repeated pulse therapy with cyclophosphamide and methylprednisolone may be life-saving.

How does rural labor migration affect crop diversification for adapting to climate change in the Hehuang Valley, Tibetan Plateau?

Crop diversification has become a widely adopted adaptive strategy for farmers in developing countries to address the negative effects of climate change. However, with the development of secondary and tertiary industries in developing countries, an increasing number of agricultural laborers have migrated away from rural areas to seek off-farm employment, which reduces livelihood vulnerabilities and may hinder the adoption of crop diversification strategies. There is still a lack of case studies that address how labor migration affects crop diversification. To fill in this gap, we first propose a theoretical framework to address the impact of labor migration on crop diversification under the background of climate change; then, with the data collected from 499 households in the Hehuang Valley (HV), Tibetan Plateau, we explore the factors influencing crop diversification by employing Tobit model. The results show that: (1) crop diversification in the HV exhibits a downward trend due to climate change, with the crop diversification index dropping from 1.026 in 2009 to 0.884 in 2016. (2) Labor migration is obvious in the HV, and households without migrant laborers are more likely to adopt crop diversification strategies to combat climate change risks. (3) Household size, crop subsidies, crop income, and agricultural equipment inputs have significant positive effects on crop diversification, whereas farmers' perceptions of precipitation change, income of migrant laborers, workplace of migrant laborers and the average area of cultivated plots have significant negative effects. The findings of this study provide empirical evidence for understanding the impact of labor migration on crop diversification for adapting to climate change, and can help decision makers formulate effective measures to improve crop diversification by addressing key factors in priority, so as to ensure food security in the HV.

Social capital or non-human sources? A cross-context study on information source selection of migrant farmer workers

Insufficient examination of social factors obscures the reason why non-human information sources are under-utilised by social groups with lower information literacy. This study explores the mechanism of information source selection (ISS) of Chinese migrant farmer workers (MFWs) in different industries by conducting a cross-context analysis. After iterative analyses of multiple cases, a theoretical model of information source selection within an individual’s information world is constructed. It explains why MFWs make more use of social capitals than non-human information sources in information seeking. Besides, the information needs are examined form both the needed information and the need itself. A classification of social capital as human information source is created and the roles that social capitals and non-human information sources play in ISS are identified. This study provides novel theoretical insights into the ‘old’ issue of ISS, and thus has practical implications for public information service providers and MFW-related policy makers.

A Decade of Studying Guest Workers Through the Projects of the Serbian Ethnological and Anthropological Society

This review paper provides an overview of the ten-year long anthropological research on the cultural identity of guest workers and their descendants as part of the projects implemented by the associates of the Department of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade and the SASA Institute of Ethnography. The projects were supported by the Serbian Ethnological and Anthropological Society and the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade. The phenomenon of “temporary workers abroad”, or the so-called guest workers (Gastarbeiter), which emerged in the early 1960s and continued in the decades to come, has long remained beyond the interest of Serbian anthropological and ethnological science. This is why, after having noticed a scientific research gap related to this phenomenon, in 2010 we initiated the anthropological research of the cultural identity of guest workers. Our intention was to take into account different factors of guest-worker identity construction and to look at the processes, discourses and concepts related to this socio-cultural group from different angles. Over time, as we delved deeper into the problem of migrant workers and migration in general, our interests, and consequently our research, expanded to other topics in addition to cultural identity. In that context, this review paper intends to inform the scientific and professional public about the findings of research on migrants working temporarily abroad and their descendants, and to highlight some of the most important topics that we focused on in this research, while being aware that the phenomenon of migrants and migration is so diverse that it is impossible to include or investigate all its elements that make it so complex.

The Pretoria Bone Collection: A 21st Century Skeletal Collection in South Africa

The Pretoria Bone Collection (PBC) began in 1942 with the opening of a medical school at the University of Pretoria (UP) in Pretoria, South Africa, where this skeletal collection is housed in the Department of Anatomy. The purpose of this paper is to provide information on the national legislation associated with obtaining, curating and researching skeletal remains in South Africa, the demographic composition of the PBC, and the inclusion of a portion of these remains into a digital repository known as Bakeng se Afrika (BsA). The PBC comprises 873 complete skeletons, 344 complete postcrania without crania, and 308 complete crania without postcrania. Skeletal contents are reflective of the population statistics of South Africa, with a smaller proportion of White (32%) than Black (65%) South Africans. Unlike the population profile, males in the PBC are greater in number (75.5%) than females (24.5%), which may be explained by the number of migrant labourers traveling into a large city such as Pretoria. From this sample, crania (206), maxillae (141), mandibulae (408), femora (137), and radii (134), as well as several other skeletal elements were micro-XCT scanned and are available on the BsA server. A researcher needs to submit an online application to the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Pretoria for access to these collections.

Migrants and non-migrants' welfare on cocoa farms in Ghana: Multidimensional poverty index approach

PurposeThe study assessed welfare of migrant and non-migrant labourers on cocoa farms in Ghana, using multidimensional poverty index (MPI) with four dimensions (education, health, dietary diversity, living standards) and 21 indicators. Specifically, we examined and compared non-monetary welfare of migrant and non-migrant labourers on cocoa farms in Ghana by adopting MPI approach. Also, we explored the factors affecting labourers' welfare.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 400 labourers was used. Qualitative and quantitative data were used. Quantile regression was used to investigate factors affecting labourers' deprivation in the different domains of non-monetary welfare.FindingsLabourers on cocoa farms are generally deprived in all the welfare indicators. Apart from having low education, labourers were underfed and lived under poor conditions. Though both migrants and non-migrants were multidimensionally poor, welfare of the later was higher than the former. Welfare of migrants and non-migrants on cocoa farms are influenced by similar factors: secondary occupation, income, credit accessibility, nature of contract and distance to social amenities.Research limitations/implicationsFor migrants, permanent status improves welfare. To improve labourers' welfare for enhanced productivity, cocoa farmers should provide permanent/long-term contracts for labourers and government should provide social amenities in cocoa-producing communities.Originality/valueMost previous welfare studies focused on farmers, with little attention paid to welfare of labourers on cocoa farms. We examined and compared the factors that affect migrant and non-migrant labourers' welfare on cocoa farms in Ghana. Moreover, we adopted the MPI (non-monetary) approach to assess labourers' welfare, instead of the expenditure and income approaches prevalent in literature.

An Analysis of Impact of Occupation on Income, Remittances and Expenditure of International Return Migrant Labourers of Uttar Pradesh in Gulf Countries

From the study it is concluded that after implementation of the scheme, 93% respondents stated that they have been provided irrigation facilities for farming to enhance agriculture productivity. Around 91.8% respondents admitted that due to the provision of irrigation facilities for farming, the production of commercial crops (89.5% respondents) have increased and 91.8% respondents stated that agriculture lands have been covered under cultivation.

The Emergence and Persistence of Racialised Stereotypes on Dutch Television

Today, stereotypical and racialised imaginations of Muslims are pervasive on Dutch television. This article traces the history of Dutch television coverage of Muslim immigrants through the lens of the archive of Sound and Vision. It demonstrates that during their symbolic transformation from ‘guest workers’ to ‘ethnic minorities’ to ‘allochtonen’ and ‘Muslims’, television’s visual repertoire of Muslim immigrants has become increasingly racially inscribed. Finally, it argues that the archive of Sound and Vision has played a performative role in the emergence and persistence of racialised stock stereotypes of Muslim immigrants.

Germany's recruitment of workers from Turkey, 1960–1973 – Some remarks

Germany's recruitment of workers from Turkey, 1960–1973 – Some remarks

Guest workers: Enduring questions and policy controversies

Guest workers: Enduring questions and policy controversies

Profile of migrants for cocoa production and agronomic characteristics of cocoa farms in Western Côte d'Ivoire

The mountainous relief of the West of Côte d'Ivoire and the large savannahs next to forests didn’t make this zone very excellent for cocoa production. However, for the last decade, an important influx of farming population has been observed in this area. The objective of this study is to analyze the dynamics of the settlement of migrant farmers in the West region of Côte d’Ivoire, using the department of Biankouma as a case of study. So, individual surveys were conducted among 203 cocoa farmers from 15 villages in the department of Biankouma, who had migrated to this region, It was found that the majority of these farmers are natives of Côte d'Ivoire (38.3%) and non-natives (33.5%) from countries in the West Africa region. The migratory flow to this region is mainly internal, with 95.6% of farmers coming from 11 Districts and 55 localities in the country. While initially (i.e., before 1985), farmers came from towns near Duékoué (11.8%), these waves of movement from towns in neighboring districts (Bas-Sassandra and Sassandra-Marahoué) to the Western Region will experience their highest rates between 2002 and 2013. Observations drawn from our research findings support the hypothesis that the political-military crisis that the country has experienced has accentuated migratory flows of farmers for cocoa production in western Côte d'Ivoire and these migratory flows could be the cause of the degradation of forest cover in the Biankouma Department.

Performing a Version of Themselves: A Comparative Analysis of Želimir Žilnik’s Work with Nonprofessional Actors

Želimir Žilnik’s films are marked by the director’s work with nonprofessional actors who come from the social periphery or marginalized communities and offer unconventional perspectives about social conditions and history. As the title of Žilnik’s recent retrospective exhibition ‘Shadow citizens’ indicates, his films present individuals who embody alternatives to their time’s ruling ideology. These characters include homeless men in communist-era Novi Sad, guest workers in Germany, drag queens in nationalist-dominated Belgrade, immigrants trying to enter Europe and laid-off industrial workers in post-Yugoslav Serbia. Following the long legacy of filming amateur actors, Žilnik cuts a distinct path in using nonprofessionals. This essay comparatively analyzes his Kenedi trilogy and The Old School of Capitalism (2009) with other recent films of social concern from Eastern European directors to place in relief how Žilnik’s films define the socially marginalized and historically determined position of their subjects. This article argues that Žilnik’s films present a critical development in the cinematic practice of reenactment and the use of nonprofessional actors since the director makes it possible for his amateurs to simulate and critically revise their reality on the film screen.

How regulations undervalue occupational fatalities

AbstractThe U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration establishes incentives for safety by setting and enforcing regulatory standards. Using four and a half decades of inspection data, this article provides a comprehensive analysis of the factors underpinning penalties following fatalities. The “fatality premium” for regulatory violations following a worker death is quite modest and is several orders of magnitude below the value‐of‐a‐statistical‐life figure needed to establish efficient levels of deterrence in the absence of all other financial incentives. Although there are low statutory caps on penalties, only 8% of the penalties for violations involving fatalities are constrained by the cap, suggesting that current statutes establish norms for reasonable penalty amounts. In situations involving a fatality at firms with union representation during the inspection, the enforcement sanctions are more stringent. Fatalities involving migrant laborers are less heavily penalized.

A ‘Melting Pot’ City: Migration and Municipality in the Reconstruction of Dortmund

Abstract This article explores how Dortmund’s municipal government propagated a concept of city-citizenship and belonging for new arrivals by mediating between expellee, refugee and migrant communities and ‘native’ civil society in the 1940s-1950s. The devastation of Dortmund during the Second World War, and the housing and energy shortages that followed, meant that the arrival of over a hundred thousand expellees and refugees in 1945–1960 placed severe strains on municipal resources while exacerbating conflicts between ‘native’ Dortmunders and new arrivals. The success of the Social Democratic Party (spd) in building a hegemonic position in postwar politics and administration by the late 1940s facilitated the coordination of municipal efforts to foster inter-community relations and introduce new populations to city life. Within the city council and government, in expellee meetings, and in municipal events we observe sustained municipal efforts to 1) exert social control over expellee/refugee arrivals to deflect anger at the poor conditions of the reconstruction period away from municipal officials and 2) inculcate taboos based on peace and democratic norms to delegitimise the politics of inter-community resentment. It concludes by tracing how official narratives and municipal practices constructed in the 1940s-50s were redeployed during the arrival of guest workers in the 1960s.

Is the Formalization of Collective Tenure Rights Supporting Sustainable Indigenous Livelihoods? Insights from Comunidades Nativas in the Peruvian Amazon

After decades of activism by Indigenous Peoples and their allies, the need to formalize Indigenous land rights has received increasing global attention as a strategy to address climate change. Research has highlighted the compatibility between community forest management regimes and carbon sequestration, reiterating the essential role that securing Indigenous land tenure must play in forest-based climate change mitigation strategies. Based on research conducted in six Indigenous Comunidades Nativas with formal collective titles in Peruvian Amazonia, this article argues that titling alone is not enough to ensure that Indigenous Peoples are supported and enabled to access their recognized rights and play a central role in addressing the climate crisis. Indigenous Awajun and Ashaninka informants discussed challenges with accessing suitable livelihoods, excessive restrictions on timber harvest, land conflicts with smallholder migrant farmers and extractive concessions, unclear conflict resolution mechanisms, and policies that assume a communal governance model that differs from actual Indigenous leadership roles and institutions. All of these challenges put pressure on community members, creating incentives for unsustainable land and resource use, and undermining their abilities to protect their forests. Although Peru has included Comunidades Nativas and other co-managed areas in the mitigation actions toward its Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement, it must re-examine its titling reforms, and the way that Comunidades’ land and resource access is regulated and weakened. This will allow for titling in practice to live up to its promise in theory as a strategy for promoting equity and mitigating climate change.

Tilling another's land: Migrant farming under rural industrialization and urbanization in China

AbstractStudies of labour migration in China usually focus on rural residents seeking wage employment in the urban industrial or service sector. This article provides an account of migrant farmers who have moved from the impoverished countryside to peri‐urban villages in more developed areas to engage in substitute agricultural production. They took over fields abandoned by local villagers and lived and worked among them as tenants. This article situates the analysis of migrant farming within the changing regimes of rural accumulation in post‐socialist China. It shows how migrant farming subsidized rural industrialization by providing low‐cost substitute labour, which facilitated the incorporation of local villagers into the industrial workforce as semi‐proletarianized workers. Into the 2000s, the transition towards land‐based accumulation incorporated local villagers into proprietorship while dispossessing migrant farmers. The amplification of inequalities reveals how the shifting regimes of accumulation constitute an important source of differentiation in Chinese villages today.

Migrant Labour and Their “Capitalist Compatriots”: Towards a History of Ethnic Capitalism

The relationship between migration and Australian capitalism has long been a topic of robust scholarly debate in sociology and economics. Researchers in those fields have highlighted how migration has left an indelible imprint on Australian capitalism. By contrast, Australian migration histories have given scant attention to the role ethnic groups played in Australian capitalism. This lack of attention is particularly curious in historical studies of Greek Australia given the significance of small business in facilitating migration and settlement. From Federation onwards, Greek ethnic capitalism - or, more precisely, the relations between Greek migrant labourers and their petite bourgeoisie employers - became a topic of media coverage. In fact, the relations between Greek workers and employers were so important that newspapers routinely reported on the subject. This article examines this media coverage, its racialist and criminalising connotations, and historical relevance. It concludes with some observations on how histories of capitalism can productively engage with the histories of ethnicisation.

Copra processing issue of migrant farmers in tidal land of South Sumatra

The study was carried out in the tidal land region of Pendowo Harjo Village, Sungsang District, Banyuasin District, South Sumatra Province, with the goal of calculating the production costs and income gained, as well as determining the financial feasibility of the copra processing business. Simple random selection was used to choose sample farmers, with 45 sample farmers managing the copra processing business chosen from a total of 235 population members. All sample farmers were Bugis ethnic migrant farmers. The analysis results showed that with an average area of 1.15 hectares, an income of IDR 2,530,886.98 was obtained. The production costs incurred were IDR 1,756,328.15 resulting in an income of IDR 774,558.83 per arable area per production process (for a period of 3 months). The NPV value was IDR 102,638,789.00, with the IRR value was 49.92 per cent, and the Net B/C value was 2.28. These figures show that a copra processing business can be developed in the area financially.

Zones of Occult Instability: The Birth of the Novel in Africa

Zones of Occult Instability: The Birth of the Novel in Africa