Transnational guest workers in the 21st century: Gender and the agro-industry in southern Europe

Abstract

This article analyses the contested interconnections between global structures and the living and working conditions of female temporary migrant workers by exploring the transnational condition as a means of understanding intensive and insecure post-Fordist work in late global capitalism, particularly in southern Europe. Building on existing research of migrant work experiences in the agro-business industry, the main part of the article considers three ethnographic questions: What is the impact of the transnational economy on these guest workers’ lives? How does this concept relate to the working lives of women? And how can we understand the impact of intermediaries and global elites in such transnational practices? We employ the concept of transnational space applied to southern Europe alongside notions of “mobility strategies” to advance sociological inquiry into the intersections between different fieldworks – in Andalusia and the Meknes province in Morocco – and the conceptual debate concerning women’s lives and experiences in transnational migration. In this guest worker model, workers who live in one country and work seasonally in another typically come from rural areas and reside abroad in barracks-style accommodations with fellow citizens. What are the challenges for women involved in such a model in terms of recruitment, transportation, work, leisure and return to origin? What space is left for social justice?