Abstract

VALENZUELA MORENO, Karla Angélica  and  DIAZ MENDIBURO, Aaraón. Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program. A perspective from the Anthropology of the state. Alteridades [online]. 2021, vol.31, n.62, pp.159-170.  Epub Feb 21, 2022. ISSN 2448-850X.  https://doi.org/10.24275/uam/izt/dcsh/alteridades/2021v31n62/valenzuela.

The Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) between Mexico and Canada is part of a global strategy of labor mobility, which aims to mobilize offshore labor from the Global South in order to increase the flexiblity of working conditions. The objective of the article is to analyze the power manifestations that states implement to control the SAWP workers, using data collected from a longitudinal ethnographic study conducted in Mexico and Canada. Even though there are several academic studies about the SAWP, the originality of this text resides in its theoretical approach, which is that of the Anthropology of the state. A limitation of the study resides in the general findings of the workers’ reactions in relation to such state domination, a topic which needs further analysis. As a result, we identified three main power mechanisms: the social construction of subjects, disciplining the workers and making them resposible for their conditions and the enforcement of transnational governmentality through mass media.

Keywords : Transnational workers programs; Canadian agroindustry; Mexico-Canada migration; governmentality.