The necropolitics of expendability : migrant farm workers during COVID-19

Publication date

2024



Abstract

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M


COVID-19 has made visible and deepened inequalities globally, while also manifesting the vital role of functional food, health, and care systems in a context of strong socio-ecological interdependencies. We here mobilize bio- and necro-politics to problematize the declaration of agricultural workers as 'essential' and the accompanying policies during the early months of the pandemic, focusing on the region of Lleida, Spain. We show how this proclaimed indispensibility was aiming mostly at securing cheap labor to agri-business while workers continued to be treated as expendable. An intersectionality lens allows us to understand discrimination and racism as health determinants, operating within and defining 'glocal' food necropolitics and COVID-19 biopolitics.

Document Type

Article

Language

English

Publisher

 

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Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación CEX2019-000940-M

Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/SGR-00975

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The Journal of peasant studies ; Vol. 51, Issue 2 (2024), p. 441-465

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open access

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