Miradas en Movimiento

Transcription

Special Volume- January 2012
“Naturally Immigrants”
ISSN 1852-2173
Miradas en Movimiento- MeM
Special Volume – Naturally Immigrants
Special Volume
Naturally Immigrants
January 2012
ISSN 1852-2173
International Migrations
Electronic Journal
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S CIENTIFIC C OUNCIL
COMPILERS
Sergio Prieto Díaz (Espacio de Estudios Migratorios)
Marco Armiero (EMiGR Network)
Richard Tucker (Michigan University)
E DITION C OMMITTEE
DIRECTOR
Yeray Águila Barrenengoa
COUNCIL
Yahaira Campos Morales
José Antonio Carrión Jiménez
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Special Volume
January 2012
Index
Welcome and Presentation of the Special Volume
4
“Some Comments on the Debate “Migration-nexus-Climate Changes”. Continuing with
the status quo?”, by Sonia Brigite da Rocha Pires
6
“Can Improved Circular Migration Programs fit into the Imaginary of a Socially just
Sustainable Agriculture?”, by Gerda Jónász
25
“Remaking the Places of Belonging: Arabic Immigrants and the Urban Environment
along Sydney’s Georges River”, by Heather Goodall
52
“Roessler Vs. Bird Hunters: “Passarinhada” and Ethnic Conflicts in the South of
Brazil”, by Elenita Malta Pereira and Regina Weber
82
“Climate Change and Emigration: Comparing “Sinking Islands” and Jamaica”, by
Andrea C. S. Berringer
106
“Hortas urbanas cultivadas por populações caboverdianas na Área Metropolitana de
Lisboa: entre a produção de alimentos e as sociabilidades no espaço urbano não
legal”, by Juliana Torquato Luiz e Sílvia Jorge
121
“Come Rain or Come Shine: Political Ecology as a Tool to Merge Labor and
Environmental History”, by Ethemcan Turhan
137
“Environmental Degradation as a Cause of Migration: Cautionary Tales from Brazil”,
by Angus Wright
159
“Servitude and Slave Trade: the Case of Bolivian Immigrants who work in Clandestine
Textile Workshops of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area”, by Alejandro Goldberg
166
Interview with Professor Andrew Baldwin
177
Interview with Professor Giorgos Kallis
184
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Presentation
“Miradas en Movimiento” (MeM) is a refereed virtual publication from the Espacio de
Estudios Migratorios- EEM:
http://www.espaciodeestudiosmigratorios.org.
This journal focuses its interest in deepening and diversifying analysis and proposals
about migrations causes and consequences, and on the (re) definitions of migratory
public policies, through sharing the interdisciplinary knowledge of researchers and
professionals on this complex field for our societies.
With “Miradas en Movimiento” we claim that academic analysis must be a first step,
and to their results, conclusions and perspectives we bring a necessary public relevance,
stimulating this way not only information, but also a participating and debate-generating
process, for building knowledge and alternatives. With an open and creative spirit we
offer this community to the service of scientific knowledge: migrations are always in
our lives, studies, and activities. This Space in Movement needs the Miradas of all of us.
Miradas en Movimiento is proud to present our Special Volume, Naturally Immigrants.
After 3 years of tenacious progress on this project, on this occasion we put in your
hands a shared volume compiled along with Marco Armiero (EMiGR Network) and
Richard Tucker (Michigan University).
The relevance of the works contained in this issue relies on the emergence of aspects
related to geo-territorial implications for migration processes, such as: Bodies,
migration and environment; Climate change and migration; Perceptions of nature;
Environmental cultures and immigrants; Commons and immigrants; Knowledge,
ethnicity and practices of nature; Food, nature and immigrants; Ethnic relationships and
the environment; Urban gardening and immigrant communities; The greening of the
anti-immigration discourse; and Cultural landscapes.
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About the Compilers
Sergio Prieto Díaz is co-founder of the Espacio de Estudios Migratorios-EEM
(Argentina), where he works as Senior Researcher, and holds the Institutional Relations
Direction of the Instituto de Estudios Migratorios Mediterráneos-IEMM (Spain). He is
graduated on Social Economy (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain), Expert on
Inequality, Cooperation and Development (Universidad Complutense de Madrid,
Spain), and Master on International Migration Policies (Universidad de Buenos Aires,
Argentina). His main activities are related to applied-research in the field of
international migrations, transnational communities, ethnical economy, and identity
reconstruction.
Marco Armiero (PhD in Economic History) is a Marie Curie Fellow at the Autonomous
University in Barcelona and a Senior Research at the Italian National Research Council.
His main topics of study have been the history of environmental conflicts over property
rights and access to common resources (forests and sea), the politics of nature and
landscape in the Italian-nation building, and the environmental history of mass
migrations. He has founded and coordinate the international network EMiGR
(Environment and Migration Group of Research)
Richard Tucker is Adjunct Professor of Global Environmental History in the School of
Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, USA. He holds a Ph.D.
in History from Harvard University, and has written on the environmental history of
colonial India, and of the global impact of the United States. His primary work now is
on the environmental consequences of war, mass violence and militarization, past and
present.
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Some Comments on the Debate “Migration-nexus-Climate
Changes”. Continuing with the status quo?
Sonia Brigite da Rocha Pires
Sonia Pires is a post-doc fellow at Lisbon University, Geography Studies Center, Portugal,
where she works on political transnationalism and immigration. She obtained her Ph. D at the
European University Institute, Italy, where she developed a project on immigrant political
mobilization in Portugal and Italy. She has worked in several research centers in Portugal,
Switzerland and Italy. She has already published several articles, books' chapters and scientific
reports in the field of migration.
Abstract: The debate surrounding the issue of environmentally induced migration is still
in an early stage yet many approaches have been presented by academic and nongovernmental bodies. The main conclusion we derive is that international, regional and
national procedures and laws should be applied to Internally Displaced People and to
cross-state migrants. In fact, the most part of migrants fleeing climate change hazards
move, at least to date, inside their country and cross-state migration is rather the
exception. We argue that the issue is oriented towards the status quo of Globalization
processes and the preservation of ethnocentric views. Finally, we draw attention to the
role that international migration theories may have to play in settling the debate.
Key words: ethnocentrism; climate changes; globalization processes and migration.
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Introduction
Climate changes are of concern for public authorities and, so far, much has to be
done to mitigate and control them. There are many consequences for humans such as
difficulty in accessing natural resources, increase of inequalities, impoverishment of
populations and eco-system quality, human mobility or harsh health and hygiene
conditions. In this article, we focus our attention on human mobility as being one of the
most problematic conditions to define and to legalize at an international level, not
counting the increase of flows in the foreseeable future.
Migrations related to environmental causes have always taken place in the
history of humanity, but the novelty is the fact that we are dealing with irreversible
climate changes with worrying long-term consequences as well as the fact that humans
are mostly responsible for these changes.
It has been clearly proven that humans are not immune to nature and its laws and
some evidence alerts us to the fact that the rapid modernization and urban development
of some Southern countries do not have the positive effects that some would predict and
desire. We are living in a world-risk-society, where uncertainty, difficult forecasting and
inequalities are guiding the development of our societies. Climate changes are another
factor contributing to a constant increase in risk and uncertainty. This applies to humans
but also to the eco-system and natural habitat of other life forms.
Climate changes are an undeniable fact and the international community has to
consider and embrace them as soon as possible in order to avoid what is still avoidable,
namely human migration. There is a need for shared-responsibility at the international
level where developed countries are accountable for their role in climate changes and to
compensate affected countries and societies. The possible forms of compensation are
still under scrutiny and there is a search for consensus.
This article will present the main issues of concern on the subject, namely legal
definitions and coping strategies. These issues will be presented in a critical way in
order to propose an alternative perspective on the consequences of climate change and
related responsabilities. The paper will rely on the main academic literature,
social/scientific reports produced for international organizations and non-published
material such as master theses.
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Eco-Refugees: do they really exist? The rise and development of a new migration
category
Firstly, it is of utmost importance to recall a basic fact that Metzner in 1998
states: “environment fulfils three essential functions for society, namely a) to provide it
with resources; b) to absorb its refuse; c) to serve as “living-space” and habitat of man”
(316). This being so, it is clear that we are dealing with the most essential aspect for
human survival, its environment. In consequence, this aspect should not be ignored or
relegated to a lesser level of concern. The following sections address the issue of a
newly socially constructed category. We employ an ironic twist because, as it will be
shown, human migration based on the consequences of climate change has always taken
place throughout history. However, during many years, especially since the 1960s and
1970s, the environmental factor was not considered as a potential trigger. Nowadays, it
is being introduced in multi-causal explanatory schemes but still with some scepticism.
Such an introduction is made at a multidisciplinary level, including migration theory,
environmental studies, international law, international relations and so forth.
It was in the 1970s that, for the first time, a link was established between
environmental degradations and migration flows. This is largely due to the fact that a
new agenda was established by international organisations such as the United Nations,
which considered environmental issues as fundamental for human survival. In fact,
during the 1972 summit in Stockholm, the United Nations presented a report entitled
“environmental refugees”. The phenomenon per se was already an object of research in
academia since the 1950s. But it was only in 1985 that the concept of “environmental
refugees” was defined by an Egyptian scholar Essam El-Hinnawi (Razemon, 2005, 34).
Since then, a fierce and intense debate has developed among academic and public
authorities at the international and national levels. The crucial point was not to provide
another definition, but to discern potential variables and conditions that could render
human migrants vulnerable and in need of assistance. Thus, ecological assistance should
be the main parameter of action on the part of decisive public and private actors and a
normative platform for a new concept of international responsibility (Razemon, 2005,
47).
Relying on a specific category of studies, namely reports, essays and some
relevant articles, we try to put together variables and conditions that may help to discern
this category of human mobility.
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For Lassailly-Jacob, Boyer and Bracket (2006), based on a study of South-South
migration, there are three main basic factors to consider in relation to human mobility in
this part of the World: “diversity: profile of migrants, causes and forms of migration and
its impact; complexity; and legality: the legality of people’s situation while they are
travelling” (2006:16). Regarding the forms of migration, these may be seasonal,
temporary or permanent and vary from local, national and international moves. In
relation to spatial moves, many argue that environmental migration often takes place
internally, intra-locale, villages, cities, regions, and as a consequence they are not in
themselves migrants but Internally Displaced People who are under the protection of
their own governments. This also sustains arguments against the attribution of a
refugee’s status to these specific migrants. These arguments adopt the 1952 Geneva
Convention’s definition of refugees, which specifies that one must be outside the
country of origin if refugee status is to be attributed.
Moreover, migrants may move individually or in groups depending on the
severity of the consequences of climate changes (cases of disruptive environmental
consequences in a short period of time – floods, tsunamis, and cases of slow-onset and
progressive loss of natural habitat benefits such as land degradation, desertification,
water supplies, sea-level rise), the decision-making process in the household or the local
community where the most optimal individuals are chosen to migrate (for instance
human capital and psychological conditions), and the perception of migration as an
alternative to support families or local communities. It also implies that, in some cases,
it is essential to adopt a collective approach to migration issues, which is not in
accordance with the 1952 Geneva Convention on Refugees. Indeed, the Convention
relies on an individual perspective on human movements. Profiles of migrants are also
relevant for one main reason: social stratification/hierarchy and benefits associated to it.
Indeed, and as many studies in the field of international migration illustrate, the poorest
do not migrate easily due to a lack of financial resources, social support and access to
migration chains (Castles and Miller, 2009, 75). Commonly, the richer and wealthy
strata of local societies have more possibilities to move and, above all, to move long
before the total degradation of the eco-system occurs. Furthermore, they have the
possibility to settle in relatively acceptable conditions elsewhere due to their human and
economic capital. As Sheng summarizes concisely (2011, 11) “environmental
inequalities reflect inequalities in income and political power”. Obviously local
economic development and political configuration may also condition human moves.
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For instance, during the process of desertification of the Sahel region, in the
1970s and 1980s, Tuareg groups had to move collectively because, on the one hand,
their economic activity was directly dependent on the eco-system and, on the other
hand, the group’s social structure implied a collective type of decision (Kolmannskog,
2008). Migrants profiles differ greatly depending on their human, social and economic
capital and migration traditions in local cultures and social class. Nonetheless, the
poorer are more vulnerable to hazards and disruptions related with climate change, this
also applies to Western countries. For instance, when Hurricane Katrina damaged the
city of New Orleans in 2005, the poorest and Black sections of the population remained
in the city. The social question is also linked to the attribution of land and urban social
planning. Usually, non-wealthy people are channelled by local authorities, through
policies or simply through deliberate inaction, into the worst and most vulnerable
habitats. This, in turn, underlines the type of relation that exists between national and
local governments and the population at large. There are many cases where
environmental migrants are simply ignored by public authorities due to a lack of
resources, corruption, the level of administrative organization, and the relation between
the state and its nation. We may remember the case of the famine in North-Korea
(Bellamy, 2010:14) that demonstrates clearly this aspect and illustrates the difficulties
involved in moving in closed and dictatorial countries. In addition, and once again
relying on Lasailly et al. (2006), the causes of migration recall for the issue
in
distinguishing environmental from economic migrants. In our assumption, humans are
dependent on their natural habitat above all. The natural habitat is, in first place, the
basis for the development of economic activities and the social structure of local
populations. The entire economic system and social structure will suffer if the natural
habitat is damaged by climate changes, whether they are anthropogenic or not. In turn, a
weak economic structure will inevitably lead some individuals or entire groups to opt to
migrate. The length of migration - seasonal or permanent - may change according to
environmental changes. A seasonal migration may become permanent if the
environment has reached its limits of sustainability (Afifi, 2011, 100).
For a more complete understanding of processes and causes, we argue that the
introduction of the role of national and local governments as an intermediary variable
should be considered. Much will depend on economic politics and policies. This
applies, for example, to countries and local populations dependent on their eco-systems
to survive, less economically connected at a regional or global level and with nonISSN 1852-2173
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efficient, reluctant and more authoritarian governments. Nonetheless, it applies also
indirectly to more developed countries. Indeed, Portuguese emigration is a case in point.
Above all, it is not a well-defined developed country as some of its partners in the
European Union, which has provoked a continuous emigration flow throughout history.
In many cases, those migrants were from non-privileged regions and villages, where the
natural habitat was essential to provide an economic base to the population (Baganha,
2003, 12). Nowadays, Portuguese are still leaving for economic reasons as the
Portuguese mass media points out, but environmental issues are less prevalent in the
multi-causal scheme. As Afifi states clearly in his analysis of migration push factors in
Niger (2011, 100), “the economic factor can act as the mechanism through which
environmental degradation leads to migration. It remains tricky to find out the extent to
which pure environmental problems contribute to the migration decision as compared to
other factors, including the social and economic ones”. Our perspective applies to cases
where environmental degradation is progressive and where the natural habitat
characteristics are not good enough to provide resources.
Docherty and Giannini (2009) provide additional criteria. For them, it is
necessary to identify the character of the movement (whether compelled or voluntary),
the length of the relocation (temporary or permanent), the level of disruption and
degradation of environment (sudden or gradual), and the presence or absence of human
responsibility in the climate change. We believe voluntary movements may be included
in the attribution criteria for the status of a climate change victim. In fact, even if the
decision is voluntary and based on cost-benefits calculations, it does not imply that the
consequences of climate changes are not responsible for such decision. As we said
above, environmental and economic factors are usually linked when the level of
degradation of the human habitat is gradual. Moreover, following a clear analytical
statement of Moriniere, Taylor, Hamza and Downing (2009), “the impact of an extreme
climatic event is to accelerate an existing process, not necessarily to initiate a new one”
(2009, 31). Still, considering gradual processes of environmental degradation,
compelled migration may be due to the disorganization of social structures and
corruption. As Myers writes “with poverty and “life on the environment limits” as the
main motivating force, it matters little to the migrants whether they view themselves
primarily as environmental or economic refugees” (2005: 12). Docherty and Giannini
(2009) contend that disruption must be consistent with climate change. Nonetheless,
climate change is complex and pernicious in its effects and not always visibly
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associated with disruption. Additionally, it is also essential to take into account the
degree to which some environmental disruptions may be provoked by political issues.
Governments may provoke famine, for instance, in a certain place in order to control its
population or to influence migratory processes among non-desirable ethnic groups. This
technique may also be used when there are conflicts among countries. In respect to the
length of relocation, we argue that temporary relocations may qualify as a criterion
given that the affected population is in a situation of high precariousness and
vulnerability in the place of resettlement, whether it be in another village or city. This
being said, we consider that this is one of the social costs of climate changes that the
victims have to endure.
These criteria and arguments lead us to agree with Moriniere et al. (2009: 29)
that no climate consequence occurs in a vacuum. The two main systems implied in this
process, human and nature, are interconnected. Yet, the human system is the more
complex and difficult one to evaluate due to its intrinsic nature and many types of living
conditions (economic, social, cultural or political). The authors say that there is “higher
levels of non-linearity in the human subsystem” (2009: 29). This means that it is then
difficult to predict, evaluate, numerate, control and alleviate consequences. Moreover,
climate change is not predictable and measurable in regard to its effects in natural and
human systems. It is also pertinent to add that the increasing complexities of societies
do not facilitate the control and mitigation of climate change: “The necessity to build
complex procedures of eco-social regulation increases historically along with the
growing complexity and differentiation of societies” (Metzner, 1998: 312).
To sum up, there is a clear consensus that migration triggered by climate change
has multiple causes. Moreover, climate changes have different impacts according to the
structure of the society (being it local or national) and its level of development and
capacity to deal with emergencies. For this very reason, causes and consequences may
not be always identical among cases and may interlink differently. As a matter of fact,
research shows not all environmental changes induce similar movements, and some of
them do not induce movements at all (Kniveton, Scmidt-Verkerk, Smith and Black,
2008: 32-36). Furthermore, “similar movements can be induced by different kinds of
disruption, while the same disruption can result in very different movements” (Kniveton
et al., 2008, 14).
There is an intersection of factors and climate change may trigger some of these
factors and may be indirectly involved in the migration process. Many factors are then
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at play, those linked to the economic development of society, the use of intensive
agriculture, the social structure and access to sources of power and education,
demography issues, the level of corruption of the government and local entities, the
level of networking capacity of local and national institutions, the mechanisms of
governance, the absence of environmental regulations at a national and local level and
finally social-induced and constructed factors that are embodied by individuals (gender,
race or ethnicity and age). Cains (2010) also stresses the role of industry interests and
influences on governments’ policies as well as the distortion of scientific evidence and
data (2010, 9). For this author, there are anti-science groups that refuse scientific
evidence in order to justify the maintenance of the status quo or economic growth and
consumption. In order to establish laws and effective policies, public actors have no
alternative than to confront the interests of private and sometimes powerful actors. This
may also be one reason why the issue is still on the table of international organizations
and national governments. Finally, and not least, there is also a dimension that is more
specifically linked to Western culture, which is the post-modern quest. Domenach and
Gonin consider (2002), for instance, noise, pollution, life quality or search for better
weather conditions. One such example is the flow of Northern European migrants to
Southern countries in order to enjoy better weather conditions. There is a sun belt in the
South of Europe, which brings flows of elderly and wealthy people. Nonetheless, we are
dealing with quite a different issue. Indeed, those migrants do not suffer climate
changes per se but are in search of better conditions the environment still provides. It is
not said, however, that those better conditions are not a result of direct or indirect
climate changes. If so, climate changes may be beneficial in certain areas and for certain
social groups and may be prejudicial for other regions and social classes.
The debate about phraseology and factors and causal links illustrate that much is
needed to embrace the issue and to make the right choices in terms of humanitarian aid
and policies. As many scholars contend, empirical research about the impact on
population and on population movements in particular, has been lagging behind
(Brown, 2008). This hinders plausible definitions, typologies and estimates as well as
comprehensive policy responses.
Moreover, it is of utmost importance to state that the lack or reluctance of
dialogue among disciplines has negative effects on definitions, typologies, proactive
policies and the provision of preventative actions. For Cains (2010), policy-makers
decisions should be “based on ethical values guided by scientific evidence” (2010: 4).
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Indeed, climate and nature are very complex systems that are constantly changing and
manipulated by humans according to many economic or political interests. We also
agree that scientific evidence provides a neutral or impartial view of the effects and
consequences of climate change and provides the only convincing argument to oppose
economic and/or political interests. Human rights discourse is only endorsed when it is
beneficial for a certain country and/or interest group or when the issue is too obvious
and potentially scandalous for the officials and is divulged by powerful mass media.
In a nutshell, potential causes referred to may provide a good starting point to
situate those migrants and to determine whether or not there is an environmental factor,
whether it is indirectly or directly connected to human mobility. Furthermore, and
relying on the traditional definition of refugee, it is quite hard to define them as such.
However, we are not dealing with classical economic-motivated migrants as defined in
first dominant migration theories. Nowadays, environmental issues are already
considered in migration theories that have a more global and systemic approach to
factors related with the causes and consequences of migration. Nonetheless, and as we
exemplified with the Portuguese emigration case, environmental aspects have always
been present, even if indirectly, in the migration process. In this instance it was a
combination of poorly used environmental resources and endemic poverty as well as
deliberate political use of migration as a way to control potential social disruption and
social reforms. In sum, environmental factors have always been present in the case of
emigration from poor regions and/or huge chaotic cities. It is for this very reason that
we are reluctant to use the term “refugee” in the case of migration provoked by gradual
environmental degradation. In this case of migration, solutions are quite diverse from a
refugee’s situation and involve directly and in a first place national and/or local
governments of affected individuals. When it is a disruptive environmental event,
anthropogenic or not, where people have to leave everything behind and have to find
sanctuary quickly without choosing or deliberating the costs-benefits of such
movement, we may use the term forced migrants. In the case of forced migrants, direct
humanitarian aid makes sense and, according to our point of view, should not even be
put under scrutiny. If we search for guilty actors, governments are mainly responsible
for the state of poverty of entire strata of the population and for the lack of resources to
deal with environmental changes. It is the lack of interest of states to provide fair
economic, political and social structures that provoke migration in all its forms.
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Globalization contributes as well but in a last instance it is the national state that
should protect citizens’ interests, even if it has to confront global economic interests.
Finally, we agree with Clarin (2011: 35) who asks “would it be better to urge the world
to act on climate change and fund sustainable development instead for investigate the
prospects for a new category of refugees?” We also ask would it be better for states to
revise their obligations vis-à-vis their citizens and to defend citizens' right to the public
good. Should we add the protection of the eco-system and all forms of life on earth?
This is probably a naïve quest, especially if we consider states that are incapable of
assisting their citizens such as failed states, dictatorial states or even semi-peripheral
states with a medium level of development. Nonetheless, these are clear issues
underlying the process of fleeing from catastrophic natural habitats and entering, for
most part of migrants, a new circle of poverty and vulnerability.
Policy Implications
In this section, we present main ideas and attempts to provide solutions, at a
legal and political level, to react vis-à-vis climate changes and its human consequences.
The normative and ethical issue is also relevant at this stage in order to convince
and to force national states to act and to assume their responsibilities. According to
Bellamy (2010: 11), the UN 2005 World Summit adopted the “responsibility to protect”
principle. On the one hand, national states have the responsibility to protect their own
populations from genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity, and, on the other
hand, the international community has the duty to assist the state to comply with the
principle. The concept of sovereignty is equated with responsibility. It is, however,
difficult to urge dictatorial countries to follow such principles and to ask sovereign
countries to alter their perception and relationship with the nation. Many countries just
ignore environmental migrants and rely on the capacity of local communities to adapt
and find solutions on their own.
We recall that, beyond any doubt, there is inequity in the consequences of climate
change at the international level. Those countries suffering the main and devastating
effects are those who have the least responsibility for human-induced climate changes
whilst those responsible are affected to a lesser extent. Furthermore, climate changes
exacerbate the already weak and difficult position of countries in the South compared to
Western countries. Their vulnerable position in terms of international relations renders
their possible claim-making process invisible or overshadowed by the interests of more
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developed countries on the economic and political map. This has to be kept in mind
when solutions have to be contemplated and decided upon. The more vulnerable
countries are in diverse positions in what may be termed as the game of international
relations and some may have more legitimacy to claim for reparation than others.
a) Protection and status
As we have seen in the previous section, the recognition of a legal status for victims of
climate change is essential to protect human migrants successfully. Moreover, we have
seen that the traditional definition of refugee provided by the 1951 Geneva Convention
does not fit with the criteria exposed above and with the causes behind environmental
human migration. Some states do not want to embrace this sort of migrant category in
order to preserve the current criteria for refugee status as they believe it may have
pernicious effects. National and international actors have not yet been convinced by the
argument that the Convention of Geneva should be enlarged and revised. In a nutshell,
these migrants are simply ignored at the international level and no legal instrument
considers them in a straightforward manner (Cournil, 2006, 1040). Quoting Docherty
and Giannini (2009, 357), “displacement due to climate change is a de facto problem
currently lacking a de jure solution”.
This being said, we review alternative possibilities based on the criteria and
causes of environmental climate changes and human migration.
One initial point to consider that may explain why international protection may
be difficult is the status of internally displaced people. Environmental migrants move
inside borders and inter-state movements are rather the exception. It means that the first
entity that has the legal and moral responsibility to protect them is the national
government. However, in many cases, these national governments do not want or
cannot provide assistance to internally displaced people. We could underline here the
role of the mass media in the social construction of such issue. Indeed, if a case of
environmental disruption and consequent human migration is taken seriously by mass
media actors and is sufficiently appealing for audiences, especially at the international
level, those same national governments may feel compelled to act. As Metzner (1998:
313) rightly states, “why are certain environmental phenomena diagnosed as
problematic and brought towards a solution, while others – factually not less
problematic or risky events – are hardly or not at all noticed?”. Faced with reluctant
states to protect their internal migrants, international actors have to find a way to
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enforce those states to provide humanitarian aid. This may be done using international
regulations and binding agreements. The role of mass media here is essential in
determining what is what and under which circumstances.
A second aspect is to consider whether or not a more focus-oriented action and
legal framework could be more beneficial and effective. Hence, many climate changes
have different consequences at the spatial level, and some regional instruments could be
provided. This could facilitate the analysis and scientific approach to specific places,
especially because many social, cultural and economic factors have to be considered as
well. It means that a specific status could be attributed to those migrants at a regional or
national level. We are aware though that much is possible if governments have minimal
ethical and moral frameworks that consider the common public good as a fait accompli.
A human rights approach could be invoked to protect and to guarantee minimum
life conditions. It is, however, a very tricky argument when claimants confront powerful
actors. Affected populations could invoke the human right of remaining in the original
place of birth/settlement and, based on that, ask for direct intervention from the
government to improve their life conditions. Opposed to the right to remain is the right
to leave. Indeed, there are no migration processes if this right is not defended and
promoted by national and international laws. The environmental debate puts into
question the right to leave or to remain in the same place of origin. Yet, it is the most
basic and fundamental right that affects and allows access to other rights and duties. It is
then essential to restore the right to leave, especially for those that are hardest hit by
natural disasters. In this argument we focus on the role of origin countries. When interstate migration occurs, it is necessary to consider the approach to immigration issues
from the perspective of the settlement country. Could migration triggered by climate
change be seen by the settlement country as a particular category that deserves more
attention and access to more rights than other kinds of migration?
Ethical and moral issues driving states decisions rely, on the one hand, on the
power of state sovereignty, and, on the other hand, on a duty to assist unprotected
humans as part of a natural law. The principle of interference is revisited in order to
enforce states to receive humanitarian aid and to improve quality of life. Furthermore,
international provisions should be taken to control reluctant states. The duty to assist
humans in extreme and dangerous situations should be also invoked based on the
principle of good governance, the public good and human rights. In this respect,
international instruments and more precisely the role of the United Nations are crucial.
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17
Finally, there is also the essential aspect of shared responsibilities. Countries
contributing negatively to climate changes should be implicated in the process of
humanitarian aid, technical and scientific assistance and sustainable development to
affected countries. It is also relevant to remember that those affected countries are,
generally speaking, in already vulnerable positions in the global economy and suffer
from processes of inequality in the context of globalization. There is, in our perspective,
a double duty from developed countries towards developing countries. A duty to
enforce global justice and a duty to promote rather than hinder solutions to climate
change. Affected countries, in turn, should assume the compromise of the most basic
human rights enforcement and lines of reasoning. We argue that there is a dependent
link of responsibility and compromise between both worlds that should be explored by
decision-makers at an international and national level.
b) Essential coping strategies
There are some essential strategies that ought to be conducted by decision-makers.
There is a fact though that is overlooked, namely, the proactive role of local
communities and individuals to adapt and, when possible, to prevent the costs and
consequences of climate change. The establishment of a clear vertical hierarchy in the
community and in the institutional framework that embraces many individual
perspectives and skills, and the constant increase in the legitimacy of civil society to act
are two factors that may enhance the proactive role of communities and individuals. We
are facing a contradictory case, which is a perfect mirror of global inequality and global
injustice. The actors that provoke human-induced climate changes are, in general terms,
wealthy countries and powerful economic institutions whilst many responses to the
threat are locally-based and developed by communities with limited capacity to bargain
and to claim for compensation. These communities recycle everything in the nature and
in the economic structure in order to adapt such recycling goods to a new habitat. Their
level of creativity and knowledge of the surrounding eco-system and economic structure
should be considered and introduced into the decision-making processes.
Nonetheless, we should not rely on these facts to avoid more structural strategies
with more resources and effectiveness from national and international actors.
Essential strategies are control and prevention, as well as the development of
resiliency among local populations. Those strategies, based, on the one hand, on the
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18
deployment of scientific resources and transfer of knowledge from more developed to
less developed countries, and, on the other hand, on local capacities to adapt and use
skills may be a good combination to follow. NGOs, for instance, should consider
strategies with a more general scope and strategies based on the analysis of
local/regional conditions of resiliency and economic and social development.
Sometimes, strategies have only to enhance the perfection and direction of already
established processes of social and economic development. Adaptation and resiliency
are possible to achieve through community quality enhancement. In fact, community
structures, whether or not formally established, are able to secure and control the
effectiveness of basic rights (Lasailly-Jacob et al., 2006: 13). It is also implicit that
institutional structures should be redefined and purged from corruption in a manageable
and acceptable level.
Finally, another strategy that embraces the crucial point, that is adaptation
between local realities and the effects of climate change, may be sustainable
development. This strategy considers the multi-causal framework and the interaction of
complex factors. Moreover, this concept may be adapted to each singular case with
specific instruments and projects.
There are clearly many legal and normative principles that have to be combined
in order to deal with such a multidisciplinary issue. For Docherty and Giannini (2009,
392), these principles include “human rights, humanitarian assistance and international
environmental law”. We would like to add the economic principles that rule
globalization processes and the principles that govern international relations (more
precisely a review of sovereignty and non-interference principles). In reality, we are
referring to a network of principles that have governed at a global level so far but that
may need recast in terms of priorities and societal and economic models.
Once again, there are national inequities in environmental terms regarding the
basic strategies approached in this section. Indeed, many societies, namely those of the
so-called Western World, probably have better resiliency in social and political
institutions that will contribute to the prevention and adaptation to potential climate
threats. New technologies, especially if they can be transferred where and when they are
needed, should facilitate adaptation. Wealthy individuals and groups in general will
have more adaptive capacity than poor ones. Richer nations will have more adaptive
capacity than poorer ones. The vulnerability of many poor countries may be exacerbated
by trends that are proceeding independently of climate change effects. Rapid population
ISSN 1852-2173
19
growth, for example, is stressing land use, pressing migration to cities, presenting the
challenge of large numbers of unemployed youth, and increasing pollution. In a certain
sense, there is a vicious circle where vulnerable countries are embedded and in order to
overcome such a dilemma they will have to undergo many changes relating to
governance as well some social reforms (Sheng, 2011: 10). This applies, however, to
developed countries as well that have, for instance, to confront pollution problems and
to organize enormously large volumes of waste. They are not immune to corruption and
to the dominance of economic priorities as well. In any case, and relying on Cains
(2010: 3), “the true costs and consequences of human activities must always be
evaluated”.
In order to deploy such strategies and to respond to urgent humanitarian crises
(especially in the case of displaced people that have to move rapidly and that are living
in unwelcome natural and social habitats), many actors have to be mobilized such as
national governments in collaboration with United Nations organizations, other
international bodies that may emerge in the future, INGOS, international financial
institutions (IMF and World Bank), donors and civil society actors. At the national
and/or local levels, actors involved are national governments, national banks and
charitable actors, religious organizations, NGOs, civil society actors and also informal
networks of power and decision-making processes at the local level. In fact, it is
necessary to purge particular interests from the circles of power and decision-making
processes and to promote the acceptance of the public good. We believe small
communities and specific types of groups have a clear perception of what is good or bad
for the entire group and vertical relations of power may be promoted in order to
maintain social cohesion. The list of actors presented here represents the main idea of
potential coping strategies: the interplay between international and national/local actors,
social and ethical principles of international versus local communities, and the shareburden responsibility between international institutions from the West and developing
countries. Bellamy summarises it nicely: “1) working with regional arrangements and
strengthening their capacity, 2) developing the UN mechanisms for humanitarian
assistance” (2010, 14). An international market-place of ideas is in place where
environmental responsibility, humanitarian aid, enforcement of closed nations to
provide assistance, attempts to restore nations’ asymmetries and attempts to continue to
use the discourse of human rights are the dominant vectors. Another aspect we propose
is: considering the needs and aspirations of affected local populations and to provide
ISSN 1852-2173
20
solutions based on such factors. Most probably, many individuals would prefer to
remain in their place of origin rather than moving across the country in search for
sanctuary. To sum up this point, and relying on Bellamy, “(…) the challenge is to
determine the nature of the contract: who should be entitled to what sort of assistance
from whom under what conditions at whose expenses? (…) there is a need to create a
new global regime of clear rights and obligations for those who provide humanitarian
assistance and those who receive it” (2010, 22). Negotiations state-to-state should be
complemented with the active role of communities and civil society actors in order to
promote the defence of affected people’ rights and desires (Docherty and Giannini,
2009, 350).
We would like also to add that such coping strategies are designed to deal with
the main features of a society’s status quo and not to call into question per se the entire
organization of a nation or even the globe. For some authors, a more radical approach is
necessary. Indeed, faced with increasing global inequality, global injustice and climate
change asymmetries, they contend that the entire global system should be revised and
altered, namely by reducing economic growth, current consumption patterns and life
styles (Cains, 2010: 5). However, this approach or solution is not globally beneficial or
fair. Should we ask poor and vulnerable countries to halt their economic growth and to
prohibit their population from consuming goods? Solutions presented are clearly
ethnocentric and western-oriented.
Conclusion
This article is an essay where some ideas are exposed based on the mainstream
lines of reasoning vis-à-vis climate changes and migration. Some aspects are relevant
from a de facto point of view, well-argued and concerned with promoting the well-being
of affected populations. Others are, in our point of view, used and argued in such a way
that the status quo is preserved and even defended. When we use the term “status quo”
we are referring to the actual state and consequences of processes of globalization and
the actors who benefit from it. In order to put a legal print on human migration issues
linked with climate change, it is necessary to call the attention of decision-makers to the
fact that nothing will change from a long-term perspective if the global social and
economic system is not altered. In addition, rules governing international relations
should take into account the responsibility of developed countries for the profound
inequalities that climate changes produce. The way economic growth is structured in the
ISSN 1852-2173
21
world is also another aspect to consider. Nowadays, countries other than Western ones
are part of the global competition system. China, India and Malaysia alongside other
Asian countries also have a shared quota of global greenhouse gas emissions and thus
should also be included in the list of responsible countries. However, some of these new
economic giants are not prone to human rights discourse or to the promotion of the
common good. Moreover, those countries are also affected by climate changes and have
to cope with internally displaced people fleeing poverty, degradation or sudden hazards.
This is a new factor to consider in the game of environmental responsibilities. We argue
that Western countries have a strong and continued influence in international
organizations and they should be the first countries to provide humanitarian aid. We are
still
facing
an
ethnocentric,
economistic,
western-oriented
approach
toward
environmental issues.
International and national civil society actors may be appropriate actors to
confront such a reality and to organize some sort of resistance and protest at a global
level. Affected populations are too poor or too weak to organize themselves and to
confront national or international authorities, especially in failed and dictatorial
countries. Even if committees were organized at a local level, it is most unlikely they
would reach national authorities. Global and national governance systems do not favour
channelling the claimant voices of the invisible and non-desirable social groups to the
spheres of power. This is a typical case of exit-voice dilemma. Affected populations
prefer to exit, that is, to migrate or to find ways to cope without relying on authorities.
Finally, we believe a systemic and global approach to international and internal
migration determinants may be a good option. As we have seen, causes of migration are
multiple and complex and each migratory process has its own dynamics. A single and
simple definition of each type of migration cannot embrace the full process complexity.
Migration takes place in response to a combination of factors, which are often in a state
of flux: environmental, economic, social, cultural and political. Actually, it may have
been gainful to use international migration theories and studies to better delimitate the
kind of migration under scrutiny. We verified throughout this article that many debates
about causes and the role of the factors contributing to climate change could have been
fuelled positively with this social science discipline. The evolution of specific theories
has incorporated environmental issues coupled with other factors and much of the
current academic production has a multidisciplinary approach.
ISSN 1852-2173
22
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24
Can Improved Circular Migration Programs fit into the
Imaginary of a Socially just Sustainable Agriculture?
Gerda Jónász
Gerda Jónász is a PhD candidate at Central European University, member of the Environmental
and Social Justice Action Research Group. Her research focuses on the social aspects of local
ecological entrepreneurship in the threatened periurban surroundings of Valencia, Spain. She
holds a BA in Economic Diplomacy and International Management and an joint MSc degree in
Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management from Central European University, Lund
University, and the University of Manchester. Areas of interest: rural development,
environmental justice and the social aspects of sustainable agriculture.
Abstract: This review examines the perception on the importance of social justice
within alternative agrarian movements, like the organic movement. Special attention is
given to the dynamics of migrant dependent alternative agrarian schemes; questioning
under which circumstances and to what extent these intensive farms could be labeled as
socially just. The Southern Spanish export oriented fresh produce production system’s
experience is contrasted with the relevant guidelines discussed within the movement.
This article questions whether improved circular migration schemes have the potential
to improve the public perception of intensive agrarian production systems by addressing
their labour related shortcomings, but still being unable and/or unwilling to deal with a
culture of dependency wired into the occupational structure characterizing them.
Key Words: circular migration; environmental justice; migrant workforce; socially just
agriculture; sustainable agriculture.
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25
Introduction
This review starts with examining the literature on how alternative agrarian
movements -like the organic movement- perceive the importance of social justice
conflicts deriving from the troublesome situation of its migrant workforce. It aims to
assess to what extent intensive farms engaged in improved circular migration schemes
could be labeled as socially just, and how could these fit into the imaginary of a socially
just sustainable agriculture? If we accept the notion that the sustainability of the
agrarian sector could be achieved only by equally focusing on environmental health,
economic profitability, and social justice (Shreck, 2006) its guidelines should respect,
promote and build upon the interconnectedness of these pillars. Unfortunately, social
justice is rarely addressed directly within such sustainability guidelines.
The second part of the article presents the contextualization of a specific
improved circular migration program in Southern Spain – within a migrant workforce
dependent intensive agrarian system, aiming to satisfy its labour needs through less
conflictive sources. This European case is contrasted and complemented with similar
North American experiences in order to understand the importance of how
contextualization changes the local movement’s priorities in achieving sustainability.
Accepting that “sustainability per se is an empty goal for food system reform, unless
what will be sustained and for whom are specified” (Anderson, 2008), the intrinsic
nature of migrant workforce should make us reconsider the system boundaries and
assess the broadness of the social justice framework applicable for such production
systems. It must be acknowledged that these migrant dependent production systems
greatly influence both the sending and the host societies. Therefore, any initiative
aiming to revolutionize the system by breaking its dependencies should start right
within and go far beyond the farm gates.
Throughout this assessment, the article questions whether advanced circular
migration schemes have the potential to improve the public perception of intensive
agrarian production systems by addressing their labour related shortcomings, but still
being unable and/or unwilling to deal with a culture of dependency wired into the
occupational structure characterizing them. A qualitative, exploratory case study was
constructed based on an excessive literature review, in-depth interviewing, and
participant observation on the field.
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26
Theory of social justice within alternative agrarian movements
This section of the paper presents a meta-evaluation of prioritized themes over
the social aspects of agrarian production systems thriving to become more sustainable.
Aiming to find out based on what and to what extent alternative - but still intensivefarms participating in improved circular migration schemes could be labeled as socially
just, and how could they fit into the imaginary of a socially just sustainable agriculture
based on this attribute. The way social justice is perceived within the sustainable
agriculture movement indicates to what extent social criteria is expected to be
incorporated into organic standards and certification requirements (Shreck et al., 2005).
How far one should go beyond the farm gates to address deeper, more complicated but
equally important societal issues? The concept of social justice within the intensive
agrarian sector has been widely discussed, with limited attention to its potential role
promoting engagement into sustainable production through integrated sustainability
guidelines.
Early in the 1960’s Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring started the ‘pesticide crusade’
by raising public awareness of the dangers of synthetic chemical pesticides representing
the most apparent health and environmental externalities of a chemical-dependent
agrarian system. Later the grassroots labour movement headed by César Chávez
(founder of the National Farm Workers Association in 1962, later United Farm
Workers) successfully linked the fight for social and economic justice for Californian
migrant farmworkers with the protest and boycott against the use of toxic pesticides on
grapes (Shaw 2008). The movement was the first to recognize and promote the linkage
between the social and environmental externalities of a given exploitative intensive
agrarian system.
The sustainability of an agricultural system consists of three integrated pillars,
such as “environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity
… [through which the] stewardship of both natural and human resources … [are] of
prime importance” (Feenstra et al., 1997). Integrating social justice issues into the
alternative agrarian movement could result in achieving a broader notion of
sustainability (Shreck et al., 2005). While social responsibility should be integrated into
the overall vision of the sustainable agriculture movement (Schwind, 2007), the
controversial agrarian labour conditions are often seen as a negligible challenge for
sustainable agriculture, and local food movements. Guthman (2004) found that “people
within the movement [-the sustainable agriculture movement-] realize that [social
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27
justice issues] were left out of the construction of organic, not only in codification, but
in the movement itself, and that they need to be addressed explicitly and deliberately…
[The] growth of movements around fair trade and codes of conduct … increased public
awareness of the social costs of sustainable agriculture.” Unfortunately, this social focus
is disproportionately placed on the consumption side overshadowing the production side
(Shreck et al., 2006).
Sustainability guidelines of fore-runner certification agencies, like The
Rainforest Alliance (2005a) already include sections on labour management. While the
International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) promotes the
“principle of fairness” (2008), requesting the system to be “open and equitable and
account for real environmental and social costs”. The unequal distribution of ecological
and social costs and benefits (see Martinez-Alier 2002 and Hornborg 2009) shows the
pressure associated with the intensive agrarian production schemes in general,
compromising the sustainability of the production. The example of the export-oriented
non-traditional agrarian production systems set up in the developing world, often
perceived as a ‘pull factor’ for rural economies (Patel-Campillo 2010) are a great
example of how such large plantations are likely to limit equal access to natural
resources and agrarian land. And despite their potential to raise household incomes in
the region, increase labour force participation, and restructure local economies, by
default these systems are converting peasants into dependant wage-workers (Sawers
2005). Furthermore, they increase the inequalities between different social groups and
classes with regard to the distribution of and access to natural (Suarez-Torres and
Lopez-Parades 1997) and social resources. The example of the Ecuadorian cut-flower
industry shows the process of ‘female marginalization’, where women are found to be
segregated into a disadvantageous occupational status (“measured by skills, ownership,
and control of resources”) remaining “subordinated in the work-place … [by being]
relegated to less skilled and responsible roles. [Therefore, their increased] employment
per se does not generate equality” (Faulkner and Lawson 1991). The question is whether
the development objectives envisaged through these systems account for these negative
social and environmental externalities. Similar logic should be applied when assessing
co-development models failing to address such externalities, while arguing for
empowerment but ignoring how their systems create and sustain dependency. In his
classic study, on the environmental and health damages caused by pesticide exposure on
the fields of Mexico, Wright (2005) revealed broader societal problems intrinsically
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28
coded into the system. He invited the reader to reflect on why these people (these
migrant workers) “can no longer make a living from their own land and must work
instead where they own nothing and control nothing and where their only apparent
future is to move on to work in yet some other alien and unfriendly land?”. He found
that pesticide abuse and unacceptable labour and living conditions are often framed “in
terms of the lack of independent political forces” and the “lack of existence of a whole
network of civil associations – environmental groups, consumer groups, labour unions
independent of political parties or governments, clubs and associations of all kinds –
that constitute a kind of check on the worst corporate and government abuses”.
Nevertheless, the develop world’s ‘factories in the field’ operating within a supposedly
improved framework still inflict similar large-scale social and environmental damages
(McWilliams 2000), which should make us raise even more critical questions.
Accepting that “conditions that lead to socially exploitive and environmentally
destructive practices” should be addressed under the same philosophy (Cliath, 2007)
requires us to see the pillars of sustainability being directly and indirectly
interconnected. Without addressing all pillars, sustainability can not be fully achieved
(Shreck et al., 2006). The indirect links derive from the philosophy of comprehensive
sustainability. The forerunners of “social inclusion” argue that not addressing social
justice might result in losing the credibility of the sustainability movement (Guthman,
2004), as consumers might associate fair labour conditions as integral characteristics of
sustainable and organic products (Schwind, 2007).
The definition of organic agriculture seems incomprehensible (IFOAM, 2005)
with a high variation of perceptions manifested in the abundance of definitions
circulating worldwide. Even though “using organic and sustainable interchangeably is
problematic at best” (Guthman 2004), requirements for including social justice by
definition - thriving to fit into the imaginary of sustainable agriculture - is often missing.
Therefore, it is crucial to understand the nature of the general perception on organic
agriculture, in order to see how much and on what level social issues are expected to be
addressed. The present stage of deficiency of the organic movement is unacceptable, as
it has “reached a maturity point” and “needs to make more explicit connections between
ecological and sustainable sustainability” (Inouye and Warner, 2001). Addressing social
justice could be based on compliance with laws and regulations by the national or local
governments, meeting the terms of ratified conventions promoted by organizations like
the
International
ISSN 1852-2173
Labour
Organization
(ILO)
or
the
voluntary
guidelines,
29
recommendations of IFOAM or through corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions.
Bottom-up initiatives promoting the importance of addressing social justice on broader
societal terms are also present on the field, usually aiming to go beyond the farm gates.
Therefore, analyzing the influence of improved labour management practices on
the transition into organic production is a well-grounded point of departure. The role of
organic standards and organic guidelines is crucial in understanding organic claims and
to see how social standards could fit into the system. There is an active dialogue calling
for the inclusion of labour issues as an equal cornerstone of the sustainable agricultural
movement (Inouye and Warner, 2001). The success of introducing social responsibility
among the organic requirements depends on how consumer demand embraces social
justice on a given market. Organic agriculture is generally perceived to be socially
responsible as well (Shreck et al., 2005). Such perceptions are rarely satisfied in reality,
as there is a certain denial and negligence about the importance of social justice to be
addressed within agricultural production systems. A Californian experience showed that
many organic producers claim to conduct sustainable farming without actually
addressing the improvement of their labour management practices (Schwind, 2007).
Despite the fact that sustainable agriculture is categorized to be more labour
intensive, researchers are not eager to explore the role of migrant labour in such
production systems. Research on organic agriculture usually focuses on the benefits it
provides to consumers (in the form of pesticide-free foods) and to farmers (in the form
of price premiums). By contrast, “there has been little discussion or research about the
implications of the boom in organic agriculture for farmworkers on organic farms”
(Shreck et al., 2005). The facilitating potential or controversial nature of improved fair
circular migration programs easing the transition into a more sustainable production is
rarely discussed. This research gap causes the underestimation of the potential role of
well-organized circular migration programs in such transition. Studying this gap could
result in gaining a deeper understanding of the relationship between social sustainability
and organic agriculture, and the “possible incorporation of social standards into organic
certification criteria” (Shreck et al., 2006).
Producers failing to integrate fair labour management practices into their
production systems or to address certain ethical concerns of consumers conscious about
the broader implications of food systems might risk rejection on the market triggered by
the proliferation of social justice requirements on the market. Fair treatment of migrant
workers ideally should be a priority for circular migration programs. Unfortunately
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30
studies on these programs still report on dependency, lack of empowerment, contractual
abuse and other exploitative practices (Castellanos and Pedreño, 2001). Without
guarantees of sustained or increased competitiveness farm owners are unlikely to leave
their status quo, based on low-wage labour, anti-investment strategies (Hoggart and
Mendoza, 2002), and over-exploitation of immigrant workforce. Instability and
vulnerability are needed to be put into perspective. It should be renegotiated whose
instability and vulnerability is taken into account when talking about sustainability of
the agro-business. The success of implementing the sustainable agrarian movement’s
vision of social equity “depends on the extent to which economic [and other] gains are
distributed to workers” (Schwind, 2007), both directly through wages and indirectly
through responsible management. Reluctance to invest in capacity building could result
in hostile workers, higher rotation of employees, and higher costs for training and
surveillance (Strochlic and Hamerschlag, 2006). News on inappropriate labour
management and broader social problems around such agrarian production systems raise
the public’s attention and damage the reputation of the movement. Boycotts deriving
from strong environmental or social criticism could undermine the sectors stability and
market position. This could directly lead to economic losses and indirectly disable the
achievements of the movement and weakening the weight and position of a more
environmentally sustainable production system on the global market in general.
Therefore, it is clear that the future competitiveness of the sector cannot be based on
low-wage, anti-investment strategies (Hoggart and Mendoza, 1999) ignoring the
interests of its migrant workers.
The core social conflict within labour intensive agrarian systems is around the
exclusion, dependency and vulnerability of its migrant workforce (Díaz, 2003 and
Martínez Veiga, 2001a). The lack of equity, heavy labour market segmentation, and
failed integration policies are usually manifested in precarious wages, working and
living conditions, which usually lead to sharpened cultural clashes, social exclusion and
xenophobia (Martínez Veiga, 2001). Competition among the migrants favors their
exploitation (Díaz, 1999) as it destroys their cohesion and social capital. The presence
of foreign migrant workers is often perceived “as necessary, as unwanted”. A symbolic
denial of their efficiency eventually results in their social exclusion, which negatively
influences the trends in rural development, as these areas are gradually becoming more
dependent on the presence of this stigmatized immigrant population (García Sanz and
Izcara Palacios, 2003). A socially just agricultural system has the potential to enhance
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the social stability of the region, and alleviate the risks of dependency of the sector on
its labour input. Such improvements have the potential to enable workers to be future
agents of co-development and contribute to greater systematic changes. Cultivating
respect on the other hand was found to build commitment and improve worker
efficiency (Strocholis and Hamerschlag, 2005). The integration of social justice
requirements into production guidelines could improve the image and reputation of a
given farm. Ethical consumerism definitely foredooms products deriving from
exploitative production. Therefore, as a long-term business strategy it is more logical to
avoid the potential condemnation by the future global consumer society, risking
stability. Ethical consumerism is becoming the “new moral benchmark” (Burmeister,
2008), which could result in converting consumption decisions into a way of expressing
one's norms and values.
Certain environmental improvements could also result in improved labour
conditions and vice versa. Means of alleviating hazards of chemical exposure and other
improvements in worker health and safety simultaneously bring along decreased
environmental impacts, constituting them as necessary on the path towards organic
transition (Shreck et al., 2005). Farms with diversified produce portfolio were found to
be “more economically and ecologically resilient” (Feenstra et al., 1997). Such diversity
could ease labour structure conflicts deriving from peak periods due to seasonality.
More diversified production could also enhance year round employment, providing
increased employment security for the workers (Blade et al., 2002). Regions with
diversified agrarian production are more popular among migrant workers as they offer
higher mobility (Hoggart and Mendoza, 1999). Informed and engaged workforce is
expected to better understand and keep the rules of agrochemical usage, cause less
accidents, and willing to act more actively and efficiently in case of an emergency
(Strocholis and Hamerschlag, 2005). A farm with better labour management practices is
more likely to continue to improve the environmental aspects of sustainability as well,
with greater understanding of the importance and usefulness of certain organic
standards (Strocholis and Hamerschlag, 2005). Nevertheless, it is rare to find farmers
going beyond addressing the general worker health and safety issues, even when
claiming to be organic or even sustainable (Schwind, 2007; Inouye and Warner, 2001).
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Compliance or going beyond
If national legislation is progressive enough, compliance ideally should secure
the fair treatment of migrant workers. Even though the value of compliance with
national legislation depends on the stringency of the given legal system, due to the low
level of compliance monitoring, compliance itself could hardly be seen as progress
(Inouye and Warner, 2001). In the United States and Canada compliance with such
requirements would mean little, while in Spain – having more advanced and integrative
migration policies - a lot more. Going beyond compliance with national legislation
through organized certification schemes is a more advanced option. If “social justice
and social rights are an integral part of organic agriculture and processing” (IFOAM
Basic Standards), organic certification should be seen as a promising tool to improve
migrant workers’ conditions in the form of introducing social requirements among the
certification’s sustainability standards. A broader notion of sustainability could be
achieved by integrating social justice requirements (Shreck et al., 2005) to advance the
‘sustainable agriculture continuum” (Feenstra et al., 1997). Even though “there is a
general perception that organic agriculture is more socially sustainable than
conventional agriculture, [only a] few [Californian organic] farmers … felt [that] the
criteria regarding working conditions should be codified to ensure this was the case in
practice” (Shreck et al., 2005). The IFOAM recommendations emphasize the
importance of compliance with the guidelines of the ILO (International Labour
Organizations) convention on labour welfare and social justice. In 2002 the
International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labeling Alliance (ISEAL),
started a project called Social Accountability in Sustainable Agriculture (SASA),
aiming to “develop guidelines and tools for social accountability, aiming to improve the
social auditing processes in sustainable agriculture and increase cooperation between
the various certification system initiatives” (Kupfer, 2004). Many well-known
environmental verification organizations engaged in this project, such as the Fair Trade
Labelling Organization International, the Social Accountability International, the
Sustainable Agriculture Network and the International Federation of Organic
Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). The ISEAL Alliance’s objective is to “[create] a
world where environmental sustainability and social justice are the normal conditions of
business”, by setting up consistent performance standards as tools to improve the
growing number of voluntary standards and evaluate their credibility. Even though most
circular migration programs fail to address the requirements set in these standards
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(Preibisch, 2003), some improved versions with clear social commitments are worth
studying in order to assess their future applicability as entry points into sustainable
practices.
The strong and increasing public interest in imported fair trade products
(Henderson et al. 2003) raises the question of how the public would react to the
introduction of the notion of local fair trade promoting social equity and the importance
of acknowledging just working conditions in local production units, not just those in far
away developing countries. The Agricultural Justice Project of the Farmworker Support
Committee (USA) reported a positive experience on the public reception of their
domestic fair trade label, used as a tool to raise awareness of the incorporation of social
justice into the organic production movement. The label guaranteed equal representation
of farmworkers, fair wages and the right to organize. The creation of combinations like
“local and fair” or “organic and fair” could be important contributions towards an
extended implementation of the requirements based on the interconnectedness of
sustainability. Improved circular migration programs could clearly contribute to the
implementation of such labeling schemes by setting standards for social justice
certification, which could be integrated into the present organic certification systems.
Even though the social focus is generally displayed on the consumption side not
on the production side (Shreck et al., 2006), the fair trade movement seems to have
managed to place it on the other side. The movement gradually created a framework for
acknowledging the importance of fair contracts with the suppliers and their workers.
Food processing companies also have the potential to push for the incorporation of
social justice standards among the basic contracting requirements with the suppliers,
ensuring fair labor standards, and freedom of association and complaint. Socially
responsible farms could construct, implement and communicate CSR (corporate social
responsibility) protocols in line with the new trend of shifting from solely
environmental concerns to social issues (Rainforest Alliance, 2005). Social concerns are
seen as equally important dimensions with either direct (health and safety, labor and
human rights, community) or broader (environment, procurement, community, fair
trade) implications (Maloni and Brown 2006). Besides the direct benefits like improved
market advantage, CSR actions are found to have the potential to improve employee
loyalty (Porter and Kramer, 2002), and ease tensions between local communities and the
migrant workers by reducing alienation and segregation (Maloni and Brown, 2006).
CSR actions should go beyond compliance with legislation and thrive for excellence, by
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offering trainings, education, opportunities for advancement, regular employment, and
respect. Even though the costs of CSR actions aiming for improvements “are difficult to
offset due to the lack of mechanisms to demonstrate the economic value of social and
environmental costs and benefits” (DEFRA, 2006), “ignoring supply chain CSR issues
may present a greater risk”. It is “not just the food industry’s ethical responsibility to
respond to these social challenges but also it is in their financial best interest to
proactively prepare a comprehensive strategy for supply chain CSR” (Maloni and
Brown, 2006). Public procurement should also support socially just food supply chains,
having even greater ethical responsibility, but unfortunately it is understood that
“economic
considerations
still
clearly
dominate
procurement
decisions
…
environmental concerns come relatively poor second and social concerns fare even
worse … this might be considered paradoxical given the public sector’s existence to
serve social and environmental objectives” (DEFRA, 2006).
Expectations of circular migration programs in general
One of the main objectives of foreign worker programs is to “add temporary
workers to the labor force without adding permanent residents to the population ...
[with the] rotation principle at the heart of such programs: migrants are expected to
work one or more years abroad and then return to their countries of origin” (Martin,
2003). The reappearance of the idea of circular migration “has injected new momentum
into the halting development of a European migration policy”, suggesting “four main
areas where closer cooperation is needed: in the fight against illegal migration, on
development policy, in asylum policy, and in managing legal migration” (Angenendt,
2007). Where are the real priorities of these circular migration schemes? On promoting
international mobility for encouraging development, or on controlling and limiting
migration with national quota allowances to satisfy specific sectorial workforce
demand? The recent popularity of the circular migration programs is partly based on the
recognition of the importance and development potential based on remittances, while
the public acceptance of temporary migration programs seems to be “more amenable”
(Castles, 2006).
Elements like leaving a “clear path to legal permanent residency for temporary
workers who meet predetermined requirements”, “not [tying] workers to a specific
employer beyond an initial period”, “[having] clear and independent dispute-resolving
mechanisms (O’Neil, 2003) could prove that the migrant workers’ well-being is kept as
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a priority. The dependency of migrant workers within the system could force them to
accept “various forms of abuse” (Basok, 2003) being locked into dependencies and
exploitation (Vertovec, 2007), manifested in restricted socio-laboural mobility and
exclusion. When no legal protection is given or acknowledged, the wellbeing of workers
is “largely dependent on the subjective goodwill of the employer” (Preibisch, 2003).
Therefore, creating tools for monitoring and preventing such abuses and engaging
farmers to promote best practice labour management should be prioritized when
drafting circular migration schemes.
Certain EU co-development frameworks (like the EC 10917/06) promote
circular migration schemes aiming to strengthen cooperation with less developed
partners outside the EU. Theses program are often depicted as a win-win-win situations,
where sending states benefit from increased human capital mobility with remittances
enabling development. Nevertheless, it should be recognized that the remittances are not
the sole drivers of development, the migrants themselves are the “actors for
development” (O’Neil, 2003). Therefore, capacity building, fair treatment and any form
of empowerment of these actors should be recognized as crucial elements when thriving
for real co-development. Circular migration programs “can only achieve sustainable
outcomes when they are incorporated into comprehensive migration concepts”
(Angenendt, 2007). Receiving states often see circular migration schemes as means to
solely satisfy their labour shortage needs, without having to face long-term
responsibilities of integration, or combat the consequences of uncontrolled migration.
Employers are given an organized recruitment process, they can easily retain
experienced workforce, and keep wages low. Agricultural guest worker initiatives
fighting irregular migration eventually promote changes that are “likely to limit
immigrant-integration prospects” (Martin and Taylor, 1998). These programs are
usually not expected to handle and therefore, always fail to address long-term
integration strategies or to address the incorporation of those immigrants that are
already at the host country, mostly in irregular situation. Circular migration programs
manage only “seasonal migration”, while there is a clear need to address “traveling
migration”. A phenomenon where migrants leave their homes but fail to establish a new
one in their host country, forced to follow migration circles in the region based on the
very circle of harvests. Despite the general perception on how migrants are moving,
settling and integrating into the host community, there is a tendency of shifting towards
circular migration (Jabardo Velasco, 1993). These findings bring up the question of how
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seriously these programs recognize the need to come up with integration initiatives
going beyond the farm gates.
Case of migrant workers in the Southern Spanish agricultural sector
The challenge of transition into a socially just agriculture in Spain lies in
addressing the sector’s heavy dependency on foreign workforce (García Sanz and
Palacios Izcara, 2003). It is recognized that the social requirements of sustainable
production go far beyond guaranteeing the pure availability of workers (IFOAM, 2005).
This dependency is deepened through the adverse societal reputation of agrarian work
combined with the actual precarious labour and living conditions, and low wages far
unacceptable by domestic workers (Hoggart and Mendoza, 1999). The conflictive
nature and bad reputation of immigrants working in Spain’s agrarian sector created a
critical environment. Transition into sustainability without addressing this conflict
seems impossible or at least pretentious.
The Southern Spanish - mainly Andalusian - agrarian sector experienced a fast
and sweeping transition from small-scale family farms into large-scale intensive
cultivation. Spain gradually became a country of immigration (Argela, 2002) with an
idiosyncratic labour market, characterized by high unemployment paired with labour
shortage due to widespread rejection of gravely stigmatized agrarian work. The agrarian
sector in Spain is characterized by labour shortages, lack of competition for jobs, low
wages and employment insecurity. The increase in labour-intensive production and the
growing reluctance of citizens to work on the fields led to the high dependence and
presence of immigrant labour (Hoggart and Mendoza, 1999). The rejection of these
positions resulted in stigmatizing those taking these positions, leading to an automatic
social exclusion of the newly arriving groups. The segmentation of the labour market
also acts as a barrier for mobility, as it keeps the migrant workers in a dependent
situation, creating frustration. Circular migration programs should ease such
dependency by offering migration careers and greater mobility. Labour market
segmentation is also fueled by discrimination, mainly manifested in labour division. The
better paying harvests are often given to preferential groups, perceived to be more easygoing, usually based on stereotypes, while the remaining harvests periods are given to
the rest (Chattou, 2000). In Spain the Maghrebians are perceived to be the most
problematic group (see the brutal racial conflicts of El Ejido reported in Martinez Veiga,
2001a.,b.), while Latin American and Eastern European immigrants have significant
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competitive advantage against them (Izcara Palacios and Andrade Rubio, 2004).
Segmentation is manifested in documented cases of ‘ethnical labour market
refreshment’, having a problematic group substituted by new ones (Marinez Veiga,
2001a; Díaz, 2003). The economic crisis and the increasing unemployment rates are
forcing people to look for employment even in the depreciated agrarian sector. In
response to this trend an agreement was made between the Spanish government, the
local governments, labour unions and employers’ associations to prioritize the locally
available workforce – both natives and regularized immigrants starting with the 2009
harvest period (El País, 2008).
Policy contextualization of migrant workforce in Spain
When assessing the achievements of a given circular migration program, the
progressiveness of the national legislative context should be taken into account in order
to see to what extent it goes beyond compliance, and whether it aims to secure the
implementation of certain aspects of the legislation. While there is a crusade in Europe
to illegalize irregularity, the Spanish government still argues that illegalizing irregular
migration simply diverts the flows of migration to even less controllable channels (El
País, 2008). Spain is a good example of how migration policies “have become
increasingly based on international cooperation … rather than mere enforcement”
(Triandafyllidon, 2009). Spain had left the conventional restrictive migration policy
framework by acknowledging the challenges of integration (EIROnline, 2000). The
Spanish law recognizes the permanent nature of immigration and calls for establishing
the rights and freedoms of foreigners residing in the country. Therefore, even irregular
immigrants are given various political and social rights such as “the right to assemble,
to demonstrate, to associate, to join trade unions and to strike, and the right to
education, healthcare, services and basic social benefits”. Non-registered migrants are
entitled only to emergency healthcare, while registered residents, children and pregnant
women (even if they are in an irregular situation) are “entitled to healthcare under the
same conditions as Spanish citizens” (EIROnline, 2000). After various regularization
efforts a widespread normalization program was implemented in 2005. Formerly
irregular migrants registered by their employers could be given work and residency
permits for one year, which could be extended provided that their contract is renewed
with a valid registration for social security (ILO, 2006). The normalization process also
aimed to increase the contribution of these migrants to the social security system.
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Nevertheless, the program failed to engage as many migrants as they hoped for, mainly
because of the difficulties to present the documents required on time (undocumented
presence in the country for over six months, the slow processes of issuing reports on
criminal records in the country of origin), but above all the reluctance of many
employers “to pay the wages and contributions involved in legal employment”
(EIROnline, 2005).
It remained controversial whether irregular migrant workers could have the right
for unionization and strike action since the reform of the Law on Foreign Persons
(2000) deprived them from these rights. The reform was ruled unconstitutional only
later in 2007 by the Spanish Constitutional Court, as it was found to involve “clear
restrictions of many of the universal rights recognized in Spain’s Constitution and
international treaties”. Later on the request of the Court the parliament had to draw up
“new provisions to guarantee the right of illegal migrant workers to unionize.” The
importance of unionization of irregular immigrant workers lies first of all in their mass
presence at the labour market. According to the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’
Commissions (CC.OO.) about 1.105.000 irregular immigrants were working in Spain
during the first half of 2007 (EIROnline, 2008). Their vulnerability is partly caused by
the lack of representation, and the lack of recognition of their equal rights as workers.
Even though the Spanish practices were presented among the best (ILO, 2006) for
having the workers’ rights well established, articulated and acknowledged on legal
bases, and established structures for participation of the social partners in legislation and
policy on labour migration, there are serious issues around mainstream practices and
lack of enforcement and monitoring. Such an inclusive policy context – like the Spanish
one presently - allows for an easier compliance with the previously presented social
justice requirements of sustainable agriculture, being more in line with the ILO
requirements respecting a rights-based approach to labour migration, promoting
“tripartite participation” (governments, employers and workers) (ILO, 2008). Under this
scheme, circular migration programs should be engaged in raising awareness on these
rights and in monitoring their application. The employment of irregular migrants with
no legal contracts still prevails as a common practice (Pedreño Canovas, 1999) even
after the Law of Foreign Persons 2000 and the normalization efforts presented above.
The new regulation only made farmers “more discreet” about such practices.
Insufficient law enforcement is partially due to the difficulty to control a sector where
workers often need to move around and stay for short periods at a given farm. The
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dangers of irregularity partially include the overexploitation of workers with no
contracts forced to do extra work with no compensation (Izcara Palacios and Andrade
Rubio, 2004). Many migrants are forced to accept successive contracting, which breaks
the continuity of their employment and decreasing the probability of obtaining a
permanent contract. Such practices keep them in dependency with higher risks of
unemployment, and slipping into irregularity (Hoggart and Mendoza, 1999). The
seasonality of harvesting, with peak intensity periods and inconstancy also leads to
instability (Ruiz Sánches, 1998; Izcara Palacios and Andrade Rubio, 2004). A high
degree of flexibility is required of the migrant workers to follow the production
strategies of their employers. This makes the labour market extremely fluid with much
turnover and lack of stability. The plantations are ‘dependent on’ cheap, not unified, or
protected labour (Izcara Palacios and Andrade Rubio, 2004; Izcara Palacios, 2005).
The agrarian sector is perceived to be a good place to start a “migration career”
(Jabardo Velasco, 1993) because it is the easiest sector to find a job without any
previous work experience. After arranging their legal status, only about 30% of the
immigrants remain in the agrarian sector when applying for the second round of work
permits (COAG, 2008). Even though the quota system, with an “annual allocation of
work permits by economic sector and by province” (Hoggart and Mendoza, 1999)
makes it difficult to leave the agrarian sector, it still remains a transit sector (Ruiz
Sánchez, 1998). Offering migration career within the agrarian sector by securing
upward occupational mobility (Hoggart and Mendoza, 1999) would be a way of
empowerment in line with the expectations of a socially sustainable agriculture. This
might also require the integration and respect of certain migration patterns based on
their already established social networks and fueled by “migration-specific capital”.
Such socio-economic mobility should not be restricted nor ignored but built upon by
organized schemes like improved migration management programs. Migrants can be
“stuck in low levels of employment” as they return each year to work within the very
same conditions for the very same wages, instead of “negotiating their way into better
jobs and localities like unregulated circular migrants might do” (Vertovec, 2007). Such
restrictive schemes fail to ease dependency as they restrict socio-economic mobility,
replacing “migration-specific capital” by prescribed positions and keeping migrants at
the lowest step of the immigration ladder. Nevertheless, many argue in favour of such
schemes with more stringent control as they offer safety and prevent channeling migrant
workers (especially women) into underground and more dangerous routes and flows,
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where “more potential for abuse exist”. Such “innovative programs can prevent
isolation and abuse in the destination country” (O’Neal, 2003). Circular migration
programs therefore should learn to integrate the already existent migration-specific
capital available in the host region and promote its development among those who have
just started their journey. Contraction in country of origin through contingents is
believed to be reliable and enhance stability and decrease the so-called “calling effect”,
still it fails to address directly the problems of and conflicts around those migrant
groups that are already in the host county.
The Spanish society perceives the presence of migrant workers through an
“emblematic reductionism of complex events” (de la Fuente García, 2006). As most of
the media coverage was found to be constructed either saying that “immigration is
massive and it is hard to control” or that “immigration is a problem, causing social
conflicts and delinquencies.” On the other hand there is a serious social invisibility of
these people, proving the lack of integration efforts (Ruiz Sánchez, 1998). Historically
the invisibility of migrant farmworkers was partly due to their physical segregation
(housing on farms and lack of means of mobility to reach host communities), and partly
due to the fear of the consequences of their irregularity. The lack of any kind of contact
between the locals and the immigrants is a source of social exclusion (Izcara Palacios
and Andrade Rubio, 2004). Circular migration programs could have the potential and
have the responsibility to address the issue of lack of visibility through integration
initiatives to increase acceptance. Solving those highly visible infrastructural problems
and smaller cultural clashes at the mass arrival of seasonal workers is a recognized
priority expected to be addressed by circular migration programs (El País, 2007;
Martinez Veiga, 2001a, b.; Jabardo Velasco, 1993). Improved circular migration
programs are expected to go beyond meeting the agrarian sector’s labour needs of the
given host country.
The AENEAS circular migration program
Many locals found it to be an antecedent worth remembering when Huelva,
Europe’s major strawberry supplier region, experienced how a mass of immigrants with
valid but discarded pre-contracts –most of them of African origin - went on a hungerstrike in 2002 after they were forced into an impossible situation due to a last-minute
decision of farmers: opting for contracting female workers from Romania instead of
employing them (Arango and Martin, 2005). The decision left them with work and
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residence permits valid only on the fields where no available positions were left1.
Finally they were granted permits valid in other regions, but the lesson remains of how
such negligence could threaten migrants to fall into the cycle of irregularity. Farmers
claimed that they opted for the new workforce in order to avoid problems and conflicts
with the migrants already present on the local labour market. The promoters of circular
migration programs argue that the social tension around uncontrolled, irregular workers
is inevitable when hiring takes place locally (Martinez Veiga, 2001a). While hiring at
country of origin through organized circular migration schemes is presented as a less
conflictive alternative to satisfy the sector’s labour needs with a more controllable
workforce. Nevertheless, it is crucial to recognize how these outsourcing schemes affect
the status and activity rates of immigrants already in the host country. Choosing to
ignore this effect could seriously compromise the sustainability of the given scheme.
The AENEAS Cartaya circular migration program was launched in Huelva in
2005, as a project within the European Union’s AENEAS co-development framework.
The framework was established to promote cooperation with third countries, aiming to
provide legal migration opportunities through circular and temporary migration.
Dynamics argued to satisfy the developed region’s labour needs and bringing
development to the sending countries through ‘human capital development and labour
mobility’ and ‘remittances and other diaspora resources’ (International Organization for
Migration, 2008). Laganá (2007) argued that the way co-development is presently
promoted is just another form of burden-shifting, a ‘shorthand for migration
management’ which runs counter to any integration initiatives. It fails to channel
remittances to become truly productive and to empower migrants to become truly active
agents of development.
The AENEAS Cartaya project was excessively criticized on the ground of its
discriminative pre-selection procedures. The program openly aimed to produce high
return rates of workers to their home countries after their contracts expire, which is
secured through selecting less conflictive migrant workers. The project description
clearly stated that during the recruitment in Morocco, Muslim women with younger
1
Spain has a quota system introduced in 1993, modified in 2000, which requires foreign agrarian workers
to have work permits received under organized guest worker programs from before their arrival. The
local employers seeking guest workers need to prepare generic job offers and present their requests to
specialized provincial offices. Later the Ministry of Labour summarizes these provincial requests and
transmits them, sending a recommended number of work permits to the Spanish embassies in the sending
countries, where workers are usually recruited by local governments under bilateral labor agreements
(Arango and Martin 2005).
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children left behind are prioritized. Besides highlighting the ‘empowerment’ of these
women through offering employment, the project’s promoters failed to acknowledge or
address the social costs of such foreign employment responsible for creating unnatural
dynamics of broken-up families.
Even though the workers’ legal situation and labour union representation were in
order, the awareness-raising efforts among the migrant workers were found to be
insufficient and uneven among various host farms. Such shortcomings were
counterbalanced by the hard work of local humanitarian NGOs, an effort in which the
organized schemes should have pushed for the employers deeper engagement.
Nevertheless, the program offered moderators responsible for assisting the migrants.
Capacity building courses and workshops were offered in order to comply with the codevelopment goals. The Spanish language and banking courses were found to be both
very popular among the women. Understanding of local language proved to improve
integration, life quality and work performance. Workshops and discussions held by
humanitarian NGOs aimed to promote cultural cohabitation and cultural exchange,
provide sexual education, family planning, violence prevention, and traffic safety. These
discussions and courses served as organized awareness raising and capacity building,
while they also created a social space where relationships among the women could
evolve. The moderators’ reports showed that social cohesion and smoother cohabitation
(among the workers) were improved by these meetings. Continuous mediation,
assistance and awareness-raising during the whole period of contraction were found to
be essential. The moderators’ role in this process was found to be crucial. They served
as informants and assistants, and also being in charge to continuously inform the
women about the risks of illegal immigration and the advantages of the contraction of
origin program they take part of.
The mediators’ feedbacks showed that in the future there is a need for further
awareness-raising among the workers, preparing them what to expect during their stay
and telling them about their rights. They found that more efforts should be taken to
facilitate the acceptance of these migrant women by the host communities. The workers
mobility should also be improved providing access to organized means of
transportation. Wages should be at their disposal paid on a regular basis and be
available for them from the very beginning of their stay, as many of them arrive with no
cash. Improvements easing the dependency and increasing the mobility of these women
should have been promoted, despite of how these would have threatened the objective
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of high return rates. Workers should have the Collective Agreement distributed and
explained to them, so they would be aware of their rights and responsibilities. The work
of the moderators should be taken more seriously, as they have more practical
experience with the workers and are the most likely to guarantee the wider
implementation of good practices and to prevent abuses. Circular migration programs
should keep the migrant workers’ interests as a priority, and by this could comply with
the improved social justice requirements of any given agrarian system striving to
become more sustainable.
Conclusions
The discussion this paper aims to develop is two-fold. It questions whether
improved circular migration programs could fit into the imaginary of sustainable
agriculture, and whether these improvements could serve as a first stepping stone into a
sustainable transition (or as a consecutive step towards a broader sustainability).
Even though early in the 1960’s the alternative agrarian movement recognized
the connection between the social and environmental externalities of the green
revolution’s agrarian system, the sustainability guidelines started to embrace social
justice requirements only several decades later, still mostly addressing problems within
the farm gates. Sustainability guidelines embracing social elements are often satisfied
with improving labour management practices, but still unable or unwilling to tackle the
dependencies characterizing the system. Furthermore, although circular migration
programs are often promoted as tools for co-development, by default these schemes fail
to empower the migrants participating in it by denying any prospects of settling or
integration in the host communities. The discussion on whether improved circular
migration schemes could improve the sustainability of the schemes employing migrant
workforce is directly linked to the discussion on the conventionalization of organic
agriculture, by assessing to what extent these intensive plantations could still comply
with the original organic or sustainability principles despite their intensity. Whether
improved circular migration programs could fit into the imaginary of sustainable
agriculture greatly depends on how inclusive or exclusive the promoted imaginary is. It
is also crucial to assess the depth of the sector’s commitments and the conscious
consumers’ expectations. The more one goes beyond the farm gates and more seriously
looks into the broader social costs of migrant dependent intensive agrarian systems, the
sustainability of the system itself becomes questionable. Deeper sustainability
ISSN 1852-2173
44
guidelines should stand for empowerment in order to ease the various forms of
dependencies from which most social injustices derive. Besides going beyond
compliance with legislation, commitment could be proven by providing broader
assistance to the migrant workers in order to prevent abuses allowed by the system.
It must be recognized that the sustainability of an agrarian system dependent on
migrant workforce requires more than compliance through improved labour
management processes within the farm gates. The wider implications of the presence
migrant colonies in vulnerable situation invited by the agrarian sector should be
understood. The sector should share the responsibility of preventing conflicts through
integration measures. Circular migration programs should not delude themselves
believing that social sustainability could be achieved by high migrant return rates and
the normalization of prevailing migration patterns. Integration should be addressed
within a long-term strategy, acknowledging the importance of migrant communities’
influence on the host regions’ rural development. Amnesty programs should promote
the inclusion of irregular migrants - residing in the host country - into the labour market
through alternative employment schemes, in order to avoid their deeper marginalization.
Circular migration programs promoted to be successful in reducing the sector’s
calling-effect – attracting unorganized masses of migrants into the region - should go
beyond addressing indirectly this problem and instead of stigmatizing, should find ways
to directly engage these migrants. Improved migration programs could have the
potential to alleviate the exploitative dynamics embedded in the system. Even though
migrant workforce dependent intensive agrarian systems are usually seen as
unsustainable per se, initiatives aiming to ease dependencies characterizing the system
should always be welcomed. Whether these schemes fit the imaginary of socially just
sustainable agriculture depends on the depth of these commitments and the flexibility of
the imaginary of those who judge it.
Social justice improvements could also contribute to the general sustainability of
a given agrarian system, as social improvements were found to have both direct and
indirect influence on environmental and economic sustainability based on potentially
shared guidelines and requirements applicable within migration and certification
schemes. Therefore, engagement in improved circular migration schemes could be seen
as a stepping-stone towards sustainability.
Producers initially interested in participating in circular migration programs to
stabilize their labour supply could be motivated to follow up their initial commitments
ISSN 1852-2173
45
through compliance with other sustainability requirements. Awareness-raising is found
to be a crucial first step towards further engagement towards sustainability. Eventually
this could result in deeper engagement in sustainable production with less additional
costs. Due to a growing awareness about the social costs of production, stable market
positions could be achieved by responding to the demands of the new moral economy of
informed consumers.
Participation in circular migration projects - addressing social justice
requirements- could have a great influence on a country’s potential to turn its
agriculture into a more sustainable form. Stabilizing the profitability and reputation of
the Southern Spanish agricultural sector must be seen as a priority for both regional and
national
governments.
Nevertheless,
co-development
projects
should
avoid
compromising the broader socio-economic interests of the sending, migrant and host
communities. The human cost of agrarian landscapes is still presented through a
schizophrenic imaginary (Mitchell 1996), celebrating it through the “reckless erasure of
the [realities of]… ordinary people” (Starr 1973).
ISSN 1852-2173
46
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Remaking the places of belonging: Arabic immigrants and the
urban environment along Sydney’s Georges River
Heather Goodall
Heather Goodall is Professor of History at the University of Technology Sydney where she
teaches in Transnational histories, Environmental studies and Indigenous histories. She has
published extensively on Indigenous people's cultural and environmental relationships to land
and water in colonial and contemporary Australia. One of her current projects is on the
environmental history of Sydney's urban Georges River1, undertaken with Indigenous, AngloIrish, Vietnamese and Arabic Australians. The other traces the histories and futures of the 900
Indian seafarers who played an active role in Sydney in 1945 during the boycott of Dutch
shipping to support Indonesian Independence.
Abstract: This paper reports on a study which has compared the environmental
knowledges and practices which immigrants bring from their homelands with their
experiences in their new homes. Arabic immigrants have come to Australia in
significant numbers since WW2, from a range of countries and religions, including
Christians and Muslims from Lebanon, Palestine and Syria and Mandaeans from Iraq.
Many have settled in the industrial, working class suburbs along the northern bank of
the Georges River, running through Sydney. These communities have sought out natural
spaces in an overcrowded and politically-charged atmosphere. In particular, they have
been frequent users of a series of parklands (including a National Park) along the river
as well as the river itself for fishing, relaxation, jet ski and other power recreation. In the
Georges River, Arabic Australians have drawn on their homeland environmental
cultural knowledge and experiences but the expression of their expectations and
strategies for relating to places has been strongly inflected by local environments and
socio-political tensions. These immigrants can be seen to be ‘making’ new ‘places’ as
they build attachment to their new homes by drawing on origin homeland environmental
cultural knowledges and experiences in the constrained conditions of contemporary life.
Key Words: Arabic; Australian; parklands; environment; culture.
1
The Georges River project has been a research project conducted by the Faculty of Arts and Social
Sciences in partnership with the NSW Government Office of Environment and Heritage. The project
funds were met with grants from the Australian Research Council and from the Office of Environment
and Heritage. I am very grateful for the support of my co-researchers, Adjunct Professor Denis Byrne,
OEH and UTS, Associate Professor Stephen Wearing UTS, Dr Allison Cadzow and Dr Jo Kijas. With
thanks too for Brett Todd, UTS International Studies, who translated the Abstract into Spanish.
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Introduction
Whatever the circumstances of their travel, people who migrate grieve for their
losses. Not only do they lose regular contacts with relations and friends, but they lose
physical environments with which they were familiar and in which they often felt
comfortable. This grief - over losing places as well as people – is experienced for many
years, no less for being something which is not anticipated and seldom talked about.
(Mendes, 2010)
Such memories of places do not determine in any simplistic way the behaviour
of immigrants in their new home, but they do form an influence in their lives and the
lives of their children. They may offer ways in which newly arrived immigrants can get
to know their new environments – by doing everyday things, familiar from home, like
fishing or going to the beach, in the new setting. But memories may also be obstructions
to immigrants venturing out into the landscape, as they continue to remember
experiences of warfare, danger or persecution. Most migrants today have returned at
different times to their countries of origin and they continue to have frequent contact
with family and friends who remain there. The process of revisiting old homelands has
been a way of refreshing but also of testing these memories from earlier lives.
This paper reports on one aspect of an investigation into how cultural difference
shapes environmental relationships. In the Georges River project, we have studied an
area in urban Sydney, Australia, where a major river flows through working class,
industrial suburbs. Indigenous, Anglo-Irish, Vietnamese and Arabic Australians, who
are all resident nearby, have been interviewed to learn how they understand and use the
river and its surrounding parklands – and how they interact with each other in these
natural settings. (Byrne, Goodall, Cadzow, 2012; Goodall, Byrne, Cadzow, 2011;
Cadzow, Byrne, Goodall, 2011; Goodall, Cadzow, Byrne, Wearing, 2009) Indigenous
people here are not international immigrants, but many have migrated from rural areas
to the city. (Goodall, Cadzow, 2009) The Anglo-Irish are largely descended from early
British settlers – and see themselves as ‘natives’. (Goodall, Cadzow, 2010) Each of the
two recently immigrant groups, the Vietnamese and the Arabic communities, are
internally complex, with a shared language – Vietnamese in one case and Arabic in the
other – but still from many different places of origin, different religions and differing
reasons for migration. (Cadzow et al, 2011; Goodall et al, 2011) Between 2002 and
2009, the project team conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with around 30
people in each group, both as individuals and in focus groups, as well as carrying out
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participant observations and archival research. This paper will focus on the Arabic
Australians of the Georges River, looking first at what they bring to the river by way of
beliefs, experiences and expectations and then at what they actually experience as they
try to use the parklands and river in the ways they want.
………………………………………….
By the time it reaches the suburbs of Sydney, the Georges River has become an
estuary where fresh waters from the coastal ranges mix with the saline, tidal waters of
the river’s destination, Botany Bay, then flow past it to the Pacific Ocean. Over
millennia, the river had shaped this area, cutting steep gorges into the sandstone cliffs
and leaving marshy wetlands and stony beaches all down its lower length. When the
British arrived in 1788, they expected any river land to be valuable for cropping or
commerce, and so all Georges River waterfront land was rapidly granted away as
private property. But it was quickly discovered that the sandy soil, swamps and stony
creeks could not be farmed and so the river banks remained undeveloped, as de facto
commons, with some eventually reverting to public ownership as parkland. After WW2,
Australia began a push to industrialise, massively increasing immigation to provide
workers for the new factories. Much of this industrial development took place along the
Georges River in Sydney, with the new factories located on some of the wide ‘waste’
lands along the river. The government turned its old army barracks there into migrant
worker hostels, dumping thousands of incoming migrants there from 1945 onwards to
work in the factories. (Coward, 1988; Spearritt, 1978; Butlin, 1976; Winston, 1957)
As people left the hostels they settled nearby, in ethnically-focussed clusters
which remained as long as the communities continued to be economically marginal. As
individuals became more affluent, many of them moved to more middle class suburbs,
but their places in the migrant worker hostels would soon be filled by a new wave of
immigrants. This happened with the arrival of Vietnamese refugees and immigrants
after the end of the war in 1975 and then with the Arabic immigrants fleeing occupation
and then civil war in the Middle East in the 1980s. This has left these Georges River
suburbs a patchwork of ethnic diversity in an area which is still overcrowded and
economically insecure. So it also has high levels of conflict, often expressed in
hostilities over the use of public space, particularly over the iconic landscapes which are
used to symbolize the landscape, like the ocean beaches such as Cronulla near Botany
Bay or the gum tree forests and wildflowers of the Georges River National Park, the
collective name for the string of remaining parklands along the river. These parklands
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are now embedded right in the heart of the most culturally-diverse population in the
city, but they are still run by State and Local government park managerial staff who
continue to be predominantly science-trained Anglo Australians. (Project Focus Groups,
park management staff 27, 28 Nov 2007).
………………………………………….
Migrancy involves a continuing relationship, in memory and day-to-day
connections, with home countries as well as with new homelands. Our study confirms
and adds to an extensive literature which describes how migrants can be ‘in two places
at once’. For most recent migrants interviewed, the ‘old country’ maintains a vivid
presence in their imaginations, their conversations and their plans. But the project has
also demonstrated that migrants draw on what they know from their home country to
explore and test out their new homes, seeking not to recreate a past home but to
understand better the new and different place to which they have come. Localities may
be said to be mobile, ‘places travel with the peoples through whom they are
constituted’. (Raffles 1999:324) This is not to suggest that people carry around with
them two quite separate landscapes, rather that facets of the two – the homeland and the
new land – are constantly appearing, juxtaposing, and even momentarily merging in
their consciousness. (Byrne et al, 2012)
While the phenomenon of migration is an ancient one, a more recent occurrence
is the way many modern nations encourage those who have moved overseas to continue
to regard themselves as citizens of the old ‘homeland’. Members of the diaspora are
welcomed back on visits and encouraged to take part in the cultural life and heritage of
their former home. (Coles and Timothy 20034:11) The nation in this sense has been deterritorialised – its borders being conceptually extended to embrace the members of its
diaspora.
Geographers like Doreen Massey and anthropologists like Arjun Appadurai have
been notable for their focus on the way that these transnational ‘worlds’ are not just
conceptual but are ‘real’ spaces that people live in. Massey’s concept of ‘translocality’
is significant here. (Massey 1994; Appardurai 1996) The proximity of the migrant
homeland is reinforced through electronic media and the internet as it is also by
frequent return trips. Batrouney notes there were as many of 20,000 short term visits
from Australia to Lebanon in 1993/94. (2002:61) Ghassan Hage makes the point that
the act of watching, reading, or listening to the news from Lebanon is never a matter of
entertainment for the Lebanese he knows in Sydney. Rather, they feel connected to and
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‘implicated’ in what is happening over there: ‘News items are subjects of discussion and
sometimes of intense arguments and operate as classical triggers of nostalgic feelings’.
(Hage 2002:194)
Migrants in Australia can be thought of as part of the present and emerging
future of their homeland cultures, rather than as cultural cast-aways. This does not mean
they are not simultaneously contributing to the present and future of Australia; it means
that, like all of us, they are part of the 21st century world of late modernity in which
people are wired simultaneously to multiple (including virtual) networks, some local,
some global. (Byrne et al, 2011)
………………………………………….
Arabic Australians today are a large proportion of the population in south west
Sydney, concentrated in the suburbs along the northern side of the Georges River.
There was a trickle of immigrants from the Arab world from the earliest times of
British settlement in 1788, coming as traders in goods and camels as well as travelling
for various kinds of paid employment. Often called ‘Syrians’ they in fact came from a
range of different countries and colonies in the Middle East, and brought with them
different faiths, including Christianity and Islam. Most Arabic Australians, however,
have arrived since World War 2, when the stringent entry restrictions of the 1901 White
Australia policy began to be relaxed to meet labour shortages as the country
industrialised. Migrants who arrived then had made judgments about seeking better
economic futures for their families but were also fleeing the upheavals of the region
after the partition of Palestine in 1948 and the turbulent years of decolonisation and
military interventions. Just like the migrants of the 19th century, many Arabic
Australians in the twentieth century also maintained close contacts with their countries
of origin, by letter and telephone, with some returning for visits or staying for longer
periods to maintain contact with relations and broader communities of faith and culture.
(Batrouney and Batrouney, 1985; Batrouney 2002; 2006; Hage 2002)
So by 1975, there had already been a long history of migration and
communication between the Arab world and Australia, with many Australians tracing
their roots back into the Arabic-speaking communities of the Middle East, Iraq and
western Asia. Then in 1975, the bitter civil war in Lebanon began, arising from the
continuing pressures across the region caused by uneven development, illegal military
occupations and the earlier massive flows of refugees. Many of the migrants between
1945 and 1975 had been able to make considered decisions about migration and had
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also had the freedom to return home if they chose, or even just to maintain contact with
family and friends. But this was no longer the situation for people fleeing the terrible
warfare of the 1970s. All segments of the Lebanese population – Christian and Islamic were drawn into the fighting, resulting in large movements of refugees seeking safety
and peace, at least until the war subsided. Hostilities dragged on however until the
1990s. So, with some reluctance, refugees who might have hoped to return were faced
with remaking their lives in their new homes. (Batrouney 2006; Hage 2002)
As this background snapshot shows, Arabic Australians who have been born
overseas come from many countries, hold different faiths and bring many different
experiences with them. There are now perhaps even more Arabic Australians who have
been born and grown up in Australia than born overseas. In the suburb of Bankstown in
2006, for example, there were only 6.4% of the population who had been born in
Lebanon or other Middle East countries, but over 17% of households where Arabic was
the main language spoken at home. Other Arabic Australian households speak
predominantly English in the home, yet sustain their identity with the Arabic Australian
community. This means that, as with all immigrant communities, there are numerous
younger people, born in Australia, who have had very different experiences to their
parents. (ABS, Census 2006)
Arabic Australians and Nature
Arabic Australians have been visibly numerous and frequent users of the parks
along the Georges River since the early 1980s. Despite being located in the areas
furthest from the river in each suburb, Arabic Australian groups with whom we have
worked have all mentioned their frequent use of the Georges River National Park and
other riverside parks as well as public beach parks such as that at Cronulla. This is the
only beach side suburb accessible by rail line from south-west Sydney and so it can be
reached with less resources and without private motor vehicles.
Misunderstandings about what immigrants bring from their country of origin has
contributed to friction. Some National Park staff, for example, recognised the fact that
Arabic immigrants had often suffered warfare and trauma in their homeland, but these
staff also believed wrongly that Arabic immigrants were coming from countries which
had been so overdeveloped that their cultures could have no conception of conservation:
“...they are coming often from ancient cultures that have lost a large percentage of their
natural world to the extent that it no longer features within the culture to the same degree.
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And there is no native vegetation left or anything in some of these places. They’re coming
to a relatively new nation where there’s still bush in the biggest city in the country, where
there’s still a bit of nature left to conserve.” (Project Focus Group, park management
staff 27 Nov 2007)
Our research has shown that such assumptions are not the reality. Finding out
more about Arabic environmental philosophies and practices may allow all Australians
to better recognise the many roles Arabic Australians do and can play.
What do arabic immigrants bring?
1. Homelands.
Non-Arabic Australians often assume that Arabic migrants all come from arid
desert lands, but the Middle East and particularly Lebanon are varied environments.
There are large rivers and high, snow capped mountains as well as long Mediterranean
coastal areas, where many large bustling cities of the region are located. Even in places
where there are rugged crags and cliffs, the sloping lands in-between are intensively
terraced and cultivated, ensuring that their memories are of fruitful, productive lands.
Many Arab Australians have grown up on that Mediterranean coast, swimming,
surfing and fishing in warm waters. Others were inland farmers from fertile lands fed by
fertile rivers which they remember as 'working rivers', used to drive mills for grinding
the wheat grown in the hills all around. Others again were pastoralists from the arid
interior deserts. So they have all brought different experiences of water and changing
landscapes as modernisation and development spread across the whole Arab world.
And finally, the faiths and traditions they brought with them, whether they were
Christians or Muslims or the most recently arrived, the Mandaeans (followers of John
the Baptist, most of whom have come from Iraq and arrived since 1990) have brought
different bodies of beliefs about nature and water, which contribute to the ways each
community hopes to be able to interact with the outdoors and the natural world when
they are building their new lives.
2. Traditions and cultural knowledge.
Faith & nature.
All the four religions arising from the Abrahamic traditions of the Middle East,
Judaism, Mandaeanism, Christianity and Islam, place a high value on the symbolism of
water - it is used in the religious rites of each of these faiths. (de Chatel, 2005) Three of
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these faiths are present along the Georges River - Mandaeanism, Christianity and Islam.
For Islam and Mandaeanism, both of which have a large following among Arabicbackground people living today on the Georges River, water has a major everyday,
practical role which means that religious conventions about water quality and water
management are well known and often discussed.
The tenth century Islamic philosopher, physician and scientist, Ibn Sina
(Avicenna) said that ‘nature is the place where everything acquires meaning and God’s
will is manifest’. (Petruccioli 2003:302) Yet in Islamic views of nature, as explained by
Attilio Petruccioli:
“Landscape is far from being detached from human processes. On the contrary, it is the
mirror of a dialectic relationship producing permanent transformation of the
environment.” (Petruccioli 2003:499)
Gardens are an important element of such transformations. In Islam, not only
highly sculpted gardens but also more ‘natural’ parks are considered to be
representations of Paradise, expressing the joys and beauty of life in the hereafter.
(Qur’an, verse 44:45-57; Harrison2008:140; Petruccioli, 2003:504-506).
Muslim environmentalists have found precedents for water conservation in the
Qur’an and in hadiths (collections of reports on the words and deeds of the Prophet
Muhammad), where support can be found for the idea of government responsibility for
basic human needs, including water and for the idea of human responsible stewardship,
rather than ownership, of water. (Abderrahman, 2000:513; Amery, 1998) Hussein
Amery points out that ‘Islam adopts a holistic view of the natural environment, and
spells out the rights of animals and plants to water resources’. (Amery, 2001:485)
Practicing Muslims use water in the ablutions which are necessary before prayers, and
for devout Muslims this will be five times daily. Furthermore, the Qur’an advocates the
avoidance of any wastage, particularly of water, but overall the duty of wise usage of all
resources. (Amery,1998, 200; Naser et al, 2001; Wescoat, 1995; Rice, 2006: 373-390;
Abderrahman, 2000:513).
For Mandaeans, water is central to all religious practice as well as symbolism.
Their religion predates both Christianity and Islam and is derived from the teachings of
John the Baptist. Calling their faith ‘Yardna: the Living Water’, Mandaeans practice
full-immersion baptism frequently for all the faithful. This may take place least once a
year but will often be more frequent. This religion directs its members to seek out fresh,
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running rivers in which to hold these large scale community events. (Mandaean
Community, 2005)
3. Social traditions and natural spaces.
There are many family and community celebrations and rituals which by choice
are shared in open, natural places. They are not strictly related to formal religious codes,
such as prayer, but they nevertheless form an important role in the everyday practice of
beliefs.
For Muslims, at the most personal level, these include celebrations such as the
welcoming and naming of newborn children. At a broader social level they include the
sharing of food by the family and community after sundown at the end of each day of
Ramadan and then the larger feasts and gift giving at Eid ul-Fitr, at the end of the
Ramadan month. The iftar, the meal at the end of each day of fasting, is understood to
be a time to be enjoyed and shared with family and friends, while the Eid festivities are
a celebration of the broader cultural community which has shared the Ramadan
discipline. The ideal of sharing the iftar meals and particularly the Eid ul-Fitr holiday in
natural surroundings is widely held and reflects a view that nature is a ‘great, awesome
sign of God’s creation’, wherever it is found. So natural settings are a valued location to
celebrate not only the larger rituals like Ramadan, the iftar and Eid ul-Fitr, but the more
intimate family rituals like the celebration of the birth of a child. (Project interviews)
For Mandaeans, the frequent baptisms are social as well as religious occasions.
These are events when people of all ages participate not only in the formal religious
rituals but in the cheerful social networking which takes place. Food is prepared and
shared, fish are barbequed and the whole day is an opportunity to meet across families
and across generations in an informal, relaxed setting.
The Arab world and conservation: hima and the protection of wetlands
Prior to the emergence of Islam, the region’s land holders and mobile pastoralists
practised a system of flexible controls over grazing and harvesting known via the
institution of the hima (Arabic: ‘inviolate zone’). Under local authorities and tribal
headmen, hima allowed either resting and rotation or complete prohibition on grazing,
hunting or cropping for extended periods of time. Other hima were dedicated to deities
and authorized permanent protection of all flora and fauna within their boundaries.
(Kilani, Serhal, Llewellyn, 2007)
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With the coming of Islam, hima were recognized by Mohammed, who decreed
that they should no longer lead to any individual benefit; that instead hima would be
dedicated to fulfilling God’s work, which was often defined as ensuring support for the
economically vulnerable. Over the centuries, himas (protected areas) and haraams
(areas in which development was forbidden) could be found across the region. There
would invariably be hima on pilgrimage routes to Mecca, and in this case, they would
be sustained by waqf, or the funds arising from the charitable contributions of
worshiping Muslims in, for example, many different parts of the Indian Ocean. Hima
lands therefore involved not only the local protection of lands, but were also nodes in a
network of Muslims which stretched from southern Africa to Indonesia, linking piety,
travel, social justice and environment. (Gari, 2006:213-228) Although it was difficult to
sustain hima under the pressures of development, these protocols were still operating in
some countries in the mid twentieth century. (Foltz, 2006:214)
The existence of various types of hima, over centuries, had ensured the
conservation of wetlands in the Middle East and Arabian peninsula, including the
marshes of what is now southern Iraq. This was particularly important because this area
is of crucial significance in the annual migration of birds between Africa and northern
Europe. The wetlands of the Middle East have for millenia offered rest and refreshment
as thousands of birds each year travel the long distances to breed and rear their young
before they set out once again on the same route to return. The presence of birds
features strongly in the traditions and religious writings of all the area's cultures and the
resulting reverence for birdlife has - along with hima - protected this extraordinary
migration process. (Kilani, Serhal, Llewellyn, 2007; Buchanan, 2004)
Memories and experiences
1. Childhoods, surfing, farming, urbanisation, gardens, rivers
It is very clear from our study that people bring with them - and pass on to their
children - many memories of place and environment when they migrate. Water whether from the sea coast or rivers or drinking water - is a consistent theme among the
homeland memories which were discussed by participants in this study as the following
examples show.
Hesham Abdo, born in Australia, has talked about what he had learned from his
parents about the importance of rivers and beaches to his family:
“...That’s just something that’s always been there, you know, the water. My father, he
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was Palestinian. He spent his time in Egypt, and then he went to Lebanon as well. He had
family there. He was a fisherman. His family’s from Jaffa and they’re from the water.
They’re all from there. His mother is originally from Mena, from the water as well, in
Lebanon. She obviously moved to Jaffa when she got married, to Palestine. So he spent
his whole life at the water. Always water, water….. And always fishing. It’s all over the
Middle East which is all around water. I’ve got some family, some aunties who cook
everything in fish. You know, fish, fish! Every dish is mainly fish. Why is it? Because
they grew up and were always eating fish. They grew up at the water. So it was their diet
- that’s what they used to eat it... They can do 101 things with fish... There is one auntie
of mine, she’s got the scarf on and everything, and she’s 52 or 53 years old. But she
always goes to the beach.
...The Palestinians are amazing to watch... you can see the yearning for their home. The
yearning for the water. The yearning for nature. They yearn for their beaches...
(Interview 11/7/2006)
Aqualina is a young woman from a Lebanese family with Maronite community
connections. They live near the Cook's River, the other arm of the waterways running
into Botany Bay. Aqualina's mother has fond memories of her childhood in a farming
village and to this day, whenever she is walking with her daughter on the river, she
looks for plants like sorrel which she knows are edible and as she gathers them. She
often talks to her daughter about her experiences in a fertile, abundant landscape, as
Aqualina has explained:
“...Whenever we go on these walks, she'll say to me: ‘Oh you know we have this in
Lebanon, youknow this type of dandelion or this or this...’ And she’ll say to me – as if
she’s saying it for the first time – ‘You know, if you lived in Lebanon in the wild, you’d
never starve. Because the whole place is just full of things you can eat’... She'll always
state this fact, whenever we are picking food around the River as if she's stating it for the
first time. It's a fact that never ceases to amaze her.” (Interview 24/1/2007)
Wafa Zaim, working with the Muslim Women Association in Lakemba, migrated
to Australia from her childhood home in Tripoli on the northern coast of Lebanon:
“I grew up in a traditional Arabic house, there was a beautiful mozaiced courtyard within
the external walls that housed the many rooms and this was the heart of our home. The
centre of the courtyard was a water fountain, so there was always the sound of flowing
water. This was very important to us because my family really valued all things natural.
My grandma would spend hours every day tending to the numerous pot plants, and
nurtured the jasmine trees that lined the courtyard like children. The fragrance of those
flowers is something that stays with me even today. We had a great childhood and have
grown up much attached to nature. We have started to talk about it these days but we used
to DO it. It was part and parcel of our life there.” (Interview, 20/12/2005)
Karim Jari, a Mandaean Iraqi, was born in 1947 in Baghdad and knew Basrah
well. He remembers the centrality of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates to both cities:
“...Basrah has a river in the city, the Euphrates and its clean and its beautiful. The river
runs through the city - it is like Venice. Because its in the south it is different - there are
marshes and it makes it Venician. In Basrah, they used to have many coffee shops and
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casinos on that river. And even in Baghdad, we have a main street on the River Tigris
there. There are casinos, fishing, restaurants - they use it as a commercial site - and its
beautiful! We can do the same here, in Australia, because we have beautiful places.”
(Interview, 30/4/2006)
Asia Fahad, a Mandaean woman who has been in Australia since 1992 and is a
staff member at Sydney Water (the statutory State-owned utility managing all water
supplies) explained that the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates are fed by snow melt
and, until damaged by warfare, ran strong and clean with fresh water even through the
cities. Asia and Karim both concur with other Mandaeans that the beauty of these rivers
was in their freshness but also in their role in the social life of the cities as well of
course as being central to the religious life of the Mandaeans themselves. The baptisms
too were rich social events, in which old and young met and talked around the
ceremonies and then shared food and hours of enjoyable picnicking each time a
collective baptism took place. (Interview, 30/4/2006)
Joy Suliman, born in Australia, is from a Sudanese Coptic background. She has
discussed why her family chose to live where they did in Australia seeking a river
connection:
“My mum wanted to live, my mum’s got a thing for rivers and I have a feeling that it
comes from the Nile. In the Sudan she lived really close to the Nile River in Khartoum... I
know that’s why they picked Lugarno as a place to live, they liked the idea of being in a
bush setting but the bush itself, they don’t like... So to them it’s almost a dangerous place,
they don’t like that I’ve played there, they don’t you know, even now my mum says
you’re not going off walking in the bush on your own are you...” (Interview, 3/11/2003)
Hesham Abdo has spoken about how he and his Lebanese-Australian friends had
gone canoeing in the Blue Mountains National Park and had encountered a waterfall
where you could jump from the rock face into the water pool below. It reminded them
of a place near Tripoli. Hesham recalls their pleasure in unexpectedly finding this
connection to Lebanon in the Blue Mountains. One of his friends: “...was talking about
Lebanon and how they jump off and it’s exactly like that over there. And they feel... he
felt like... you could just see it in his face, how happy he was.” (Interview, 21/7/2006)
In describing this place Hesham has said, “It’s sort of like a Bondi in Lebanon”
suggesting the links which travel and communication foster between old homes and
new ones, between the past, the present and the future.
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Rapid development, pollution, warfare, refugee camps, journeys
While those are pleasant memories of childhood and homelands, there have also
been deeply disturbing memories arising from rapid development and particularly from
warfare across the Middle East. Whereas childhood memories are often very localised,
the pressures of development and warfare made massive impacts across the whole
region. The Middle Eastern landscapes are relatively small and densely occupied
compared to Australia with its large distances and this has magnified the impacts which
are often felt far from the site of original pollution or conflict as people move in search
of safer farming and living spaces. Both development and warfare have caused such
displacements which often last for decades or longer. Both have caused damage to
natural environments as well as buildings - from impacts like pollution as well as
landmines - making nature dangerous when it had previously been nurturing. (AlonTal,
2002)
Lebanon had a thriving economy until the 1970s, but then civil war broke out in
1975 and neighbouring Israel invaded in 1978 and again in 1982, continuing in
occupation until 2000. Israel invaded yet again in 2006, bombarding the southern areas
even more intensely than in earlier invasions. In 1999 there remained over 200,000 land
mines across the countryside. (Masri, 1999:131) Warfare is understood to have directly
affected at least 75% of all Lebanese residents and to have generated much internal and
international migration throughout the region.
Nature has been important in the continuing cultures of all groups in the Arab
world, although this was not necessarily expressed in the creation of 'national parks' as
it might have been in former settler colonies like Australia. Few national parks were set
aside in Lebanon, for example, before the emergence of environmental consciousness
among the middle class in the 1990s. (Masri, 1999:120; Kingston, 2001) This was a
period of relative calm following at least 15 years of intense warfare, and it saw the
Lebanese government put considerable effort into establishing a series of protected
areas, such as the Ihdin Forest and Palm Islands. These national parks were the most
successful of the environmental protection measures the government attempted to enact.
Rania Masri, in her detailed consideration of the broader range of environmental
challenges facing Lebanon, has pointed out, however, that the success achieved by these
‘national parks’ amounted to little more than creating ‘islands of protection’. Across
most of the country, environmental conditions deteriorated because the ‘off park’
environmental controls the Government attempted to impose were poorly planned,
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unevenly implemented and often sacrificed in the rush to rebuild and develop in the
aftermath of such destructive wars. (Masri, 1997,1999; Darwish, Farajalla, Masri, 2009)
There have been large flows of Palestinian refugees forced out of Israel and the
occupied territories into Lebanon but there has also been substantial internal migration
as Lebanese citizens have tried to escape either internal civil war or invasion and
occupation by the Israeli army. (Al Khalil, 1992) Refugee camps, which are invariably
overcrowded with impoverished people, have led everywhere to intense pressure on
surrounding environments to fulfil the need for food, firewood and other resources. The
urbanisation which is characteristic of modernisation has been greatly exacerbated by
warfare, as farmers have been forced to abandon farmland and as the residue of
weapons and unexploded ordinance left behind has increased after each invasion as
more, and different weapons are used. (Darwish et al, 2009)
All of these impacts on people have had environmental outcomes on land use as
well as on attitudes to protected areas which people may avoid because they feel
vulnerable there. ‘Farm abandonment’ arising from warfare and weapons debris has
been as much a cause of land degradation as has deforestation or overgrazing.
Masri1997 There have furthermore been direct impacts on the countryside itself. Intense
bombing has incinerated forests, including those set aside as National Parks, and further
damaged vegetation, waterways and wetlands and depleted the bird and animal
populations. Residues of weapons have made farming dangerous even where
infrastructure has not been destroyed, as it has in many areas. (Darwish et al, 2009)
Water sources - including wetlands, the essential refugia of migrating birds – have been
damaged by both developmental ‘improvement’ to achieve more agricultural land and
by ‘strategic’ military draining. (Amery, 1993; Masri, 1997; 1999; Platt, 2008;
Shehadeh, 2007; Buchanan, 2004)
Finally, an effect of warfare has been the rising polarisation of societies which had
previously practised religious and social tolerance. So in some areas, Muslims have felt
less welcomed than they had previously been, as in Israel for example, an exclusion,
which has been particularly painful when it was on land long regarded as Palestinian
birthright. The people targeted have often been women because their hijab is such a
visible marker of religious and social affiliation. Just as distressing has been the
persecution of Mandaeans in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussain and the American
occupation. Now Mandaeans, who have lived in Iraq for close to 2000 years and far
predate both Islam and European colonialism, are finding their young women being
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forced to wear hijab because of the rising dominance of Islamic religious thought in the
newly governing parties under US control. (Project Interviews)
Such persecution of religious groups has driven many people of all faiths to
undertake long and dangerous refugee journeys as they seek a safer place to live and
raise families. The public discrimination and persecution they have faced in their places
of origin have then shaped the way they may feel about public places in their new
homes. They may continue to feel exposed and vulnerable in open public spaces, and so
be hesitant about venturing outside to the parklands in their new homes. Discrimination
they may face in their new homeland may be interpreted, in view of their pasts, as a
continuation of the harrowing persecution they believed they had escaped.
Re-Visiting: circulating ideas about nature between new homes and old homes
The circulation of ideas about place is an important outcome of the continuing
communication between immigrants long settled in Australia - and their children who
are born and raised in Australia - with the homelands of the family origin.
Australian media have prominently reported the bonds between Australians of
Lebanese background and the places of their old home. (Cameron, 2007) There are
many members of the Lebanese village of Kfarsghab, for example, who now live in
Australia but who keep in close touch with their relations and friends still in Lebanon
and at times revisit. The village has now renamed its main street 'Parramatta Road' and,
as Ray Abraham, an Australian descendant of the immigrants has pointed out, there is a
'Parra cafe too'. (Cameron, 2007) Along with those examples of reverse processes, like
that Hesham described of young men finding places ‘like Lebanon’ in Australia, there
are many demonstrations of continuing exchanges between the two countries as a result
of Lebanese migration.
Re-visiting the homeland can, however, ‘bring home’ all kinds of changes that
have happened since or during the process of migration. Some of these, far from
celebrating the connections, can puncture the romanticised nostalgia which may be
circulating about old homelands. Migration, in these sense, has elements of being a
round trip rather than just a one-way fare.
It is in this context that the reemergence of the practice of hima has particular
relevance. Partly in response to the problems associated with the exclusionary ‘western
model’ of protected areas, some Middle Eastern environmental and parkland advocates
looked to traditional strategies for an alternative approach to ecological conservation.
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The concept of the hima was identified in research in the early 1960s by Omar Draz, a
Syrian FAO (UN Food & Agriculture Organization) adviser working in Saudi Arabia
where he observed some of the remaining hima in operation. (Gari, 2006:221;
Llewellyn, 2000; Haq, 2003:144; Llewellyn, 2003) The hima approach has been taken
up actively in Saudi Arabia to shape a system of conservation reservations. Kilani, et al,
2007:2-10. In Lebanon, the concept is now explicitly included in the Protected Area
category system which includes ‘Protected Landscapes/Seascapes (IUCN Category IV)’
which it describes as a ‘Hima System’. (Ministry for the Environment, Lebanon, 2006)
The Lebanese Ministry for the Environment has been responsible for the declaration of
a substantial number of ‘Hima and Forests’ since 1991, with many known as ‘National
Hima’. (Ministry for the Environment, Lebanon) The major proportion of visitors to
national parks, ‘mountain trails’ and conservation zones in Lebanon are international
tourists and visiting diasporic Lebanese. Such emerging trends in Lebanese and, more
broadly, Middle Eastern conservation, will become known to members of Arabic
Australian communities as they continue to keep in touch with and travel to visit these
old homelands.
How have arabic australians experienced the Georges River and its parklands?
The project found that Arabic Australians often tried to fulfill the beliefs
they had brought with them when they used the natural places of their new home,
despite realizing that this was different to the ways in which other Australians,
including other immigrants, utilized these spaces. At times, they appeared to be hoping
to use the new natural spaces in ways which they had been unable to do in their
homeland because warfare. Rather than recreating past homelands, however, they were
just as often drawing on their existing knowledge in order to explore and build a
connection for themselves to this new space. (Experiential data below all from Project
interviews, see further discussion in Byrne et al, 2012; Goodall et al, 2011)
In all these goals, however, they were frequently – and increasingly –
frustrated by rising hostility from dominant Anglo groups towards their very presence in
natural public spaces. This increased hostility to all people of Arabic background – of
whatever religious affiliation – had emerged in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the
rising use of Islamophobia to justify military occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq.
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Positive experiences
The Arabic Australians who participated in this project, regardless of their
religion or national background, all expected to do similar things in the parklands
around their new homes. There were four key themes raised in these interviews.
(Goodall et al, 2011)
One was freely practising faith and spirituality. Arabic Australians, whether
Mandaean, Muslim and Christian, all shared the enjoyment of feeling close to God in
natural settings and this is one of the things that draws them to the parks. This feeling,
common for all the Arabic Australian groups, was also frequently expressed by other
interviewees from Vietnamese, Anglo and Aboriginal Australian groups. Mandaeans
had negotiated with a local government council to use a relatively secluded section of
the Nepean River for their regular baptisms. Although this site was at some distance, the
Nepean had the advantage of being fresh at that point rather than the saline water in the
Georges River closer to their homes.
Muslims gathered in family groups to pray regularly throughout long
picnics at the parks, in view of other park users, utilizing the fresh water available from
taps located in the washing areas of public toilet facilities. They also gathered in parks
to share iftar, the meal which breaks the daily Ramadan fast after sunset. However,
because National Parks close at sunset, they were forced to travel further to share iftar
in other types of public space. Buildings like halls and shopping centres are seen as
places defined and claimed by the majority Anglo and European groups. Arabic
Australians all suggested that they saw natural spaces like parks and beaches as far more
directly reflecting the universal presence of the divinity, rather than being the property
of any one group or nation.
The discussions during all the interviews about feeling comfortable about
carrying out religious practices were invariably accompanied by comments on the
condition of the water available and the protocols for its use. Mandaeans were troubled
by the pollution of the water in the Georges River, a result of the high density of
population and the unreliability over many years of government regulation of industrial
or domestic sewage pollution. It was this interest in water quality which had led a
number of Mandaeans, like Asia quoted earlier, to take up employment in water
utilities. Muslims were concerned about river water quality, particularly as they wanted
to fish in the Georges River, but were also concerned about the positioning of fresh
water taps so close to public toilet facilities. They argued for greater hygiene and a clean
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source of fresh water for drinking and religious ablutions. Just as importantly, they were
troubled by what they saw as the wasteful behaviour about water among other park
users, including Anglo-Australians, who would leave taps dripping and seemed to take
far more water than they needed. Muslim interviewees referred to the Islamic scriptural
responsibilities to conserve water but also to share it equally, and explained that Arabic
countries like Jordan had drawn on such religious and ethical teachings to build a public
water conservation campaign which placed social equity at its centre.
While none of the Arabic Australians interviewed discussed the
reemergence of the concept of hima, their discussions of water in particular and the
parklands which they used so actively, drew consistently on the principles of
conservation which are embodied in hima. These are firstly the protection of the quality
of environments but just as important, the social connections between environments and
people. This belies the misapprehension that many Anglo-Australian park managers
indicated that the concept of conservation – even for ‘wise use’, let alone for the
nurturing of biodiversity – is alien to Arabic immigrants.
The second common goal which all Arabic Australians expressed was to build
social relationships within family and community. This was partly to sustain stronger
collective support networks and ethno-specific identities in conditions of migrancy.
Interviewees hoped to use parks to refresh and foster their communities of identity (such
as with other immigrants who have shared the same village of origin), and often to share
activities like fishing with younger members of their family as an opportunity to teach
them about practices and memories from their original homeland. But they were also
eager to take part in social festivals of belonging to their new country, such as the
annual Australia Day holiday which marks the first British settlement, on 26 January,
and which is often celebrated by picnics and outdoor activities. The activities which
Arabic Australians undertook in parks were often a composite of social activities which
they enjoyed in their old homes, with those that were iconic of their new country. A
good example among Arabic Australians is the sharing food cooked over open coal
fires. While this might be a spit-roasted lamb or fish in the Middle East, in the Georges
River parks it is carried out in the very recognizable everyday form of the barbeque, a
widely shared practice among all Australians.
The third common theme is relaxation, the expectation of enjoying physical
leisure, as well as informal and organised sports, in safety and security. This hope
reflects the very long hours of work which immigrants have had to do if they wanted to
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support young families and make new homes. As many immigrants from all these
countries found their homeland professional qualifications were not recognised in
Australia, their only alternatives were jobs - and sometimes two or three jobs - in
factories in areas along the Georges River. The Parks service, however, continues to see
the fundamental use of ‘national’ parks to be strenuous exertion such as bushwalking
and camping in austere and isolated settings. For most Arabic immigrants, this has too
many resonances of dangerous lonely war-torn environments and refugee camps. Where
the expectation of ‘wilderness’ appreciation is not recognized as a culturally-specific
model, Arabic Australian disinterest in it may be interpreted by Parks staff as an
inability to appreciate nature at all. (Wearing, Goodall, Byrne, Kijas, 2008)
The fourth theme, for many of the people interviewed, the skills they
brought with them from their old homes were put to use in exploring the environment of
their new homeland. Their goal was to feel a greater sense of belonging, both socially
(through interactions with other users of the park) and environmentally (often using
practices and technologies they remember in their places of origin, like gathering herbs
for food or by fishing, but now adapting and innovating in their new home). Fishing for
example is a common pastime in Lebanon, where so many of the population live on the
coast on or the major inland river system, where they fish with a telescopic fishing rod
which does not use a reel for the line. The very specific skills of using this rod are
taught to young children by their Arabic parents in the Australian parklands along the
river, thus enabling continuing memories and connections with the Middle East. But
Arabic Australians of all ages have also embraced the various forms of rod available in
Australia, and can frequently be found fishing along the river where they point out they
are able to chat casually to fellow fishers, whatever their ethnic background, about baits
and what is biting. These relaxed and informal conversations, or simply companionable
silences, are unlikely ever to take place in the settings of the public street or shopping
mall and, as the next section indicates, have become even less common in those formal
settings than they were before. In another Arabic Australian family, a fishing uncle have
travelled around the countryside, following the fishing magazines to find good spots,
and keeping maps of the best locations so he could share the stories - and itineraries with his relations. Another aspect of this fourth theme was the commonly expressed
interest in learning more about Aboriginal perspectives on land and water. This interest
was said by interviewees to reflect an appreciation of the importance of Aboriginal prior
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ownership but also a desire to compare and exchange ideas about landscape and
responsibilities among those who were custodians in the present.
These four types of ways that Arabic Australians use the parklands in the
Georges River draw, to differing extents, on the rich and varied traditions and hopes
they bring with them. The managers of these Australian parks are seldom interested in
what people bring and are most often concerned to impart their regulations about the
proper use of fragile Australian environments, taking the view that recent immigrants
are ‘empty vessels’ needing to be ‘filled up’ with very specific rules and prohibitions.
Yet as this brief summary suggests, Arabic Australian immigrants have brought with
them beliefs and philosophies about nature, as well as very practical and everyday
knowledges about water quality and the conservation of landscape and water, which
could all play a major positive role in improving environmental quality for everyone.
Negative experiences
Just as there are positive and negative memories from homeland experiences, the
realities confronting Arabic Australians have, since 2001, been of rising hostility in
public places.
There have been lasting impacts on Australian society of the World Trade Centre
attack in New York now known as 9/11. The belief that the 9/11 attacks against
America had been conducted by Muslims had rapidly led to the stigmatisation of
Muslims all over the western world as violent and threatening to 'western values' – a
term which many Anglo Americans and Anglo Australians used to mean ‘themselves’.
In Australia, Arabic people were all assumed to be Muslims, leading to great anxiety for
all people of Arabic background, whether they were Muslims, Christians or Mandaeans.
Suddenly, Muslim families who had been unquestioned citizens of Australia for decades
found themselves being eyed with suspicion and fear.
An awareness among Arabic Australians and among Muslims of this shift in
Anglo Australian public opinion was evident soon after 9/11, and it did not go away.
Violence against Arabic Australians and against anyone who could be identified as
Muslim, flared into international media prominence with the riots by drunken Anglo
Australian youths on a Saturday afternoon in December 2005, in the public parkland at
the iconic Cronulla beach. This park and beach are just south of Botany Bay and the
Georges River, and have been a popular destination for some young Arabic Australians
(of all religions) from the densely settled Georges River suburbs. These young people,
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as will be evident from earlier sections, were from families which had been accustomed
to surf and beach life on the Mediterranean shore for generations before they migrated
to Australia. The young white attackers at Cronulla abused the Arabic Australians they
found in the park, whom they assumed to be Muslim no matter what their religion, by
telling them they had no right to 'our beach'. This accusation amused Aboriginal
Australians who pointed out that the beach did not belong to Anglos either. The riots
were followed over the next few days by sporadic forays of retaliations by groups of
angry young Islamic men travelling from the nearby Georges River suburbs. Overall,
despite many public apologies and attempts at reconciliation, relations between Arabic
and other Australians continued to sour.
In 2007, Aly and Balnaves from Edith Cowan University surveyed Australians
nationwide about what it was that made them fearful and what they had done to address
their fears. (Levett SMH, 20 Aug 2007) Their conclusions supported earlier findings.
(Jakubowicz, Browning, 2004; Whitten, Thompson, 2005) The Aly and Balnaves
findings were in the Sydney Morning Herald headline on their report: Muslims feel cut
off, left isolated by fear. Professor Balnaves explained that most Australians
experienced generalised fears, but that:
"For Muslims it wasn't a generalised fear," he said. "Where non-Muslim Australians
may have a fear of travel on planes, Muslims had a fear of going out of the house, of
going out into the community." He continued: "There is a fear of government, distrust
of the media and the [consequent] closure of the [Muslim] community is quite
worrying." (Levett, 2007)
This anxiety was evident among all the Arabic Australians interviewed for our
project from 2002 until the present. They ranged from older women, through young
men and children, to young women and adult men - all worried about the increase in
antagonism they were meeting, particularly from Anglo Australians. This spilled over
into their confidence in public parklands. For some it meant that they had become more
reluctant than before to go to public parks and for others it meant they were only
confident in parks if they were in a group or, for Muslims, if they were among other
Muslims.
Yet this was an option which many Muslims did not want to have to choose.
Wafa Zaim, the social worker at the Muslim Women Association, was very clear about
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her preference for mixing with all fellow citizens of this country, rather than to be
confined through fear only to places seen as “Muslim’.
Why do we need to go through the experience if we can keep ourselves safe [by staying
apart]. But to keep ourselves safe, it’s a way which we don’t agree with in the first
place. We prefer to be part and parcel of the community and be safe with others, not
only by ourselves. (Interview, 20/12/2005)
Muslim women wearing hijab or 'the scarf' feel most at risk, but as Wafa pointed
out, it is not only them:
Because of what’s happening now, people do not feel safe. For us as Muslim women,
because of the scarf, we are like a target. People can just say yes, she is Muslim, from
the way I am dressed. At the moment, it’s actually not mainly people with hijab, it’s
people with Middle Eastern appearance, it’s mainly people - not looking Australian, a
hundred percent! But I don’t look Australian so how am I going to feel when I am in
public places? (Interview, 20/12/2005)
The hostility has encompassed everyone of 'middle eastern appearance'
including all Arabic Australians whether they are Mandaeans, Christians, atheists or of
any other conviction. An example is the concern held by Asia Fahad, the Mandaean
quoted earlier. She explained a year after the riot:
…What happened after December at Cronulla, before even December, I don’t like. I
don’t encourage my two sons to go there (to Cronulla), I’m still a little bit worried about
their appearances, a little bit 'Middle-Eastern appearance' so maybe they’ll be mistaken
as Muslims. I just don’t encourage them to go there, sometimes they go to Wollongong
to spend a day there but not to go to Cronulla...(Interview, 30/4/2006)
The atmosphere in parks had changed in the direct experience of the people who
spoke to us. Wafa Zaim had come to Australia as a young woman, so she had had a long
time to observe changes. She explained:
Maybe if we’re talking about five years ago [before 9/11], the welcoming atmosphere
meant that it was totally different to what it is at the moment. Because five years ago
you used to go to any public space, any park or common area, and you would not feel
that people staring at you or moving away from the area that you are going to sit at. You
would feel that you are part and parcel of the people around you.
I never had any difficulty in the previous years, using any of the parks. ..... it was
beautiful. We grew up in this area where everyone is welcome, and so for us it was a
great opportunity for everyone to use whatever is available to us. That’s why we took
part in your project actually because we did use a lot of these parks and we know our
women’s group go on at least a weekly basis, to have a barbecue or to take the children
out for a swim or just for canoeing activities or whatever is available in some areas.
(Interview, 20/12/2005)
Hesham Abdo noted the changes in his own neighbourhood at Picnic Point
where the people he once counted as friends had become distant and hostile since the
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Cronulla riots and, visibly notable in the Picnic Park vicinity of the National Park, were
suddenly displaying Ausralian flags.
Wafa Zaim has explained how fear of abuse has changed her behaviour:
…. personally I don’t really encourage my own family members to use public transport
at the moment. Even though, I am one of the people who before that would encourage
everybody to use the train, even the bus, instead of just using cars, that do more harm to
the atmosphere around us. So if I am going by car, I’m making sure I’m locking the
door, closing the window, again using the AC …I always like to have my window open
forget about air conditioning, I like the fresh air to be around me…I prefer to have
nature all around, but for now you can’t do that, because you don’t know what will
happen to you.. a friend of ours, they stop them in the light, they open the door….and
then she went home terrified. (Interview, 20/12/2005)
The anxiety suggested in these and other interviews arose from experience or
knowledge of incidents of intimidation to which Arabic Australians - and particularly
women in hijab - have been subjected, such as having the van tyres slashed when a
group of women in hijab had taken children from a daycare centre for a picnic not far
away.
For others, even young men, rising anxiety has led to an increased need to be in
groups in public settings. As a teenager, for example, Hesham felt uneasy about being in
the riverside part of the park where people sometimes ‘called out names’ at Arabicspeaking people. He felt it was safer for him to be in a group of friends and to stay in
the most public parts of the park – near the car parks, for instance. (Interview, 8/7/2002)
Jenan Baroudi, who belongs in a Muslim family but does not herself wear hijab,
explained how the increased stress and self-consciousness has now cast a pall over her
family’s picnics along the river.
I almost feel like people are looking at us differently. Why do we have to be more
careful than others about the space that we use and how we use it? ...It’s called public
space after all …
At the last family picnic for example, now we really worry. So if you drop a piece of
rubbish, you don’t just pick up your rubbish, but you pick up other people’s rubbish
because you don’t want people to think that (its yours). Already there are so many
negative stereotypes, you feel that you watch yourself even more than you already
would …
So now I feel that you do have that fear that you might be discriminated against. I mean
you face racism everywhere, but you do feel protective about your female relatives who
wear the hijab and who might be targeted in the park. So that's how things have
changed…(Interview, 8/1/2004)
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Conclusion
When asked about their hopes for the future, the interviewees offered a
range of suggestions about improving water quality and accessibility, providing more
hygienic fresh drinking and washing water. The Muslim interviewees in particular
wanted more parks to be open after sunset, particularly during Ramadan, in order to
better accommodate the family and religious sharing of iftar each evening. All
suggested more education for everyone about the different ways that people used parks,
which would involve mutual recognition of culturally diverse uses. They were
particularly interested in having more access to an on-park Aboriginal presence so that
new immigrants and others could learn more about Indigenous meanings for and uses of
the local environment. All wanted better safety for everyone. While they suggested
more Arabic Australian on-park staff would enable cultural translation, most often they
felt that the increased visibility any park staff at all would be an improvement. It would
add authority, they believed, to the public order regulations and so would minimize
tensions without further inflaming ethnic conflict. Their suggestions – and particularly
this last one – reflected the insecurity in public spaces which the current political
climate has created.
This comparative study of the ideas which Arabic immigrants bring for
engaging with nature with what they do and experience in parks in Australia indicates
that they are indeed ‘making’ a new ‘place’, in which traditional understandings of
nature are inflected by the conditions of real life in the new environment.
The first positive theme in accounts of experience, that of practicing
religions freely, was very closely related to an expression of cultural knowledge brought
to the new country from an original home, a transition which was made easier by the
universalist concepts of both Islam and Mandaeanism, which recognize the universal
divinity in all natural spaces, rather than located in the particular formations of any one
place. The fourth theme, that of utilizing homeland skills and practices to explore the
new place and make meaningful connections with it, is another situation which draws
very directly from homeland experiences but which is just as intensely focussed on the
new place. These two, although drawing on homeland knowledge, are ‘place making’
very directly in Appadurai’s sense, building attachment to new places through
practicing familiar and meaningful ‘everyday’ activities. It can be imagined that these
experiences would foster a perception of complex, ‘merged’ or ‘dappled’ landscapes.
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More inflected still by the specific political conditions of the new country
are the second and third theme. The second, strengthening community and family bonds
in relation to old homelands, was undertaken by drawing on homeland experience but
was nevertheless particularly needed in conditions of migrancy where such everyday
support and community networks no longer existed. This moreover was more important
still in settings where there was hostility to recent immigrants. The third theme, that of
seeking rest in view of heavy workloads and long working hours, can be seen to be even
more directly related to the conditions of discriminatory employment in the new
homeland, additionally exhausting as new languages and new conventions were being
learnt.
The reluctance of park management policies to recognize ideals of
‘wilderness’ park use - AS cultural rather than universal - have no doubt shaped the
interactions between park managers and Arabic Australian visitors. However the key
impact from local circumstances, inflecting all four types of positive experiences, has
been the rising hostility to the presence of Muslims in iconic public natural places like
national parks and ocean beach parks. Experiences in open, natural places have been
made more stressful and more challenging due to the increase in antagonism directed
specifically towards Muslim immigrants but applied far more broadly to all people ‘of
Arabic appearance’, regardless of their religion or place of origin, since the 9/11 attacks.
Arabic immigrants’ knowledge and practices could strengthen emotional
and collective attachment to place, increase the commitment to the conservation of
species and resources and ensure a greater community responsibility for environments.
Understanding this rich body of belief and knowledge – as well as recognizing the
commitment of recent immigrants to becoming engaged with their new places – could
lead to far more effective parkland and environmental management.
However, this will require Anglo Australians, who remain the dominant
group in numbers and cultures within both government park services and civil society
environmental movements, to stand back from their habits of claiming places to
symbolize the national. It is perhaps because this claim is already under challenge from
Indigenous Australians that Anglo Australians have needed to be so strident about it.
For Arabic Australians, the natural spaces of the city reflect the universal
presence of God, rather than being symbolic of any exclusionary national or ethnic
ownership. Drawing directly from the religious and cultural knowledges they brought in
both Islam and Mandaeanism, they saw these places of nature as being spaces to which
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they had a right, as humans, which transcended the ‘national’ rights of citizenship. This
challenge to the claim that iconic species and environments embody the nation – a
strong cultural component of the period when Australian Federation occurred in 1901 –
will ultimately be a creative broadening of the ways in which people can understand
their environments. This will, however, require a degree of active communication on all
sides to recognise and engage with the environmental knowledges which immigrants
bring.
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Roessler Vs. Bird Hunters: “Passarinhada” and Ethnic
Conflicts in the South of Brazil
Elenita Malta Pereira and Regina Weber
Elenita Malta Pereira is a Historian with a Master’s degree in History from the Federal
University of Rio Grande do Sul. Currently a History doctorate student also at UFRGS. Has
experience in the areas of Historical Biography and Environmental History, with a focus on
practices, ideas, ethnic issues, politics, and the construction of memories concerning the acts of
subjects for the protection of nature in Rio Grande do Sul and in Brazil. Member of the
Working Group on the History of Ideas of Anpuh/RS, associated with the National History
Association - Rio Grande do Sul Center.
Regina Weber is a Historian with a Master’s degree from UNICAMP and a PhD in Social
Anthropology from the National Museum at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Currently
she is a professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, in the History Department and
in the Graduate History Program. She has research experience in the themes of ethnic identity,
working culture, immigration, migrations, and oral history. She coordinates the Working Group
on Ethnic Studies associated with the National History Association - Rio Grande do Sul.
Abstract: Southern Brazil is a region characterized by an inter-ethnic framework which
originates from, among other factors, the European immigrants who colonized the area
from the nineteenth century on. Henrique Luiz Roessler, a tax agent for hunting and
fishing as well as a descendant of German immigrants, started repressing the
“passarinhada”, a name used either for the hunting of wild birds or a gastronomic ritual.
Roessler was sued by the hunters and became the target of a defamatory campaign by
Italian immigrants and their descendants, who were the main practitioners of bird
hunting. The conflict between the agent and the fowlers led to the formulation of
negative images of both sides, setting up an inter-ethnic “war of representations”.
Key Words: hunting supervision; Henrique Luiz Roessler; bird hunting; war of
representations; nature and migration.
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Introduction1
The conflict that shall be analyzed in terms of both daily practices and mental
elaborations at first glance seems to be a quite localized episode in the countryside cities
of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the far south of Brazil. However, it is best
understood when framed in the broader context which allowed the meeting of characters
whose interests and world views had come into conflict. In this context we highlight the
colonization of America by successive waves of immigrants and the incipient process of
the Brazilian government in regulating a realm of policy that today we call
“environmental”.
Contemporary Rio Grande do Sul is a multi-ethnic society, a result of different
historical processes that occurred in distinct temporal patterns. From the sixteenth
century on, the native populations began to live with settlers from the Iberian countries,
and later with the growing populations from Africa. The well known mass immigration
of Europeans to America in the nineteenth century led to the colonization of the three
southern states of Brazil by a population of small landholders, among which stood out
the Germans, Italians and Polish2, who, through the so-called "colonies”, contributed
their agriculture to the regional economies. These formed clusters and the cities they
generated continued to receive waves of immigrants in later times since, as we know,
immigration works by a process of “networks” (Ramella, 1995).
Southern Brazil received its first waves of German immigrants in 1824 (São
Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul) and 1829 (São Pedro de Alcântara, Santa Catarina). They
founded the original nuclei of occupation in lands with irregular topography, which
were covered in swamps and unusable for extensive cattle raising. Deforestation was the
main form of colonization, coupled with the rudimentary technique of burning, which
was already practiced by indigenous people with low environmental impact (Dean,
1997). Since the German occupation was successful, the authorities increased the supply
of land to the Italian as well as Polish immigrants who arrived in the 1870s. These
groups were a part of the large waves of Europeans who came to America in the late
1
This article contains partial results of Elenita Malta Pereira's Master's thesis entitled "Um protetor da
Natureza: Trajetória e Memória de Henrique Luiz Roessler", a historical biography of Roessler from the
perspective of environmental history, defended at the Graduate Program in History at UFRGS in 2011,
supervised by Dr. Regina Weber. Files accessed: Henrique Luiz Roessler's Private Files (APHLR);
Museum of Media Hipólito José da Costa (MCSHJC).
2
The original identification of these groups was very diverse and depended on regional origins, but as is
known, immigrant populations in the host society are usually identified in a simplified way (Poutignat,
Streiff-Fenart, 1998: 144). In southern Brazil, this process generated a representation that confines
immigration to three groups whose descendants would be positively considered "pure" (Weber, 2002).
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nineteenth century motivated by, among other factors, better forms of transportation and
communication (Klein, 2000). The northern and southern regions of Rio Grande do Sul
are characterized by distinct biomes (Atlantic Forest and Pampa, respectively), and
have acquired different social profiles. While the southern region, known as the Pampa,
had been occupied by large cattle ranchers in previous centuries, immigrants were
allocated to the northern part of the state. In this area the plains were occupied by the
Germans, who arrived first. The Italians, on the other hand, occupied an area of
mountains which was difficult to access and located at an altitude of more than 300
meters, which housed an extensive Araucaria forest as well as numerous species of wild
birds.
Some historians began to study the impact of this immigration on the
environment using the theoretical perspective of environmental history. Environmental
history emerged in the United States in the 1970s, amid the boom of environmental
movements and conferences on the global crisis sponsored by the UN, and it generally
involves “the role and place of nature in human life” (Worster, 1991:201). In this field
of study, relationships between human beings and nature are understood to be a twoway street: humans alter the natural elements as much as natural elements transform
humans. The largest effort of this approach is the attempt to place society in nature, the
latter being considered a conditioning agent or a modifier of culture (Drummond, 1991).
According to Armiero (2010: 4), “Linda Nash introduces a different perspective on the
environmental history of mass migration”, considering that “not only have humans
mixed their labor with nature to create hybrid landscapes; nature – already a mixture of
human and nonhuman elements – has intermixed with human bodies, without anyone’s
consent or control, and often without anyone’s knowledge” (Nash, 2006: 209). In this
way, “migrants themselves have been nature on the move. Their bodies have interacted
with the new environment which was not simply raw material for the making of their
dreams” (Armiero, 2010: 4).
Illegal hunting and the confrontations between hunters and agents are both
themes addressed in the works of Louis Warren and Karl Jacoby, two historians who
study North American environmental history. In The Hunter’s Game: Poachers and
Conservationists in Twentieth-Century America, Warren (1997) addresses illegal
hunting in the states of Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and Montana. In Pennsylvania, the
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conflict occurred between the hunters hailing from Italian ethnic groups3 (the poachers)
and the wildlife officers, and it became bloody when Seely Houk, a rigorous officer,
was assassinated. The author perceives that those confrontations “were nothing less than
struggles over the place of human society in the natural world” (Warren, 1997: 14). The
motives for that friction were complex and ranged from simple greed to cultural
practices, including resistance to laws and the government’s transformation of hunting
areas into natural parks, changing radically property rights and hunter’s rights, among
other things. As in southern Brazil, the Italians hunted birds in the United States, and
because of this, “they were considered a principal threat to bird life and therefore an
incipient cause of this potential apocalypse” (Warren, 1997).
In Crimes against Nature: Squatters, Poachers, Thieves, and the Hidden History
of American Conservation, Jacoby integrates social history and environmental history
while he analyzes the conflicts arising from the creation of three areas of conservation
in the United States, Yellowstone National Park (the first natural park in the world), the
Adirondack Park, and the Grand Canyon. In these three cases, the changes and laws
adopted for conservation transformed “previously acceptable practices into illegal acts:
hunting or fishing redefined as poaching, foraging as trespassing, the setting of fires as
arson, and the cutting of trees as timber theft” (Jacoby, 2001: 2). The acts of rural
populations and indigenous peoples who lived in the areas became illegal, and classified
by conservationists as malicious and outdated. As he explores the folkloric traditions of
these groups, “from the bottom up”, Jacoby makes use of the concept of “moral
ecology” as a “counterpoint to the elite discourse about conservation” (Jacoby, 2001:3).
At the beginning of the conservation movement, the role of the state was to standardize
and simplify “what had been a dense thicket of particularistic, local approaches toward
the natural world" (Jacoby, 2001: 197-198).
As she analyzes the burden of German and Italian occupation on Rio Grande do
Sul, Bublitz (2010) proposes a revision (from the standpoint of environmental history)
of the historiography produced in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries on European
settlements in the state. Several previous studies have shied away from this analysis and
preferred to approach the colonization pattern, associated with rural property, poly3
According to Giralda Seyferth (1986: 530-532), “the definition of an ethnic group must contain two
important aspects: it is a group whose members have an attributed distinctive identity, and its
distinctiveness as a group is almost always based on a culture, an origin and a common history (...). The
main criterion for the definition of ethnic group in more recent studies is the ethnic identity, based on the
notion of ethnicity (which emphasizes the positive aspects of belonging to an ethnic group)”.
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culture, predominantly free manpower and progress (Roche, 1969; Manfroi, 1975;
Lagemann, 1980). According to Bublitz (2010: 71), “the victory over the chaos of the
forest was celebrated by the immigrants. The cutting and burning was fully justified not
only for economic purposes or to ensure survival, but due to the religious orientation of
the settlers, who were destined to 'tame' and transform nature”. This exploratory urge,
justified as necessary for the region to become “civilized”, had a number of effects on
the environment: hunting, logging, cattle raising, farming and human settlements
“caused changes in the ecosystem, affecting the local fauna and flora” (Bublitz, 2010:
88).
Along the same line of critical thought, Gerhardt (2009) examines the
colonization in the city of Ijuí, also in Rio Grande do Sul, a process that led to major
changes in forest areas of the northern region of the state. From 1890 on, various ethnic
groups occupied the site, predominantly German, Italian, Austrian, Latvian and Polish,
knocking down an extensive portion of Atlantic Forest, which was perceived
ambiguously: it was a threat and a nuisance, but at the same time it was the source of
useful materials. According to Gerhardt (2009: 86), the immigrants were proud of
performing human labor, as they were, “able to explore, to overthrow, able to control or
civilize nature, to move the boundary between civilization and the wild”.
Along with the waves of immigrants who occupied rural lots, many Germans
occupied urban areas, as was the case of the family of Henrique Luiz Roessler (18961963), who settled in São Leopoldo. Beginning in 1939, Roessler held the position of
Forest Deputy and agent for Hunting and Fishing. Both jobs were linked to the Ministry
of Agriculture, the agency that at the time was in charge of what we would call today
“environmental protection”. Supervising hunting and fishing, especially bird hunting,
became one of the most difficult tasks for Roessler. The problems faced by Roessler
should be associated with the relatively embryonic stage of the Brazilian bureaucratic
structure.4 The publication of the first Forest Code and the creation of the Forest Service
by the Ministry of Agriculture5 led to the creation of a Forest Police, made up of agents
and deputies. These men were tasked with monitoring forests and applying the law. The
position of Forest Deputy was incorporated into this police force and, in the case of
4
In 1930, the "New Republic" (“República Nova”), or “Vargas Era” was implemented in Brazil – a
period in which the government of President Getúlio Vargas sought to modernize the country. An
important set of laws and administrative agencies began operating from that period on.
5
BRAZIL, Decree No. 23793 of 01/23/1934; BRAZIL, Decree-Law No. 982 of 12/23/1938.
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Roessler and his colleagues, was not paid – which reveals an incipient level of
institutionalization in this realm of state activity in Brazil.
The regions that received Italian ethnic groups in Rio Grande do Sul used to be
the backdrop of clashes and even duels between Roessler and wild bird hunters, since
immigrants in Brazil continued with their hunting habits. Once they settled in the
northeastern region of the state, before they could harvest the production of their crops,
they had to eat what the environment provided them with. Besides fruits and vegetables,
the abundance of various animal species – including birds – made hunting a custom
passed down to the following generations. Over time this led to a serious environmental
problem, according to Roessler's complaint. Polenta, a traditional element of Italian
cuisine6, would be accompanied by birds, allowing the advent of the passarinhada, a
dish also known as osei, polenta e toccio: bird, polenta and sauce.
From Roessler's point of view, bird hunting was the main problem of legal
supervision.7 From a conception of Jewish-Christian nature, he would not tolerate that
birds, in divine creation “the most beautiful ornaments of nature”, be slaughtered for
culinary purposes. Roessler wrote in his texts8 that the fowler, also called
“passarinheiro” was “a black-souled pervert, with an accursed blood inheritance, a
disciple of the devil or a madman” (Roessler, 2005: 106). Killing birds, as well as
bringing harm to agriculture, was a “great sin against God” (Roessler, Correio do Povo,
08/01/1958). In turn, “passarinheiros” hated him. He was the authority responsible for
overseeing them, and he was strict, pursuing “defenseless settlers”, “invading their
homes” to seize weapons. Roessler's work disturbed the pleasure of hunting and also the
delicious passarinhadas. His German descent along with the fact that he did not make
exceptions for hunters led the settlers to associate him with Nazism. A major
mobilization against Roessler started to take shape among the inhabitants of the cities
where he worked. They employed various strategies to resist his strict supervision in
order to continue with their hunting activities.
6
Typical food of the cuisine of ethnic groups Italians, prepared with corn flour.
ROESSLER, H. (03/15/1954). Telegram to the Service of Hunting and Fishing of Porto Alegre
(APHLR).
8
From February 1957 on, Roessler became a columnist for the newspaper Correio do Povo, one of the
leading newspapers in Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul. In this paper, he published about
300 articles on the state's environmental problems at the time, proposing solutions, denouncing
irregularities and publicizing the urgent need to protect nature. Ninety-five of these articles were selected
and organized into a book (Roessler, 2005).
7
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The hunting and the Passarinhada
In Senhores e Caçadores [Whigs and Hunters], Edward Thompson (1997)
addresses the influence of the so-called “Black Act”
9
on English society in the 18th
century. This law considered hunting, wounding, stealing fawn or deer, clandestine
rabbit and hare hunting, and unauthorized fishing to be crimes. Regular handling of
forest goods was important to guaranteeing property rights and royal privileges. For
example, among the English forests, the one in Windsor had the specific function of
“proportioning to the King a distraction from the preoccupations of the state”
(Thompson, 1997: 32). To keep a stock of game at his disposition, the nobles used to
construct parks contiguous to their homesteads, generally in woods and forests, fencing
in the location with high brick walls and a team of guards, which didn’t always impede
conflicts with the peasants who invaded the areas in order to hunt.
In Brazil, the hunting of various animals was practiced by the indigenous
peoples and Portuguese colonizers. According to Ihering (1953), in the 19th and
beginning of the 20th centuries, the tapir, boar, capybara, various species of deer,
jaguars, whales, etc; birds, doves, partridges, guans, and lapwings were among the
preferred animals to hunt. The lapwings were hated, “by the hunters, as they may have
had a pact with the game to quickly announce the approach of any person, screaming
without stopping: quero-quero, quero-quero, which is enough for the game to be at the
very least forewarned” (Ihering, 1953: 77). Moreover, various species of birds were
hunted, like the ones Roessler surprised in his diligent supervisions (thrushes, sparrows,
etc).
The passarinhada issue, which led to a passionate defense of the thrush, a
common local bird10, was indeed one of the biggest environmental problems faced by
Roessler. According to De Boni and Costa (1979: 179), hunting was an Italian custom
“that rose from the need for food and was encouraged by the abundance of birds”. For
the authors, it is not possible to talk about hunting without mentioning the
passarinhadas,
which were a considerable sociological reason for parties, and motivated community
solidarity. On a specific day during the hunting season a group of hunting friends would
9
The Black Act was decreed in 1723 in England for the punishment of hunters who used weapons and
disguises to lure game. It was difficult to “furtively catch a deer, pheasant, hare, or salmon, and disguise
was the primary protection of the clandestine hunter. The ‘blackening’ (...) refers to the hunting of deer
with ‘painted face’ masks or in disguise.” (Thompson, 1997: 68).
10
Among other species of thrushes, the most common in Rio Grande do Sul are the sabiá-laranjeira
(Rufous-bellied Thrush) (Turdus rufiventris) and the sabiá-do-campo (Chalk-browed Mockingbird)
(Mimus saturninus) (Sick, 1997).
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meet, divide up the hunting grounds, and leave early with special whistles to call the
birds. They hunted until noon and, in the afternoon, they cleaned the game. The next
day, they arranged the preparation of the birds (the passarinhada) at the home of a
friend. Then several families met, other foods were also served, and everyone had an
excuse to have one more glass of wine (De Boni, Costa, 1979: 170).
To prepare the dish, the larger birds (pigeons, nhambus, aramides) were
separated from the smaller birds (thrushes, rufous-collared sparrows). The latter
required special preparation; after the removal of their entrails, they were seasoned with
bacon and sage leaves, and cooked whole or halved. It was important that they be wellroasted so the bones could be eaten as well. Among the techniques and weapons used
for hunting birds, De Boni and Costa mention the traps to catch them; the slingshot11,
used in clandestine hunting in times of prohibition, because they were not noticed by the
inspectors; and the most diverse types of shotguns, used in the legal periods for hunting.
Breeding seasons were not always observed, however. Hunters ventured out with
shotguns even on those days.
It is important to note that the term passarinhada was used by Roessler to name
either the act of hunting or the dish and the festivities that often accompanied it. Rosana
Peccini (2008:3) observes that “the passarinhadas were festive because they gathered
friends and neighbors of the community around the food (...), full of stories, tales and
feats, making true odysseys”. The hunting, preparation and sharing of the passarinhada
were important cultural elements for Italian immigrants. It became so strong a tradition
that it only declined in the late 1960s, when stricter laws were published, like the new
Hunting Code12. However, an interesting cultural exchange in the culinary field offset
the loss of the passarinhada. For example, the advent of the galeto al primo canto13,
that according to Ruben Oliven (2006: 202) was “invented by the Italian settlers who
migrated to Brazil; it does not exist in Italy, it is a characteristic dish of Rio Grande do
Sul”. The Italian hunting was not confined to birds, however. To say that the galeto
originated from the passarinhadas is a reduction, or half-truth. It is more correct “to say
that the settlers prepared their roasts, the game (and among them were the birds),
sticking pieces of meat interspersed with bacon and sage. The meats were varied and
11
The slingshot (bodoque), also called sling, was used by Indians and Europeans. The Charrúa and
Minuane Indians used it as a war weapon (Teschauer, 2002: 59), as well as the “old Portuguese” (Bluteau,
1712-28: 230).
12
BRAZIL, Law No. 5197, 01/03/1967.
13
Galeto al primo canto is an expression in Italian which means a bird in its first song, meaning it is
slaughtered while it is still quite young, about 25 days old. “It is a term used to identify the chicken
weighing 550 grams, clean” (Peccini, 2008).
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could be that of birds, goats, rabbits or partridges”. What happened was some sort of
exchange; the galeto has come to represent “birds, partridges, goats, or even common
teals, among others” (Peccini, 2010:120-121).
Thus, this historiography of Italian immigration in the South of the country
points to the fact that the passarinhada was a cultural practice present since the first
waves of Italian immigrants arrived in Rio Grande do Sul during the large immigrations
at the end of the 19th century, and it became a very appreciated part of their diet. With
time, as the custom was transmitted to the following generations, it caused an
environmental impact on the region, with a significant decrease in the populations of the
hunted species14. However, there isn’t enough research to affirm that the passarinhada
was a specific tradition of the Italians, as other ethnic groups also killed and ate birds
(like indigenous peoples, Portuguese, and even Germans). It was a dish that was
sporadically a part of their diet, generally on the weekends, because the days off were
necessary for performing the hunt and the preparation, as well as the tricks to escape
supervision.
If the event of the passarinhada eventually took on the features of an ethnic
conflict, it cannot fundamentally be interpreted from this aspect. The events that we will
follow below, which happened in the South of Brazil in the mid-20th century, refer us to
the punishment processes for popular practices as described by Warren (1997) and
Jacoby (2001) for the case of the United States at the end of the 19th century, as well as
by E.P. Thompson (1997), and Peter Linebaugh (1983) for 18th century England. In
more rural English areas, the populations saw old hunting, fishing and plant collection
customs become criminalized because they affected the hunting privileges of the nobles.
Also, in various artisanal trades in urban areas, the customary rights to the appropriation
of a portion of the work (raw material or products) came to be repressed during the
transition to the market economy that established the monetization of work relations
(Linebaugh, 1983: 118-134). The English circumstances at the end of the 18th century,
those of the United States at the end of the 19th century, and in Brazil in the first half of
the 20th century all have something in common. The growing presence of a legal and
state apparatus that encountered resistance among the populations it affected, even
though the focus of the normalizing action of the state was very different in the three
14
In his articles, Roessler reported large amounts of dead birds seized on his journeys of
inspection. Hundreds and even thousands of birds (thrushes, woodpeckers, sparrows, and other species)
were being caught each weekend in the cities of the Italian colonization. See more in Roessler (2005).
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contexts. This process of criminalization of popular practices, which is common in all
societies that modernize and urbanize, gains an “environmental” character in Brazil at
the beginning of the 20th century, something that had been nonexistent in earlier
centuries. In the 1930s, during the government of Getúlio Vargas, various laws and
protectionist codes are published just as bodies are created to supervise and protect the
natural elements of Brazil15.
The smear campaign and the lawsuit
In exercising his function, Roessler was involved in violent episodes in the
regions that practiced the passarinhada. For the rigidity with which he applied the rules
of hunting, he was prosecuted several times by hunters. One of these lawsuits came
from the supervision led by him on March 28, 1954, outside Caxias do Sul. It
occasioned significant repercussions in the state, leading to rather aggressive
manifestations of resistance by descendants of Italian immigrants. Hunters Rico Zanesi
and João Boldo filed complaints against Roessler the following day because when they
were hunting in the rural municipality of Caxias do Sul, the most important region of
the Italian colonization, they were beaten “with rubber” by him. The hunters declared
that the agent ordered them to kneel and hit them with a baton, striking one blow for
every bird they killed16.
Along with Boldo and Zanesi, members of the Toigo family, who were
neighbors of the two hunters, testified against Roessler. Ângela Toigo stated that
additionally, on March 28 in the morning, she was in front of her house when her
husband, Vitório Toigo passed by “running, chased by men with guns in their hands”.
The pursuers shot at Vitório two times, who did not enter the house, but went to the
nearby bushes. Ângela also said that her daughter “passed out from fright” due to the
shots. Then, a green jeep reached the locale and out came a tall, fat man, “who said to
be the Regional Deputy for Fishing and Hunting, and asked the declarant to hand over
the shotgun she had in the house”. At first, she did not want to give it up, but after half
an hour of discussion she ended up handing the weapon to Roessler17. Vitório Toigo’s
version was that he was in his basement when he heard “a gunshot coming from the
15
Within the legislation, the first Brazilian Forest Code (BRAZIL, Decree-Law 23.793) and the Hunting
and Fishing Code (BRAZIL, Decree-Law 23.672) are featured. See more in Drummond, 1998-1999.
16
Statements of João Boldo and Rico Zanesi. In: CAXIAS DO SUL POLICE STATION (3/30/1954).
Police Inquiry No. 73/54 (APHLR).
17
Ângela Toigo's Statement. In: CAXIAS DO SUL POLICE STATION, Caxias do Sul. Op. Cit.
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bushes, in his lands”. He then went to see what was happening when he saw a darkhaired man with glasses who, upon seeing him, “put his hand on the handle of the gun”.
Toigo “thought it was a criminal and, for that reason, he ran into the woods”, while the
man fired twice. He could not tell if the man was shooting up or in his direction. Toigo
stayed in the woods until noon, when he heard that the men who were on his property
were hunting supervisors and that the Regional Deputy for Fishing and Hunting had
taken away his shotgun18. In turn, Boldo and Zanesi were referred to medical
evaluations, which found injuries such as “spots, swelling and bruises”19 on both men.
Roessler denied the accusations, saying it was not true that he had assaulted the
hunters with a baton, “forcing them to kneel down and striking them for the number of
birds they had slaughtered”20. In his version, he was attacked by Rico and Zanesi; the
“baton blows” were a last resort of self-defense, not punishment. As to the complaints
of the Toigo family, Roessler said that “to stay on good terms with the declarant, João
Boldo denounced his neighbor and friend, who was also hunting, Vitório Toigo”. Since
he fled to the woods when he noticed the arrival of the inspection jeep, the supervisor
asked Ângela to convince him to surrender the gun and the hunted game. She went to
where Victor was hiding and came back with “a double-barreled shotgun, 28 gauge, and
a bag containing twelve birds”21. Then Roessler wrote a record of violation and seizure,
which was signed by two neighbors, since Toigo took shelter in the woods.
In addition to the complaint at the police station of Caxias do Sul, the hunters
contacted the press in the region. On April 2nd, the newspaper Diário do Nordeste
published on its front page in capital letters, the headline: “Wave of revolt and
indignation against the splenetic agent Roessler increased”; and under the heading:
“New details about the violence committed – cowardly attacks on ladies in the absence
of their husbands – Hundreds of telegrams are being sent to the Secretary of Agriculture
by associations, clubs and prominent figures – New victims” (Diário do Nordeste,
04/02/1954). A picture of two men beaten by Roessler, still showing the marks of this
violence on their bodies, accompanied by three other hunters, illustrated the story. The
text indicated that the journal took the hunters' side, initiating a violent campaign to
attack Roessler:
18
Vitório Toigo's Statement. In: CAXIAS DO SUL POLICE STATION, Caxias do Sul. Op. Cit.
Expert report on João Boldo and Rico Zanesi, In: CAXIAS DO SUL POLICE STATION, Caxias do
Sul. Op. Cit
20
Henrique Roessler's Statement. In: CAXIAS DO SUL POLICE STATION, Caxias do Sul. Op. Cit.
21
Henrique Roessler's Statement. In: CAXIAS DO SUL POLICE STATION, Caxias do Sul. Op. Cit.
19
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News of the robberies and acts of villainy perpetrated by Henrique Luiz Roessler, an
agent of the Service of Hunting and Fishing, in Ana Rech, 4th district of Caxias, and in
São Gotardo, a quiet village of Flores da Cunha, sent a wave of anger and indignation
through all the homes and social centers of Caxias do Sul. All the forces of the society
mobilized in a few hours in an unprecedented act of solidarity, in order to apply due
punishment to the violator of the law who will have to pay for his barbaric acts
perpetrated against children, women and men of the colony and on numerous homes
(Diário do Nordeste, 03/31/1954).
On April 11th, the newspaper Geração Nova, of Bento Gonçalves, a city near
Caxias do Sul populated by Italians, reported on its cover the “protests against Roessler
in the Congress”. In a speech at Congress, Congressman Achiles Mincarone read the
contents of a letter he sent to the Minister of Agriculture, stating that the incident “was a
true orgy, in which cowardice, shielded by the number who made up the caravan, stood
out in the boisterous agents of public authority” and asked
Your Excellency to appoint a trusted person to carry out thorough investigations in the
cities of Caxias do Sul, Bento Gonçalves, Flores da Cunha and Garibaldi, where in midMarch officials from the Service of Hunting and Fishing stationed in São Leopoldo
inflicted the most incredible arbitrary acts, including even the beating of defenseless
settlers, under the pretext of repressing hunting in that region. (…) I am certain of the
fulfillment of what I ask now, on behalf of the farmers in those municipalities (Geração
Nova, 04/11/1954).
In the same issue there was an article signed by the director in charge of the
newspaper, Paulo Mincarone, son of the Congressman above, with the explicit intention
to offend and provoke Roessler. We transcribe some passages from the “Open Letter to
the Cangaceiro”, which resort to images of threatening social characters such as
“cangaceiro”22 and “Nazi”:
The scoundrel to whom this article is addressed was in the Bento Gonçalves countryside
sometime in mid-March, performing some of his notorious cangaço journeys. This
time, he was accompanied by thugs, carrying out a series of savageries and mischief
against peaceful farmers that were typical of his snitch personality (...). He did not even
respect the universal principle of the inviolability of the home, which can only be
invaded with a warrant, and even then only during daylight. (...). The arbitrary acts were
so numerous and so varied that they are already known to all. Given the impact they
had, we will not specify any particular case. (…) the students who speak the least, but
do produce and thankfully still have some honor left, and have always been on the side
of those who work honestly, advise the following:
1st – Advise farmers to open fire on the aforementioned cangaceiro Roessler and his
notorious gang of bandits.
22
Those involved with the “cangaço”, a form of professionalization of violence that occurred in the
northeastern states of Brazil, in 1920-1930, in which gunmen (cangaceiros) were hired by prominent
landowners to kill their enemies. According to Jasmin (2006: 17), one of the hypotheses for the
legitimization of this kind of violence is “the lack of representation of the power of the state in the Sertão
[an arid desertic area in the countryside of Brazil's northeastern region], coupled with the predominance
of private power related to land possession”.
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2nd – During the Easter period, when we will all be in Bento Gonçalves, walk with a
loaded shotgun. Do this not in order to kill birds, but to vex the gang led by the bastard
Henrique Luiz Roessler. We already know that they will not accept the challenge, given
the natural cowardice they demonstrated when they beat up immobilized farmers who
had no possibilities of reaction before the guns of Gestapo agents commanded by the
Nazi Roessler (Geração Nova, 04/11/1954).
We can see how Roessler's work bothered the press of Caxias do Sul and Bento
Gonçalves. Roessler, who in his struggle for the protection of nature did not exempt
himself from conflict, was shaken by the extremely aggressive terms used, and by the
open threat of death. He filed criminal charges against Paulo Mincarone for publishing
the report transcribed above, considering it to be a “violent article, abusing and
slandering the plaintiff, to whom he attributes profanity and words that disgrace his
personal and professional dignity, untrue facts and acts, while furthermore advising and
recommending farmers to use their firearms against the signatory of this lawsuit. The
writer’s attitude is not only an outrage to journalistic ethics, it is the type of attitude that
demands enforcement so as not to go unpunished, as stated by the law. Mincarone is
one of the journalists that takes advantage of the freedom of the press, and does not
hesitate to gratuitously slander and abuse those who perform their duties and have a past
of integrity to look after”. (Roessler, Representation against Paulo Mincarone, no date).
Moreover, the “letter” summoned, on behalf of the city students – because the
newspaper was an organ of the Union of Students of Bento Gonçalves – the local
farmers to shoot the Forest Deputy. Both Achiles and Paulo’s discourses seem very well
articulated in the family newspaper which was probably created for electoral purposes,
because both would run for different political offices that year.
Another Bento Gonçalves' newspaper that also spoke out against Roessler was
Jornal do Povo. In the April 15, 1954 edition, a whole page addressed the subject, with
headlines like “Violence performed by Hunting and Fishing Agent Henrique Luiz
Roessler confirmed”, “Roessler beats people, breaks into homes and 'seizes' weapons”,
“Replacement of Deputy requested”, “Anger and indignation of the people of Caxias”
(Jornal do Povo, 04/15/1954). The report included the photograph of the hunters
assaulted by Roessler (showing small bruises) and, in addition to the metaphor of
cangaceiro it called him a gangster: “may Mr. Henrique Luiz Roessler do his job as an
agent within the strict determination of the law. May he fine, process, and seize the
weapons of offenders. But may he not want to become a cangaceiro of our forests. May
he not intend to create the reputation of a gangster in this region”. The local marshal
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94
allegedly told the newspaper that one of the victims, “held at gunpoint by a thug”,
reported in the investigation that they had been beaten as many times as the amount of
birds they had killed. In the article there were also ethnic provocations made towards
Roessler:
Certainly the abusive agent missed Nazism, the times of Dachau, the nights that he
gathered friends at home to delight in the transmission of the Berlin station, telling tall
tales of the sinking of Allied ships in several different seas. If we search his behavior
well, we may find other reasons for the procedures described above, other than the
zealous enforcement of hunting and fishing regulations. In the shameless letter he sent
to the City Council of Caxias do Sul, he revealed himself to be a vicious racist, with an
aversion to the men who make up the ethnic melting pot of our region. The police are
right to establish a corresponding lawsuit so that legal explanations may be provided to
the inadvertent victims of his arbitrary acts. This is not the only thing that must be done.
The substitution of this agent proves itself to be urgent, hopefully by someone that can
enforce the law while also knowing how to stay within its bounds. (Jornal do Povo,
04/15/1954).
Roessler is accused of being a racist and a Nazi, which according to the
newspaper would explain “the arbitrary acts and violence” committed by him. We
found no evidence that he had propagated “Nazi doctrine” in the city where he lived,
nor any written document that led to infer that Roessler was a “follower of Hitler”, even
considering that, “until 1938, when the first measures against Teutons and against the
activities of national-socialists in Brazil were taken, the Brazilian government had
demonstrated growing sympathy towards the National Socialist regime” (Gertz, 1987:
63), which changed from 1942 on, when Brazil broke ties with the Axis. If Roessler had
spoken in favor of Hitler, defending Nazism in the early 1930s, it would not have been
odd in that moment because Vargas – for whom Roessler had great admiration23 –
expressed enthusiasm for the Nazi and fascist regimes, and sought to be a leader like
Hitler and Mussolini in the Estado Novo regime, which he established in 1937. The
accusations of “being a Nazi” made against Roessler in the fifties can be attributed to
the context of international condemnation of Nazism. It gained strength with the defeat
of Germany and, in Rio Grande do Sul, it allowed the Italians to surpass the Germans in
terms of a positive image for their own group (Weber, 2004).
However, the harsh words did not come only from the Italian-Brazilians, since
Roessler also addressed them through hostile messages. The agent often referred to
23
Roessler admired Getúlio Vargas because in his administration in the 1930s, a series of laws and codes
to protect nature were published. The agent also empathized with Vargas' party, PTB.
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hunters as “gringos”24, “fowlers”, “maniacs”; and to the passarinhadas as a “great
shameless deed performed by these damned and phony people”25. In a letter to the
Director of the Hunting and Fishing Division, Roessler noted that “everyone knows the
nature of the Italian descendants, who insist on being against the law”26. In a report sent
to his boss, in which he narrated that he freed Boldo and Zanesi after imposing the
infraction notice, the agent proved to be sorry: “for the sake of camaraderie, I left them
at the doors of their homes. This act of weakness of mine was a big mistake. I was not
yet familiar with the soul of the gringo, in spite of having dealt with men of Italian
origin for 15 years”27. Also in his writings, Roessler did not spare the customs of these
immigrants: “We are convinced that none of the addicts would have missed such a rare
opportunity to make a fine passarinhada, even under the risk of supervision
intervention” (Roessler, 2005: 104); “the great multitude of fowlers, the terrible bird
killers, [hunt] by instinct, to satisfy unusual appetites” (Roessler, 2005: 105). In the
article “The Slaughterhouse of Bad Hunters”, Roessler explains that the hunters of
“small branch game” seek the forests of neighboring cities “to carry out their despicable
massacres of the poor little birds”, because “in the Italian Colony there is no more life in
Nature” (Roessler, 2005: 121). Contextualizing this fact – and we need to consider that
this was Roessler's war – he could not understand the appetite for birds, because he had
an idealized and religious view of nature.28
It is interesting to note the correspondence between the view that the Italians had
of Roessler – they manipulated his descent, accusing him of “being a Nazi” – with the
use of some expressions by Roessler that can be considered racist, addressed to the
Italians. At this point, the “two sides” competed in name-calling: to be accused of being
a “Nazi”, “a cangaceiro”, “a bastard”, “a vagabond”, “a crook” or “a fanatic bandit” was
parallel to being called “gringo”, “pervert”, “madman” or “a passarinheiro (fowler)”
who does not obey the laws. In reality, the hunters recognized themselves in a nonnegative way as “passarinheiros”, as is demonstrated by the fact that the sender of the
two anonymous letters to Roessler signed them as “the willing fowler (o passarinheiro
disposto)”. Just like Roessler, both the sender and the writers of the newspapers could
be called “racist”.
24
The more general meaning for gringo is “foreigner”; the use of this term by the Germans to refer to
Italians is due to the fact that the latter arrived later in the immigration process to Rio Grande do Sul.
25
ROESSLER, H. Letter to Marli Guinter. São Leopoldo, 08/31/1961 (APHLR).
26
ROESSLER, H. Letter to Ascanio Faria. São Leopoldo, 08/28/1954 (APHLR).
27
ROESSLER, H. Report sent to Carlos Costa Meira. São Leopoldo, no date (APHLR).
28
For a discussion of Roessler’s idea of nature and its link to religion, see Pereira (2011a).
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An aspect to be considered regarding the editorial policy of the aforementioned
newspapers is that they clearly had political and electoral goals, since these were the
media through which their owners could spread their ideas and political opinions for
electoral purposes. In other articles of the analyzed publications, the writers also used
harsh words to address political enemies. In Roessler’s case, newspapers run by
candidates for the city council and congress disseminated a negative image of Roessler
in order to get elected with the votes of passarinhada lovers, thus actively collaborating
in the fight against the agent.
Imaginaries built in the “war for representation”
Roessler received two anonymous letters, signed by the same sender, “the
Willing Fowler of Caxias do Sul”. The first, dated April 24, 1952, was addressed “to the
fanatic bandit Roessler and his pack of gangsters who claim to be hunting agents (...),
stupid and pretentious, trying to convince others that the bird is useful to agriculture”.
According to the hunter, the settlers knew “that birds are a plague, and therefore must
die (...)”. Using profanity like “vagabond crook, head of the bandits”, the author stated
that Roessler had no moral composure because he ran “like a lunatic through the fields,
creeping through the woods”, through “wetlands, climbing mountains, with a gun at his
waist and a baton in his hand, going after the fowlers to seize their weapons and write
infraction notices, chasing us out of sheer malice, only to spoil the pleasure of the poor
settlers who do nothing wrong” (The Willing Fowler, 04/24/1952).
Dated June 17, 1954, the second anonymous letter shows an even greater hatred
towards Roessler, in terms that exceeded the aggressiveness of the previous letter,
containing threats to the agent's life. It made clear that the motive of the quarrel, if not
completely political, at least implied the author’s support of the PTB, the Brazilian
Labour Party (Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro)29, to which belonged congressman
Mincarone, who had sent the Minister of Agriculture an indictment against Roessler:
“For the infamous Herr Roessler, persecutor of innocent foreigners:”
In 1952, shortly after I wrote you a letter, God answered our prayers, curses and
promises by tossing you in the river, which resulted in sawing off your leg. We thought
we would be free of your infernal persecution forever. We happily celebrated your
doom with fireworks and great passarinhadas. In every Italian colony there were feasts
and joy, because you had received a fair and deserved punishment, and no longer would
you trouble anyone. But we were wrong. You returned with an artificial leg to continue
embittering our lives, in a worse way than before, because you developed an inferiority
complex and still want to be a bully. Now in view of your latest bandit deeds, we have
29
Party created by President Getúlio Vargas that had strong popular support.
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decided to declare your death sentence, because we cannot wait for another divine
punishment, nor do we trust in the Justice of men. You do not yet know the vengeful
soul of the gringos, especially the Calabrians and Tyroleans, who have now put you into
a criminal lawsuit (...). The order is shoot you in the face to blind you and then to kill
you with rifle butts (...). When Pasqualini takes over this damned rotten government, his
first act will be to allow the passarinhadas and bird hunting, extinguishing this crappy
Service of Hunting and Fishing (...). All good men of Caxias and the neighboring cities
who have been hit so hard in their favorite sport, which is the killing of birds, will show
what the vote of a free people is worth. A people that are conscious of their rights and
that will show how to kill mockingbirds at will, because mockingbirds are only good to
us when fried and accompanied by polenta and good wine. However, you will not live
to see this, because by then you will already be buried. Your coffin is ready to take you
back home. Never again will you enter into our woods to play the cangaceiro. Then
there will be great joy in the Italian colony again (The Willing Fowler, 06/17/1954).
In 1952 Roessler had an accident in which he lost his right leg. This kept him
away from supervision for almost one year. He began using an artificial leg. This was
celebrated by the hunters as a great victory. The “Willing Fowler” revealed his support
for the PTB when he mentioned that Pasqualini (the party’s state government candidate)
would take over the government – which did not occur, because Pasqualini lost the
election. On the other hand, Roessler had sought, through a letter sent in June 1954,
help from the Congressman Wolfram Metzler30, an integralist accused of being a Nazi31
who was arrested during the Second World War. Since Metzler spoke in Roessler's
favor, he brought another reason for the Deputy to be associated with Nazism, as we
saw in the newspapers' stories.
In addition to political connotations, we can see interesting ethnic significance in
the letter. The writer used the exogenous designation of “fowler (passarinheiro)” in a
non-negative way, suggesting that there was ”a solidarity among the persons thus
named, perhaps because as a result of this common designation, they were collectively
given a specific treatment” (Poutignat, Streiff-Fenart, 1998: 145). The writer of the
letter reveals ties to different representations, which can effectively express themselves
together in the same individual or social group: a) identities of regional origin
(Calabrian and Tyrolean), for which the demonstration of courage is a way of “ethnic
honor” (Weber, 1994: 272), which is understandable for farmers who emigrated before
30
Wolfram Metzler was a founding member of the integralist movement in Rio Grande do Sul, who later
joined the Party of Popular Representation (Partido de Representação Popular) – PRP (Tonini, 2003: 5253). Integralism was a political movement that emerged in Brazil in the thirties, inspired by European
integralist movements, characterized by its association with religious morality and nationalism. It was
banned in 1938 and, with the return of democracy in Brazil in 1945, many of its supporters joined the
PRP.
31
Nazism, Germanism and Integralism, different phenomena, were treated as something homogeneous in
the Estado Novo period (Gertz, 1991).
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the Italian unification; b) the favoring in the host society of a broader identity (“Italian
colony”), allowing a joint action of these emigrants; c) the link to values of citizenship,
present in national and democratic societies (voting, rights, “free people”),
notwithstanding the preference shown in the text for more archaic methods of justice.
Coming out as a “fowler”, along with the title “willing”, transformed the
negative connotation into a positive one. It can also be seen as another form of
resistance to hunting supervision, which Roessler represented. He was the agent who
had troubled the hunters the most and therefore, he became the target of a great deal of
collective hatred. In this case, the “willingness” explicitly showed resistance: the
fowlers were willing to continue hunting (not accepting the prohibitions) as well as
fighting against the agent, which was expressed in the frequent death threats to him. All
the attacks against Roessler show, in fact, that he was not seen as a government agent.
Criticism of the laws prohibiting hunting was rarely shown, and these laws would
obviously not seem fair to the Italian group even if they were implemented by another
agent who acted differently and who was of a different ethnic origin than Roessler. This
frame of history seems to indicate a weakness of government apparatus32, that the agent
sought to compensate with a strong stand, causing those affected by the – still
incomplete – Brazilian standards of protection of nature to direct their resistance at him.
Final Considerations
The rivalry between Roessler and the Italians can be interpreted as a localized
version of a sort of a “war for representation”33 among the Italian and German ethnic
groups formed by immigrant communities in Rio Grande do Sul. Several historians
have written on the rivalry between Germans and Italians (Piccolo, 1990; Gertz, 1996;
Giron, 2008). Summarizing their arguments, we can list differences in religion,
language, business and population competition, and the Italians’ difficulty with
integration as the main causes of this rivalry. In the specific case of the hunting agent
Roessler and the hunters of Italian descent, the reason for the conflict was the
passarinhada, that is, the different ways of seeing and using nature.
In the dispute between Roessler and the passarinheiros, there was also an appeal
to ethnic stereotypes. The two “sides”, in using negative images to refer to their rival,
32
Roessler and other state forest deputies did not even receive a salary. He often complained of lack of
funds or even a vehicle to carry out inspection trips.
33
Concept developed by Bourdieu (2007) and resumed by Chartier (2002).
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built representations – which can be as concrete as the “reality” or even come to
constitute reality itself – with the intention to devalue the “other”. In this “war of
representations, in the sense of mental images and also social manifestations meant to
manipulate mental images” (Bourdieu, 2007: 113), it does not matter if the
representations are true, but it does matter if they influence the construction of an
imaginary for the groups34. The agent not only reaffirmed the image of the descendants
of Italian immigrants as “gringos”, he also used the representations of “perverts”,
“violent”, “madmen”, “cursed inheritance”, “inherent vice”, “passarinheiros”, “terrible
bird killers”, “bad Brazilians”, “mad and phony people”, “mentally unbalanced”, and
“murderers”, among others. To Roessler, the taste for passarinhadas was a genetic
defect inherited from the ancestors of Italian origin; the generations of descendants born
in Brazil, who because of this “accursed inheritance” were “bad Brazilians” since they
had not managed to get rid of the addiction.
On the part of the “Italians” there was built an image of Roessler as a violent and
cowardly person when they named him a “cangaceiro”, a “beater of defenseless
settlers”, “seizer of weapons without a warrant”, “scoundrel”, “bastard”, “bandit”, who
went to the cities of the Italian colonization to practice “savage acts”, “barbaric acts
against women and children”, “mischief” with his “gang of robbers”, in an “abuse of
authority”. Furthermore, this imaginary was linked to the representation of Roessler as a
Nazi, as we saw in the use of stigma related to Nazism, such as “fifth column”, “pig”,
“Gestapo agent”, “agent who missed Dachau”, “racist”, “follower of Hitler”, “monster”,
“Herr Roessler”.35 The memory of the Second World War that had ended only nine
years before was certainly still very strong, and the defeat of Hitler and the Germans
along with the condemnation of Nazism favored such negative representations. Many
German descendants were accused of being Nazis; however in Roessler's case, not only
was he of German ethnic origin, he was the government agent that repressed a custom
that was important to the Italian groups. Associating him with violence and Nazism was
a form of resistance that these groups found in the attempt to continue practicing the
passarinhadas. The hunters' manifestations, in the media and in the statements that
34
To Patlagean (1993 [1978]: 300), it is on the “problem of the relationship between social reality and the
representational system” that the history of the imaginary must be built.
35
According to Rambo (1994: 49), “discriminatory practices in relation to German and other nonLusitanian origins became routine in the period between the years 1938 and 1945. These practices found
fertile ground on a series of stereotypes that mostly Germans suffered: 'alemão batata' ('potato German'),
'fifth column', 'Nazi' and more. Racism against black people in North America and South Africa was
condemned, but it was not clear that there was also discrimination here against Germans, Italians and
Japanese”.
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started the court fight, could be interpreted as acts of resistance against Roessler's
supervision; they reacted to the criminalization of a cultural custom inherited from their
ancestors.
In a similar fashion to what happened in England during the 18th century and in
the United States in the 19th century (at the birth of the conservationist movement,
when traditional customs became crimes), in Rio Grande do Sul, the practice of the
passarinhada was “framed” in a negative way. In our case study, there occurred a
confrontation between two opposing visions about nature: the vision of the Italian
hunters, to whom the passarinhada was something normal and not a reprehensible
practice, and the vision of supervisor Roessler, to whom the passarinhada was illegal
and a threat to nature, a conception based on the environmental legislation published in
Brazil from the 1930s on, and supported by conservationist ideals.
At the end of these both symbolic and material clashes the two sides suffered
defeats and accumulated victories. Paulo Mincarone was elected as a State
Representative for PTB for the period of 1955-59. By virtue of an article of the Statute
of the Government Employee (Title I, Article 4), that did not allow the performance of
unpaid duties (Brazil, Law 1711, 10/28/1952), Roessler was removed from the positions
of Forest Deputy and Agent for Hunting and Fishing in December 1954, which should
have been much celebrated by passarinheiros. However, in early 1955, he founded the
first entity of environmental protection in the state, the Union for the Protection of
Nature (União Protetora da Natureza, UPN), and in the same year he got a new
credential with the State Department of Agriculture to continue monitoring hunting and
fishing. Through UPN, he undertook an extensive education campaign on the protection
of all natural resources of Rio Grande do Sul, especially the birds; with his new
credential, he continued to hamper the leisure of hunters and the pleasures of the
passarinhadas.
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Climate Change and Emigration: Comparing “Sinking
Islands” and Jamaica
Andrea C. S. Berringer
Andrea C. S. Berringer is a Ph.D. candidate at Louisiana State University and will be awarded
her doctorate in the spring of 2012. She acquired her Master of Arts degree in Political Science
at Louisiana State University in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Theory and
Constitutional Democracy from James Madison College at Michigan State University in 2002.
There, she also studied Post-Colonial Democratic Development of the Anglophone Caribbean in
Barbados, Trinidad, and Guyana. Additionally, she is a graduate of the United Nations
University Environment and Human Security (UNU EHS) Summer Academy in the summer of
2010 and Oxford University’s Summer School on Forced Migration in the summer of 2009.
Prior to graduate school, she served as the finance director for three congressional campaigns in
Michigan, New York, and Florida as well as for the Pennsylvania State House caucus.
Abstract: The image of “sinking islands” has become a popular way to initiate academic
and policy discussions about the displacement of populations because of climate
change. This unofficial grouping usually includes islands in the South Pacific and
Indian Ocean such as Tuvalu, Kiribati and Maldives. While the images this grouping
conjures are dramatic, islands which are not imminently sinking will face some of the
same displacement scenarios. Sinking and non-sinking island will go through similar
stages of degradation due to sea level rise, and coastal areas of high islands may also
become uninhabitable. This paper considers broad sea-level rise susceptibilities for all
island nations, comparing the “sinking islands” to Jamaica. Understanding the common
factors for all islands is necessary in order to provide adequate strategies for migration
or adaptation. Islands pose a unique geo-territorial challenge for climate change
adaptation; however an island does not need to be “sinking” to necessitate out
migration.
Key Words: Jamaica; island; migration; sea level rise; sinking islands.
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Introduction
Island nations have a propensity for climate change displacement unlike many
other places. With limited land area and natural resources, their fragile environments
offer less in terms of adaptation than other larger landmasses. One aspect of adaptation
is out migration which is seen as a necessity of those inhabiting some of the small lowlying islands also known as the “sinking islands”. The islands most often described in
this grouping are Tuvalu, Kiribati, and Maldives. Research on this group describes them
in highly dramatic terms with a focus on literal submersion beneath the sea. While the
idea of “sinking” is attention grabbing, there are many concerns to attend to well before
anyone is ankle deep in water. The focus on “sinking” not only detracts from more
immediate anxieties, but suggests that habitation is possible until this point. Because
this is not the case, beginning to compare and contrast the plight of other islands can
begin put a proper perspective onto the progression of sea level rise. “Sinking islands”
will face the effects of sea level rise well before they are submerged, while others may
have the propensity to exist and yet still become uninhabitable. This paper seeks to
consider broader sea level rise susceptibilities for all island nations comparing the
processes of the “sinking islands” to that of Jamaica.
Understanding the less generally discussed yet more widely problematic drivers
of displacement is necessary to provide adequate strategies for migration, immigration
or adaptation. While the imagery of islanders trying to conduct their everyday lives
wading through water is concerning, it also implies that living a normal life is possible
on these islands until then; that islanders will only need help if/when this happens.
Unfortunately, this preoccupation prohibits adequate policy making for “sinking” and
non-sinking islands alike. The world’s oceans are filled with islands, thus it becomes
imperative that adaptation based solutions are realistic.
While some of the strategies necessary for the “sinking islands” will be similar
for non-sinking islands, the needs for external migration will vary. The example of
Jamaica helps to establish these differences. Jamaica shares some of the sea based
culture and economic characteristics of Tuvalu, Kiribati, and Maldives but its location
and individual history establishes a different set of migration and adaptational needs.
Just because Jamaica is not necessarily “sinking” in absolute terms does not mean that it
will not be seriously affected by climate change. The paper will proceed as follows; I
will outline the concept of sinking islands and will disentangle its usage to put this issue
in the proper perspective. Next, I will compare and contrast the displacement/migration
107
strategies of the sinking islands with those necessary for Jamaica. This will include a
broad understanding of the effects of sea level rise as well as other drivers of
displacement. Finally, I will explain why it is essential to begin to understand future
displacement scenarios of all islands.
Rising Waters
The “sinking island” is a concept that has become a well-known metaphor for
the long term consequences of climate change. The term is often used to describe those
places which will be most severely affected by climate change; the ones which will be
completely lost to rising sea water. These are islands whose highest point is only a
meter or so above sea level; this category usually includes the islands of Tuvalu,
Kiribati, and the Maldives. These are tropical islands which conjure up images of idyllic
palm trees, crystal waters and imminent doom. It is an image of tragedy in paradise.
However, as a description, it can be damaging to substantive research. It detracts from
serious issues that need to be addressed and focuses only on simple doomsday scenarios
which are overtly sensational.
A common metaphor arises in the research of this topic; the canary in the coal
mine. This poses serious difficulties for adequate research. Environmental groups have
used the plight of the sinking islands, especially Tuvalu, as a rallying cry for
environmental changes elsewhere in the world. Film media have also jumped on the
bandwagon using Tuvalu as a representation of all threatened islands and green house
disasters. Even the more cautious social scientists see Tuvalu as the ‘canary in the coal
mine’: a true indicator of the seriousness of climate change (Connell, 2003). The usage
of this metaphor can also be seen as a way for the developed world to construct their
anxieties about climate change (Farbotko, 2010) and for newspapers to assign the
people of Tuvalu a label of victimhood (Farbotko, 2005). Comparing Tuvalu and other
“sinking islands” to the ‘canary in the coal mine’ suggests that they are expendable- as
are their inhabitants. It also suggests that there is no hope to save them thus no need to
discuss mitigation tactics- these islanders are simply doomed. Because scientific time
frames are mere generalities, not only are islanders doomed, but not knowing exactly
when heightens the drama. Many news magazines and publications refer to this imagery
as a dangerous paradise (Morris, 2009; Patel, 2006; Sheehan, 2002; Allen, 2004; Ede,
2002/2003; Warne, 2008; Lynas, 2004). This drives normative discussions about
climate change and island nations into a place where the details on the ground do not
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matter; any island that is sinking can be integrated into this frame and delegitimized as
an individual society.
Salinization of drinking water and agricultural land as well as more frequent and
severe tropical storms has the potential to leave low lying island nations in an extremely
vulnerable position- even without sinking. What is not fully understood is how
damaging this label of “sinking islands” is to their actual plight. Not only does it
suggest something that is inevitable, but it also implies a steady continuous process.
Because scientific forecasts provide long term projections, we cannot know exactly
when an island will sink. However, only focusing on the timeline for sinking ignores the
fact that there are more problems associated with sea level rise other than the loss of
land on which to stand. Long before islanders will be permanently ankle-deep in the
ocean, they will suffer losses that will make is virtually impossible to stay that long.
Focusing on mitigation and adaptation strategies gives islanders back their
agency and resourcefulness, argues Farbotko (2005). Identifying islanders as “tragic
victims” marginalizes their adaptation strategies and silences any internal source of
resilience. This author argues for a critical approach to representations of climate
change in order to understand how images presented in the news media are problematic.
Discussion of how labeling can be problematic is not uncommon in the refugee
literature (Zetter, 1991; Zetter, 2007, Berringer, 2010). Outside representations of
refugees and migrants often place them as victims, as welfare cases, and as helpless
within their circumstance. In terms of labeling, those affected by climate change have
yet to acquire a bureaucratic or universally recognized label. This is partially because it
is difficult to untangle the environment from other drivers of migration. Environmental
degradation comes in many forms and can spark a chain reaction that creates the
impetus for migration; sometimes it is not simply that the climate is changing but that
the loss of livelihoods that accompanies this that initiates the need to leave. Thus, one
may appear to be an economic migrant, but is not pulled out by opportunity but pushed
out by the irreversible economic deterioration. Additionally, some are quick to use the
terms ‘environmental refugee” or “climate refugee” but these phrases are inaccurate as
neither the environment or the climate persecutes; thus they cannot avail themselves of
the protections of the protections of actual refugeehood.
For the remainder of this paper, I will refer to this set of countries which are
most vulnerable to sea level rise as Eventually Uninhabitable Islands (EUIs). The
purpose of which is to simplify the discussion and refer to a process as less than a
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doomsday scenario. It will be defined as those islands/islands chains that are
geographically the closest to sea level, will lose their ability to support human
habitation, and have already begun to deal with the consequences of rising sea water
including frequent storm systems, larger storm surges, and tidal flooding. Maldives,
Tuvalu and, Kiribati are not exhaustive of every island or country which can be
considered an EUI, but those whose circumstances have started much of this initial
debate and which will be referred to here.
As a group the EUI nations have much in common. All are low-lying
geographically, have environmentally-based economies (either tourism, sea-faring, or
agriculture) and have governments which are keenly aware of these issues and how it
will affect their people. In this way, they are similarly situated to Jamaica; it is also
highly dependent on tourism and agriculture. The simple geological similarity of being
an island explains other parallels. Islands are, by nature, restrictive environments of
limited sustainability. Any kind of economic base is structured within this limit. Island
nations already understand the difficulties in sustaining a growing population or
economy on scarce resources. They tend to be damaged more quickly than larger land
areas if their ability to deal with this fact is less than adequate. For example, the
development of industry, individualized products, and disposable packaging create
mounds of garbage all over the globe. However, the small land area of an isolated island
leaves less room for disposal. This is seen in the Maldives through the luxury their
resort islands promise. Domroes (2001) describes this leisure lifestyle as harmful to the
Maldives. Consumptive tourism creates garbage, sewage, and waste pollution as well as
reef destruction. The considerable market returns of the Maldivian tourist industry have
come at a hefty price. Even though the government has enacted eco-friendly standards,
adverse impacts have still been felt because of law violations, the over-exclusivity of
facilities, and the consumptive lifestyle of foreign tourists who do not understand the
fragility of Maldives’ marine ecosystems.
For Kiribati and especially Tuvalu, their internal environmental issues has
questioned if climate or pollution is really the impetus for their problems. Locke (2009)
argues that the influx of population movements to urban central islands have changed
the socioeconomic structure of small-island developing states. His work focuses on both
Kiribati and Tuvalu and demonstrates how overpopulation strains resources and makes
people less healthy. He observes that Kiribati imports more and more processed foods to
make up for poor agricultural production. The population spike has also led to poor
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sanitation and inadequate sewage and garbage disposal. Similar circumstances prevail in
the capital of Tuvalu where there is also overpopulation. Much of Funafuti is built over
water and garbage-filled pits. They also import poor quality foodstuffs which has
increased the Tuvaluan death rate. Allen (2004) describes these issues comparing
Tuvalu to a small planet; its poor environmental stewardship is no more egregious that
that of bigger nations, but because of its fragile, remote, and resource-poor landscape it
has less room for error than other nations. However, these internal problems have
become a barrier to outside help. Tuvalu and other islands have been implicitly and
explicitly encouraged to resolve what is seen as their own development issues before
neighboring nations will seriously consider additional migration schemes (Connell,
2003). Loughry (2009) explains that the populations of both Kiribati and Tuvalu deal
with overcrowding, unemployment, poverty, pollution, and modernization. Climate
change not only drives these issues but also multiplies their effects.
Internal ecological destruction, added to sea level rise, creates a process which
erodes an islands’ ability to continue to sustain human habitation. In the case of Tuvalu,
climate change exacerbates its current issues of over-crowding. A move from one
island to another only adds further stress on a strained ecosystem. Those displaced from
their home island to Funafuti bring along the same impacts that forced them to leave.
Ecological destruction leads to economic destruction because environmentally-based
economies are very fragile. This is likely to be the process which makes EUIs what they
are. Fishing grounds become depleted as increased temperatures change the pH balance
of coral reefs1, agricultural land is salinized when sea level rise collides with high tide
either spilling salt water over the land or bubbling it up through the soil. Additionally,
wells contaminated in this way affects potable water supplies and cannot be used for
agriculture or drinking. This makes basic subsistence difficult enough, let alone
supporting a tourist industry. While foodstuffs can be imported, water is a different
story. There are plenty of uninhabited islands around the globe: deserted islands are
deserted for a reason. They cannot sustain even basic human life.
1
This description of ocean acidification is purposefully minimal as to not detract from the larger point.
Acidification changes the ph balance of war coastal waters and kills coral reefs. This in turn breaks down
the bottom the food chain and affects the availability of food at all levels, including human. It is a much
more complicated chain reaction that is depicted here but can be further evaluated through the IPCC’s
Workshop on Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Marine Biology and Ecosystems (2011)at:
http://www.ipcc-wg2.gov/meetings/workshops/OceanAcidification_WorkshopReport.pdf.
111
This highly destructive and irreversible process is what is fueling the need for
migration out of Maldives, Tuvalu, and Kiribati. As of now, future migration options for
the inhabitants of these islands are uncertain.
Jamaica: Similar Situation, Higher Elevation
Jamaica, unlike the “sinking islands”, has not gotten nearly the same level of
attention. No doomsday scenarios or paradise lost. While its situation has differences
from that of the EUI nations, it shares with them many similarities and the likelihood of
joining them, depending upon the eventual severity of climate change. The allure of the
tropical islands, in any hemisphere, comes from their unique landscapes and geography.
Sea level rise threatens this no matter where they lie, thus Jamaica and the Caribbean
are just as susceptible to the effects of climate change as islands in the Pacific or Indian
Ocean. Climate change will affect all island nations in similar ways, but this issue can
be forgotten when the focus is only on sinking. These issues will be addressed below.
Jamaica is located in the Caribbean Sea just south of Cuba and southwest of
Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It is one island with a coastline of 1,022km. Its
highest point is 2,256m and is considered an island of mountainous terrain. However its
population is much larger than the EUI nations combined. With an estimated 2,847,232
people as of July 2010, there are many more challenges to come. The tourist industry
accounts for 20% of the economy and it exports sugar, rum, coffee, yams, bauxite and
other minerals. Like the EUI nations, it also imports much of its food and industrial and
building supplies. Climate change has yet to become a component of everyday life, but
its effects are beginning to be noticed. Concerns surround warmer temperatures, more
natural disasters, change in rainfall patterns, and coastal erosion is emerging. Dr.
Wendel Parham, the executive director of the Caribbean Agriculture and Research
Development Institute (CARDI) has been vocal about these concerns especially that
warmer temperatures will put more pressure on air conditioning and refrigeration, thus
increasing energy needs in a nation that is already highly dependent on fossil fuels. The
concerns of increased tropical storm intensity also include talks of a longer hurricane
season which could suppress tourism; some may prefer to vacation somewhere safer or
where an extended hurricane season does not interfere with their travel plans (Brown,
2005). The National Environmental and Planning Agency (NEPA) recently announced
that the sea level rise will be a serious threat to Jamaica’s coast, emphasizing that 95%
of Jamaica’s beaches are vulnerable to such a natural hazard. Hurricanes Ivan (2004),
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Wilma (2005) and Dean (2007) alone resulted in a 5 meter loss on Long Bay in Negril.
This comes on top of a UNEP study stating that the beaches of Negril are already
receding at a rate of between 0.5 and 1 meter per year. In addition, poor environmental
and building practices including the dumping of illegal pollutants had contributed to the
ineffectiveness of protectionary measures (Matthews, 2010).
Like the EUI nations, Jamaica also deals with increasingly overfilled landfills
and its protectionary laws need better enforcement. Because it is also considered a
developing nation, Jamaica receives a good deal of international aid to combat its high
poverty and unemployment levels. It is a member of Alliance of Small Island States
(AOSIS) and is working to be able to influence larger nations on this topic.
Additionally, Jamaica’s situation is similar to the EUI nations in that beach
erosion, coral bleaching, and intense tropical storms can significantly hurt tourism. In
this way, it is comparable particularly to Maldives. The vulnerability of its coastal water
supply to salinization associates it with Maldives, Tuvalu and Kiribati. A great risk to
ground and surface water in Jamaica is the poor construction of sewage catchment and
treatment systems. Many sewage systems are not properly constructed and, in some
places, there is no system at all. Islanders dispose of their waste in “soak-away” pits that
go directly into the water table. Jamaica’s water problems originate with unregulated
drilling for water before 1961, when locals were allowed to drill. This led to the
salinization of some areas due to excessive pumping. The process allowed sea water to
seep into the island’s aquifers. Contamination from bauxite mining caused by red mud
waste and the by-products of rum production, have also adversely impacted the water
quality (Hall, 2010). While these were not caused by climate change, they have
contributed to a situation which already affects drinkable water even before climatic
processes are added.
In many ways, Figure 1 outlines the major concerns of almost any country
which is threatened by climate change. Though Tuvalu and Kiribati do not have the
same concerns as Maldives and Jamaica in terms of tourism, clean and available water
affects the lives of all islanders and small businesses.
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Figure 1. Long Term Concerns of Maldives, Tuvalu, Kiribati, and Jamaica
Climate Change concerns for Maldives, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Jamaica
Food
Sea
level
Rise Salinization of
Issues
Agriculture
Water
Infrastructure
Salinization of
Loss of Coastal
Potable water
homes, businesses
and land
Extreme Climate
Unstable
Replenishment of
Continuing threat
Events
precipitation
drinking water or
from tropical
causing more
additional damage
cyclones and
frequent drought or
hurricanes
deluge
There are some important differences between these nations, however. Because
of its mountainous terrain, Jamaica has less to worry about in the way of salinization of
crops due to storm surge or tidal flooding. While this does not mean its crops will not
face any danger, changes in precipitation, water collection, and potable supplies will
eventually limit the quantities available for agriculture. The salinization of freshwater
wells in coastal lowlands is a central concern because this water is also used for
drinking. There is potential for conflict between those who need the water to produce
food and those who simply drink it.
Jamaica’s size also benefits it in terms of migration. There is more space for
internal migration and resettlement than in places like Tuvalu and Kiribati. Because
Jamaica is one island, not an island chain, the population is already located in one
geographical area sharing its resources. However, more space does not necessarily
equate to an easier facilitation of internal migration. Jamaicans and their government
will have to contend with current property holders as well as considerable prices and
building difficulties. One cannot assume that just because there are people that need to
move inland, that there is unclaimed land open for them to inhabit. Those who own
available land will most likely want to be compensated for its use. Because Jamaica is a
highly touristed island, the price of land is at a premium. With continued beach
deterioration and salinization of fresh water, it becomes a less friendly place to vacation.
Almost fifteen percent (14.8%) of Jamaicans already live below the poverty line. A
decline in the tourism industry will only add to this number. Even if lower tourism
brings down property values, there are more people with even less money to buy a new
114
place to live. In addition, building homes on a mountain side is no easy feat. There is a
lack of suitable land to move people when simple topography is considered. Jamaica’s
Blue Mountains are a national treasure and park.
A final difference with the EUIs, Jamaica has strong ties with and large diaspora
communities in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Little is written
about diaspora communities stemming from Tuvalu, Maldives, or Kiribati on the other
hand. Maldives was populated by diaspora communities from Sri Lanka and India. An
economic pact between Tuvalu and New Zealand has created a growing community
there; it is not nearly as large or as developed as any of Jamaica’s. As colonial subjects,
Jamaicans were eligible for unrestricted entry and permanent residence in Great Britain.
However after independence, migrants had to apply under a skill-based system. The
recession of the 1970’s resulted in a decline of available jobs thus, migration shifted to
the US and Canada (Horst, 2007). These communities offer an alternative to internal
migration if host nations are willing to take them in. Familial relationships create a
strong pull to migrate if one does not have to begin totally anew. These ties make a
transition easier and bring the migrant into a new community that is culturally
rebuilding what they have left. Many Caribbean islanders already visit family abroad;
joining them if their current living conditions deteriorate would not necessarily be a
very difficult decision. Diaspora groups also have the ability to pressure their
government to assist those back home. Many have become citizens of the countries in
which they have migrated to, and if not, their work and commerce in these nations
brings value to their population group.
While a collaborative effort toward changing its energy structure and increasing
its capacity for adaptation are necessary, there is little Jamaica can do to protect itself
from aquifer salinization. Sea level rise is beyond the control of any measure Jamaica or
any other EUI can implement. It is making great strides toward adaptation, but
migration has not yet been discussed as an option. One reason for this is that climate
change is a slow process and there is no clear prediction which overlays timelines for
environmental destruction with human activities. Islands which are not indefinitely
sinking may not yet see the intricate ways in which sea level rise will still cause out
migration. A focus on drinking water is imperative for Jamaica and any other island
which uses underground water supplies. Human cannot live where there is no drinking
water. While many places, such as Jamaica, import bottled water there is no realistic
way to permanently and completely substitute bottles for natural sources of fresh water.
115
When water shortages are added to other effects of sea level rise such as the loss
of coast lines, this provides a strong impetus for migration. These issues are part of the
slow onset processes of climate change and most likely produce a small continuous
stream of migrants as living conditions deteriorate. While any timeline associated with
this movement cannot be predicted, there should be several signs which indicate that
this process is underway.
The loss of tourism is one indicator. The Jamaican
government will be hard pressed to find new jobs for resort workers whose livelihoods
slowly disappear when their job sites are taken by the sea. Beaches provide the basis for
Jamaica’s tourist economy, without sand there is not the same draw. This early
migration will be due to livelihood loss from climate change. It may appear to be just
economic migration until the ultimate driver is identified.
Economic migration has been the backbone of those who have created Jamaica’s
Diasporas. It is an embedded part of the history of the Caribbean. Diaspora
communities, in this case, can be seen as already laying the ground work for future out
migration. However, popular host countries for Jamaicans have become less tolerant in
their immigration policies due to terrorist concerns and constituency xenophobia. While
the diaspora community may seem like the most obvious place to go, only time will tell
if host countries will relax their policies to accept those whose livelihoods will not
return due to climate concerns.
Conclusion
The slow deterioration of EUIs will be mirrored in all islands; many more will
be added to this definition as time exposes their full vulnerability. Those which will still
remain habitable may only be able to sustain lower population levels and will need
livelihood strategies to make up for the losses of many traditional jobs. The difficulty
for islands is that many of the losses sustained through climate change are from the
specific geographic attributes which make them so unique. Additionally, the plight of
islands and island nations can demonstrate the adaptational needs of larger landmasses.
Ultimately all continents are islands and those which are becoming uninhabitable can
provide lessons in strategy for the rest. Every landmass has a carrying capacity which is
being stretched to the limit due to human population growth and resource exploitation.
As was mentioned above, islands are most often judged in terms of their ability to be
good stewards of their fragile ecosystems; larger nations have more room for error.
116
However, a changing climate will reduce this space everywhere. Island adaptation and
out migration patterns will be the precedent for all others- not just each other.
Island nations have a propensity for climate change displacement unlike many
other places. Their limited land area and natural resources and fragile environments do
not offer the same adaption options than other larger areas of land. One aspect of
adaptation is out migration which is seen as a necessity of those inhabiting some of the
small low lying islands. Called the “sinking islands”, this group has is at the forefront of
talks on climate migration. However, the discourse surrounding them is not always
helpful or welcome. The research on this group describes them in highly dramatic
terms with a focus solely on literal submersion beneath the sea. While the idea of
“sinking” is fascinating, there are many concerns to attend to well before anyone is
ankle deep in water. This focus not only detracts from more immediate anxieties, but
suggests that habitation is possible until this point. Because this is not the case,
beginning to compare and contrast the plight of other islands can begin put a proper
perspective onto the progression of sea level rise.
By injecting the island nation of Jamaica into this dialogue, I have attempted to
refocus the debate over climate change migration to consider sea level rise as a driver of
migration in many places besides those which are sinking. Understanding the less
generally discussed yet more widely problematic drivers of displacement is necessary to
provide adequate strategies for migration, immigration or adaptation to all those who
will be in need of them. A preoccupation with sinking prohibits adequate policy making
for “sinking” and non-sinking islands alike. Geo territorial factors condition climate
change response. The world’s oceans are filled with islands, so it becomes imperative
that adaptation based solutions are realistic. Thus far, only the most distant and exotic
islands are being discussed as candidates for displacement due to sea level rise. The
addition of Jamaica and its implications for the rest of the Caribbean can broaden the
scope of this issue as well as relate it more directly to those who will bear the greatest
monetary costs of the adaptation funds. Large emitters such as the United States,
Canada, and Great Britain may seek to do more to curb their contributions to climate
change and increase their aid to adaptation if they know that this problem will be
washing up on their shores- so to speak.
117
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120
Hortas urbanas cultivadas por populações caboverdianas na
Área Metropolitana de Lisboa: entre a produção de alimentos
e as sociabilidades no espaço urbano não legal
Juliana Torquato Luiz e Sílvia Jorge
Juliana Torquato Luiz is Sociologist and a doctoral student in the program of "Democracy in the
Twenty-first Century" at the Center for Social Studies (CES), University of Coimbra, which
develops the research project on "Citizenship in unplanned urban areas: the role of urban
agriculture to (i) migrants communities to the socio-spatial structure”.
Sílvia Jorge is Architect, Master in Rehabilitation of Architecture and Urban Centers and PHD
in Urbanism by Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University of Lisbon.
Abstract: This paper observes (or looks at) the relationship between the occupation of
the city’s territory and urban agriculture practices, using the analysis of the experience
of a Cape Verdeans in Lisbon’s Metropolitan Area as an entry point. As a case study,
the empirical context of a non-legalised neighbourhood located in Loures, one of
Lisbon’s Metropolitan Area councils, in which there have been, for at least 40 years,
cultivated plots in unoccupied private and public land. These plots have been, and still
are, cultivated by people of different social origins, mainly migrant population from
Cape Verde, and, in lesser numbers, rural-urban Portuguese migrants. The analytical
exercise is driven by the urban critical theory inspired by Henri Lefebvre and Michel de
Certeau, in which space is understood as a product of social processes and as a stage for
everyday practices, from the standpoint of a description of social relationships –
material, institutional and symbolical – associate the cultivating space to the living
space, as well as to the migrant movements that shape many lives. To this end,
questions are raised about the social and physical spaces that bring together the
cultivated plots (as a production system), and the living space; both limited in their
struggle to endure in a territory scarred by a mosaic of disputes regarding the access and
use of basic resources such as land and water.
Key Words: peri-urban vegetable gardens; urban construction typologies; Lisbon’s
Metropolitan Area; citizenship; Cape Verdean people
121
Resumo: O presente artigo problematiza a relação entre a ocupação do território da
cidade vinculada às práticas de agricultura urbana a partir das experiências de caboverdianos na Área Metropolitana de Lisboa. Considera-se o contexto empírico de um
bairro não legalizado, localizado num dos seus municípios, Loures, onde existem há
pelo menos 40 anos, hortas cultivadas em terrenos baldios, públicos e privados, por
diferentes grupos sociais, maioritariamente população (i)migrante de Cabo Verde e, em
menor número, de origem portuguesa. O exercício analítico é orientado pela teoria
crítica inspirada em Henri Lefebvre e pela conceção de espaço vivido e praticado de
Michel de Certeau, entendendo-se o espaço enquanto produto do social e das práticas
quotidianas. A descrição de um campo de relações sociais – materiais, institucionais e
simbólicas – caracteriza o campo das hortas, associando-as à questão da habitação,
tipologias de ocupação e movimentos migratórios. Neste sentido, as questões levantadas
centram-se em torno de um espaço físico e social, relacionando as hortas enquanto
sistema de produção e o espaço da habitação circunscritos, na luta pela permanência
num espaço marcado por um mosaico de litígios no que tange o acesso e uso de
recursos básicos, como a terra e a água.
Palavras-chaves:
hortas
(peri)urbanas;
tipologias
de
ocupação
urbana;
Área
Metropolitana de Lisboa; cidadania; cabo-verdianos.
122
Introduçao
O presente artigo analisa as hortas desenvolvidas em áreas urbanas consideradas
não legais1, a partir das experiências de cabo-verdianos na Área Metropolitana de
Lisboa (AML). Toma-se como estudo de caso as hortas do bairro do Talude, localizado
num dos seus municípios, Loures, cultivadas maioritariamente por uma população caboverdiana (primeira e segunda geração) e, em menor número, por população de origem
portuguesa oriunda do interior do país.
A partir da leitura deste espaço físico e social levantam-se algumas questões em
torno de dois eixos temáticos que com ele se cruzam: a (não) possibilidade das hortas
representarem uma forma de integração sócio-espacial num território marcado por um
mosaico de litígios relativos ao acesso e uso de recursos básicos, como a terra e a água;
e a relação entre o tipo de ocupação urbana e a prática das hortas. Simultaneamente,
apresentam-se as condições de cultivo destas práticas, as suas potencialidades e
constrangimentos.
O exercício analítico é orientado pela teoria crítica inspirada em Henri Lefebvre
e pela concepção de espaço vivido e praticado de Michel de Certeau, entendendo-se o
espaço enquanto produto do social e das práticas quotidianas. A descrição de um campo
de relações sociais – materiais, institucionais e simbólicas – caracteriza o campo das
hortas, associando-se a questão da habitação, às tipologias de ocupação e aos
movimentos migratórios. Neste sentido, as questões levantadas centram-se em torno de
um espaço físico e social, relacionando-se as hortas enquanto sistema de produção e o
espaço da habitação circunscritos, na luta pela permanência num espaço marcado por
um mosaico de litígios no que tange o acesso e uso de recursos básicos, como a terra e a
água.
A relação entre as hortas e as tipologias de ocupação estabelece-se através de
paralelos recíprocos com os atores envolvidos, as suas origens e destinos, bem como as
suas práticas e relações com a terra, o que implica um constante alinhamento com os
métodos de análise, aproximando o trabalho de investigação da complexidade do
contexto em causa, diverso, plural e não reconhecido pelo poder público. Que
significados adquirem as hortas urbanas nestes contextos? Quais as suas origens e
1
As informações apresentadas no presente artigo resultam de reflexões realizadas durante e após o
Projeto de Investigação “Hortas (peri) urbanas em Lisboa e Londres: geradoras de inclusão social e de
bio-diversidade urbana”, coordenado pelos Professores Yves Cabannes e Isabel Raposo, composto por
duas equipas: uma da Faculdade de Arquitetura da Universidade Técnica de Lisboa e outra do
Department Planning Unit of the University College of London. Portanto, não são apresentados os
resultados do Projeto, mas sim a sistematização das questões suscitadas a partir deste.
123
dimensões atuais? As hortas podem significar um elemento influente na processo de
integração sócio-espacial de grupos migrantes?
Tendo em conta as questões levantadas, o presente artigo é composto por cinco
partes: a primeira apresenta os elementos teóricos e metodológicos, nos quais se apoia a
leitura do espaço das hortas a partir de grupos migrantes compreendidos no âmbito das
sociabilidades urbanas (SANTOS, 1996); a segunda debruça-se sobre o caso de estudo,
considerando as hortas e os processos de ocupação associados; a terceira descreve e
analisa as hortas a partir das necessidades humanas que estas satisfazem, bem como da
apresentação de alguns dados e excertos de narrativas produzidas pelos e pelas
moradoras do bairro; a quarta aborda as perceções e incertezas face à permanência frágil
no espaço considerado não legal e, por último, tece algumas reflexões sobre o
movimento que perpassa o processo de garantia de pertença aos lugares e a própria
prática das hortas urbanas.
As hortas peri-urbanas: enquadramento e abordagem do tema
O tema das hortas urbanas é abordado no âmbito da agricultura urbana,
compreendidas como o conjunto de atividades de produção de alimentos na área urbana
da cidade, enfatizando-se não só a questão da terra, mas também o espaço onde são
produzidas (BIEL & CABANNES, 2009), dada a coexistência com outras tipologias
sócio-espaciais, como, por exemplo, os espaços habitacionais. Principalmente na última
década, emerge literatura de referência que entende esta temática de forma integral, ou
seja, relaciona as hortas com os processos de intervenção no entorno construído, como
respostas tanto a aspetos ambientais como sociais (ALONSO, 2009; VEENHUIZEN,
2006).
Na leitura destes espaços associou-se a perspectiva analítica à abordagem
metodológica e epistemológica, que atravessa diferentes áreas temáticas da teoria social
e dos estudos urbanos. Assim, são espaços compreendidos como um instrumento de
apoio ao desenho da cidade a partir da escala humana e respondem principalmente à
satisfação das necessidades de ócio, compreensão, participação e identidade,
influenciando nas formas de subsistência, proteção e criação de espaços – públicos e de
afeto (ALONSO, 2009).
Em Portugal, a literatura existente sobre a temática da agricultura urbana referese sobretudo a produções técnicas e académicas no âmbito das áreas da Arquitetura e
das Engenharias, enquadrando as hortas como uma das suas atividades - aliada a
124
abordagens sobre cidade sustentável, características formadoras de estruturas verdes
urbanas, estruturas ecológicas urbanas, viabilidade ambiental (características da água,
solo, relevo, enquadramentos biofísicos, dimensões paisagísticas, entre outros),
tipologias e funcionalidades. Na sua maioria, são considerados casos de estudo à escala
local, que constituem importantes contributos descritivos para o conhecimento de tais
práticas em algumas cidades portuguesas (MOREIRA, 2010; CASTELO et al. 1985).
Do ponto de vista conceptual, observa-se geralmente um dilema semântico que
as situam entre “formais e informais”, de acordo com o estatuto jurídico do terreno
ocupado e as formas de apropriação. Neste sentido, pouco tem sido analisado sobre as
práticas de cultivo existente, as tipologias e relações com o espaço urbano, bem como o
contributo ecossistémico proporcionado por diferentes grupos populacionais, residentes
em áreas consideradas não legais. Destaca-se igualmente um défice de políticas públicas
voltadas para esta temática, apesar de, nos últimos cinco anos, se observar um crescente
interesse sobre a mesma, destacando-se, por exemplo, as campanhas realizadas no
município de Coimbra, no quadro da política de habitação social2 .
No entanto, esta escassez de informação não significa que as práticas de
agricultura urbana e, em especial, das hortas, não tenham um histórico a ser desvelado.
Das “quintas de recreio” e dos campos agrícolas que marcaram a periferia da cidade de
Lisboa entre o século XVI e a década de 1970, a prática de agricultura urbana
atravessou diferentes contextos sociais, políticos, económicos, culturais e ambientais,
acompanhando a expansão e o crescimento urbano.
Como marco temporal, considera-se a década de 1950 em diante, período a partir
do qual a AML recebe um grande fluxo migratório das áreas rurais para as urbanas – do
interior para o litoral do país – e, posteriormente, das ex-colónias portuguesas africanas.
Após 1973, com a independência das colónias, 600.000 portugueses retornaram a
Portugal, metade dos quais para a capital, num curto espaço de tempo –
aproximadamente 3 anos (VALENÇA; 2001, 73). Assiste-se ao alargamento dos limites
da área metropolitana, mas também ao aumento das áreas degradadas e dos
assentamentos precários. É neste quadro que, a partir da análise e compreensão dos
2
O Projeto “Hortas Sociais Urbanas de Coimbra” é uma evolução do Projeto “Hortas do Ingote” (bairro
social com 223 habitações), iniciado em 2004, por iniciativa do Departamento de Habitação da Câmara
Municipal de Coimbra, em parceria com a Escola Superior de Agronomia de Coimbra- ESAC. O Projeto
visa aproveitar terrenos públicos devolutos, localizados principalmente em áreas urbanas residenciais,
para o desenvolvimento de agricultura urbana sustentável (Moreira, 2010).
125
fenómenos sociourbanísticos presentes na coexistência entre as hortas e as tipologias de
ocupação urbana, se procede a análise deste espaço físico e social.
O caso de estudo considerado, as hortas do bairro do Talude, localizado na
freguesia de Unhos, no município de Loures, torna-se então pertinente neste contexto
por ser um laboratório rico, que concentra uma diversidade de situações territoriais, e
pela importância destes espaços, que se estima ultrapassarem a centena.
As hortas urbanas e os processos de ocupação
A partir da década de 1950, assiste-se ao surgimento e expansão de muitas das
hortas (peri)urbanas hoje existentes na AML, através do trabalho e da produção de
novos espaços de cultivo por grupos migrantes, de origem portuguesa ou não,
destacando-se a população cabo-verdiana.
Apesar destas práticas terem desencadeado significativas mudanças culturais,
sociais, económicas e ecológicas, no ambiente e na paisagem urbana, poucos são os
estudos que relacionam este fenómeno com a comunidade cabo-verdiana em Portugal e
as diferentes tipologias de ocupação3. No entanto, na presente análise considera-se que a
relação do indivíduo com a terra é fundamental na compreensão da cultura da sociedade
cabo-verdiana, crioula e multicultural, desde a sua formação (GRASSI, 2007), e que,
em parte, contribui para contextualizar a diáspora cabo-verdiana (AMARAL, 1964).
No contexto da AML, verifica-se que, à semelhança do que acontece na maioria dos
casos em Portugal, as hortas são atividades desenvolvidas sem um estatuto legal. A
partir da análise desenvolvida em alguns países africanos, Cissé et al (2005) consideram
que este crescente interesse nos últimos anos pelo tema da agricultura urbana e do
processo de regularização gera constrangimentos legais do ponto de vista das políticas
públicas e contrasta com a multiplicidade de atores e tipologias de ocupação e uso do
solo.
3
O presente artigo limita-se a descrever alguns aspetos relativos à produção das hortas por algumas
populações cabo-verdianas, que construíram as suas habitações em áreas consideradas não legais, com um
perfil sócio-económico específico, conforme descrito adiante. A abordagem ao tema das hortas urbanas
deste prisma é recente, sendo que as práticas de cultivo desenvolvidas por estas populações têm vindo a
ser referenciadas por alguns orgãos de comunicação social nos últimos dois anos.
126
Imagem 1. Exemplos de espaços de cultivo na Área Metropolitana de Lisboa, especificamente nos
municípios da Amadora, Lisboa e Loures (da esquerda para a direita).
A título de exemplo, no município de Lisboa foram contabilizados
aproximadamente 77,4 hectares de hortas na cidade, segundo um levantamento
realizado em 2010 pela Câmara Municipal. Um dos casos mais paradigmáticos é o do
Parque Hortícola Urbano do Vale de Chelas, programado para ser o maior parque
hortícola do país, com aproximadamente 15 ha. No entanto, antes desta iniciativa, já
existiam há pelo menos 30 anos cerca de 120 parcelas cultivadas (de dimensões
variáveis entre os 50 m2 e os 175 m2) , com hortaliças, grãos, como ervilhas, favas e
feijões, algumas árvores de fruto e cana-de-açúcar, por populações de alguns países
africanos como Cabo-Verde e Guiné Bissau.
Geralmente, estes espaços de cultivo associam-se ao processo de urbanização e a
algum tipo de intervenção habitacional, seguindo-se o quadro legal do Regime
Excecional para a Reconversão Urbanística das Áreas Urbanas de Génese Ilegal,
também designado por Lei das AUGI (Lei n.º 91/95, de 2 de setembro), do Programa
Especial de Realojamento (Decreto-Lei n.º 163/93, de 7 de maio), entre outros, e
cruzando-se com as iniciativas públicas dedicadas às hortas (peri)urbanas. Estas
iniciativas recentes encontram-se atualmente em processo de definição normativa, na
tentativa de enquadrar juridicamente, regulamentar e balizar as práticas e os espaços
produzidos ao nível da agricultura urbana.
Face a esta situação, em função da escala do fenómeno e dos interesses
municipais, assiste-se à aplicação de regras e normas sobre as hortas, associadas à
definição do tamanho das parcelas, às formas de acesso, à permanência e uso de
recursos básicos, como a água e a terra, à organização do seu espaço físico, às culturas e
às técnicas de cultivo, que geralmente se distanciam do contexto histórico-cultural
anterior, ou seja, das pré-existências.
A adoção de uma abordagem política e administrativa, influenciada pelos quadros legais
e normativos anteriormente citados, tem permeado a implementação de iniciativas
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voltadas para o tema, no entanto, as normas e regras aplicadas dependem do espaço
social onde estas e os futuros parques agrícolas se localizam. De forma a aprofundar os
pontos considerados em análise, esta centra-se agora no caso de estudo do bairro do
Talude, localizado na freguesias de Unhos, no município de Loures.
Com uma população aproximada de 550 pessoas, 90% oriundas de Cabo Verde,
sendo que metade tem nacionalidade cabo-verdiana e outra metade nacionalidade
portuguesa (descendentes ou naturalizados), o bairro começa a ser construído no
contexto da primeira vaga de imigrantes vinda de Cabo Verde, ainda antes da revolução
de abril. Neste período, muitos destes imigrantes fixaram-se na AML, sobretudo em
bairros periféricos nos municípios limítrofes ao de Lisboa, como a Amadora, Odivelas e
Loures (HORTA e MALHEIROS, 2004).
Na freguesia de Unhos, as primeiras construções não licenciadas surgiram no
início da década de 1950, na sequência do desenvolvimento industrial (entre as
freguesia de Sacavém e da Portela da Azóia), da chegada de fortes contingentes
populacionais de várias regiões do país e, mais tarde, das ex-colónias portuguesas, que
favoreceram a expansão de áreas não controladas pelo poder público, consideradas não
legais, tornando-se o principal meio de produção de espaço urbano na freguesia. As
propriedades, afetas à agricultura, ao cultivo da vinha, oliveiras, trigo e produtos
hortícolas, começam um profundo processo de transformação. Este processo deu-se
principalmente através de loteamentos não reconhecidos pelo poder público, alguns
actualmente enquadrados no regime jurídico das áreas urbanas de génese ilegal (AUGI).
Neste contexto, o bairro do Talude desenvolve-se ao longo da Estrada Militar,
numa extensão de cerca de 1,5 km, distinguindo-se dos restantes por o terreno não estar
na posse dos residentes, ou seja, por se tratar de uma ocupação de terrenos públicos e
privados.
No primeiro tipo de ocupação, passível de se enquadrar no regime jurídico das
AUGI, os proprietários adquirem legalmente uma ou mais parcelas de um terreno
designado neste campo normativo de rústico, enquanto no segundo não existe compra
legal do solo. Embora nos dois tipos de ocupação apontados as construções sejam
consideradas não legais, estas duas realidades territoriais, do ponto de vista jurídico,
distinguem-se pela posse ou não do terreno. Apesar da condição de não legalidade ser
comum, diferenciam-se uma da outra pela condição de acesso à propriedade e/ou pelo
tipo de área ocupada, em alguns casos considerada não apta à construção, segundo os
instrumentos de gestão territorial. Esta condição está associada: à criação e
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implementação deste sistema normativo, nomeadamente à publicação do Regime Geral
das Edificações Urbanas (Decreto-Lei n.º 38382, de 7 de agosto), em 1951; à instituição
da figura do loteamento urbano, por iniciativa de particulares, sujeito a licenciamento
municipal (Decreto-Lei n.º 46673, de 29 de novembro), em 1965; e, mais tarde, à
publicação do Plano Diretor Municipal do município de Loures, em 1994. Este
instrumento de gestão territorial, cujas normas urbanísticas estabelecidas se distanciam
das práticas de ocupação e construção do território em análise, define as suas classes de
espaço. As hortas urbanas, apesar da extensão e importância que adquirem, não são
enquadradas, assim como as áreas de ocupação e construção consideradas não legais,
para as quais se prevê a demolição e consequente realojamento, não tendo em conta a
dimensão territorial e social pré-existente.
Por um lado, as áreas loteadas começam a ser objeto de intervenção a partir da
Revolução de abril de 1974, através de processos de reconversão, complexos e morosos,
que se arrastam desde essa altura. Por outro lado, as áreas ocupadas foram igualmente
objeto de intervenção, primeiro no quadro do Serviço de Apoio Ambulatório Local
(SAAL), na segunda metade da década de 1970, e, mais tarde, do Programa Especial de
Realojamento (PER), em 1993. Precisamente em 1993, levantaram-se as construções e
as famílias residentes no bairro do Talude – a área de ocupação e construção não legal
com maior expressão na freguesia, dada a sua extensão e número de moradores
envolvidos – tendo sido excluídos do programa os moradores ausentes na altura do
levantamento, que nasceram ou ali se instalaram posteriormente. Dos cerca de 150
agregados familiares residentes no bairro, apenas cerca de 57% estão inscritos no PER .
Decorridos dezassete anos desde a implementação do PER, as famílias residentes
no bairro, abrangidas ou não pelo programa, mantêm-se no mesmo local, que não foi
entretanto objeto de qualquer intervenção. É neste contexto que se enquadram as hortas
peri-urbanas aqui em análise. A sua prática acompanha a produção e expansão das áreas
consideradas não legais, na qual as hortas estão imersas na problemática da habitação,
nomeadamente na luta ao acesso a uma habitação condigna e à integração
socioterritorial de grupos sociais historicamente vulneráveis do ponto de vista social e
económico. Neste caso, as hortas surgem como um elemento que confronta o discurso
do paradigma da cidade não legal, que esvaziou de conteúdo a cidade pensada a partir
dos seus ecossistemas sociais.
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A produção de alimentos, convívio, cultura e lazer no espaço não legal
Parte das pessoas que cultivam hortas já teve uma relação com o trabalho
familiar da terra, consideravam-se “homens e mulheres do campo”. É na procura de
respeito, de subversão às precariedades vivenciadas através dos constrangimentos
sociais, económicos, culturais e ambientais no espaço de viver não reconhecido pelo
poder público, considerado “clandestino” e “informal”, que as hortas emergem como
possibilidade de aceder a um espaço de liberdade, perdido noutro tempo-espaço da
colonialidade, que forja a história desta população.
A maioria da produção das hortas do bairro tem como destino final a mesa das
famílias que as cultivam, com exceção da cana de açúcar, que serve para produzir
melado e bebidas como o grogue e o ponche.4 As hortas são de uso familiar ou
individual, praticadas por mulheres (50%), homens (48.2%), idosos, jovens e, em menor
número, crianças.
Percebe-se que as hortas satisfazem simultaneamente diferentes necessidades. Apesar de
nem sempre o cultivo dar os resultados esperados, o que se colhe chega à mesa. Cerca
de 73% das pessoas entrevistadas afirmaram que os resultados das colheitas chegam ao
prato, através de guisados com feijões, arroz pintado (arroz com favas, ervilhas e
cenouras), sopas, que incluem batata e couve, salada de alface e alguns pratos com
milho.5
“Com as ervilhas e favas, fazemos arroz jardineira. Mas isso quando colhemos bem. Não
é sempre. Chuva pode estragar muito”
“Milho não pode faltar. Mas não dá muito. Quando o resultado é bom, fazemos cuzcuz,
fidjos, pastel de milho e cachtupa. Feijão também fazemos muito e dá para misturar na
catchupa”
(considerações destacadas das narrativas produzidas em 2010).
Com mais de 25 anos de existência, as culturas de plantio presentes nas hortas
limitam-se sobretudo a produtos hortícolas e, excecionalmente, ao cultivo de flores, por
exemplo rosas, presente apenas nas hortas cultivadas por portugueses (2% das hortas),
bem como de árvores de fruto, como pessegueiros e figueiras.
4
De acordo com Couto (2009), a cana de açúcar é o produto de maior importância da agricultura de
regadio por alagamento (“rego”), tradicionalmente praticada na Ilha de Santiago. Neste contexto, o “rego”
“e a cana de açúcar estão intimamente ligados ao “trapiche”, assente nas infraestruturas que permitem a
produção do grogue e do mel”.
5
São refeições explicadas nas entrevistas na sequência das seguintes perguntas: “Os resultados da
colheita viram prato de comida? Quais os principais pratos preparados?”. No presente artigo não são
abordadas questões em torno da nutrição e da saúde, apesar destas se considerarem essenciais na
problematização do tema das hortas.
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Os principais produtos cultivados, de acordo com as narrativas, são a ervilha, 6 o feijão,
a fava7, a cana de açúcar8, a couve e a cebola. Em alguns casos, também se criam
animais, nomeadamente galinhas, coelhos e cabras, junto às hortas.
Principais Alimentos cultivados
ervilha, cebola, alho, favas,
hortaliças e batatas
Milho e feijões
Cana de Açúcar
Período de cultivo
Janeiro e fevereiro
Período de colheita
Meados de abril e maio
Junho
Durante todo o ano
Setembro, Outubro
Durante todo o ano
Tabela 1. Período de cultivo, colheitas e principais alimentos cultivados.
Cultivam-se quatro tipos de feijão: pedra, sapatinha,9 bonje10 e bongolon.11 Os três
últimos também são cultivados em Cabo Verde, no sistema de sequeiros (COUTO,
2009). Segundo as palavras de uma das pessoas entrevistadas:
“[…] Quando chegamos aqui, em 1974, os portugueses não entendiam porque comíamos
tanto feijão. Porque eles quase não comiam feijão... Mas nós sim, desde Cabo Verde.
Cabo Verde, se come muito feijão. E nós plantávamos feijão sapatinha e bongolon.
Também feijão pedra. Milho também. E eles também não entendiam como nós comíamos
tanto milho. Mas foi assim, um ia trazendo um pouquinho, outro trazia outro bocadinho...
e hoje já encontrámos mais esses feijões do que antigamente […]. E milho; cabo verdiano
não fica sem milho. Naquele tempo, eu e meus patrícios tínhamos o salário da fábrica,
mas hoje tudo mais caro, mais difícil de comprar. Também naquele tempo era difícil.”
(entrevista realizada a um dos moradores, no terreno das hortas, em 2010)
Ao mesmo tempo que controlam toda a produção dos alimentos, as pessoas não
têm noção do volume de água gasto mensalmente no cultivo das hortas, mesmo as que
utilizam água “da mangueira”, no caso das que estão relativamente próximas da casa
(casos pontuais). Referem que nunca fizeram qualquer análise sobre a qualidade da água
utilizada.
As técnicas de cultivo utilizadas são rudimentares, não se recorrendo a máquinas
agro-industriais, como tratores – “Se há enxada, fazemos horta”. Opta-se geralmente
pelo uso de pesticidas e adubos / fertilizantes (73.2%) e, dos casos analisados, apenas
uma horta, cultivada por um casal de portugueses residente no bairro da Nossa Senhora
da Saúde, localizado nas imediações, pratica agricultura biológica. Sobre a realização de
algum tipo de análise de qualidade do solo (por exemplo a verificação de índices de
6
Pisum Sativum.
Vicia faba.
8
Género Saccharum.
9
Phaseolus lunatus L. (Couto, 2009: 57).
10
Phaseolus lunatus L. (Couto, 2009:57).
11
Vigna unguiculata (L.) (Couto, 2009:57)
7
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contaminação por cádmio, chumbo e zinco), os resultados são os mesmos dos relativos
aos cuidados com a água, nulos.
O acesso à parcela de cultivo é feito através de caminhos estreitos e sinuosos,
espaços sobrantes entre as hortas, sendo que poucas se desenvolvem em encosta, nas
traseiras de algumas casas.
As hortas são transmitidas entre familiares ou entre acordos informais, por
exemplo um agricultor migra e “empresta” a horta a um amigo/conhecido para que este
a possa cultivar até ao seu retorno. No entanto, verifica-se que as hortas que ficam
expectantes durante algum tempo podem vir a ser ocupadas por outros moradores.
Apesar das relações que se estabelecem entre os vários agricultores e agricultoras,
estes lugares de cultivo não funcionam como espaços comunitários. Cada parcela é
cercada por arame e/ou uma vedação em madeira, muretes de pedra e, na maioria dos
casos, possuem portões fechados com cadeados.
Imagem 2. Mosaico de fotografias das entradas de algumas hortas e de um dos caminhos que as
conectam.
Relativamente às principais razões e motivações apresentadas para a prática das hortas,
ressaltam as seguintes:
· a estratégia de subsistência alimentar, uma vez que parte do que é cultivado
chega ao prato e significa uma importante ajuda na redução de custos com produtos
alimentares adquiridos nos mercados;
· o lazer, pois o acesso a outras atividades lúdicas nas imediações é difícil (falta de
recursos e de transporte) e as hortas podem representar um momento de lazer;
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· a saúde física e mental, pelo combate ao sedentarismo e ao stress, o trabalho nas
hortas ajuda a “movimentar o corpo”, a “não ficar parado dentro de casa” e/ou a “não
pensar tristeza”;
· o convívio social, dada a importância das relações entre os e as moradoras,
referindo-se que às vezes trocam produtos e sementes, conversam e, quando chega o
período da colheita, há almoços entre familiares e amigos;
· a ligação com a terra, com referencias ao sentimento de “como se estivesse em
minha terra. É uma sensação de estar em Cabo Verde e de liberdade.
A casa e as hortas: perceções e incertezas face ao realojamento
O desejo de permanecer no bairro, caso fosse possível, emerge como uma forma
de reivindicar o direito ao entorno (SANTOS, 1996). Porém, o realojamento é
percebido por muitas pessoas como a realidade mais próxima. Neste sentido, o desejo
de manter esta relação com o entorno é manifesto através da vontade de permanecer
numa área na qual pudessem cultivar ou mesmo que o espaço das hortas fosse
preservado no local, garantindo a relação entre o lugar e as pessoas (73%). Mesmo após
a mudança de local da habitação, tentariam continuar a cuidar das suas hortas no bairro
(45.2%), caso não tivessem condições de cultivar na proximidade das suas novas
residências.
Apesar das fracas condições para o tratamento adequado das hortas e do pouco
investimento material aplicado no processo de cultivo, demonstra-se a existência de um
forte vínculo com as hortas, dado o tempo e o cuidado dedicados às mesmas,
ressaltando o caso de pessoas que têm horta há mais de 30 anos, a possibilidade de
garantir algum alimento para a família, a redução de custos com a alimentação face à
situação de pobreza, entre outros. A seguir, os excertos das narrativas ilustram tais
preocupações:
“O espaço das hortas é diferente da casa. Aqui eu me sinto feliz, eu vejo o resultado, pego
na terra e depois vejo aquela plantinha bonita, crescida.... A casa é assim.... a gente faz
como dá. Entra água da chuva, é fria, betão ás vezes fica mal colocado. Eu gostaria de
uma casa melhor, pronto. Mas a horta a gente precisa. Precisa plantar, precisa comer. E
também faz bem, ajuda no descanso, é minha distração”
“Eu vivi no bairro 7 anos depois fui morar ali na Saúde. Mas sempre vim trabalhar na
horta. Não a abandonei. Primeiro eu tinha uma ali atrás, depois consegui de um amigo
esta. Eu me sinto bem aqui. Encontro meus patrícios, ás vezes conversamos, tomamos um
copo. E agora já trago meu filho de 12 anos. Eu não passo um fim de semana sem
trabalhar na horta. Só quando fico doente. E na semana trabalho então só tenho o fim de
semana. E agora fiz essa construção e já coloquei um fogão, um colchão e posso até
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dormir aqui nos fins de semana. E nunca se sabe. Se eu não puder mais pagar o aluguer
da casa onde moro, volto para cá e vivo aqui”
Trata-se de um contexto que influencia todo o processo de produção e de trabalho
familiar envolvidos nestas práticas de cultivo e, ao mesmo tempo, imprime um conjunto
de constrangimentos sociais, políticos e ambientais. São restrições vividas num
quotidiano marcado pela falta de acesso às infra-estruturas básicas para manutenção e
melhoramento das hortas; pela instabilidade sobre a permanência e a garantia de posse
dos terrenos cultivados e pela falta de documentação que facilite a comercialização e
rentabilização formal dos produtos.
Consequentemente, é impossibilitada a consolidação de um espaço produzido
pelos e pelas moradoras, bem como a geração de trabalho e renda em torno destas
atividades agrícolas, ao mesmo tempo em que se assume diferentes funções sociais
(convívio social, segurança alimentar, economia de subsistência, saúde, combate ao
stress e ao sedentarismo), ambientais (a viabilidade do terreno para o cultivo de plantas,
hortaliças, grãos e raízes, por exemplo) e culturais (troca de saberes e conhecimentos
entre os atores sobre o uso da terra e formas de cultivo utilizando recursos mínimos).
Conclusão
A forte presença e importância atribuídas às hortas lançam alguns desafios na
leitura e compreensão destes processos, que revelam e simultaneamente escondem o seu
verdadeiro objetivo: a possibilidade de aceder à cidade, à cidadania.
Para quem as produz, as hortas podem adquirir diferentes sentidos, representar
um projeto de subsistência, de reforço alimentar, um exercício de (re)aproximação às
origens, mesmo noutro território, à terra, em sentido lato, um espaço dedicado ao ócio e
à liberdade, face aos constrangimentos vividos no acesso à cidade, em resposta a
satisfações que entram no âmbito dos afetos.
No entanto, a importância que assumem contrapõe-se com a falta de programas e
políticas públicas de apoio a estas práticas, realizadas por grupos sociais que sofrem
constrangimentos sociais e políticos no processo de integração sócio-espacial, como é
disso exemplo a população do bairro estudado que, desde a sua chegada à cidade, há
aproximadamente 40 anos, ainda não conquistou o direito à habitação. O acesso
precário a recursos básicos, como a água e a energia elétrica, comprometem o resultado
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do cultivo, incapaz de alcançar o potencial que poderia ter na questão da segurança
alimentar para as famílias, por exemplo.
Por um lado, as hortas representam uma forma de integração sócio-espacial num
território não reconhecido pelo poder público. Por outro, os atos camarários
intencionalmente discriminatórios, dada a ausência de políticas públicas que integrem
estes espaços, as ações resultantes de forças económicas estruturais e de desigualdades
sócio-económicas, bem como a saída forçada dos moradores, na sequência do processo
de realojamento, acentuam processos de exclusão social.
A gestão e o ordenamento do território por parte do município também revelam
ambiguidades. No caso do município de Loures, ressalta a inexistência de debate sobre
uma realidade que atravessa e caracteriza grande parte do seu território, onde terrenos
baldios são e continuam a ser ocupados com hortas, sem o reconhecimento social e
político ou a autorização do poder público.
Conclui-se que, à semelhança do que acontece com o espaço habitacional
(RAPOSO, 2010), a leitura do espaço das hortas apoia-se somente numa visão jurídica,
que o encara como não legal, eliminando as diferenças e especificidades sociais,
económicas, culturais e ambientais e prevalecendo a semântica do “formal versus
informal”, “legal versus ilegal”, “espontâneo e clandestino”. Consequentemente, assistese à despolitização do tema, limitado a uma questão administrativa tecnicizada, onde o
processo participativo e deliberativo entre o cidadão/ã, a administração e o poder local,
não tem lugar. Os espaços produzidos são tratados de forma sectorial e segmentada,
seguindo-se as tipologias e formas de ocupação e uso do solo preestabelecidas,
enquadradas por exemplo no regime jurídico das AUGI, no PER ou nos espaços verdes
públicos, e tornando invisíveis os possíveis processos de reconversão e de direito de
propriedade, através do usucapião, bem como as práticas de hortas ou outras,
significantes para quem as pratica e se dedica.
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International Development Research Center, Leusden
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Come Rain or Come Shine: Political Ecology as a Tool to
Merge Labor and Environmental History
Ethemcan Turhan
Ethemcan Turhan is a Ph.D. candidate in Ecological Economics and Integrated Assessment
Research Group at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) in
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB). He is an environmental engineer by training and
holds a B.Sc. from Middle East Technical University, Turkey. Following his bachelor studies,
he has worked for UNDP in Turkey as a project assistant on climate change and sustainable
rural development projects. He has finished his M.Sc. in ICTA‐UAB in 2009, specializing on
climate change and global change. His doctoral research focuses on social vulnerability of
migrant seasonal agricultural worker communities in Turkey at the intersection of global
environmental changes and globalization.
Abstract: If political ecology’s originality arises from its efforts to link social and
physical sciences to address environmental distribution conflicts; analyzing natural and
labor processes, which are inherently connected and not exclusive of each other, will
provide a good basis to understand the interaction between these processes. This article
aims at proposing political ecology as a tool to merge labor and environmental histories
in an attempt to link environmental change and labor dynamics of migrant seasonal
agricultural workers. Considering that all environmental history has in some way also
been a part of labor history, this article first presents political ecology approach, then
proceeds with the need for both a shift to labor’s geography and agricultural worker’s
history of their labor and environment. Presenting the preliminary findings of a
historical analysis and a multi-sited ethnographic research in Çukurova (Turkey), this
article briefly concludes with the opportunities for a political ecology of migrant
agricultural labor that occurs in the intersection labor and environmental histories.
Key Words: migrant agricultural worker; political ecology; environmental history; labor
history; Çukurova
137
“Migration is the oldest action against poverty.”
J. K. Galbraith (1979)
Introduction
One of the main pillars of political ecology research is the unequal distribution
of vulnerabilities and their construction in material world and in discourses. This entails
a critical path to reconstruct the environmental explanations by making connections
between social and physical spheres and to prioritize the needs of vulnerable people.
“Under a critical political ecology” says Tim Forsyth (2003) “research might seek to
highlight how different accounts of environmental risk and vulnerability may reflect the
interests of different political actors and social groups.”
Jon Schubert (2005) asserts that the goal of political ecology is “to explicitly
avoid generalizations and to do justice to local realities”. Political ecology in this sense
is the study, with a structural political economy approach, to explain social
marginalization and environmental degradation simultaneously to ensure this justice is
done (Forsyth, 2008). In doing so, political ecology deconstructs the common wisdom
about distribution of environmental costs and benefits with reference to peasant studies,
environmental justice, power and gender studies among others.
According to Ben Rogaly (2009) organization of capitalist agricultural
production is varied spatially and temporally including the degree to which agricultural
practice is labor-intensive and whether and to what extent wageworkers are employed.
Thus while the “reserve army of labor-intensive agriculture”, seasonal agricultural
workers, move continually across spaces they also literally produce the space that they
inhabit, make a living and dwell. Thus contributing to vulnerability of these spaces and
receiving their shares of this vulnerability.
Be it named as guestworker schemes, seasonal agricultural workers, migratory
farmworkers or free-laborers; migration and agricultural labor are often interwoven in
many parts of the world. Protagonists of this labor are often locked in a vicious circle of
indifference, exploitation and precarious work. They are arguably the people most
dependent on natural resources (through agricultural production and its components) for
the safety and welfare of their livelihoods, who also can be considered among the most
sensitive to environmental change. For example, Wisner et al. (2004: 224) mention the
case of 1974 floods in Bangladesh that left millions of people in misery with falling
incomes and rising food prices topped with lack of recruitment opportunities in the
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flooded fields of large landholdings. Thus it can be argued that understanding the
dynamics of migrant seasonal agricultural labor and dynamics of environmental change
in the settings in which they work is necessary for a people-centered perspective of
vulnerability.
According to Barnett and Adger (2007), vulnerability manifests itself when
people are more dependent on climate sensitive forms of natural capital, and to a lesser
extent on economic or social forms of capital. This is most evident in case of agriculture
in which people’s subsistence depends on local ecologies and whether or not they can
adapt to changes in them. Moreover fluctuations in global agricultural markets also add
up as a decisive factor. Leichenko et al. (2010) acknowledge this widespread
recognition of linkages between global environmental change and globalization yet
assert that geographic research on connections and interactions between them are
limited. I would like to argue that such a recognition calls for a historical analysis on the
connections between environmental change and labor processes.
In this article, I discuss opportunities for a political ecology of migrant
agricultural labor based on the literature on migrant labor and the 4-month long
fieldwork that I have conducted in Southern and Southeastern Turkey where the effects
of the environmental change is visible; including the impacts of environmental changes
on social and agricultural practices. This article will propose political ecology of
migrant seasonal agricultural labor as a way to merge environmental and labor histories.
First it will provide a brief history of political ecology as an emerging field, then
continue with some insights on why we need to merge labor history with environmental
history to understand the underlying vulnerabilities, then go on to illustrate some
examples from the literature and briefly end with a case from Turkey.
From “factories in the fields” to “Labor’s geography”
Bryant and Bailey (1997) in their work on “Third World Political Ecology” state
that:
“Political ecologists accept the idea that costs and benefits associated with
environmental change are for the most part distributed among actors unequally, which
inevitably reinforces or reduces social and economic inequalities, which [in turn] holds
political implications in terms of the altered power of actors in relation to other actors”
(Bryant and Bailey, 1997:28-29)
Pronounced for the first time in 1970’s in different circles more or less
simultaneously (Peet and Watts, 2004), political ecology is generally accepted as having
139
emerged from structuralist approaches of neo-Marxist human geography despite being
heavily contested and enriched with what Escobar (1996) calls a post-structuralist
political ecology in the last two decades. Traditionally investigating inequalities in
access and control over resources as well as emergent social movements to oppose these
inequalities, political ecology in its latter research line also questions making of specific
environmental discourses. Thus it aims at bringing the practices through which nature
is historically produced into question.
Paul Robbins (2004) understands political ecology as a discipline, who not only
tries to expose flaws in dominant approaches to the environment as favored by powerful
players but also demonstrating the undesirable impacts of policies and market
conditions from the eyes of the vulnerable. It might be even more accurate to state that
political ecology should be seen as an interdisciplinary approach to environmental
inequalities regarding distribution of burdens and benefits rather than a single-standing
discipline. Here I would like to argue that the inherent richness of political ecology as
an approach lies in its roots in broadly defined Marxist/materialist political economy,
which brings in the question of labor and the environmental history. This in turn gives
political ecology a strategic role in “recording environmental destruction and
construction” (Robbins, 2004).
Political ecology’s originality arises from its efforts to link social and physical
sciences to address environmental changes, conflicts and problems (Paulson et al.,
2005). In this vein, analyzing natural and labor processes, which are inherently
connected and not exclusive of each other, will provide a good basis to understand the
interaction between these processes. Thus a political ecology that is firmly grounded in
class analysis which also contributes to a more comprehensive social theory, inclusive
of multiple and overlapping dimensions of identity would provide a new promising new
research path for analyzing the interactions between environment, migration and socioeconomic change (Paulson et al., 2005).
Political ecologists tend to assert that the social and environmental
contradictions of the global capitalist system are such as to negate the effects of all
attempts to reform the status quo (Bryant and Bailey, 1997). Building on this, I believe
that this approach to rework environmental change and migration will also allow us to
see “the hidden struggles in the quiet vista” (Robbins, 2004) as well as to avoid
proposing reforms and one-size-fits-all solutions to chronic problems in capitalist
agriculture.
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In the light of this, political ecology’s potential to link environmental and labor
history could be used to shed a light on contemporary state of world’s migrant seasonal
agricultural workers. Being a starting point, Carey McWilliams’ (2000) famous work on
the life stories of Dust Bowl migrants, “Factories in the Fields”, provides us with a
powerful narrative on the life stories of migrant agricultural laborers. On this I argue,
the toolbox of political ecology can provide us with new insights to look beyond the
misery and undercover how migrant labor interact with a changing environment.
When McWilliams (2000) refers to free speech, free assembly and collective
bargaining as the only viable ways of equalizing social relations and improving
environmental conditions in California (Sachs, 2004), he (I would argue) moves into the
field of political ecology. Sachs, in this sense, sees that McWilliams’ work on migrant
agricultural labor equally as a work on Bookchinite social ecology. He argues that “it is
not that McWilliams ignored the environmental damage […] rather he looked into
domination of people as the key problem to be addressed, while the destruction of
natural resources seemed to him a result of this primary abuse of power” (Sachs, 2004).
Yet since this connection between social and environmental spheres of migrant labor is
widely ignored if not underestimated, there is a need to take this work further to see
beyond the factories in the field in 21st century capitalist agricultural enterprises.
Don Mitchell (2011), in his careful analysis of capital, violence and
guestworkers in post-WWII Californian landscape, argue that understanding “the very
constitution of capitalism is […] impossible without a direct focus on the everyday lives
of workers.” He argues that we need a transition from labor geography to labor’s
geography in order to be able to give a voice to those who are left without an active
community and pushed to the bottoms of staircase of power. Thus, Mitchell (2011) puts
forward that any labor geography should be tempered with meaningful, sober and
materialist assessment of the world “as it is”.
In order to reach the abovementioned goal, it is inevitable to dig deep into the
processes of labor, environment and migration if we are to understand how migrant
agricultural labor and environmental change interact under the roof of a capitalist
agriculture. Rogaly (2009) argues that the agency of unorganized temporary migrant
workers has been relatively neglected in labor’s geography. This observation can be
justified by the sporadic and incomprehensive nature of the existing literature on
migrant seasonal agricultural labor. What is more striking is the lack of information
which in turn is more concerning since it indicates a lack of interest if not a full
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indifference on the people at the bottom of the society. This lack of data is more
problematic than having various assessments and reports of existing situation as it
reflects ignorance and neglect (Barnett, 2001).
Philip Martin (2006) opens up his review on the state of the migrant labor in the
st
21 century with the argument that “there is nothing more permanent than temporary
workers”. These temporary workers make up the reserve army of labor-intensive
agriculture. Thus permanence of their “temporal presence” comes out naturally, both in
the agribusiness-dominated agriculture of the global North and medium to large-scale
landholdings still in the capital-intensification process in the global South. Moreover,
ironically the success of civil rights/anti-poverty movements in agriculture-based
corners of the global North enhanced relative vulnerability of migrant seasonal workers
and even strongly maintaining their presence through increased utility of precarious
workers (ie. domestic migrants belonging to a national minority, undocumented foreign
workers, children etc.) over the local workers with increased entitlements.
Migration is no little business for communities living on agriculture. It is both a
cause and a consequence of their vulnerabilities. It is a result of their vulnerabilities as
once
dispossessed
or
driven
out
of
their
subsistence
activity
due
to
political/economical/social reasons, the most marginalized tend to be wage-workers in
agriculture in which little is required than bodily strength and full compliance to orders.
It is equally a reason of their vulnerability as their arrival destinations often involve hard
living and working environments under highly precarious conditions. On the difference
between local and migrant agricultural workers in a developed country context,
Sergeant and Tucker (2010) notes that:
“[t]he vulnerabilities that result from migrant farm workers’ precarious immigration
status have been widely noted. While migrant farm workers are entitled to the same
legal protection as other farm workers, interviews with migrant farm workers
consistently disclose they are extremely reluctant to voice complaints or to assert their
rights for fear of being deported or of not being named for re-employment for the next
season.”
Life-world of migrants working temporally in agriculture are characterized by
distinctive spatio-temporalities (Rogaly, 2009). These spatio-temporalities are also
results of negotiated power relations and their reflections in micro-spaces of work on
how food, shelter, decent working and income standards and social integration into
these spaces are shaped. This conclusion suggests that there is a need for more emphasis
on how temporal intersects and combines with the spatial “(i) to produce particular
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subject positions and (ii) to enable or constrain workers who are traveling away from
their hometowns to make a living and whose struggles have not yet received the
attention it deserves” (Rogaly, 2009).
Telling the story of California landscape making in the early 20th century, Don
Mitchell (1996) talks about the strategies of migrant workers as being “forced to look
after themselves, rather than to the state or private philanthropy, to develop effective
means for coping with (and perhaps transforming) the structures of their oppression.”
Coping strategies of the weak for power, landscape and circumstances into which they
arrive, therefore, find its manifestations in many ways. In the absence of this migrant
labor and its daily struggle to overcome oppression, agricultural economy and landscape
of California wouldn’t have been the same by any means. I believe this is applicable
equally elsewhere, in which migrant labor has changed and is currently changing the
agricultural and social landscapes irrevocably.
Yet there are few studies available on this labor-environment nexus as regards
migrant workers. Although several well-done studies of general migration exist, few
previous studies have examined the migration of agricultural workers (see Perloff et al.,
1998). Majority of the academic work on migrant seasonal agricultural labor remains in
a rather narrow set of disciplines among which are rural sociology, public health,
occupational health and safety and agricultural economics. Although luckily there are
some recent studies (Ellis, 2003; Rafique, 2003; Vasquez-Leon, 2009; Hunter et al.,
2011) that attempt to link environmental change and labor dynamics of migrant seasonal
agricultural workers, there still is a considerable lacuna in the political ecology literature
in this line of thought.
To start with analyzing the migrant labor-environmental change nexus, we should
first understand what lies in the background of this seasonal labor migration. There are
many root reasons for sustaining one’s household through seasonal agricultural labor
migration however in almost all stories we come across with a story of dispossession.
Despite the fact that rural-rural migration plays an important role for the poor peasantry
to find subsistence elsewhere, in particular cases (ie. Turkey) the population movement
also takes an urban-rural form. Deniz Pelek (2010), in an attempt to explain this
dispossession, suggests that
“Forced migration, giving up the land due to the decrease in prices from the effects of
the transition to a market economy and the considerable decline of the share-cropping
system for several reasons such as tariff quotas and the disappearance of state supports
are some of the causes why workers’ place of residence has become urban centre rather
143
than a rural one. “
Once these dispossessed communities are left without their subsistence activity in
the rural regions as well as having strictly limited access urban job markets, the easiest
way to gain year-round income is to migrate for agricultural work.
Migrant seasonal agricultural workers are arguably the most dependent social
group on natural resources for the safety and welfare of their livelihoods. Rogaly and
Coppard (2003) argue that the “variations of climate between years, unexpected shocks
[climate change] and more predictable life-cycle [socio-economical changes] changes
make for fluctuations in the supply of labor power and effective demand for it over
time”. On this note, Bardhan (1999; as cited in Rogaly and Coppard, 2003) adds that
cultures of [agricultural] work are at least partly shaped by agro-ecology of a place.
Through this, availability of their year-round economic activity as well as health is
particularly dependent on the local conditions of the regions where they migrate to
work. Thus their labor is directly affected by the changes in the agro-ecologies of those
spaces.
Migrant seasonal agricultural workers are also among the most sensitive social
groups on which, impacts of global and national agricultural policies clearly fall. For
example, a decade long implementation of IMF-led structural adjustment in Turkish
agriculture, particularly tobacco farming, provides us with a clear example of this.
Kayaalp (2009), in her careful analysis of remaking of the tobacco market in Turkey,
show that tobacco producers in Eastern Turkey, following the ratification of IMF-led
tobacco law in 2002, gave way to their tobacco production as the type of tobacco they
produce was not of interest to transnational tobacco companies any more. Once resident
sharecroppers with relatively more stable livelihood assets, many producers in the
region then became seasonal workers in agriculture. Consequently as their economic
activity has changed to one of migrant wage-labor, they have turned into the agricultural
markets facing the employment reducing effects of on-going mechanization and
ecological change topped with impacts of neoliberal structural adjustment in agriculture.
Thus in order to elaborate this approach, following sections of this article will
benefit from the methodological tools of political ecology such as critical environmental
history and preliminary findings of an on-going multi-sited ethnography (Marcus, 1995)
first part of which was realized between January-May 2011 in Şanlıurfa and Adana
provinces of south and southeastern Turkey. Novelty of multi-sited ethnography is its
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emphasis on ethics (the loss of subaltern), commitment (discontinuous movement and
discovery among sites as one maps the object of study) and activism. Such an approach
foresees that when the object of study is mobile and multiply situated, its ethnography
should be multi-sited and mobile as well.
Migrant agricultural labor and environmental change in Çukurova, Turkey
When you are driving the 50-km long road towards the sea from the city of
Adana in southern Turkey on a sunny afternoon towards late March, it is most likely
that your eyes will be attracted to increasing stripes of shiny white lines on the
Çukurova landscape. While you might witness the very visible change of landscape
from green to white covers of low greenhouses and then to green again between months
of March and May, it is almost impossible to see those who are changing this landscape
except sporadic tent yards here and there. Why are they invisible? Or in Giagnoni’s
(2011) words on migrant labor, are they invisible because they can be “more easily
dehumanized”?
Çukurova (Low Plain in Turkish) is the delta system that lies in the lower parts
of the Seyhan and Ceyhan river basins in the Mediterranean coast. Adana, which is the
5th most populous city of Turkey, is also the biggest urban center in Çukurova.
According to Kıray (1974) at the turn of the 19th century, this region was hardly more
than a “badly drained, dever-ridden, thinly populated piece of land” in clear contrast to
its booming population today. Toksöz (2009), in her detailed analysis of the labor
history of this region, state that this region of the world has witnessed a changing role in
the world-system following the American Civil War. Increasing European demand in
cotton following this historical period helped parts of contemporary Egypt and Turkey
(as parts of the late Ottoman Empire) to emerge as cotton producers. Toksöz (2009)
argues that around 1870’s, Çukurova took its share of what might be called as “Ottoman
modernization“ and integration into capitalist world-system.
The main change towards cotton in the region has started to accelerate by
subvention policies, tax exemption for 5-years and free seed distribution (1862) to
promote cotton plantations in the region. Meltem Toksöz (2000) notes that the
merchants of the region accumulating large amounts of capital between 1870-1890,
have mostly invested in large-scale cotton plantation and successfully connected them
to the world markets. Furthermore Toksöz (2009) invites us to think the increase in
labor demand in this period together with the migration and settlement policies to meet
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this demand.
In the early times of this development, labor demand of the region was met with
cattle-breeding nomadic Turkish tribes from the surrounding Taurus mountains.
Following 1880’s when the lower parts of the plain were almost fully occupied with
plantations, relatively less fertile upper parts of the plain started to be inhabited by these
nomad and other migrant groups. During the rule of Mehmet Ali Paşa, the Ottoman
Governor of Egypt, nomadic Turkish groups were placed in the region to develop
agriculture and to counter the increasing Armenian population in the region. This
enforced settlement often led to quasi-feudal landlordism. Since these settled rural
populations were not enough to satisfy labour demand, landlords depended on migrant
seasonal labour coming to Çukurova from the surrounding mountain areas and from
Central Anatolia. Following the World War I (WWI), Armenian landowners were
forced to cede the land which first led to squatting and eventually legal acquisition of
the large pieces of agricultural land by migrant workers, former share-croppers and poor
people from the cities (Kıray, 1974).
The prime factor limiting agricultural production in Çukurova after the
establishment of the Turkish Republic (1923) was the shortage of labor supply.
“Incomplete dispossession” earmarked this period for the seasonal agricultural workers
as even though impoverished workers from different corners of the country traveled to
Çukurova for cotton hoeing and harvesting, a significant portion of them had small plots
of land and property in their hometowns (Toprak, 1997). Labor demand of Çukurova in
pre-WWI period was about 60-80,000 workers, most of which came from nomadic
tribes from surrounding Taurus mountains and Kurdish tribes in the south-east Anatolia
(Toprak, 1997). A similar shortage in labor in USA has led to establishment of Bracero
programme for importing migrant Mexican agricultural workers between 1942-1965.
Table 1 reveals the trends in Turkey towards dispossession and movement out
of the agriculture.
Year
Percentage of
Landless Families
(%)
1913
8,0
1927
17,0
1950
14,5
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1963
9,1
1968
17,5
1973
21,9
1981
27,2
Table 1. Percentage of landless families according to years (Oral, 2006)
Özuğurlu (2010) notes that the main social relation that defines the rural in
Turkey (as being similar to the vast majority of the global South) is continuous
intervention and penetration of the capital. In this regard, the post World War II (WWII)
period should be considered as a returning point in the history of Çukurova with
extensive immersion of capital and mechanization in agriculture. Çınar and Lordoğlu
(2011) identify two periods of boom in agricultural labor supply to the relatively more
developed labor markets in Turkey’s more affluent northern, southern and western
provinces mainly from the southeast and eastern Turkey. First of these periods is
dissolution of rural regions through extensive mechanization, cease of sharecropping
and changes in land ownership in the post-WWII period, which also marked the
transition to multi-party parliamentary regime in Turkey. The second period has started
in late 1980’s, which is marked by the forced migration due to violent ethnic conflict
between Kurdish insurgents and Turkish army. With the rise of violent conflict between
separatist PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and Turkish army in the Eastern and
Southeastern Turkey, it is estimated that between 953.680-1.201.200 people in the
region were forced to migrate with more than 75% being from rural regions, which led
to an even more steep increase in the number of dispossessed workers (Hacettepe
University, 2006).
Turkey’s push to join IMF and OECD as founding members in the aftermath of
WWII led to a rampant change in national agricultural policies pursued after 1950’s.
Ünsal (2004) observes that designated with an agriculture based development pattern,
the region undoubtedly reflects the role given to Turkey in the global economy of postWorld War II. Tören (2007), in his analysis of the U.S. Marshall Plan, concludes that
accumulation in Turkey in post-WWII period changed its form from trade capital to
productive capital thus giving Turkey an agricultural role in the new world system.
Through this plan, initially aiming at investing the relatively well-off U.S. capital to
foreign countries in the name of development aid to avoid problems of
overaccumulation, a significant amount of modern agricultural tools (ie. agricultural
147
vehicles, irrigation systems, artificial fertilizers etc.) were introduced. This phenomenon
was specifically focused on a number of productive agricultural basins with Çukurova
being arguably the most important.
Gümüş (2006) argues that the rise of Çukurova as a migrant agricultural laborreceiving destination in this period also has environmental causes. Decrease in hair goat
husbandry in highlands, stronger protection of forest areas, privatization of pastures and
increase in rural population in this period once mixed with the intensification of
agriculture (cotton above all), increase in agricultural yields and high demand for cheap
labor has led the dispossessed of the country to flow towards here to make a living.
Today we can also include environmentally induced migration due to dam constructions
within the ambitious Southeastern Anatolia Project (Güneydoğu Anadolu Projesi in
Turkish) involving construction of 22 large dams, 19 hydropower plants and large-scale
irrigation infrastructure for 1.7 million hectares on-going since late 1970’s to this list.
Furthermore this flow of migrant labor, emerging from the impoverished
peripheries of the country, southeast Anatolia towards the center shows the duality of
center-periphery relations (Gümüş, 2006). It should be considered that this flow from
periphery to center is also driven by the developmentalist moves in the periphery.
Kadirbeyoğlu (2010) provides an example of drought-driven proletarianization of the
sharecroppers and small producers from Suruç district of southeastern province of
Şanlıurfa. Suruç is one of the districts, which sends a significant amount of seasonal
agricultural workers to Çukurova. Having cotton, wheat, barley but also pomegranate,
apricot as the main crops; Suruç has undergone a significant drought due to excessive
use of groundwater and lack of irrigation channels since late 1970’s. (Kadirbeyoğlu,
2010). Today the water table stands at between 150-200 meters underground and there
is hardly any agricultural activity except barley. Despite the lack of official statistics on
seasonal labor migration, during my interviews in February 2011 interviewees have
mentioned that out of a population of 102.000 in Suruç, a barely 30.000 is left in town
after March-April period until October. This is the time when seasonal agricultural
workers leave for looking for their year-round income in Çukurova.
Based on two factors, Gümüş (2005) estimates that annual migrant labor in
Çukurova is around 100.000 people. These factors are (i) labor demand for each crop
per decare and (ii) ratio of domestic to migrant labor. This brings into the light that
change in crop pattern in Çukurova due to either environmental change or marketdriven reasons (ie. mechanization) might have significant impacts for employment of
148
seasonal workers.
During the interviews in Şanlıurfa in February 2011, I have come across with the
impact of agro-ecological change quite often as a migration-determinant. A male
interviewee in Şanlıurfa (aged 28), who has been working as a migrant worker for 15
years with 9 consequent years in Çukurova, suggested that their migration routes have
been changing continuously due to low rates of return in cotton due to shift in seasonal
rains topped with declining role of Turkey in global cotton markets. Çalışkan (2007) in
his ethnographical analysis of the cotton markets in Turkey, notes that:
“Rain decreases the quality of cotton fibers, making them wet and dirty and creating
rain spots on the lint. Furthermore, it would be more costly to pick the cotton, because,
on the one hand, wet soil decreases the speed of the workers and, on the other hand,
rainwater increases the weight of cotton, thus increasing the cost of the workers’ daily
wages. The daily wage that farmers pay to workers is a function of the weight of the
cotton that the workers pick.”
This not only causes hardships for the workers but also challenge their year
round income gathering activity. Such untimely rain are often seen very negatively by
the landowners who are already moving away from cotton production due to high costs
and decreasing prices. Moreover with the rising cotton production in places like Egypt
and Pakistan, most Çukurova farmers have moved away from cotton until recently.
However with declining production due to intensive floods in Pakistan and drought and
popular uprisings in Egypt, this past 3 years have seen a boom of cotton in the region
again (see Graph 1).
Graph 1. Cotton production vs. imports (in thousand bales) in Turkey (2000-2011) (Resource: National
Cotton Council of America, 2011)
As a result of decline in popularity of cotton in the region, a significant increase
149
in low-level greenhouse establishments for watermelon and vegetable cultivation is
highly visible in Çukurova. A landlord (male, aged 52) in Karataş province commented,
“They would have laughed back at us if we said that we would cultivate watermelons
and tomatos here 20 years ago, it was all covered with cotton. Now everyone is planting
watermelons and vegetables”. Watermelon cultivation now covers 21% of the
agricultural land spared for fruits and vegetables in Adana (Provincial Directorate of
Agriculture of Adana, 2010). Tsujii and Erkan (2007) observe that a shift to watermelon
production is widely seen in the Lower Seyhan region (part of Çukurova closer to the
Mediterranean) mainly by small farmers since watermelons have high land productivity
in the face of failing crops (maize and barley) with rising mean temperatures. Decrease
in labor demand due to decline of the importance and mechanization of cotton
production has shifted the labor demand seasonally for setting up greenhouses for
watermelons. Thus now migrant workers arrive to Çukurova as early as February and
stay until May in comparison with the cotton calendar, which runs through May to
October.
Inhabiting unplanned tent sites often located by the plots in which they work,
migrant seasonal workers are the ones that are directly exposed to the climate-related
disasters such as flood and drought. Climate variability is one of the main contributors
of losses in agriculture with increasing frequency of extreme weather events. Especially
considering that annual maximum temperature series in Turkey reveal a rising trend for
Mediterranean, Southeastern and Eastern regions of Turkey, among the most popular
migrant labor destinations (Demir et al., 2008).
Working without any social security or formal contract, migrant workers fill in
the jobs that are seen inferior by the vast majority. Thus their structural vulnerability to
environmental shocks and stresses are higher not only because of the nature of
agricultural work but also due to lack of formal social security coverage (ie. labor union,
legislation). Law no. 2925 establishes that seasonal agricultural workers shall join the
social security system only by paying their own premiums. Yet as of early 2011, daily
wages stood at 27 TRY, 2 TRY of which is directly passed to the labor intermediary.
This corresponds to a 10€/day wage in return of 9-10 hours of labor. Considering the
fact that average working period for these workers is between 60-90 man-days a year
(given the labor supply available and agricultural calendar), it seems impossible that
these workers can both save enough for subsistence and pay their premiums. Thus
absence of such social safety net manifests itself as high levels of vector-based diseases
150
and poisoning from agricultural inputs among the workers.
A public health survey realized in Çukurova in 2002 found out that 342 (24,4%)
out of 1399 migrant seasonal workers who have been to the village clinic, suffered from
respiratory diseases during March-October (Sutoluk
et al., 2004). The peak of medical
cases occurred in the hottest month of the season, August with 34.7% of the cases. This
forementioned public health study concludes that most of the health problems seen in
seasonal workers are related with environmental conditions, lack of clean potable water
due to scarcity and contamination, malnutrition and increase in vectors. In contrast with
the national water use per capita of 111L/day, migrant seasonal workers are estimated to
use 20L/day per capita. Some interviewees have stated that in cases when they do not
have access to potable water, they consume water from the irrigation ditches. Moreover
Sütoluk et al. (2006) observe lower levels of cholinesterase enzyme leading to severe
health problems in seasonal workers due to continuous inhalation of organo-phosphorus
pesticides. Higher rates of climate related diseases can be expected among seasonal
workers as their access to clean water will be limited under decreased water availability
with increased demand projected for the region unless necessary social policy measures
are taken.
Historical processes that caused agricultural labor deficit in Çukurova combined
with a new assigned role of the region in world-system led a migrant labor inflow to this
region. Further dispossession of Turkey’s own Kurdish and Arab minorities due to
forced migration in late 80’s and early 90’s accelerated the influx of migrant
agricultural labor towards Çukurova. So through this some towns in this agricultural
basin basically inhabited by the migrant workers have doubled in population.
Doğankent, a migrant worker settlement on the way to the sea from Adana, for example
had 5,938 inhabitants in 1990, 19,136 in 2000 and 27,134 in 2007. Çetinkaya (2008)
argues that this population increase cannot be explained by natural population increase
alone. Such patterns are observed in parts of Çukurova where migrant workers are
employed with the new agricultural production patterns, which were developed after the
consolidation of cotton production.
Change of environmental conditions at hometowns of the migrant workers, for
example drought in cases of Suruç to Çukurova and in Mexican state of Sonora to
Arizona, U.S. (Vasquez-Leon, 2009), is a driving for migration. However change of
environmental conditions as well as socio-economic drivers at migrant receiving
destinations also do change the patterns, timing, form and intensity of seasonal labor
151
migration. A careful study of changing patterns from the perspective of workers
themselves will enhance our knowledge of structural defaults of agricultural labor
system in reducing vulnerability of marginalized migrant agricultural workers before
mutually reinforcing environmental and socio-economic changes.
Conclusion: Towards a political ecology of migrant seasonal agricultural labor
Increasingly popular literature on vulnerability suggests that there is still work to
be done to understand starting-level (contextual) and outcome-level (consequential)
vulnerability (O’Brien et al., 2004). Understanding this contextual/structural/inherent
vulnerability is the first step in designing a sound response against the environment and
market based shocks. I would argue that through political ecology, whose novelty lies in
combining critical environmental history and class analysis based labor history; we can
establish the “chains of explanation” (Wisner et al., 2004) in analyzing the
vulnerabilities migrant agricultural labor is facing in a changing physical and socioeconomic environment. In this explanation, unequal social-political-economic
conditions and limited access to power and resources lay down the root causes of
vulnerability. For a political ecology of migrant seasonal agricultural workers, this is the
point labor history enters the stage. A thoroughly crafted labor history including the
historic dimensions of the agricultural development, labor deficit and change in migrant
identity would help us to understand the structural roots of vulnerability.
McNeill’s (2003) identification of three strands in environmental history as (i)
material, (ii) cultural and (iii) political environmental histories in this sense provides us
with impressive opportunities to merge labor history and environmental history to
explain (a) impacts of material changes in environment on worker communities, (b)
representations, images and perceptions of changing labor landscapes for the working
class and (c) changes in political/economical conditions that alter or transform the
working conditions for the laborers. I would argue that (a) and (c) strands of research
will mutually benefit from the materialist/Marxist roots of political ecology while (b)
strand can both benefit from and contribute to the post-structuralist political ecology.
Thus if environmental history is to be written from the bottom-up with the people in the
foreground (McNeill, 2003), I would argue it is an inescapable opportunity to converge
it with labor history through critical human geography insights of political ecology.
This article tried to argue that this could be achieved through using the tools of
political ecology which allows us to investigate not only environmental history but also
152
merge it with labor history in order to see the flip side of the coin. Unless
structural/historical reasons of labor migration, drivers of change and impacts of change
on the migrant agricultural worker communities are thoroughly investigated, this most
marginalized part of the societies will face increasingly higher environmental risks
under popular ignorance.
Vasquez-Leon (2009) argue that “[g]iven the uncertainty of global
environmental and economic trends, [we are] challenged to engage in larger-scale
discussions that inform and guide policy about the importance of cultural and social
dynamics for improving adaptive capacity”. A political ecology approach to migrant
seasonal agricultural labor should be able to connect environmental and labor histories
to make way for a sound structural vulnerability analysis in empowering these
marginalized communities. This will require “a detailed, field-based understanding of
the formal mechanisms and institutions that states utilize to mediate environmental
risks, economic insecurity, and massive displacements of local populations brought
about by modernization” (Vasquez-Leon, 2009).
Rogaly (2009) argues that David Harvey’s understanding of time-space nexus
carries an emancipatory potential of migration for workers. He states that
“[u]norganised migrant workers as subjects may still play a role in seeking, and
obtaining, incremental and sometimes highly significant changes in microspaces of
work and living, albeit it in a world dominated by capital.” (Rogaly, 2009) Thus
following this, in order to address the changing social, ecological and economic
landscapes of labor-intensive agriculture-based geographies, a political ecology of the
migrant agricultural labor focusing on workers as the agents and recipients of change is
of significant importance. This will also lay the groundwork for political action on
agricultural workers, which Marx refers to as “always stand[ing] with one foot already
in the swamp of pauperism”.
Convergence of labor and environmental history narratives with a focus on
economic and social processes that causes “incomplete dispossession” and their shift
towards “complete dispossession” with additional social (ie. ethnic conflict) and
ecological pressures (ie. environmentally-induced migration due to drought, destruction
of pastures or dam construction) will allow us to understand the structural vulnerability
of migrant agricultural workers. Moreover such a deeper understanding will allow the
policymakers to design policy interventions that aim at reducing the structural
vulnerabilities rather than momentary solutions aiming at returning to status quo. At the
153
end of the day, all environmental history has in some way been a labor history as it has
always been the labor of humans altering their environment intentionally in a positive or
negative direction while working in their capacity as serfs or waged laborers, lords or
landowners. What political ecology may provide us is to see this historical process from
a critical perspective and understand the modern day struggles waged by the agricultural
laborers working by not missing the historical context of their daily struggles.
154
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Environmental degradation as a cause of migration:
cautionary tales from Brazil∗
Angus Wright
Angus Wright, Prof. Emeritus of Environmental Studies, California State University,
Sacramento, is the author of The Death of Ramon Gonzalez: The Modern Agricultural Dilemma,
and co-author of To Inherit the Earth: The Landless Movement in the Struggle for a New Brazil,
and Nature’s Matrix: Linking Conservation, Agriculture, and Food Sovereignty. He has worked
with a variety of NGO’s and international commissions, and is currently Chair of the Board of
The Land Institute.
Through the rest of our lifetimes we will see increasing numbers of people who
feel compelled to leave their homes because of environmental degradation. Estimates of
migration directly caused by climate change alone range from fifty to two hundred
million people by the year 2050.1 The numbers could well go much higher.
Independently of climate change, many other forms of environmental change are likely
to force migrations. These include desertification; competition for fresh water supplies;
soil compaction, salinization, and erosion; and the collapse of fisheries. When these are
entwined with climate change, as they almost certainly will be, the numbers who must
migrate to survive will go higher than if any single factor were operating alone. Given
present social structures and starting from existing geographical distribution of
populations the negative effects of these changes are expected to fall most heavily on
the poor and powerless. Those who are compelled to migrate will usually do so towards
regions that for them are likely to be physically and socially difficult and often
profoundly hostile.
The preponderance of unpredictable factors has made it impossible to put a
credible number to the human losses that might result from the strain put on states in
managing the consequences of climate change and other forms of environmental
degradation. These could be quite severe. They will likely, in some instances, include
heightened conflict among ethnic groups and deepened divisions along lines of social
class. They will certainly involve demands that governments take expensive remedial
∗
The observations here regarding environmental migration in general were written as part of a study that
includes an analysis of cases from Brazilian history. That analysis will appear in a forthcoming volume of
historical studies of migration and environment.
1
“Climate change could create 200m refugees.” The Sunday Times, April 1, 2007.
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article1596769.ece
159
actions in situations in which the governments involved are already hard pressed to
meet current basic needs of their populations. Taken alone or together, these factors
could lead to significant further dislocations, disease, and death well beyond those
directly caused by environmental degradation itself. In some cases, they could lead to
the collapse of state power or, alternatively, to stronger tendencies to authoritarianism in
governments that become increasingly less responsive to the needs of citizens.
While the discussion of “environmental migrants” has been newly energized by
environmental concerns generally and climate change prospects in particular, the
phenomenon of migration caused by environmental degradation is very old. In the mid19th century, George Perkins Marsh sought to demonstrate the role of environmental
degradation in the collapse of ancient civilizations that frequently led to wholesale
migrations of peoples, many examples of which were literally “Biblical.”2 More
recently, Donald Worster, in The Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930’s,3 one of
the most influential works of what is sometimes referred to as the new environmental
history, provided an account of one of the twentieth century’s best-known examples of
large-scale migration whose immediate cause was environmental degradation in the
form of soil erosion.
In The Death of Ramon Gonzalez: The Modern Agricultural Dilemma,4 I argued
that much of the migration of rural Mexican people out of their homelands and into
northern Mexico and the United States was driven by processes of deforestation and soil
degradation whose origins can be traced back to five hundred years before the Spanish
Conquest. These processes were then greatly accelerated by the Conquest and by 19th
and 20th century social exclusion, government policy, technological change, and
population growth. Further, I argued that the environmentally damaging patterns of
rural development characteristic of the more recently developed regions of the Mexican
Northwest and U.S. Southwest were partially enabled by the availability of migrants as
cheap labor, migrants who had been forced to abandon regions of earlier environmental
ruin. Though some have seen considerable originality in my account, it was never my
idea that the nature of my argument was new—rather, it seemed to be another chapter in
a long history of human-caused environmental degradation and closely-related
2
Man and Nature: or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action, published in 1864, revised
edition, 1874. Available from Belknap Press, 1973, and ed. David Lowenthal, from Harvard University
Press, 2007.
3
1979. Oxford University Press.
4
1990, 2nd ed. 2005. University of Texas Press.
160
migrations. If it the argument was novel, it was so to the extent that I showed how
modern agricultural research and technological innovation were elements of
government and corporate policy that simultaneously misinterpreted, exploited, and
fueled this whole process.
Historical geographers, anthropologists, sociologists, demographers, and even
geologists have contributed to a literature that provides direct analysis or that lends
important data or tools to understanding environmentally-caused migrations. Novelists
have made the subject much better known to the public and have explored more deeply
its meaning for people caught up in it. Film-makers have found its epic qualities that
link human misery to powerful forms of change in nature itself an irresistible topic of
historical epics and forward-looking science fiction. Historians are not alone when they
approach the theme of environmentally-induced migration.
Problems of definition: not merely semantic
The topic of environmental migration is not new, but there is a deservedly new
sense of urgency about it, driven primarily by concerns over the effects of climate
change. For reasons that are significant and far from merely semantic or academic,
much of the most recent literature concerns itself with or is strongly troubled by matters
of definition. What do mean by the terms “environmental migrant” or “environmental
refugee?”
Virtually every historian who has written on migration as a consequence of
environmental change has been at pains to emphasize that human culture, including its
political and economic structures, has been the major causal agent in what otherwise is
thought of as environmental change or degradation. Worster rejected the idea that the
Dust Bowl was simply a natural disaster. He chalked the Dust Bowl up to the relentless
operations of what he called “capitalist culture” as manifested in a variety of ways. My
analysis of the causes of Mexican rural emigration also depends on a view of how
policy and technology were shaped by twentieth century capitalism and the inequalities
of power and wealth characteristic of it. George Perkins Marsh wanted to know what it
was in human culture that led civilization to foul its own nest under many different
social systems across diverse human cultures. It is hard to think of a historian who
believes that emigration in response to environmental change does not heavily implicate
particular features of human culture and institutions as a fundamental cause of the
environmental change itself and/or as a major factor in determining that the costs of
161
adaptation to the change would fall disproportionately on some portions of the
population, often to the benefit of other classes or groups.
When human agency is not involved and when nature’s force is exerted in clear,
episodic ways, we use a separate category: “natural disaster.” Earthquakes, hurricanes,
periodic floods and droughts, tornados, and other natural catastrophes, we imagine, are
the consequence of nature acting on its own. To relieve the victims of natural disasters,
governments have special policies, agencies, and funds, as do the United Nations and
other international entities. This may seem straightforward and allow for reasonably
constrained definitions that separate migration due to natural disasters from that caused
by more general or less episodic processes that we know as environmental change. It
would at first glance seem that the basic definition can be maintained even when the
failure of government or businesses to adequately prepare for or remediate the results of
natural disasters involves human agency as a complicating factor. Public opinion and
the law may find humans culpable for consequences of natural disasters, but the
precipitating event can remain relatively distinct and clearly defined.
The tidiness of such definitions is illusory. For example, some very large
portion—perhaps the majority—of those who will be displaced by climate change will
be forced to leave farmland and towns due to sea level rise. However, their migration
will not typically come in the form of rising sea water that slowly but surely begins to
cover land. Saltwater intrusion into fresh water aquifers and soils are likely to cause
gradual impoverishment (as they already have in Bangladesh) but will not be easily
identifiable as a single, discrete cause of migration associated with climate change.
Rather, in these lowland regions the notable waves of migration will be the result of
episodic powerful floods, especially in the agriculturally rich and densely populated
delta and estuary regions of Asia. These floods will appear as simply more powerful
and/or more frequent versions of the episodic disastrous floods of the past. To what
extent have the great floods in China and Bangladesh (e.g., 500,000 were left homeless
by the flooding of Bhola Island in Bangladesh in 1995) that have killed tens of
thousands and displaced millions in recent decades been the result of the rise of sea
levels that we know with reasonable certainty have already been generated by a
warming climate? Or, perhaps instead, are they simply recurrences of great floods
known to have occurred in such regions over centuries? Or are they seen best as caused
or complicated by regional population growth, regional land subsidence due to ongoing
agricultural activity, and by flood control measures that have been shown in many cases
162
to actually intensify flooding as a consequence of extreme precipitation events? To what
extent could different land tenure systems and economic arrangements have protected
people against the worst long-term effects of such flooding? Would it be more accurate
to see the displacement of massive numbers of people by flooding as the consequence
of a failure to industrialize society and modernize agriculture—social processes that in
many regions of the world have led most of the people of rural regions to leave the land
over a period of decades? If a warming climate is fully or partially to blame, to what
extent is the climate change human-induced?
There is no reason to believe that satisfactory answers to such complicated
questions will be available in future decades. Unfortunately, the questions cannot be
avoided or dismissed as irrelevant. How we answer such questions will be a significant
factor in how emergency and long-term national and international aid is allocated, how
refugee and immigration categories are legally defined and administered, how
development projects are designed, how legal claims for compensation are adjudicated,
and how national and international policies directed to longer term solutions are
formulated. 5
The difficulty of such questions may be appreciated by the debate over the
rebuilding of New Orleans. While there are persuasive economic reasons for rebuilding
the city in its present location as well as powerful cultural and sociological arguments
for doing so, there is also a compelling argument for the view that financial and human
reinvestment in the city will only cause greater economic losses and human misery in
both the shorter and longer run. Regional change in water courses and coastal land use,
much of it irreversible or reversible only in the relatively long run, combined with
prospects for global climate change may make the present site of the city essentially
indefensible from repeated catastrophic floods. Various technical analyses completed
prior to the disastrous flood caused by Katrina had made the argument that the city was
indefensible. For those who had read such perspectives, Hurricane Katrina seemed to
clinch the case. The fact that little sober public discussion of this matter has been
politically possible points up the fact that scientific uncertainties, troubling enough by
themselves, are in any case swamped by vested interests and public sentiment.6
5
Examples of studies in which these matters are taken up are: Environmental Change and Forced
Migration Scenarios Synthesis Report, Andras Vag et al. European Commission, May 14, 2009;
International Law and the Victims of Climate Change: Creating a Framework for Managing Impacts and
Displaced People, Justin S. Rubin, Perspectives, American Security Project.
6
Cf. “Washing Away” Mark Scheifstein, June 23-27, 2002, New Orleans Times-Picayune.
163
The same kinds of complications arise with respect to droughts and a variety of
other events whose causation with respect to climate change, other natural processes,
and human actions is extremely difficult to establish. Is desertification in the Sahel,
thought by many observers to have been the clear result of human activities in the
region, actually a regional result of global climate change? Or, is it even the case that
deserts are advancing in the region? To what extent are the conflicts in such regions as
Darfur the result of expanding deserts and deeper droughts and the consequent
competitive pressures on land? Are the competitive pressures for control of land and the
associated movement of peoples in the region generated more by climate-induced
desertification or more by the fallout of colonial land allocations and property rights
systems, matters that on principle could still to some extent be set right? Any analysis
of these questions has acute political implications that may determine not only the
design of emergency aid and development projects but also the ability to reduce armed
conflict and/or the determination to undertake international armed interventions in the
effected regions.7
If we cannot clearly distinguish those migrants fleeing natural disasters from
victims of the broader category of environmental change, it is even more difficult, as
already suggested, to sort out the degree of responsibility we assign to humans and
human institutions, versus the responsibility we assign to nature. Yet, difficult as it is,
we will be forced to try to answer such questions in order to conceive and design
appropriate responses ranging from the local to the international, from humanitarian to
military. In order to think about this question we not only have to account for a
multitude of confounding factors, the behavior of complex natural and human systems,
and profound scientific uncertainties, we also have enter into what is inevitably the
territory of moral reasoning and human values.
It takes only a little imagination to realize that other categories, many of them
with weighty legal definitions and/or connotations that influence attitudes and policies,
can also merge with, overlap, or confuse the definition of “victims of natural disasters,”
“environmental migrants” or “environmental refugees.” “Political refugees,” “economic
migrants,” “victims of genocide,” may all be in one important sense or another people
who are environmental refugees or migrants. Which category is appropriate to a given
7
Mahmood Mamdani, Saviours and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror. 2009. Verso.
164
person or individual and which should be most salient in governing attitudes, policies,
and legal actions?
165
Servitude and Slave Trade: the Case of Bolivian Immigrants
who work in Clandestine Textile Workshops of the Buenos
Aires Metropolitan Area
Alejandro Goldberg
Alejandro Goldberg is PhD. in Anthropology (2004), Researcher of the Anthropological
Science Institute (CONICET, Argentina), Professor of the seminary "Anthropology and
international migrations" (Buenos Aires University) and Director of the Group of Research and
Sociocultural Intervention with Migration People (GIISPI).
Abstract: Part of the Bolivian immigrant workforce in Argentina was recruited in their
country of origin through local agents that belong to an organized network of human
traffickers. They arrive to Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (BAMA) where they are
submitted to exploitation of manpower in semi-slavery conditions in clandestine textile
workshops This process implies three different types of crimes: 1) human trafficking; 2)
human slave trafficking (“trata”) and 3) slavery. Our general hypothesis is that the
trafficking networks are articulated through “migratory paths” that are used for two
purposes: for gathering workers, and for their later retention in the clandestine textile
workshops. These migratory paths expose migrants to certain structural processes and
life experiences. This paper focuses on those pains and diseases suffered by this group
of migrants that are linked to their work and their way of life in our society – among
which tuberculosis stands out as a disease with a growing incidence-.
Key Words: Bolivian migration; human slave trafficking networks; clandestine textile
workshops; work and living conditions; tuberculosis.
166
Introduction: theoretical and methodological approach to the studied subjects and
matter.
The studies on Bolivian immigrants in Argentina are not scarce. On the contrary,
it is possible to document a significant proportion of work done on this group in
comparison to other collective immigrant groups in the country, produced by authors of
the different disciplines of Social Sciences.1
The research that I have been conducting address the complexity of the
health/disease/care processes of Bolivian immigrants in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan
Area (BAMA) focusing on the sufferings, diseases, pains and ailments – amongst which
Tuberculosis stands out as a disease with a growing incidence in this group-, linked to
their way of life2 / work in our society.
The path of analysis developed in my works recovers the perspective of the actor
inside a relational and process oriented approach that includes, not only the whole set of
the social actors, their structure of what is meaningful and of interest, but also considers
the asymmetric relationships – in terms of dominance/subordination – and the context in
which the subjects are embedded.
In this sense, a key starting point is that the inequality and the precarious social
and work environment that characterize the way of life of the Bolivian immigrants that
work – and in many cases live, together with their children – in clandestine textile
workshops of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (BAMA) are, at the same time, a
structural process and a life experience in their migratory paths. As such, these
processes are embedded in the bodies – they are bodified (Csordas, 1994) – deploying
themselves in a variety of ways of social sufferings, as also in ways of interpreting,
acting and responding to them.
Parting from a historical-structural approach that allows to relate contextual
material variables with experiences, perceptions and representations of the actual
subjects, I center on the specific field of occupational health, recognizing the living
conditions and the characteristics of the work process as fundamental in the wearing
down of health, as sources of diseases and as important agents of influence in the
morbidity of workers (Laurell, 1986, Goldberg, 2009)
1
However, research published from a sociocultural analysis perspective of the phenomenon are not
abundant. This relative deficit in the anthropological production of the subject is greater still in the health
field, it being a not very developed area in our country.
2
Thru the ways of life category it is posible to rebuild migratory paths and life contexts from the
perspective of the actual subjects-actors, establishing the links and the articualtions between the macrosocail processes and the individual stories. (Grimberg, 2004)
167
With respect to the methodological perspective adopted, it is considered in the
canons of contemporary ethnographic studies (Atkinson y Hamersley, 1994) as a
privileged research strategy for approaching the complexity of the social processes and
the everyday life experiences, retrieving the knowledge and practices, the experiences
and the strategies developed by the subjects in a rational approach that accounts for,
both the articulation of the phenomena’s in the global context of the practices as much
as for the functioning of social-cultural and political processes. So that, both the
structural factors as much as the micro-social factors, are considered during the moment
of collecting and analyzing the data.
The ethnographic fieldwork carried out combines the participant observation, the
in depth interviews and the analysis of narratives, together with the compilation and
bibliographic analysis and the use of secondary sources. In this way, the information
gathered through the interviews is confronted with those registered from observations
and informal conversations, with the objective of identifying the contradictions and the
commonalities, and as a control technique of the fieldwork instruments.
Regarding the subjects of analysis sampled, I have covered Bolivian immigrants
of both genders, of working age, that have worked or work in the field of the black
economy, mainly in the textile industry in BAMA.
With regards to the observation fields sampled, fieldwork observations have
been done in the following environments of the everyday life of the study subject:
- The working environment: administrative-migratory situation; working and
contracting conditions; main health risks; exposure factors linked to the infection and
the development of tuberculosis in clandestine textile workshops.
- The domestic environment: location, housing type and conditions, considering that it
can be located in the same space as the working-productive environment (for example,
textile workshops); composition and dynamics of the domestic-family group.
- The health services environment: hospital and primary care units.
- That of the social organizations and immigrant groups: Cooperativa La Alameda
(made up in large part by former workers of clandestine textile workshops, mainly of
Bolivian origin); agrupación Simbiosis Cultural (made up of young Bolivians that live
in Argentina) and the Movimiento de Costureros de Inmigrantes Bolivianos (MCIBOL),
social movement made up of textile workers of BAMA that have the objective of
reflecting, spreading word and acting upon the working problems of the Bolivian textile
workers.
168
Socio-cultural relevance of the phenomenon.
From the 1990’s decade onwards, a strong increase in the population of Bolivian
origin is observed with respect to other groups, representing for the year 2001 26% of
the total immigrants from neighboring countries that live in the country and the second
nationality after the Paraguayan. This, according to official estimates from the last
census, since the non official information managed by the General Consulate of the
Republic of Bolivia in Argentina give the number of 2.000.000 Bolivians living in our
country. Of these, approximately between 700.000 and 1.000.000 are said to be illegal
residents.3 But not only in quantitative terms does this immigrant group acquire
relevance. From the perspective of socio-cultural analysis, the Bolivian represents one
of the immigrant groups wit h the largest stigma (according to Goffman, 1980) in the
argentine society in terms of “negative visibility”. This, considering the practices and
arguments of discriminatory type of which they are subject to commonly, both for their
general condition of “immigrants” or “foreigners” and for the simple fact being
“Bolivians”.4 (Goldberg, 2010b: 6)
On the other hand, as other migratory flows that intensified in the main cities of
Argentina especially in the 1990’s decade, like those of the Paraguayans and the
Peruvian, those of the Bolivians to our country suggest an eminently work sourced
migration. Attracted fundamentally by the exchange rate peso-dollar parity of the so
called Convertibility, these immigrants, in most cases, entered the country illegally and
inserted themselves into the flexible labor market, taking up in many cases precarious
jobs in the informal or black economic field. (Goldberg, 2008)
With respect to this, Grimson (1999) points out that within this group there are
no high unemployment rates detected, since in the case that insertion into the labor
market is not achieved they tend to return to their country of origin. Nonetheless, what
3
Beyond the statistics, it is important to point out the fact that it results very difficult to establish reliable
figures of the true volume of said population, considering that, on one hand, the official data does not
contemplate those immigrants that find themselves in an “irregular” migratory-administrative condition,
without their documentation in order. And, on the other hand, that the Bolivian migratory process is
characterized by a constant movement of the subjects between Bolivia and Argentina, a factor that
obstacles even more the possibility of obtaining precise data. (Goldberg, 2010b: 5)
4
The Bolivian immigrants constitue a social group of the argentine society that is especially vulnerable,
subject to a triple process of stigmatization: because of their phenotypic features (“Indians”); because of
their condition of a low class in the structure of the destination host country (“poor”); and because of the
derogatory meaning attributed to “being Bolivian”, with their implicit social and cultural connotations
(“bolitas”). Additionally, a fourth source of stereotyping appears as a result of the combination of all the
above, feasible to be identified in some environments of the public and private health services, including
the cleaning personnel of these: the one of the “tuberculosis infected Bolivian pacient”; linked, to the
labor in the clandestine textile workshops of BAMA.
169
is easily verified amongst them is the high level of precariousness that determines their
working and living conditions in our society. As a direct consequence of the above, we
must mention the health problems and the risks involved many times when working in
these conditions.
Bolivian immigrant workers in clandestine textile workshops: capitalism recreates
slavery.
A part of the Bolivian immigrants that live in Argentina were recruited in their
country of origin thru local agents that belong to an organized network of human
traffickers, which’s finality is the exploitation of manpower in semi-slavery conditions
in clandestine textile workshops in BAMA. It is worth pointing out that we are in the
presence of three different types of crimes: 1) human trafficking; 2) human slaved
trafficking (“trata”) and 3) slavery.5
5
The traffic refers to the transportation of people from their place of origin to one of destiny, in which he
will be exploited. In this case, those that are recruited innBolivia and cross the border illegally, for their
own benefit or for that of others. On the other hand, “trata” (human slaved trafficking) consists of
recruiting people in their place of origin through deception, including a verbal contract to be paid at year
end thru the employer (also Bolivian), that covers the costs living and travelling retaining their
documentation thru coercion. Last, the crime of slavery is stated in the Penal Code: under the Vth Title
(crimes against freedom), Chapter 1 (Crimes against the Freedom of an Individual) of the Penal Code. In
the same way it is found in the Suplementary convention for the Abolition of Slavery of 1956 (ONU),
ratified by the argentine State thru the law No. 11.925 that condemns any form of slavery. To this is
added: The Palermo Protocol (ONU) to “prevent, suppress and punish the human slave trafficking (trata),
especially women and children” that Argentina ratified in 2002 thru the law No. 25.632; and the 2008
Law No. 26.364 for the prevention of slave trafficking of humans and assistance to the victims, from the
moment the person arrives from Bolivia, starts working in a workshop and is deprived of their freedom,
since exiting this is prevented by force.
170
Our general hypothesis is that the trafficking networks are articulated based on
the migratory paths that are used for two purposes: both for gathering workers and for
the later retention of these in the clandestine textile workshops. Unlike other migratory
processes in which the “migratory chains” contribute to the insertion of the immigrants
in the destiny country (Goldberg, 2007) in this case these are used to develop a
recruitment and exploitation system of workers whose objective is to provide manpower
to the clandestine textile workshops. In many of the cases studied from interviews with
study subjects, these networks rely on recruitment and exploitation of family members,
in which a close relative or a good friend "tricks" the person to travel and submits him
or her to work in the workshops.
The mechanism works in the following way: at the moment of hiring them in
Bolivia, the local agents of the workshop owners –relatives or not- make copies of the
personal documents of all the members of the family of the worker. In this way, once
they are installed in the workshops, the owners threaten the workers telling them that if
they rebel, escape or act against their interests, the family members left in Bolivia “will
pay” the consequences.
This way, the incorporation of Bolivian immigrant workers to these workshops
thru human trafficking must be understood as the retention of the worker to a circuit in
which each and every one of the productive units, that is each of the workshops, are
integrating parts of a same network. On one of the extremes are the members of the
community in charge of the caption of the worker in Bolivia; on the other the
entrepreneurs of the industry that posses the money necessary to, thru their middlemen,
outsource the work in the workshops. This production environment requires intense
manpower and possesses two special attributes that facilitate the clandestine practices in
the industry: it only requires a small-scale capital investment and is a trade that is
relatively easy to learn (Lieutier, 2010). Also, other factors that are determinant in the
productive process coexist to highlight: the degree of flexibility, that allow a productive
unit to be assembled, disassembled and transferred easily from one site to another; the
fact of it being subject to the fluctuations in the demand, that is, that it is “pro-cyclical”;
the seasonality of the production, that accelerates when starting the summer and winter
seasons; and the displacement and outsourcing of the industry, that allows the
production to be done in different places with a constant replacement of primary
materials and products, that way maintaining the rest of the productive stages without
having the quality of the product altered. The factors listed make it possible to, amongst
171
other things, combine within the value adding process legal stages with other illegalclandestine stages.
Regarding this, it is important to note that, unlike what happens with the
maquilas of Southeast Asia, Central-America and the Caribbean, in which the large
firms “legally” outsource their production, the argentine labor law, on the contrary, does
not allow for forced labor or piecework. Not only that, but according to the Labor Law
12.713, the entrepreneurs are responsible for the conditions in which their products are
produced. The clandestine workshop arises then, not as an effect of poverty, but as a key
piece in the value adding chain of the clothing industry.
It’s worth pointing out that the existence of clandestine workshops in the city of
Buenos Aires comes to light upon the fire in the workshop of Luis Viale, an event that
exposed a reality that up until then was ignored by public opinion.6 The mass media
deployed on that opportunity a speech centered on the nationality of the victims and
their condition as irregular immigrants. So being that way at first the establishments –
the clandestine textile workshops – were linked with the informal or black commerce:
both with the counterfeiting of brands and with the production of lower quality clothing,
stigmatizing in this way the groups of lower resources that participate in markets in
which the products are commercialized.
However, it was rapidly put to evidence that these workshops did not produce
for these markets, but rather, very on the contrary, their production was oriented to the
large brands. In this way the real meaning of the deregulation of the labor markets and
the intensification of the illegal exploitation of manpower was trying to be hidden.
Although capitalism has been identified with the “salaried labor, located away
from the family unit”, it is possible to detect throughout its history the way in which this
system, in its own reproduction and expansion dynamics, has created and recreated
various forms of production according to the circumstances and the particular economic
needs, including those already thought to be extinct. In this context, the apparition and
disappearance of different forms of production like the domestic-family economy or
slavery, must be interpreted as the capability of the capital to develop different
strategies according to its accumulative logic. (Goldberg, 2010b)
6
On the 30th of march 2006 a fire is produced in a clothing confectioning workshop located on the street
Luis Viale 1269, City of Buenos Aires, in which 6 people lost their lives, all of Bolivian nationality:
amongst them, four children.
172
In this way, in the clothing confection industry case covered, the decentralization and
outsourcing of the production previously detailed is what leads the workshops to
produce in those conditions of clandestinity and of overexploitation of the manpower.7
Occupational health as a social relation.
To consider the occupational health as a social relation from a holistic-relational
perspective, supposes to cover different aspects (Goldberg, 2007; 2009). First of all, it
results necessary to focus the work-health relation from the political dimension: for the
case addressed, it is necessary to account for the whole process whereby these
immigrants are recruited at origin, up to the way in which they are confined in the
workshops and the conditions in which they work and live.
In this sense, the way of life of Bolivian immigrants of the BAMA that work in
clandestine textile workshops is marked by conditions that in some cases come close to
slavery: no contractual agreement, in an unhealthy and cramped, overcrowded
environment, through intensive work days, of work overload with no breaks at all, and
without having the corresponding occupational health check of the people that work and
7
Lieutier (2010) points out that for each ítem of clothing that is sold in the market for $100, the worker
recieves as payment $1.8, whilst the workshop owner obtains $1.30. The rest is distributed in the
following way: 64% stays in the commercialization circuit, 11% represents the costs of the primary
materials and 22% corresponds to taxes. On the other hand, it is estimated that 80% of the confectioning
of clothing items outsourced to workshops is done under informal conditions or violating the basic human
rights. The textile industry represents 25% of the non registered labor in the country with labor
exploitation involved, whilst3 of every 4 workers in the industry are not registered (Source: Fundación El
Otro: www.elotro.org.ar). At the same time, there are around 3.000 clandestine textile workshops in the
City of Buenos Aires, concentrated in the neighbourhoods of the south east of the city, whilst in the
Buenos Aires suburbs the number would reach 15.000 workshops. Last, it is calculated that they are
approximately 250.000 bolivian immigrant workers that work in different clandestine textile workshops
in the country. (Source: Interview with Gustavo Vera, President of the Cooperativa La Alameda: Clarín,
12/4/09). (Goldberg, 2010b: 12)
173
often live in the workshops, in some cases with their children. The workers keep their
few belongings and sleep in bunk beds o hammocks in minimum sized bedrooms,
overcrowded. These beds are known as “hot beds”, metaphor that refers to the
permanent and continuous use that they are given aligned with the intense and
uninterrupted work pace in the workshop: the bed does not ever have time to cool down,
since when a worker gets up to commence a working shift, another one that has just
finished his lies down in it. This is a bed that does not have an owner and that
“functions” 24hs a day, 365 days a year.
Falling ill in the described living and working conditions is a frequent and
recurrent event for these workers, men and women, and their children:
- Work is carried out in rooms that are crowded, cluttered and unventilated. The
air is contaminated with particles of cloth, thread and dust, as well as the fluff produced
by the machines.
-The number of hours and these circumstances provoke serious postural,
respiratory and vision problems.
-For pregnant women the intensity of the work, exacerbated by dietary
deficiencies, produces life-threatening risks to the mother and the baby. These include
chronic anemia and a lowering of defenses that can lead to illnesses such as
tuberculosis.
-In addition to the risk factors for tuberculosis that already have been mentioned
-contaminants, crowding, fatigue, dietary deficiencies- the Bolivian workers develop the
anxiety and depression associated with the “sufferings of migration” in a new
environment. In most cases, the personal, family, residential, dietary and other cultural
changes are experienced in clandestine workshops, and there are high rates of alcohol
consumption.
From an epidemiological-social dimension, the relational approach adopted for
an analysis of the occupational health of these immigrant workers refers to the work
process in these clandestine textile workshops as the cornerstone of their ways of life in
the particular context of the destination host society, at the same time constituting a
permanent destructive/deteriorating process for their physical, mental and psychic
health; that may lead them to work accidents, to death due to infectious diseases like
tuberculosis or to what happened in 2006 with the two Bolivian workers and the four
Bolivian children deceased in the fire quoted beforehand. (Goldberg, 2008; 2010a)
174
In our case study, obtaining knowledge of the ways of life of the Bolivian
immigrants that worked and lived in clandestine textile workshops thru their stories, the
following of their therapeutical itineraries, accompanying them in their collective
strategies of organization and demands, allows to confirm that their lives were, at one
point in time, reduced to labor; a semi-slaved labor.
Therefore, the way Bolivian immigrants in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area
suffer and die from tuberculosis is rooted in specific modes of life and work, constituted
by their migratory process and the conditions under which their labour is integrated in
our society.
Simbiosis Cultural organization members (young Bolivian immigrants) inquired
Bolivian immigrant people that work in clandestine textile workshops:
- What do you do after work?
- How many clothes does your beer cost?
- Do your dreams fit in the textile workshop?
- Do they promise to repatriate exploitation?
- If this is your free time, the other is condenated time?
- Is this what you wanted to be when you were a child?
- How much more time will it take?
175
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176
An interview with Professor Andrew Baldwin
Andrew Baldwin and Marco Armiero
Andrew Baldwin is a lecturer in human geography at Durham University (2009-present). He
received his doctorate from the Department of Geography, Carleton University in 2006, and
worked as a consultant with the International Institute for Sustainable Development from 20002006. Andrew’s research interests are wide-ranging, yet consistent throughout all of his work is
a concern for the way in which “race” works as an organising principle in environmental
political discourse. Andrew chairs COST Action IS1101 Climate Change and Migration:
knowledge, law and policy, and theory, which is funded under the European Union’s 7th
Framework Programme. Andrew is also a member of EMiGR (environment and migration
group of research).
Question: Professor Baldwin, could you please explain in few words the COST Action
program you are coordinating: Climate Change and Migration: Knowledge, Law and
Policy, and Theory?
Answer: COST Action IS1101 Climate change and migration: knowledge, law and
policy, and theory was the brainchild of about 10 European scholars interested in
expanding social science research on the phenomenon of climate change and migration.
It now includes scholars from 13 different European countries as well as from Canada,
Australia and India, and I expect the number of Action participants will continue to
grow over the next year.
Many of us involved in the early discussions that eventually led to the Action
recognised that while normative and empirical debates on climate change and migration
were fully underway, the social sciences remained relatively insignificant to the way
those debates were unfolding. Indeed, many felt that much of the research fuelling these
debates came from the environmental rather than social sciences and that, as a result, the
emerging phenomenon of climate change and migration was at risk of being
misunderstood. In order to correct for this, my colleagues and I designed the Action in a
way that provides European and non-European scholars with the networking activities
required to build a fulsome social science research on climate change and migration.
These activities include: a series of annual workshops, short-term scientific missions
primarily for early-stage researchers, training schools and a virtual network.
177
Q.: Climate change is a major topic in the current scientific and political debate; several
scholars have argued that it is leading to the depoliticization of the struggles over the
environment (Swyngedouw, for instance). What is your opinion on this issue? Will
focusing on climate change depoliticize migrations?
A.: I must admit that I rather like Erik Swyngedouw’s interpretation of climate change
politics as post-political. I have reservations about it, too. But, on balance, I like it
because it dares to challenge the innocence that characterises so much of environmental
political discourse. For me the most significant element of Swyngedouw’s thesis is the
idea that the political institutes the social. What this means is that the political is the
founding antagonism that creates society; it names the moment when the subjects of a
society recognise themselves as such. However, more than an innocent moment of
collection recognition, the political is that which bars the Other from the moment of
recognition. The result is that the social is not some harmonious whole but permanently
split. Coloniser/colonised, White/Black, and citizen/migrant name just a few of the
founding antagonisms constitutive of the social. For Swyngedouw, environmental
political discourses often bear directly on such constitutive antagonisms by naturalising
them, by rendering them timeless features of the social landscape rather than social
divisions born out of struggles for power and control. When Swyngedouw claims that
climate change politics are post-political he is suggesting that the split of the social is of
peripheral concern to the much more serious matter of managing the global climate;
particular demands matter little against the looming catastrophe that climate change
represents. Swyngedouw then exhorts us to reanimate the political the context of
environmental politics and especially climate change politics.
Q.: Again, I rather like Swyngedouw’s formulation because it reminds us that climate
change politics are not just about ‘saving the climate’ or designing sound adaptation
policy but are predicated on some sort of founding social antagonism. Keeping this in
mind when thinking about climate change-induced migration is critical if we are to fully
grasp the phenomenon. For instance, we might ask after the founding antagonisms of
climate change and migration discourse. Or we might ask: For whom is climate change
and migration a problem?
A.: In your question, though, you ask whether a focus on climate change risks
depoliticising migration. I’m not so sure this is the correct question to pose. I think a
better question is: does a focus on climate change risk dehistoricising migration, and in
178
that sense, yes, I believe it does. To argue that future climate change has the potential to
induce massive migration draws attention away from the fact that vulnerability to
climate change is an artefact of history, an effect of historical antagonism as opposed to
a timeless feature of the landscape of vulnerability. The migrations catalysed by
Hurricane Katrina, for instance, were not the result of any innate failure on the part of
those displaced most of whom were Black. They were the result of a historicallyspecific form of infrastructural racism and structural neglect. Dehistoricising migration
means rendering such histories insignificant. Thinking and analysing migration as a
function of climate change risks doing just this. Thus, one of the key tasks for social
scientists working in the area of climate change and migration is to foreground such
histories and to challenge those narratives that seek to naturalise migration in the
climate change context.
Q.: The political and cultural context in so many parts of Europe seems to go towards a
rather anti-immigration feelings, if not, actual anti-immigration policies. In times of
crisis, ecological and economical crisis, it is easy to look for scapegoats. Do you agree
that this is what is occurring in Europe and beyond? If yes, in which way could your
project contribute in fighting against this attitude?
A.: The proposition that ecological and economic crises beget anti-immigration
sentiment and policy in Europe is surely a very tempting one. But in my view, this is an
extremely limited analysis because it fails to account for the fact that anti-immigrant
sentiment is a permanent feature of modern liberal democracies, including those of
Europe. It is certainly the case that immigration policy in the UK was tightened by the
existing coalition government not long after the 2008 financial crisis. But to assume that
this policy was the direct result of the crisis overlooks the fact that anti-immigration
sentiment in the UK pre-existed the 2008 crisis and certainly existed throughout the
2000s which by most accounts was a period of phenomenal economic prosperity.
In a very excellent book called Globalizing Citizenship, Canadian scholar Kim
Rygiel challenges the notion that Canadian immigration policy was tightened after 2001
as an immediate result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which were a political crisis of sorts.
Rygiel’s central claim is that whatever border measures the Canadian authorities
imposed following 9/11 had been in the offing well before 9/11. All 9/11 did was hasten
their implementation. As such, Rygiel argues that globalisation offers a far better
explanation for these changes to Canadian immigration policy than the political crisis of
179
9/11. Rygiel’s book is important because it invites us to consider how restrictive
immigration policy is not so much an expression of anti-immigrant sentiment instigated
by acute episodes of crisis so much as it is a structural feature of modern economic life.
By definition the immigrant is a subject who is said to be ‘alien’, ‘foreign’ and ‘strange’
to a particular place. Producing the immigrant this way requires a related set of
categories such as the citizen, the domestic and the familiar. I am much more inclined to
analyses that seek to explain anti-immigrant sentiment as a function of symbolic
discourses like citizenship and nationalism, than to those that seek to explain such
sentiments as a function of crisis. Much more interesting to me is the way notions of
crisis are endemic to the very meaning of terms like citizenship and national identity.
With this in mind, do I agree that European countries are scapegoating migrants
for the current ecological and economic crisis? No. I think that anti-immigrant
sentiment in Europe is probably far more complicated. I’m no expert on the topic, but
my hunch is that it is tied as much to the waning economic significance of Europe
relative to China and India, as it is to the perception of waning sovereignty in the
context of globalisation. Do anxieties about climate change have a part to play in this as
well? Possibly, but this is much harder to pin down empirically since climate change
policy has for so long been framed in terms of mitigation and adaptation and hardly ever
in terms of migration, although this is certainly beginning to change. A photographic
exhibition at the Museum of London in 2010-2011 called Postcards from the Future1
strikes me as one of the first attempts to galvanise public support for a strong climate
change policy through an appeal to anti-immigrant sentiment. The US film Climate
Refugees works in the same sort of idiom. Both are important cultural interventions in
my view because they seem to give visual expression to what I’ve long suspected is an
unstated but nevertheless prevalent anxiety in climate change discourse, which is that
the failure to mitigate climate change will result in all manner of unconscionable social
consequences, including migration. One thing I’d like our Action to do is catalyse some
original empirical research across Europe on public values and attitudes towards the socalled climate change migrant. The purpose of this work would be to understand how
Europeans feel about this issue. So far the phenomenon of climate change-induced
migration has only really been examined as a set of possibilities associated with the
Third World. From this perspective, we have lots of qualitative and quantitative data
1
http://www.postcardsfromthefuture.co.uk/
180
about the phenomenon, some of which is fairly reliable, some not so much. Yet, we
know surprisingly little about how Europeans actually feel about this phenomenon and
about the figure of the climate change migrant.
Q.: Do you believe that it is possible, or even useful, to discern between environmental
and social causes in the migration processes? How will your project deal with the
relationships between environmental vulnerabilities and social inequalities?
A.: I’m firmly of the view that it is pointless to disaggregate a singular cause
(environmental trigger) from a complex phenomenon (social relations). As for how the
Action will deal with the issue of causality, this is a matter for individual researchers to
work out for themselves. The Action doesn’t endorse any one ontological orientation.
Q.: In your project you has explicitly mentioned the necessity to challenge an approach
to migration and climate change based only on natural sciences or on security studies.
Could you explain to our reader why this statement? And connected to this point, a very
soft critique: among the disciplines you has listed in the project there are not
environmental history or political ecology, and generally speaking not at all any
discipline from the humanities. Do you think that those disciplines might contribute to
the scientific project you want to carry on? If yes, in which way?
A.: When we drafted the Action many of us felt that the issue of climate change and
migration was being constructed almost exclusively through knowledges derived from
the environmental sciences. Indeed, the popular framing of the issue follows this basic
form of reasoning: climate change = sea level rise/desertification = migration. This is
partly why low-lying coastal regions and arid regions of the world, such as Bangladesh
and the Sahel, respectively, often get figured as the ‘ground zero’ of climate change.
There is a quality of inevitability to this simplistic reasoning. But as we know from the
study of history, geography, politics, sociology and anthropology, migration is far more
complex than is allowed for in deterministic reasoning. Bringing the social sciences to
bear on the phenomenon of climate change and migration is imperative insofar as social
scientists are trained to think critically about complex social phenomena. Social
scientists are very well equipped to ask questions about phenomena that physical and
environmental scientists may not think to ask. I do not mean any disrespect to my
colleagues in the physical sciences. It’s just that the social and physical sciences pursue
very different methodologies that are largely result of asking very sets of questions.
181
Concerning your question to do with security studies, I think it is important for your
readers to understand that the Action does not reject a security studies approach to
understanding climate change and migration. In fact, the Action is already planning a
major international workshop in 2012 that looks critically at the phenomenon of climate
change and migration from the perspective of security studies. So rather than the Action
challenging a security studies approach, my vision for the Action is to cultivate research
that challenges the widely held view that climate change-induced migration is a security
threat. To frame climate change and migration in the language of threat and security
reinforces the notion that migration is an undesirable phenomenon. It also raises the
possibility that countries might chose to fortify themselves from the perceived problem
of migration in the climate change context. In my view, neither of these are viable ways
of conceptualising the phenomenon.
In regards to your ‘soft critique’, I interpret the social sciences very broadly. My
failure to explicitly mention disciplines like environmental history and political ecology
in the Action Memorandum of Understanding was purely the result of expediency in
grant writing. Both environmental history and political ecology are clearly relevant to
our Action and strongly encourage scholars from both to get in touch about ways they
might get involved in Action activities. In fact, I have long believed that we need a
comprehensive genealogy of the figure of the climate change and migrant, a task which
no doubt requires the skills of historical method and interpretation. For anyone
interested, there’s a PhD dissertation to be written on that topic! Similarly, I am of the
view that political ecology, especially in the Marxist and poststructuralist traditions are
immensely pertinent to the Action. As for the humanities, again, they are extremely
relevant to our Action. Literary and art historical analyses on climate change or
environmental and migration would surely add something to the discussion that just
wouldn’t be captured by the social sciences. Although I’m no historian of antiquity, as I
understand it one of the most prevalent explanations for the fall or Rome is migration.
Understanding the extent to which these migrations were construed in terms of
environment, nature and climate seems to me to be a fascinating question. Another
possible dissertation, perhaps?
Q.: What are the next steps of your project?
182
A.: Next steps: The Action is currently planning activities for 2012. These include
scholarly workshops on climate change, migration and security (May) and on human
rights, climate change and migration (August). We are also planning a series of
interrelated workshops in Paris in early October that would be more policy-facing the
aim of which is to feed into the policy debates in the run up to COP 18. Beyond that
plans are in the works for workshops in 2013 on political theology, postcolonial theory
and environmental history. We also expect to send out a public call in the next few
weeks for up to four short-term scientific missions, which might be of interest to
postgraduates interested in short-term residencies. We’re also planning major
international conferences for 2013 and 2015 and training schools for 2013, 2014 and
2015. We’ve got lots planned and in the works. Hopefully, your readers will take full
advantage of these and get involved in what we’re doing.
183
Interview with Professor Giorgos Kallis
Professor Giorgos Kallis and Marco Armiero
Giorgos Kallis (PhD), coordinator of Climate Change, Hydro-conflicts, and Human Security
(www.clico.org) project funded by the European Union under the FP7 framework, holds the
prestigious ICREA professorship offered by the Government of Catalonia. He previously held
an EC Marie Curie Outgoing Fellowship with the University of California at Berkeley, where he
taught water policy and researched new institutional experiments for drought adaptation in
California. He has published over 20 peer-reviewed articles, and recently authored a global
assessment drought risks for the "Annual Reviews of Environment and Resources", the highest
impact factor journal in environmental studies.
In the last few years the European Union Commission has funded several projects
concerning with the issue of climate change and migrations. We have the opportunity to
interview the coordinators of two of those projects, offering an idea of their rationales
and visions
Question: Professor Kallis could you please introduce in few words CLICO project?
Answer: CLICO is an interdisciplinary collaborative research project financed by the
European Commission, bringing together fourteen research teams, mostly from Europe
but including also partners from the Middle East and Africa. Our goal is to shed light on
the interrelationships between climate change, water hazards (droughts and floods) and
human vulnerabilities.
Q.: In your project you talk a lot about human vulnerability. In which sense would you
envision migration as a part of human vulnerability? According to you, is migration
more adaptation or evidence of crisis?
A.: It can be either or even both, depending on the historical and geographical context.
We do not aim to come with a universalizing thesis on whether immigration is "good or
bad", but to understand better the dynamics under which immigration emerges as an
adaptive strategy to hydro-climatic stresses as well as the complex socio-environmental
forces
that
lead
people
to
leave
involuntary
their
homes.
Q.: Your project includes eleven in deep case-studies from Southern Italy to Egypt,
from Spain to Turkey. Could you use one of these case-studies to illustrate the way in
184
which your project frames the relationships between migration and environmental
changes?
A.: Take the example of the seasonal Kurdish workers travelling from the depths of
Anatolia to cultivate watermelons on the Seyhan basin, on the Turkish coast, under
appalling living and working conditions. The Seyhan is expected to face more frequent
and severe droughts due to climate change. And all this in the context of the changing
political economy of Turkey and its trade relations with its neighbours. How will this
affect Kurdish seasonal migrants? Not easy to tell, and there is no simple causation
running from climate change to intensifying vulnerabilities for the workers. Perhaps
leaving Seyhan for the cities will make them less vulnerable; perhaps more. Only an indepth, case-study analysis bringing together elements of ethnography, climate and water
resource science and political-economy and historical analysis can reveal the complex
dynamics
at
stake
and
give
informed
opinions
about
possible
futures.
Q.: With CLICO you put together water scarcity, conflicts, and migrations and try to
look at these issues through social sciences. According to you, what is the most
challenging problem in doing so? In other words, which has been the most difficult
problem you have been facing in the project?
A:. As in any case-study research, isolating the local and context-specific from the
general pattern of wider relevance. It is not easy to compare and identify common
patterns between the diverse set of cases we are studying, with their different
geographical and socio-political conditions and trajectories. But we should. This is the
pain and beauty of interdisciplinary social science research.
Q: Securitization seems to be the key word and, actually, the central policy in dealing
with migration and, above all, in constructing a narrative of fear about it. Does CLICO
deal with this issue? If yes, in which way?
A: Security is the new policy buzzord. There is a struggle between the notions of
"national" and "human" security, the first coming from traditional foreign
policy/military theories and the latter emerging as a fruit of the UN human rights
discourse. Even though human security is a laudable ideal, I am not yet personally
convinced that it offers additional insights in analytical or normative terms, compared to
older terms, such as "vulnerability". I find it also strange that at times at which the best
system advanced societies devised to secure human well-being, our social security
185
system and the Welfare State, are collapsing, to spend intellectual and political energy
on vague notions of "human security", which we do not know what it is precisely, what
it takes to do it, and who is to provide it. Strengthening and expanding (geographically,
demographically and thematically) the social security system would go a long way into
reducing human vulnerabilities to climate change.
Q: According to the results collecting through your work until now, would you risk to
make a prevision about the future of the migratory processes and how they will affected
or be affected by environmental changes?
A: No, I will not. Ok, I will. Migration processes are a constant feature of human
societies, and they have always been driven by socio-environmental changes in the
place of origin, producing new socio-environmental spaces in the place of arrival.
Climate change will accelerate such processes compared to current rates, but I am not
sure whether we will experience something radically bigger or more apocalyptic than
the great migrations that accompanied industrialization and the growth of the Americas
in 19th and early 20th century.
Q: Will CLICO include comparison with other geographical areas, like the US and
Mexican borders where also migration, water and environmental change are relevant
issues? Or do you think that the Mediterranean basin has a specificity?
A.: No, we will not work on a comparison ourselves, but we will be more than happy to
collaborate informally and exchange information and experience with colleagues
working in these areas.
186
Special Volume
January 2012
ISSN 1852-2173
International Migrations
Electronic Journal
187

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