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Article
Publication date: 12 October 2021

Chris Kossen, Nicole McDonald and Peter McIlveen

Australia's agricultural industry has become highly dependent on young low-cost, overseas “working holiday” visa workers known as “backpackers”, who are notoriously subject to…

Abstract

Purpose

Australia's agricultural industry has become highly dependent on young low-cost, overseas “working holiday” visa workers known as “backpackers”, who are notoriously subject to exploitative workplace practices. This study aimed to explore backpackers' experiences in terms of how job demands, job resources and personal resources influence their appraisals of working in agriculture.

Design/methodology/approach

In-depth semi-structured interviews were used to explore the work experiences of N = 21 backpackers employed under the Australian Working Holiday visa (subclass 417). Data were analyzed by thematic analysis and organized in terms of job demands and resources.

Findings

This study revealed job demands commonly experienced by agricultural backpacker workers (e.g. precarity, physically strenuous work, low pay), and job resources (e.g. adequate training, feedback) and personal resources (e.g. attitude, language) that buffer the demands. The findings indicate that backpackers' appraisals of their experiences and performance decline when demands outweigh resources.

Originality/value

This study offers an emic perspective on the work of an understudied segment of the agricultural workforce. The findings have implications for improving work practices and policies aimed at attracting and retaining this important labor source in the future.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 26 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 March 2014

Ann Connor, Laura Page Layne and Laura Ellis Hilb

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive narrative review of the literature on migrant farm worker child and adolescent health. It highlights current health issues…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive narrative review of the literature on migrant farm worker child and adolescent health. It highlights current health issues and suggests methods to improve research and clinical practices with this underserved and vulnerable population.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology for this narrative review included a search of articles published between 2000 and 2012. From the primary search, 76 articles met the search criteria. A secondary search revealed three additional articles.

Findings

The various methodologies used in the current literature have limited rigorous analysis of the health of pediatric migrant populations. The findings highlight the complex factors that influence migrant pediatric health. Despite the many challenges migrant farm worker children and their families face, they exhibit enormous resilience and strengths that may help counterbalance these challenges. Study categories that emerged from the analysis include health perspectives and behaviors, occupational health, access to care, utilization and satisfaction with health services, health outcomes and health disparities, and oral health. This review provides a strong foundation from which to work toward improving migrant pediatric health.

Originality/value

This paper provides an original review of the unique health needs and the complex factors influencing the health of migrant farm worker children and adolescents. This will be of value to clinicians and researchers since migrant farm worker families are part of communities across the country. It offers public health professionals insight into services and programs that can improve the health and well-being of children, families, and communities.

Details

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9894

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 October 2017

Jonathan Hagood and Clara Schriemer

The purpose of this paper is to explore three sociocultural themes common to migrant and seasonal farmworkers and to demonstrate the value of incorporating oral history into…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore three sociocultural themes common to migrant and seasonal farmworkers and to demonstrate the value of incorporating oral history into healthcare practice and quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods research programs, as oral history is a culturally sensitive approach to working with vulnerable populations.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines 17 oral histories from farmworkers residing in Ottawa County, Michigan, in the late summer of 2014. The theoretical framework section has two aims. First, it explains the significance of “cultural sensitivity” and “deep structure” to the practice of effective healthcare. Second, it introduces oral history as a form of deep structure cultural sensitivity.

Findings

Three themes emerge from the collected oral histories: stress/anxiety of undocumented status, honor/worth of honest work, and the importance of educating migrant children. Undocumented status is found to be the hub of farmworker health inequities while worth of work and education are described as culturally sensitive points of conversation for healthcare workers engaging with this population. Finally, oral history is found to be a useful method for establishing the deep structure of cultural sensitivity.

Originality/value

This paper gives a voice to farmworkers, an inconspicuous population that disproportionately suffers from health inequities. In addition, this paper acts as a case study promoting the use of oral history as a novel, culturally sensitive research method.

Details

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 14 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9894

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 April 2012

Anita Alves Pena

Farm labor contractors operate as intermediaries between farmworkers and agricultural employers by recruiting and supplying labor to US farms. In a political economy where there…

Abstract

Purpose

Farm labor contractors operate as intermediaries between farmworkers and agricultural employers by recruiting and supplying labor to US farms. In a political economy where there are employer sanctions for hiring workers without proper documentation, contractors share risk alongside final employers. Furthermore, contractors may facilitate quick employment matches during time sensitive agricultural tasks such as harvesting. For undocumented workers, using a contractor may decrease uncertainty associated with a foreign labor market and ease language barriers. The purpose of this paper is to examine the current role of labor contractors in delivering immigrant agricultural workers, particularly undocumented workers, to farms.

Design/methodology/approach

Determinants of labor contractor use and relationships to final worker outcomes are examined using econometric methods and a large nationally‐representative worker survey that is distinctive in that it distinguishes legal status.

Findings

Undocumented farmworkers are shown to be more likely to use contractors than are documented workers, though statistical significance is sensitive to the inclusion of crop and task indicators, and wages and fringe compensation to workers who use contractors are lower, even after controlling for legal status.

Research limitations/implications

The paper contributes to limited recent academic work on the role of labor contractors in US agriculture. Future work may examine ongoing changes to this role in the context of mutable immigration policy and public opinion.

Practical implications

It is argued that the decline in labor contracting increases the need for employer‐level bilingual communication skills and compliance with labor regulations.

Originality/value

Understanding current dynamics of the agricultural labor market should be of value to scholars of rural economies, farm owners and agricultural policymakers.

Article
Publication date: 20 July 2023

Lorena Gutiérrez

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of documentation on the educational experiences, college readiness and aspirations of undocumented Latinx migrant and seasonal…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of documentation on the educational experiences, college readiness and aspirations of undocumented Latinx migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

Design/methodology/approach

This ethnographic study was conducted in a High School Equivalency Program at a large university in the Midwest. Data was collected during two semesters across a three-year span. Participants included six Mexican migrant and seasonal farmworkers who were preparing to earn their General Educational Development (GED) diploma. Using the grounded theory, data was collected and analyzed simultaneously where initial and focused coding took place, followed by cross-case analysis.

Findings

Analysis of student interviews, participant observations and in-depth fieldnotes that include the K-12 educational experiences, experiences during and after the High School Equivalency Program reveal that undocumented Latinx migrant and seasonal farmworkers aspire to earn a GED diploma to access a better future inclusive of college. However, the legal liminality, the uncertainty and ambiguity of being undocumented, impacts their educational journey prior to, during and beyond the High School Equivalency Program. Furthermore, undocumented Latinx migrant and seasonal farmworkers are unable to change their material conditions with a GED because of their documentation status.

Originality/value

Although researchers have studied the education experiences of Latinx migrant and seasonal farmworkers, analysis and consideration of documentation status is missing. This study contributes much needed findings about the impact of documentation status on the educational experiences, college readiness, and aspirations of Latinx migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

Details

English Teaching: Practice & Critique, vol. 22 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1175-8708

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 5 August 2019

Gabrielle E. Clark

Since the late 1970s, US employers have increasingly drawn upon legal temporary labor under the H-2 visa to address their labor needs in low-waged sectors. Ever since, what Clark…

Abstract

Since the late 1970s, US employers have increasingly drawn upon legal temporary labor under the H-2 visa to address their labor needs in low-waged sectors. Ever since, what Clark calls migrant labor activism and conflict in the courts has similarly erupted. However, as she argues in this chapter, making “adversarial legalism” the H-2 way of law has also been a story of comparative state formation. For, the litigation largely reflects the structure of labor migration created after the demise of government-run migration. In this regard, activists wrestle with the problems created by the new role of global labor intermediaries in the recruitment process, absolute employer control over hiring and firing, and the coercion produced in the shadow of a now minimally interventionist state. Drawing upon archival research, interviews with legal professionals, and the entire case law docket in this area, this chapter puts “adversarial legalism” under the H-2 visa in its historical and political context.

Details

Studies in Law, Politics, and Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-058-0

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1989

Sanford Berman

More subject tracings. More notes. More added entries for persons, groups, and titles. More up‐to‐date terminology. More specific topical headings. More analytics. More subject…

Abstract

More subject tracings. More notes. More added entries for persons, groups, and titles. More up‐to‐date terminology. More specific topical headings. More analytics. More subject access to single literary works. That's what will make online (and most other) catalogs work better. But is our primary cataloging source doing it? Judge for yourself by comparing these Library of Congress and Hennepin County Library records for small and alternative press titles:

Details

Collection Building, vol. 9 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0160-4953

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