Migration, trade unionism and self-organisation in the countryside: migrant labourers in the province of Foggia (Italy)

Journal title MONDI MIGRANTI
Author/s Alessandra Corrado, Francesco Caruso, Camilla Macciani
Publishing Year 2023 Issue 2023/2
Language Italian Pages 19 P. 133-151 File size 199 KB
DOI 10.3280/MM2023-002008
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

Political and trade union participation and mobilisation in the case of migrant agricultural labour have found little space in analyses, as a consequence of the characteristics of this specific component, due to both migration and asylum policies and to the transformations of the sector, but also to the difficulties of traditional trade unions in intercepting and representing this component. Adopting the perspective of citizenship from below and of movement or community trade unionism can help to recognise and interpret the dynamics of active involvement and practices of migrant workers to improve living conditions, within their own networks and according to their own logic and projects, but also in collaboration with other actors. The article presents the results of a research conducted with a qualitative methodology in the province of Foggia, in particular in the informal settlements of Torretta Antonacci and Borgo Mezzanone, between 2018 and 2021. The varied landscape of Capitanata, characterised by multiple trade union, para-union and third sector actors, and forms of self-management of the settlements highlights several elements to be taken into account for a reworking of theories related to forms of citizenship from below of subjects formally excluded from direct political participation and yet claiming a public space.

Keywords: movement unionism; citizenship from below; migrant labourers; informal settlements; political participation.

  1. Alberti G. (2016). Moving beyond the dichotomy of workplace and community unionism: The challenges of organising migrant workers in London’s hotels. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 37, 1: 73-94; DOI: 10.1177/0143831X1453490
  2. Alberti G., Holgate J. e Tapia M. (2013). Organising migrants as workers or as migrant workers? Intersectionality, trade unions and precarious work. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24, 22: 4132-4148; DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2013.84542
  3. Ambrosini M. (2016). Cittadinanza formale e cittadinanza dal basso. Un rapporto dinamico. SocietàMutamentoPolitica, 7, 13: 83-102.
  4. Ambrosini M., De Luca D. e Pozzi S. (2014). Immigrati e sindacato tra protezione e rappresentanza. Quaderni di Rassegna Sindacale – Lavori, 15, 1: 105-122.
  5. Appadurai A. (2011). Le aspirazioni nutrono la democrazia. Milano: Et al. Edizioni.
  6. Bauböck R., Kraler A., Martiniello M. e Perchinig B. (2006). Migrants’ Citizenship: Legal Status, Rights and Political Participation. In: Penninx R., Berger M. e Kral K., a cura di. The Dynamics of Migration and Settlement in Europe. A State of the Art. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
  7. BSA et al. (2013). Sulla pelle viva. Nardò: la lotta autorganizzata dei braccianti agricoli. Roma: DeriveApprodi.
  8. Camozzi I. (2012). Non siamo clandestini: siamo i nuovi cittadini: le mobilitazioni dei migranti tra percorsi di cittadinanza e istanze di riconoscimento. Partecipazione e conflitto, 3: 21-45.
  9. Caruso F. (2011). Percorsi di sindacalizzazione del bracciantato migrante meridionale nel distretto della clandestinità: il movimento dei Migranti di Caserta. Mondi Migranti, 3: 229-246; DOI: 10.3280/MM2011-00301
  10. Caruso F.S. (2016). Unionism of migrant farm workers: the Sindicato Obreros del Campo (SOC) in Andalusia, Spain. In: Corrado et al., eds., Migration and Agriculture. Mobility and change in the Mediterranean area (pp. 301-316). London: Routledge.
  11. Castles S. e Kosak G. (1973). Immigrant and Class structure in Western Europe. London: Oxford University Press.
  12. Chatterjee P. (2006). Oltre la cittadinanza. La politica dei governati. Roma: Meltemi.
  13. Chimienti M. (2011). Mobilization of Irregular Migrants in Europe: a Comparative Analysis. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 34, 8: 1338-1356.
  14. Colucci M. (2018). Il mondo dell’immigrazione in Italia si mobilita: un breve percorso dagli anni Ottanta a oggi. Parolechiave, 26, 2: 135-148.
  15. Colloca C. e Corrado A., a cura di (2013). La globalizzazione delle campagne: Migranti e società rurali nel Sud Italia. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
  16. Corrado A., de Castro, C. e Perrotta D., a cura di (2016). Migration and Agriculture: Mobility and change in the Mediterranean area. London: Routledge.
  17. Fassin D. (2011). Humanitarian Reason. A Moral History of the Present. Berkley/Los Angeles: University of California Press.
  18. Iocco G., Cascio M.L. e Perrotta D. (2019). Lavoro migrante, mercati nidificati e sviluppo rurale nelle aree ad agricoltura intensiva del Sud Italia: due esperienze in Calabria e Sicilia. Mondi Migranti, 1/19: 37-51; DOI: 10.3280/MM2019-00100
  19. López-Sala A. (2021). Luchando por sus derechos en tiempos de Covid-19. Resistencias y reclamaciones de regularización de los migrantes Sinpapeles en España. REMHU: Revista Interdisciplinar da Mobilidade Humana, 29: 83-96.
  20. Lucio M.M. e Perrett R. (2009). Meanings and dilemmas in community unionism: trade union community initiatives and black and minority ethnic groups in the UK. Work, employment and society, 23, 4: 693-710.
  21. Marino S. (2013). Between old and new dilemmas: describing trade unions’ inclusive strategies. In: van Heelsum A. e Garcés-Mascareñas B., a cura di. Migration and Inte-gration Research: Filling in Penninx’s Heuristic Model. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
  22. Mottura G. (2010). La lunga marcia del sindacato: dall’iscrizione come immigrati alla partecipazione come lavoratori. Rivista delle politiche sociali, 2: 13-327.
  23. Nicholls W.J. (2013). Fragmenting citizenship: dynamics of cooperation and conflict in France’s immigrant rights movement. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 36, 4: 611-631.
  24. Pedreño A., a cura di (2014). De cadenas, migrantes y jornaleros. Los territorios rurales en las cadenas globales agroalimentarias. Madrid: Talasa.
  25. Penninx R. (2011). Il ruolo dei sindacati nei processi di integrazione degli immigrati e nelle politiche di immigrazione locale. Mondi Migranti, 5, 1: 7-24; DOI: 10.3280/MM2011-00100
  26. Però D. e Solomos J. (2010). Migrant politics and mobilization: Exclusion, engagements, incorporation. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 33, 1: 1-18
  27. Sacchetto D. e Perrotta D. (2012). Il ghetto e lo sciopero: braccianti stranieri nell’Italia meridionale. Il ghetto e lo sciopero: braccianti stranieri nell’Italia meridionale. Sociologia del lavoro, 128, 4: 153-166.
  28. Piper N. (2010). Temporary economic migration and rights activism: an organizational perspective. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 33, 1: 108-125; DOI: 10.1080/0141987090302388
  29. Piper N. (2006). Migrant Worker Activism in Singapore and Malaysia: Freedom of Association and the Role of the State. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 15, 3: 359-380.
  30. Reigada A. (2021). Collective Action, Experience and Identity in Global Agrarian Enclaves: The Case of Andalusia, Spain. In: Migrant Organising (pp. 154-180). Brill; DOI: 10.1163/9789004464964_00
  31. Roca B. e Díaz E.M. (2020). Trabajadores migrantes y activismo sindical en los márgenes: los centros de trabajadores como campo organizativo. Migraciones, 49: 31-58.
  32. Wihtol de Wenden C. e Leveau R. (2001). La bourgeoisie. Les trois ages de la vie associative issue de l’immigration. Paris: CNRS Editions.

Alessandra Corrado, Francesco Caruso, Camilla Macciani, Migrazioni, sindacalismo e autorganizzazione nelle campagne: i braccianti migranti in provincia di Foggia (Italia) in "MONDI MIGRANTI" 2/2023, pp 133-151, DOI: 10.3280/MM2023-002008