Camps archipelago: an ethnography of migrant agricultural laborers in the potato harvesting in rural Sicily

Titolo Rivista MONDI MIGRANTI
Autori/Curatori Jacopo Anderlini, Luca Queirolo Palmas
Anno di pubblicazione 2023 Fascicolo 2023/1
Lingua Inglese Numero pagine 26 P. 189-214 Dimensione file 595 KB
DOI 10.3280/MM2023-001009
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The presence of migrant workers in the agricultural system of Southern Italy is cur-rently an essential element of this economic area. This increasing presence is deep-ly linked with the transformations occurred to agricultural markets and hence on the mode of production and distribution, not only in Italy or in Europe but at a global level. Moving from this context, the article focuses on the articulation of spaces and time of production and reproduction of the seasonal agricultural work proposing an analytical distinction according to camps, their functions, characteris-tics and interconnections. The research methodology highlights the threads and circulations of migrant subjectivities, in their different activities – labor, leisure, so-cial relations – along these camps through a multi-sited ethnography which con-siders as a case study the seasonal potato harvest in the Siracusa area. These camps can be subdivided into four different types, based on the functions they fulfill: the “scattered camp”, the “sanctuary”, the “plantation”, the “institutional camp”. The porosity among these different camp typologies represents a crucial element. We define archipelago of camps the flourishing of formal and informal encampments and sanctuaries, densely intertwined and reciprocally influencing one another, emerging from the contentious or fruitful encounters of the actors in the field.

La presenza di lavoratori migranti nel sistema agricolo del Sud Italia è attualmente un elemento essenziale di quest’area economica. Questa crescente presenza è pro-fondamente legata alle trasformazioni avvenute sui mercati agricoli e quindi sul modo di produzione e distribuzione, non solo in Italia o in Europa, ma a livello globale. Partendo da questo contesto, l’articolo si concentra sull’articolazione degli spazi e dei tempi di produzione e riproduzione del lavoro agricolo stagionale pro-ponendo una distinzione analitica in base ai campi, alle loro funzioni, caratteristi-che e interconnessioni. La metodologia di ricerca mette in luce le circolazioni delle soggettività migranti, nelle loro diverse attività ‒ lavoro, tempo libero, relazioni so-ciali ‒ lungo questi campi attraverso un’etnografia multisituata che considera co-me caso di studio la raccolta stagionale delle patate nell’area di Siracusa. Questi campi possono essere suddivisi in quattro tipi diversi, in base alle funzioni che svolgono: il “campo sparso”, il “santuario”, la “piantagione”, il “campo istituzio-nale”. La porosità tra queste diverse tipologie di campi rappresenta un elemento cruciale. Definiamo arcipelago di campi il fiorire di accampamenti e santuari formali e informali, densamente intrecciati, che emergono dagli incontri conflittua-li o fruttuosi degli attori del campo.

Keywords:bracciantato; industria agroalimentare; campi; etnografia; Sicilia.

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Jacopo Anderlini, Luca Queirolo Palmas, Camps archipelago: an ethnography of migrant agricultural laborers in the potato harvesting in rural Sicily in "MONDI MIGRANTI" 1/2023, pp 189-214, DOI: 10.3280/MM2023-001009