Gender, Labour Mobility, and Food Insecurity in Pacific Islands Countries and Territories (PICTS): Primitive Accumulation and Surplus Populations

Nichole Georgeou () and Charles Hawksley
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Nichole Georgeou: Western Sydney University
Charles Hawksley: University of Wollongong

A chapter in Gender and Development: Perspectives from Australia and the Pacific, 2026, pp 159-179 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Temporary labour mobility schemes in the Pacific, such as the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, are deeply gendered. They predominantly recruit Pacific Island men into temporary employment in high-wage economies, generating income and remittances while simultaneously reshaping gender relations in sending communities. Drawing on postcolonial theory and feminist political economy, this chapter examines how neoliberal labour mobility policies both depend on and transform gendered divisions of labour, with consequences for economic dependency and food sovereignty. We argue that the temporary incorporation of mostly male workers into global capitalist labour markets reflects processes of primitive accumulation; upon their return, these Pasifika men often join a surplus pool of labour excluded from the formal global economy. This male-dominated labour export is sustained by women’s unpaid and under-recognised work, which enables men’s migration but also constrains women’s own economic mobility. Neoliberal economic policies governing labour mobility in Pacific Islands Countries and Territories (PICTs) thus reinforce economic dependency by trapping Pacific Island economies and workers in cycles of labour export and food import dependency. In the process, the gendered restructuring of labour undermines traditional practices and knowledge that are central to sustainable Pacific food systems.

Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1007/978-981-95-4842-2_8

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