On the Social Sustainability of Industrial Agriculture Dependent on Migrant Workers. Romanian Workers in Spain’s Seasonal Agriculture

Yoan Molinero-Gerbeau, Ana López-Sala and Monica Șerban
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Yoan Molinero-Gerbeau: Institute of Economy, Geography and Demography (IEGD) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), 28037 Madrid, Spain
Ana López-Sala: Institute of Economy, Geography and Demography (IEGD) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), 28037 Madrid, Spain
Monica Șerban: Research Institute for Quality of Life (ICCV), Romanian Academy, 050711 Bucharest, Romania

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: Since the beginning of the 21st century, Romanian migrants have become one of the most significant national groups doing agricultural work in Spain, initially coming via a temporary migration program and later under several different modalities. However, despite their critical importance for the functioning of Europe’s largest agro-industry, the study of this long-term circular mobility is still underdeveloped in migration and agriculture literature. Thanks to extensive fieldwork carried out in the provinces of Huelva and Lleida in Spain and in the counties of Teleorman and Buzău in Romania, this paper has two main objectives: first, to identify some of the most common forms of mobility of these migrants; and second, to discuss whether this industrial agriculture, hugely dependent on migrant work, is socially sustainable. The case of Romanian migrants in Spanish agriculture will serve to show how a critical sector for the EU and for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations, operates on an unsustainable model based on precariousness and exploitation.

Keywords: social sustainability; seasonal migration; circular migration; industrial agriculture; Huelva; Lleida; Romanian migration; temporary migration programs; Spain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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