The Growing Dependence on Migrant Labor for Agricultural Tasks in the Global Core: A Comparative Perspective

Abstract

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Several studies, especially in recent decades, have shown the progressive increase in the number of migrants doing agricultural work in the States of the global core. From the ecology-world paradigm, it was theorized that this global phenomenon constituted a systemic strategy to keep food prices stable and low, as food production is a pillar that supports the accumulation phases of global capitalism. With the aim of contributing to reinforce this theory, this article intends, through a study of comparative cases, to dimension this phenomenon. Thus, through the use of available official statistics, the magnitude of the irreversible and structural “migrantization” process of agricultural work occurred in the core areas of the world between the middle of the last century and the beginning of this one, will be analyzed.