IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/agspub/v1y2012i2p161-180.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Migrant Workers in Sugarcane Mills: A Study of Social Networks and Recruitment Intermediaries in Brazil

Author

Listed:
  • Marilda Aparecida de Menezes

    (Marilda Aparecida de Menezes is Professor at the Graduate Program in Social Sciences (PPGCS), Federal University of Campina Grande (UFCG) Brazil. Email: menezesmarilda@gmail.com)

  • Marcelo Saturnino da Silva

    (Marcelo Saturnino da Silva is Professor, Faculdade de Integração do Sertão (FIS), Brazil. Email: marcelo_saturnino@yahoo.com.br)

  • Maciel Cover

    (Maciel Cover is PhD Candidate, Graduate Program in Social Sciences (PPGCS), Federal University of Campina Grande (UFCG), Brazil. Email: macielcover@gmail.com)

Abstract

The growing demand for ethanol has resulted in an expansion of the production of sugarcane in Brazil. Several studies have reported the degrading conditions and labour that have resulted in negative physical and psychological impacts, leaving workers with signs of illness. This has helped to demystify the image of ethanol as a ‘clean’ energy source. In spite of the increasing use of mechanized processes, the harvesting of sugarcane is still predominantly a manual process. This paper analyzes the manner in which the mills use kinship and friendship networks among workers to recruit and select migrants, who originate from peasant farming areas mainly located in the North-eastern region of Brazil. These social networks have a double face: on the one hand, they make possible the strategies of domination by mills over migrant workers; on the other, they establish worker support and mutual assistance practices during the periods they are far from their families.

Suggested Citation

  • Marilda Aparecida de Menezes & Marcelo Saturnino da Silva & Maciel Cover, 2012. "Migrant Workers in Sugarcane Mills: A Study of Social Networks and Recruitment Intermediaries in Brazil," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 1(2), pages 161-180, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:agspub:v:1:y:2012:i:2:p:161-180
    DOI: 10.1177/227797601200100202
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/227797601200100202
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/227797601200100202?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:agspub:v:1:y:2012:i:2:p:161-180. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.