Parea non servin:strategies of exploitation and resistance in the caporalato discourse

Abstract

In this article, we analyse the ideological content of the discursive strategies used by a group of migrant workers subjected to ‘caporalato’, a form of illegal hiring and exploitation of farm day workers through an intermediary. Starting from a series of collective open interviews with farm workers, we examine the way in which the dynamics of both exploitation and resistance are reproduced through linguistic and discursive practices. What emerges from the analysis is a complex set of ambivalent experiences and representations. Despite its inherent exploitative and controlling nature, the workers tend to justify, legitimise and deny the negative aspects of caporalato. Nonetheless, they also use linguistic devices of resistance to reconfigure the meanings of, and their role in, caporalato. Interestingly, the analyses show that caporalato is also perceived as a mechanism of social mobility. Only limited attempts at explicitly challenging its criminal nature are strategically expressed.

Odi et amo: Discursive strategies and ambiguity in the narratives of violence

“…Regarding the identification of a narrative and discursive strategy, this study relies on a procedure already applied in Poppi, Travaglino and Di Piazza (2018) and Poppi and Travaglino (2019). Specifically, the interview with Marco Mariolini was first transcribed, then coded manually by one of the authors and then translated into English.…”

Fruit production and exploited labor in northern Italy: Redefining urban responsibility toward the agrarian ground

“…Caporalato in agriculture is built on globalized food systems that aim at producing cheap food for cheap labor, lowering costs through the exploitation of vulnerable groups (Poppi & Travaglino, 2019). This reduces labor agency, understood as workers' ability to act effectively to improve their labor conditions (Gansemans & D'Haese, 2020).…”

“…Italian law frames labor exploitation in all industries through the concept of caporalato , which includes both labor exploitation as well as the illegal intermediation of exploited labor. Caporalato in agriculture is built on globalized food systems that aim at producing cheap food for cheap labor, lowering costs through the exploitation of vulnerable groups (Poppi & Travaglino, 2019). This reduces labor agency, understood as workers' ability to act effectively to improve their labor conditions (Gansemans & D'Haese, 2020).…”

“…In doing so, the caporale receives a sort of social legitimation that elevates its role to a level of structural indispensability, often recognized by the worker. Following Bourdieu, 2002, such social acceptance derives from the caporale ability to distinguish themself through a consolidation of social and cultural capital, mobilizing a position of connectedness and prestige which, as underlined by Poppi and Travaglino (2019), lies in the indispensability of the service provided by the caporale .…”

“…Caporalato is a gangmaster system of labor recruitment through which an intermediator, called a caporale (gangmaster), connects the demand for agricultural labor with a supply of vulnerable workers, whether migrants or locals, which renders such workers available at short notice and for cheap wages. The concept comes from the historic profile of gangmasters in Italian agriculture, known as caporali , who are tasked with intermediary functions in the recruitment, organization, and control of low‐wage labor (Poppi & Travaglino, 2019). Such gangmasters often retain part of the workers' wage and monopolize negotiations with employers on compensation, duties, working hours, and conditions (Gansemans & D'Haese, 2020).…”