Migrant entrepreneurs in the ‘Farm of Europe’: the role of transnational structures

  1. Fradejas-García, Ignacio 1
  2. Molina, José Luis 1
  3. Lubbers, Miranda J. 1
  1. 1 GRAFO-Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain
Revista:
Globalizations

ISSN: 1474-7731 1474-774X

Año de publicación: 2023

Páginas: 1-18

Tipo: Artículo

DOI: 10.1080/14747731.2023.2178806 GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openAcceso abierto editor

Otras publicaciones en: Globalizations

Resumen

The so-called ‘sea of plastic’ in Almería, Spain, is a 450km2 area devoted to intensive greenhouse farming managed by 10,000 small farmers who employ a labour force of 50,000 workers, mostly immigrants from Africa and eastern Europe. Romanian immigrants arrived at the beginning of 2000s and have occupied various positions within this agro-industrial district. Some started their own businesses in greenhouse reparation and construction employing fellow Romanians. They seized the market, providing more stable jobs through their transnational networks, and extending their businesses nationally and internationally. This paper analyses the global processes ‘from below’ that explain the occupation of specific economic spaces by transnational migrant entrepreneurs. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and social network analysis, the paper shows how the seasonal mobilization of a workforce through a transnational social field connecting Romania and Spain provided a competitive advantage to these entrepreneurs to start investing in their ventures and acquiring new markets.

Información de financiación

Financiadores

Referencias bibliográficas

  • Aznar-Sánchez J. A., (2014), Seasonal workers in Mediterranean agriculture: The social costs of eating fresh, pp. 112
  • Bagwell S., (2016), Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 41, pp. 329, 10.1080/1369183X.2014.907739
  • Baldwin-Edwards M., (1999), Immigrants and the informal economy in Southern Europe
  • Basch L., (1994), Nations unbound: Transnational projects, postcolonial predicaments, and deterritorialized nation-states
  • Becattini G., (2017), Revue d’Économie Industrielle, 157, pp. 13, 10.4000/rei.6507
  • Bonanno A., (2014), Labor relations in globalized food, 10.1108/S1057-1922201420
  • 10.1215/9780822372011
  • Cajamar. (2019). Análisis de la campaña hortofrutícola 2018/2019. https://infogram.com/analisis-de-la-campana-hortofruticola-1hd12y9wyv3×6km
  • Cecchi C., (1992), La Questione Agraria, 46, pp. 81
  • Checa F., (2001), El Ejido: La ciudad-cortijo: Claves socioeconómicas del conflicto étnico
  • 10.1111/j.1540-6520.2009.00335.x
  • 10.1080/09654310903322322
  • Delgado M., (2006), Revista de Estudios Regionales, 75, pp. 93
  • Delgado M., (2002), Le Monde Diplomatique, pp. 2
  • de Pablo J., (2019), International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16, pp. 2575, 10.3390/ijerph16142575
  • 10.1111/j.1540-6520.2009.00332.x
  • 10.1080/08865655.2016.1165132
  • Entrena-Durán F., (2014), Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas, 147, pp. 21
  • FAO. (2013). Good agricultural practices for greenhouse vegetable crops: Principles for Mediterranean climate areas. http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3284e.pdf
  • Fernández, C. & Pérez, J. J. (2004). Caracterización de los invernaderos de la provincia de Almería. https://www.publicacionescajamar.es/publicacionescajamar/public/pdf/series-tematicas/centros-experimentales-las-palmerillas/caracterizacion-de-los-invernaderos.pdf
  • Ferraro F. J., (2008), Los distritos industriales, pp. 353
  • Flavelle C., (2018), Bloomberg Businessweek, 8
  • Fradejas-García I., (2022), Informality, Labour Mobility and Precariousness, pp. 33, 10.1007/978-3-030-82499-0_2
  • 10.1111/j.1467-9523.2010.00524.x
  • 10.1080/014198799329512
  • 10.1016/j.jpolmod.2015.09.006
  • 10.1080/17450100500489189
  • Hartman T., (2008), Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 14, pp. 496, 10.1111/j.1467-9655.2008.00514.x
  • Herranz G., (2018), Agricultural Economics (Zemědělská Ekonomika), 64, pp. 367, 10.17221/318/2016-AGRICECON
  • INE. (2020). Spain Statistics 2020. www.ine.es/en/
  • Jiménez J. F., (2008), Papers: Revista de Sociología, 90, pp. 83
  • Junta de Andalucía. (2015). Caracterización de las explotaciones de invernadero de Andalucía: Campo de Dalías (Almería), Campo de Níjar y Bajo Andarax (Almería). http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/agriculturaypesca/observatorio/servlet/FrontController?action=DownloadS&table=11030&element=1586148&field=DOCUMENTO
  • 10.1080/13691830020041561
  • Körner O., (2000), Greenhouse horticulture in almería (Spain), pp. 19
  • 10.1108/17511060810883777
  • 10.1111/j.1747-7379.2004.tb00227.x
  • 10.1108/IJSSP-10-2012-0087
  • Martinez U., (2001), El ejido, discriminación, exclusión social y racismo
  • Mathews G., (2012), Globalization from below: The world’s Other economy, pp. 1, 10.4324/9780203106006
  • 10.1007/s10460-009-9218-5
  • 10.1080/09654313.2018.1455808
  • 10.3390/su13031062
  • 10.1525/sp.2014.12192
  • 10.1016/j.buildenv.2011.02.014
  • 10.1016/j.ssci.2010.09.013
  • 10.1016/j.apergo.2011.03.007
  • 10.17645/pag.v10i2.5166
  • Portes A., (1997), Globalization from below: The rise of transnational communities
  • 10.1080/1369183X.2018.1559995
  • Pumares P., (2014), Seasonal workers in Mediterranean agriculture, pp. 130
  • Reigada A., (2017), Ager: Revista de Estudios Sobre Despoblación y Desarrollo Rural/Journal of Depopulation and Rural Development Studies, 23, pp. 197
  • Sánchez Saldaña K., (2012), Política y Sociedad, 49, pp. 73, 10.5209/rev_POSO.2012.v49.n1.36520
  • Silva R., (2004), Revista de Estudios Regionales, 70, pp. 13
  • Smith M. P., (1998), Transnationalism from below
  • 10.1080/1369183X.2018.1559999
  • Tarrius A., (2002), La mondialisation par le bas: Les nouveaux nomades de l’économie souterraine
  • Tarrius, A. (2017). Le processus de mondialisation en Europe: une approche «par le bas». Question de Méthode, 1–16. https://methode.hypotheses.org/293
  • 10.3406/remi.2001.1778
  • Valenzuela-García H., (2018), Sociologica, 12, pp. 39
  • Valera, D. L., Belmonte, L. J., Molina, F. D. & López, A. (2014). Los invernaderos de Almería. Análisis de su tecnología y rentabilidad. https://www.publicacionescajamar.es/publicacionescajamar/public/pdf/series-tematicas/economia/los-invernaderos-de-almeria-analisis.pdf