Thesis
The transnational chains of super-exploitation in the 21st century : the experiences of Haitian workers in Brazil
- Creator
- Rights statement
- Awarding institution
- University of Strathclyde
- Date of award
- 2019
- Thesis identifier
- T15458
- Person Identifier (Local)
- 201467218
- Qualification Level
- Qualification Name
- Department, School or Faculty
- Abstract
- This thesis discusses the super-exploitation of Haitian workers in Brazil. It refers to the emerging patterns of south-south migration and the incorporation of international migrant labour into the strategies for economic development in the Global South. The study makes an innovative contribution to the conceptualisation of super-exploitation in contemporary capitalism, particularly in relation to the field of social reproduction. The concept of super-exploitation has been a theoretical alternative to northern centric conceptual frameworks of employment relations and its relationship with strategies for economic development in the Global South. The conventional definition is that super-exploitation drives the wages of workers below the amount necessary for their social reproduction. While this argument is technically correct, the literature has under-theorized the way in which super-exploitation has occurred in Southern countries and how international migration represents a new chapter in the expansion of super-exploitation. This thesis argues that the definition of super-exploitation can be refined by a better understanding of the social composition of the workforce in these countries, in other words, by understanding the specific historical and contextual conditions which shape the social reproduction of super-exploited workers. This thesis, therefore, aims to re-conceptualise super-exploitation by exploring the multidimensional dynamics and the patterns of social reproduction it assumes in the experiences of a particular group of workers, migrants from Haiti in Brazil. Forty-two semi-structured interviews were collected with Haitian migrants in Brazil and analysed alongside immigration and labour market statistics. Three key themes emerged from those interviews and were organised into three chapters: citizenship, transnational network relations and employment. Findings showed that Haitians are super-exploited in Brazil because their social reproduction is over-determined by a constellation of political-citizenship and community/networking relationships which, although crucial for the survival of Haitians, contribute to their subordination to super-exploitation. Therefore, super-exploitation can be defined more accurately as a combination of economic and non-economic forces that entangle productive-reproductive-exploitative relationships, thereby shaping the dependence of workers on wages below the value necessary for their social reproduction. In showing these entanglements, this study offers a better understanding of how south-south migration relates to the emerging forms of labour exploitation in the 21st century in Latin America.
- Advisor / supervisor
- Stewart, Paul
- Garvey, Brian
- Resource Type
- Note
- Previously held under moratorium from 9th November 2019 until 26th August 2024.
- DOI
- Date Created
- 2019
- Former identifier
- 9912787993202996
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