Workers from the North : : Plantations, Bolivian Labor, and the City in Northwest Argentina / / Scott Whiteford.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Texas Press Complete eBook-Package Pre-2000
• VerfasserIn: Whiteford, Scott,
• Place / Publishing House: Austin : : University of Texas Press, , [2021]; ©1981
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Series: LLILAS Latin American Monograph Series
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (202 p.)

International migration between countries in Latin America became increasingly important during the twentieth century, but for a long time it was the subject of only limited research. Whiteford sets the Argentina-Bolivia experience in historical perspective by examining the macrolevel factors that influenced social change in both countries and brought streams of migration into Argentina. Seasonal labor, the expansion of capitalist agriculture, international migration, and urbanization are central topics in this in-depth study of Bolivian migrants in Northwest Argentina. Whiteford’s vivid portrayal of the lives and working conditions of the migrants is based on two years of research during which he lived with the workers on a sugar plantation and, after the harvest, accompanied them to other farms and to the city of Salta in their search for more work. He traces the development of plantation agriculture in Northwest Argentina and the processes by which the plantation gained access to cheap labor and maintained control over it. As Bolivians migrated to Argentina in ever greater numbers, many recruited for the harvest remained. Whiteford’s analysis of the diverse strategies employed by workers and their families to support themselves during the post-harvest season is a major contribution to migration literature. The four distinct but related patterns of migration that he describes created a labor reserve that transcends rural/urban designations, one that is utilized by employers in both the countryside and the city.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Preface -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Historical Context of Bolivian Migration to Argentina -- 3. Sugar Production and Seasonal Labor: Labor-Control Mechanisms -- 4. Recruiters, Canecutters, and the Work Camp -- 5. Working in the Fields, the Union, and Postharvest Planning -- 6. The Multiple Faces of the Labor Reserve -- 7. Urbanization and Seasonal Migration -- 8. The Search for Security -- 9. Different Perspectives of the City -- 10. Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index