MULTI-SCALAR LABOUR REGIMES: SEASONAL MIGRANT FARMWORK IN AUSTRALIA

Rafael Azeredo; Zoe Wang; Neil Coe

Todos os Trabalhos

Trabalho

DOI

10.29327/9786527226680.1441421

Título do Trabalho

MULTI-SCALAR LABOUR REGIMES: SEASONAL MIGRANT FARMWORK IN AUSTRALIA

Autores

Rafael Azeredo
Zoe Wang
Neil Coe

Modalidade

IRSA - Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (01/10/2025 a 20/01/2026)

Área temática

IRSA 34 - Diverse Transitions of Farming and Peasantries

Data de Publicação

06/08/2026

País da Publicação

Brasil

Idioma da Publicação

pt-BR

Página do Trabalho

https://www.even3.com.br/anais/sober-irsa2026/1441421-multi-scalar-labour-regimes--seasonal-migrant-farmwork-in-australia

ISBN

978-65-272-2668-0

Palavras-Chave

horticulture, farm labour, migrants, Pacific Islanders, backpackers

Resumo

In high-income countries, labour-intensive food production is increasingly dependent on migrant workers recruited through seasonal and temporary migration programs designed to address chronic agricultural labour shortages. While the concept of labour regimes has been widely used to analyse the institutional and political organisation of work, it has rarely been examined in conjunction with migration regimes. This article addresses this gap by analysing the labour regimes underpinning seasonal migrant farm work in the horticultural sector of north-east Australia. We extend labour regime analysis by incorporating migration regimes, conceptualising them as multi-scalar formations operating across global mobility frameworks, national visa and labour policies, regional labour markets, and local employment practices. Drawing on qualitative research, the article examines how these interlocking regimes shape workers’ mobility, legal status, bargaining power, and everyday labour relations. We show that migration regimes do not simply channel labour into existing labour regimes but actively constitute them by producing differentiated and spatially uneven forms of labour discipline, precarity, and control. Seasonal migrant labour regimes are shown to emerge through the strategic alignment of state migration governance, employer practices, and intermediary actors, generating a workforce that is simultaneously flexible and highly regulated. By foregrounding the multi-scalar intersections of labour and migration regimes, the article contributes to economic geographic debates on labour, mobility, and agri-food production, and advances a relational framework for analysing migrant work in contemporary food systems.

Título do Evento: 16th World Congress of Rural Sociology and 64th Congress of the Brazilian Society of Rural Economics, Management and Sociology
Cidade do Evento: Porto Alegre
Título dos Anais do Evento: Anais do 64º Congresso da SOBER e XVI Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (IRSA)
Nome da Editora: Even3
Meio de Divulgação: Meio Digital
DOI

Como citar

AZEREDO, Rafael; WANG, Zoe; COE, Neil. MULTI-SCALAR LABOUR REGIMES: SEASONAL MIGRANT FARMWORK IN AUSTRALIA.. In: Anais do 64º Congresso da SOBER e XVI Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (IRSA). Anais...Porto Alegre(RS) UFRGS, 2026. Disponível em: https//www.even3.com.br/anais/sober-irsa2026/1441421-MULTI-SCALAR-LABOUR-REGIMES--SEASONAL-MIGRANT-FARMWORK-IN-AUSTRALIA. Acesso em: 22/09/2026