Économie politique

G16 - Regional Political Economy- Agriculture, Food and Work

Date: Jun 5 | Heure: 08:30am to 10:00am | Salle:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Devin Penner (Trent University)

Between structure and subjectivity: migrant farmworker experiences of agricultural labour in Canada and Guatemala: Chris Little (York University), Jeffery Webber (York University)
Abstract: Drawing on fieldwork carried out with Guatemalan migrant farmworkers in Canada and communities within Guatemala itself, this paper explores worker subjectivity within the labour-process of transnational agriculture from the perspectives of alienation, mute compulsion and social reproduction. The paper is rooted in understanding of migrant workers as bearers of the commodity labour-power, which they are compelled to sell on the labour market either in their country of origin or in receiving states. While this labour is nominally ‘free’, it takes place under the ‘mute compulsion of economic relations’. By paying attention to such mute compulsion, we are thus drawn to analyze the social context which creates such economic relations – structural forces of power and politics, the uneven structuring of the world economy and the nature of the labour process across multiple sites of work. Yet such a structural analysis, while necessary, elides a crucial part of the story – that of worker self-understanding, their subjectivity. As human beings, workers have complex and multifaceted understandings of their roles, the choices available to them, their experiences within the workplace and the structural constraints that they face in trying to meet the subsistence needs of themselves and their families. Investigating subjectivity on its own is not enough, but neither is analysis focused solely on the level of structure. In working to bridge the two and analyze them in interplay, this paper attends to the abstract theoretical implications for understanding migrant labour in the contemporary world economy, while centring the concrete of Guatemalan farmworker experiences.

The Political Economy of Feed and Feeding: Work, Dependence, and Domination: Sarah Martin (Memorial University), Charles Mather (Memorial University)
Abstract: The Political Economy of Feed and Feeding: Work, Dependence, and Domination Sarah J. Martin and Charles Mather, Memorial University This paper examines the problem of industrial animal agriculture through a discussion of the political economy of animal feed and the relations that are generated through confinement, dependence and domination of non-human animals. The fundamental problems of this mode of agriculture can be summarized as overworking animals, overworking humans and overworking the environment. The majority of literature on industrial animal agriculture highlights the myriad of political-economic, ethical, environmental, and social problems through, for example, consumption politics, animal welfare and rights, the need to feed future populations, environmental degradation etc. This paper takes a different approach to focus on the problem of work and overwork in industrial animal agriculture. We examine the work of industrial animal agriculture and speculate on what a post-work agriculture might look like.

Regional disparities in firms’ participation in global value chains (GVCs): Zarlasht Razeq (Princeton University)
Abstract: What explains the uneven participation of firms in global value chains (GVCs) across regions? Participation in GVCs offers significant opportunities for regional economic development, particularly in developing countries. Over the past two decades, production has shifted from the global North to the South, enabling these nations to specialize and upgrade industrially without building an entire sector from scratch. However, the benefits of GVC participation are unevenly distributed across regions. While some regions in countries like Poland, the Czech Republic, Vietnam, and China are more successful in their integration with global supply chains, many other regions have not, despite similar favorable conditions. This study aims to understand this uneven participation by examining both micro-level (firm and location-specific advantages) and macro-level (trade and economic institutions, policies, and geographic characteristics) factors. To this end, I am building a comprehensive geocoded firm-level dataset for 124 countries from 2006 to 2020, engaging with economic geography and trade literature, and using causal inference methods and case studies. Preliminary findings suggest that geography is not a “curse”; while macro-level physical and institutional factors are essential for GVC integration, their interaction with micro-level factors creates location-specific advantages for producers, determining their gain and loss in terms of access to GVC linkages. Understanding these advantages is crucial for informing inclusive economic development policies and ensuring equitable globalization benefits.

Inherited Wealth, Unequal States: The Impact of Inheritance on Life Satisfaction in Eastern and Western Germany: Evelyne Brie (Université de Montréal)
Abstract: A significant portion of the literature points at systematic income differences between Eastern and Western Germany to explain dissatisfaction in Eastern German states. However, it is difficult to disentangle the effect of income from that of other covariates, both at the individual and at the aggregate level. Data emanates from the SOEP panel dataset (n=658,525), which contains self-reported inheritance indicators for respondents across all German states between 2000 and 2019. First, using RDD and fixed-effects models, I test the impact of inheriting on various indicators of satisfaction, assets value and house ownership. Second, using matching techniques, I test the effect of inheritance on general satisfaction with one’s own situation since German reunification in 1990, a novel question which was asked in the 2019 survey. Results suggest that receiving additional income through inheritance has a disproportionate effect on satisfaction towards one’s own financial situation in the East, controlling for monthly income. This effect, however, doesn’t appear to result from increased assets and home ownership in the East, despite their lower assets and ownership baseline compared with Western Germany.