THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF EVERYDAY PRECARITY : SEGMENTATION , FRAGMENTATION AND TRANSNATIONAL MIGRANT LABOUR IN CALIFORNIAN AGRICULTURE A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2014 FABIOLA MIERES SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES /P OLITICS LIST OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................... 7 DECLARATION ................................................................................................................................... 8 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ................................................................................................................... 9 DEDICATION ..................................................................................................................................... 10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................... 10 THE AUTHOR ................................................................................................................................... 11 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................. 12 INTRODUCTION: LICENCE TO EXPLOIT? NEW INSIGHTS INTO MEXICAN MIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES ................................................................................................................................ 15 Background ..................................................................................................................................... 15 Research questions ......................................................................................................................... 22 The argument and key concepts .................................................................................................. 23 Rationale for the research ............................................................................................................. 30 Structure of the thesis .................................................................................................................... 37 CHAPTER TWO: TOWARDS A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: REGIMES OF SEGMENTATION AND FRAGMENTATION WITHIN TRANSNATIONALISED LABOUR MARKETS .......................................... 41 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 41 Neoclassical economics: Overcoming informational problems .............................................. 42 Cumulative causation, networks and the migration industry in international migration .. 48 Unpacking the nature of migration networks........................................................................ 48 The migration industry ............................................................................................................. 52 Staffing Industry: When temporary becomes normal .............................................................. 58 Migration in segmented and fragmented labour markets ....................................................... 63 Transnationalising labour markets .............................................................................................. 70 Everyday precarity..................................................................................................................... 71 From transnationalism to transnationalisation ...................................................................... 73 2 Regimes of segmentation and fragmentation ........................................................................ 79 The argument so far ....................................................................................................................... 87 CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODS : INVESTIGATING REGIMES OF SEGMENTATION AND FRAGMENTATION ............................................................................................................................. 89 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 89 Methodology and research techniques ....................................................................................... 89 Selection of the case study ........................................................................................................ 92 Planning and sampling ........................................................................................................... 100 Multi-sited fieldwork activities .............................................................................................. 103 Methodological issues and reflections ...................................................................................... 108 The argument so far ..................................................................................................................... 112 CHAPTER FOUR: PLANTING THE SEEDS OF TRANSNATIONALISATION : FORCES DRIVING LABOUR CONTRACTING ................................................................................................................................ 114 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 114 Crafting transnationalisation: ‘Agricultural exceptionalism’ ................................................ 115 Transnationalisation of labour: The notion of an ‘unlimited supply of labour’ ................. 122 Phase I: Early developments in the chronic demand for foreign labour (1860-1940)..... 123 Phase II: Consolidation and institutionalisation of the ‘import of labour model’ (1942- 1964) ........................................................................................................................................... 130 Phase III: Institutionalising the notion of labour shortages and ‘unintended consequences’ of immigration policy (1965 - ) ................................................................... 136 The argument so far ..................................................................................................................... 141 CHAPTER FIVE: FIRST REGIME OF SEGMENTATION AND FRAGMENTATION IN THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO ..................................................................................................................... 143 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 143 Transnationalising labour markets: The United States and Mexico ..................................... 144 NAFTA: trade and migration ................................................................................................. 155 Dynamics of the first regime of segmentation-fragmentation: Precarious status and protection ...................................................................................................................................... 160 3 Immigration policies and the legal production of precarious status ................................ 160 Beyond ‘status’: The first regime of segmentation-fragmentation and the protection of farm workers ............................................................................................................................. 164 Transnationalisation between Mexico and the United States: Asymmetry at the first regime of segmentation-fragmentation .................................................................................... 168 The argument so far ..................................................................................................................... 175 CHAPTER SIX: SECOND REGIME OF SEGMENTATION AND FRAGMENTATION: CALIFORNIA .... 178 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 178 Transnationalising California ..................................................................................................... 179 California: Setting the contours of everyday precarity ........................................................... 190 Licence to exploit? ........................................................................................................................ 199 The argument so far ..................................................................................................................... 203 CHAPTER SEVEN: THIRD REGIME OF SEGMENTATION AND FRAGMENTATION : FARM LABOUR CONTRACTORS IN ACTION ............................................................................................................. 205 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 205 Unpacking the logics of FLCs ..................................................................................................... 206 The use of precarious status ............................................................................................... 214 Asymmetry in information and the use of uncertainty .................................................. 217 Ethnicity and work ethics ................................................................................................... 219 Playing and pushing the boundaries of ‘the formal’ and the use of geography ......... 223 The argument so far