The Human Condition of West Indian Migrant Farm Labour in Southwestern Ontario
This document is controversial
- Date
1991
- Authors
R. G. Cecil and Eddie Ebanks
- Abstract
West Indian migrant farm laborers are crucial to the agricultural process in Ontario. Also, they are human beings isolated from homes & families, for varying lengths of time, in a foreign environment. The fundamental issue raised here concerns the conditions of life for these workers. The methods of anthropology, demography, & geography were combined to conduct a pilot study, collecting questionnaire data from 300 workers & 25 farmers. Concurrently, anthropological analysis was carried out on both groups via in-depth interviews. It was postulated that the work situation would replicate some aspects of the old tropical colonial plantation relationship, & indeed it was so for certain aspects. It was further hypothesized that the workers would experience certain degrees of loneliness & isolation in Canada, which was also proven to be true in many cases. Data allow some preliminary examinations of farmer-worker relationships, which ran the gamut from pure detachment to quasi-familial integration. The global aspects of the workers' human condition are presented. 3 Tables, 37 References. Modified AA
- Journal title
International Migration/Migrations Internationales/Migraciones Internationales
- Volume
29
- Issue
3
- Page numbers
371-495
- File Attachments
- Links
-
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/imig.1991.29.issue-3/issuetoc (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/imig.1991.29.issue-3/issuetoc)
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- Economic sectors
Agriculture and horticulture workers
- Content types
Policy analysis
- Geographical focuses
Ontario
- Spheres of activity
Geography and Sociology
- Languages
English