2012
Clare Glassco
This thesis explores the Canadian state's rationale for the creation and perpetuation of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker's Program (SAWP). Informed by and building on the writing of Canadian political economists, this thesis provides a composite history of the program from its creation in 1966 to its current-day incarnation. While many scholars have looked to neo-liberalism to analyze the program, SAWP existed long before the term entered the political lexicon and instead fits into a much longer history of racialized immigration and labour policies in Canada. Therefore, though we need to understand the changes wrought by neo-liberalism, we must also acknowledge the historical continuities inherent in SAWP: no matter who was in office, and what political ideology they subscribed to, migrant labour schemes have consistently been relied onto support the state's project of aiding the accumulation of wealth and filling the labour vacuum left behind by Canadians who gained safer, more secure, and more lucrative employment elsewhere.
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Trent University
Faculty of Arts and Science
History M.A. Graduate Program
Peterborough, Ontario
Paper copy in MWR
General relevance - all sectors
Policy analysis, Current Policy, and Past policies
Ingles