Sugarcane Labor Migration in Brazil

Terry-Ann Jones

• Publisher: Palgrave Pivot
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9783030356705
• eBook ISBN:
  9783030356712
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Labour Economics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book examines the experiences of seasonal, migrant sugarcane workers in Brazil, analyzing the deep-seated inequalities pervasive in contemporary Brazil. Education, employment, income, health, and relative political power are forefront in this study of the living and working conditions of the transient population. Based on ten years of qualitative research dominated by in-depth interviews with migrant sugarcane workers, this project argues that the ills of the sugarcane industry are symptomatic of an overarching problem of unequal access to opportunities by all Brazilian citizens. The project is unique in its use of a single industry as an expression of the multifarious problems of socioeconomic, regional, and racial inequality. The author explores details of the labor migration experience with a central premise that the conditions are not a direct outcome of the industry, but rather a manifestation of fundamental inequalities rooted in Brazil's colonial history.

© The Author(s) 2020

T.-A. JonesSugarcane Labor Migration in BrazilMobility & Politicshttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35671-2_1

Begin Abstract

1. Sugarcane Labor in Brazil

Terry-Ann Jones¹

(1)

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT, USA

Terry-Ann Jones

Email: [email protected]

Abstract

The book begins with a cursory discussion of the history of Brazil’s sugarcane industry and some of the past and contemporary challenges, particularly with regard to the use of labor, from slave labor to the current model of recruiting seasonal domestic migrants from less affluent northeastern states. Brazil’s social and economic structures facilitate the stark inequalities among citizens that produce this type of seasonal migration. This chapter examines the social structures that were created during the early, colonial period of sugarcane production, probing the divisions among citizens that have endured to the present time. The chapter also discusses contemporary forces that sustain the dynamics of inequality, such as globalization, and the workers’ resistance to exploitation through efforts such as the landless workers’ movement.

Keywords

BrazilSugarcaneSlaveryColonialismLatifundiaMST

End Abstract

Introduction

My first visit to Brazil in summer 2006 coincided with Brazil’s loss to France and elimination from the World Cup. Besides the devastation about the World Cup outcome, the most remarkable aspect of my visit was a conversation with a migrant sugarcane worker who resided on a land reform settlement outside of the city of Campos dos Goytacazes in upstate Rio de Janeiro. My casual conversation with this man sparked the curiosity that led to the research that resulted in this monograph. Through a mixture of my Spanish, his Portuguese, and much gesticulation, the man explained that he had traveled from the northeast with his family to seek better livelihood opportunities. He arrived after the sugarcane harvesting season had already begun, but with the help of relatives who connected him with a recruiter, he was still able to find employment cutting sugarcane. He explained to me that the work was physically difficult and the financial gains were limited. Although his experience told an interesting story of internal labor migration, what was particularly fascinating to me were the parallels between his story and the labor migration experiences of countless Jamaican workers who made their way to the United States (Florida and Louisiana in particular) to manually harvest sugarcane, a migration flow that I was much more familiar with. In the Brazilian case, workers were migrating within their country of citizenship and were consequently free of any international borders or political restrictions, while in the case of Jamaicans in the United States, the guest workers were dependent on the recruitment and permission of both the Jamaican and US governments before they could begin their journey. In both cases, the work was physically challenging but the salary, while minimal, afforded the workers a better standard of living than they otherwise had.

Since 1941, Jamaican guest workers have been manually harvesting sugarcane in Florida through a joint agreement between the governments of the two countries. However, since the mid-1990s, mechanical harvesters have been used to cut sugarcane in Florida, and consequently the guest worker program has shifted away from sugarcane harvesting, focusing instead on other forms of agricultural labor such as harvesting tobacco, apples, and oranges. The program remains sizable, with close to 200,000 visas being issued in the United States for temporary agricultural workers in 2018 (Felter 2019). While the trend in the Brazilian sugarcane industry has been toward mechanizing as well, through the early 2000s, the industry was still dependent on manual labor, particularly migrant workers who travel seasonally from the less resourced parts of the country’s northeast. As was the case among Jamaican migrant workers in the US sugarcane industry, Brazilian migrant workers who cut sugarcane for a living face an array of challenges related to the physical demands of the work, the meager pay, and the transient nature of their lives as seasonal migrant workers. Most striking were the parallels between the domestic and international contexts—from the structural inequalities, which are rooted in colonialism, to the discrimination that workers face. This project emphasizes inequality as the central reason for the disparities that produce these types of labor movements. Inequality between Brazil’s impoverished northeast, where unemployed workers abound, and the more affluent south, where there is an abundance of capital, leads to migration from the labor abundant to the capital abundant. To explain these dynamics, I examine the sociological approach of internal colonialism, which underscores the differentials in labor and capital between the two regions.

With measurements of inequality such as a Palma index of 4.3 and a Gini coefficient of 0.5118, earning it the unenviable rank as the world’s 8th most unequal country, Brazil has gained infamy for its income disparity. This study of seasonal, migrant sugarcane workers in Brazil uses the sugarcane industry as a medium through which to analyze the deep-seated inequalities that are pervasive in contemporary Brazil. Education, employment, income, health, and relative political power are forefront in this study of the living and working conditions of this transient population. Based on over ten years of qualitative research dominated by in-depth interviews with migrant sugarcane workers, this project argues that the ills of the sugarcane industry are symptomatic of an overarching problem of unequal access to opportunities by all Brazilian citizens. The project is unique in its use of a single industry as an expression of the multifarious problem of inequality. The book explores details of the migration and labor processes with a central premise that the conditions are not a direct outcome of the industry, but rather a manifestation of fundamental inequalities rooted in Brazil’s colonial history.

According to the migration theory of the new international division of labor, job access is not only based on the skills of workers. Rather, some employment opportunities attract particular ethnic or national groups and socioeconomic classes. Most often, jobs that are menial, strenuous, and low paying are reserved for those not necessarily with the fewest skills, but with the most limited resources. In the United States, Canada, and parts of Europe, these jobs are often filled by immigrants, especially those who have recently migrated. The positions vary from domestic work to agriculture and meatpacking, among other sectors. With its rapidly growing economy, Brazil has labor demands for different sectors and skill levels, including low-skilled, low-wage workers. Brazil is a world leader in ethanol production and has engaged in the widespread use and export of ethanol since the mid-1970s, after the 1973 oil crisis prompted a shift toward alternatives to fossil fuels, and biofuels were deemed to be viable energy sources. Unstable fuel prices, coupled with the acknowledgment of the limitations of fossil fuel availability, have produced a demand for biofuels, including sugarcane-based ethanol.

In Brazil, the incentives to produce more sugarcane have increased labor demands on sugarcane plantations and in sugar mills located in the central and southeastern states, predominantly in the state of São Paulo. To meet the labor demands, migrants temporarily relocate to these areas. However, in this case the migrants are not foreigners, but Brazilians from the poorest parts of the country. In some cases, the migration is long term or permanent, with workers living in shantytowns, tenements, land reform settlements, and other marginalized communities. The majority of manual sugarcane harvesters are temporary labor migrants who travel seasonally from northern and northeastern states such as Maranhão, Bahia, Alagoas, and Pará. Although these workers are Brazilians traveling and working in their home country, they face many of the challenges that international labor migrants encounter, including discrimination, poor wages, and inhumane working conditions. This study examines the migration and living and working conditions of seasonal sugarcane workers in Brazil, using case studies of migrant workers from the state of Maranhão who seasonally work on plantations in Guariba in the state of São Paulo.

A secondary assertion of this study is that this case of domestic migration warrants the same level of theoretical consideration that international migration inspires, particularly because of Brazil’s size and its geographic, socioeconomic, and racial diversity. Although there is a substantial body of literature on domestic migration from rural to urban settings, there is a dearth of scholarship on internal migrations that do not follow the rural-urban pattern. In the case of Brazil, seasonal sugarcane workers are moving to rural areas for agricultural employment. Brazil’s size and diversity contribute to the complexity of these processes. From an interdisciplinary perspective that draws primarily from political, sociological, and geographic foci, this book exposes the challenges of these atypical migration patterns within the context of global demands for biofuels and the consequent pressures for sugarcane production. The sociological theory of internal colonialism is used as an explanatory tool to illustrate the internal divisions and dependence within Brazil that produce the need for large numbers of workers to relocate seasonally, which disrupts educational opportunities for their children and perpetuates the cycle of poverty. Internal colonialism also underscores the unequal distribution of resources that is rampant at the state and regional levels in Brazil. Internal colonialism has been used predominantly in the US context; its application in this context of internal migration in Brazil is as atypical as the migration pattern.

This project explores the concept of citizenship and its meaning for marginalized peoples, who do not necessarily experience the rights and benefits that the term suggests. Here, I explore social and political exclusion among the economically marginalized in Brazil. These forms of exclusion that many seasonal migrant workers experience correspond with their spatial exclusion, as their living arrangements are generally found within the confines of the sugarcane plantations or on the margins of the towns in which they temporarily reside. Highlighting the severe working conditions, low wages, and substandard living conditions among Brazil’s migrant sugarcane workers, I challenge the notion that Brazilians share similar rights as citizens, endorsing existing literature that underscores the limitations on citizenship rights among indigenous, black, and poor Brazilians. That the living and working conditions continue to result in illness, injury, and death without adequate government intervention raises questions regarding the protective role of citizenship and governance in the lives of these workers. As the Brazilian sugarcane industry increasingly shifts away from the manual harvesting of sugarcane and toward mechanization, the book ultimately argues that despite fears of unemployment among sugarcane workers, this shift could represent an opportunity f...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Sugarcane Labor in Brazil
• 2. Migration and Internal Colonialism
• 3. The Life and Work of a Manual Sugarcane Harvester
• 4. The Outsider Status of Internal Migrants
• 5. The (Un)Sustainability of Manual Sugarcane Harvesting
• Back Matter