Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University / Much of the literature dealing with employment in seasonal industries with sharp peaks or short active seasons states or implies that all such industries employ, mostly, temporar.y entrants to the labor force during their active seasons who withdraw when that season is over. This seems to be an e~ension of the observation of the practice in summer resort and other industries with a short summer peak to all (resort and other) industries with short active seasons. It is questionable whether this is actually true for seasonal winter resort industries, particularly in non-urban areas. This study proposes to examine the labor supplies of a winter seasonal industry with a test of that assumption in view. It is proposed, also, that the concepts of primary and secondary members of the labor force, introduced by Wilcock, be utilized in the study. Such concepts which differentiate between workers who belong regularly to the labor force and those who enter and leave at various intervals should prove useful when dealing with seasonal employment and seasonal workers [TRUNCATED]

Migrant workers are one of the most rapidly growing populations in the United States (U.S.) and have been significantly affected by HIV/AIDS. More than 9 million people in the U.S., primarily concentrated in Texas, Florida, Washington, California, Oregon, and North Carolina, are migrant farm workers. High prevalence rates are also suspected among migrant worker communities where risky health behaviors appear to be common. Constant mobility, isolation, limited education, substandard housing, and poverty are some of the factors that migrant workers experience and in many cases increases their HIV risk. Recent studies have suggested that ethnic identity or the level of attachment with one’s ethnic group may influence engagement in HIV risk behaviors, a fact that may be important in the development of interventions among ethnic minorities. This study assesses the relationship between ethnic identity and HIV risk behaviors in two different samples; one assesses this relationship at baseline with a total of 431 African American migrant and seasonal workers in Immokalee, Florida. The second analyzes changes in ethnic identity and HIV behaviors in a sample of 270 Hispanic and African American migrant and seasonal workers in Immokalee, Florida. Data from baseline and 6-month follow-up were used in the analyses presented. The results suggest that individuals with higher levels of ethnic identity report lower levels of engagement in some, but not all, of the risky behaviors examined. These findings point to a potentially protective role for ethnic identity among this sample.

The purpose of this essay is to gain a deeper understanding of the social relations that take place at work between locals and seasonal workers in Åre, and to find out whether there exists a division between those who work and live seasonal in Åre and those who permanently live and work in Åre. The method used is a qualitative method with semi-structured interviews consisting of four seasonal workers and three locals in Åre from a storytelling perspective. The general results show that there is a strong division between these two groups because of their completely separate lifestyles, but still it does not exist any overall conflict between them. Their working relationship overall was decent but they were not socialized beyond work or even had a thought for that either. The strong division between these groups created a feeling of exclusion, the one group felt that it did not belong to the other and vice versa. Opinions about seasonal workers different habits and behavior in Åre compared to their habits at home arose, which both groups were aware of solidified the grouping. / Syftet med denna uppsats är att få en djupare förståelse över de sociala relationer som sker på arbetet mellan lokalbefolkningen och säsongsarbetarna i Åre, samt ta reda på om det existerar en uppdelning mellan de som arbetar samt bor säsong i Åre och de som permanent arbetar och bor i Åre. Metoden som vi använt är kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra säsongsarbetare och tre lokala från Åre utifrån ett berättande perspektiv. Det generella resultatet visar på att det existerar en stark uppdelning mellan dessa två grupper då de lever helt åtskilda liv men att trots detta inte existerar någon övergripande konflikt mellan dem. Deras arbetsrelation fungerade bra men de umgicks ej utöver arbetet eller hade en önskan om det heller. Utanförskapen var utgjord av de två grupperingarna, att den ena gruppen kände att den inte tillhörde den andra och vice versa. Det uppstod åsikter om säsongsarbetarnas annorlunda vanor och beteende i Åre jämfört med deras vanor hemma, vilket båda var väl medvetna om förstärkte grupperingen.

L’analyse sociologique de la précarité oscille entre risque de désaffiliation et alternative à la norme d’emploi dominante. Pour contribuer au débat, cette thèse saisit cette ambivalence en développant une problématique originale : celle de la « soutenabilité » de l’emploi discontinu, au double-sens de ce qui est supportable et de ce qui est défendable. Les cas contrastés des saisonniers agricoles et des artistes du spectacle sont comparés au moyen d’une enquête biographique et longitudinale retraçant leurs trajectoires sociales. La première partie reconstitue l’espace des possibles structurant les trajectoires objectives des enquêtés. D’un côté, un salariat agricole flexible et relativement invisible maintient les saisonniers agricoles, majoritairement issus des classes populaires, dans une condition de précarité-pauvreté. De l’autre,les artistes, originaires principalement des classes moyennes et supérieures, se mobilisent politiquement pour la défense d’une intermittence du spectacle recouvrant un potentiel d’autonomie salariale. Ce contraste se redouble ensuite au niveau des trajectoires subjectives. La deuxième partie montre comment l’emploi agricole devient soutenable par adaptation à la nécessité. La discontinuité permet de mettre à distance le travail et de recentrer les attentes sur l’espace domestique et le territoire local. À l’inverse, l’insoutenabilité l’emporte lorsque le CDI réduit les possibilités de s’extraire d’un travail portant atteinte à la santé (insoutenabilité de condition) ou lorsque l’emploi agricole est consécutif à un déclassement (insoutenabilité de position). Enfin, la troisième partie illustre comment les artistes du spectacle se caractérisent au contraire par un refus de la finitude sociale. La vie d’artiste et d’intermittent demeure soutenable tant que la recherche d’autonomie dans un travail synonyme de singularité et de vocation n’est pas compromise par un engagement prenant le sens du surinvestissement (insoutenabilité de condition) ou par un défaut de capital spécifique(insoutenabilité de position). Les trajectoires contrastées des saisonniers agricoles et des artistes du spectacle interrogent finalement la thèse d’un « précariat » à la condition ou au projet politique communs. / The sociological analysis of the precariousness fluctuates between disaffiliation risk and alternative to the dominant employment norm. In order to contribute to the debate, this thesis captures this ambivalence by developing an original issue: the “sustainability” of discontinuous employment, in both meaning of what is bearable and what is defensible. The contrasting cases of agricultural seasonal workers and performing artists are compared by means of a biographical and longitudinal survey tracking down their social trajectories. The first part rebuilds the space of possibilities structuring the objective paths of the respondents. On one side, a flexible and relatively invisible agricultural wage-earners keeps theseasonal workers, mainly from the working class, in a precariousness-poverty condition. On the other side, the artists,mainly from the middle and superior classes, politically gather for the defense of the intermittence of the performing arts, implying the possibility of autonomous wages. Then, this disparity is increased when considering the subjective paths. The second part shows how the agricultural employment becomes sustainable as adaptation to the necessity. The discontinuity allows to distance work and to refocus expectations on domestic space and local territory. Conversely, the unsustainability wins when permanent contract reduces the possibility to get away of a job jeopardizing health (condition unsustainability) or when agricultural employment is a consequence of a downgrade (position unsustainability). Finally, the third part illustrate, on the contrary, how performing artists are characterized by a rejection of the social finitude. The artist and intermittent life remains sustainable as long as the pursuit of autonomy in a job, synonym for singularity andvocation, is not jeopardized by a commitment as a surinvestment (condition unsustainability) or a default of specific capital (position unsustainability). The contrasted paths of agricultural seasonal workers and performing artists finallyquestion the thesis of a “precariat” with common conditions and political vision.

No description available.

Cette thèse traite de la condition sociale des saisonniers du tourisme selon le point de vue de l’ethnologie. Les saisonniers dont il s’agit exercent leurs activités dans des stations touristiques du Sud-est de la France et sont soumis à un régime d’embauche flexible et non-sécurisé. Cette forme d'emploi intermittente implique une mobilité professionnelle et/ou géographique qui répond aux rythmes et aux exigences du secteur touristique. Ces travailleurs questionnent un ensemble de normes vis-à-vis du salariat, des rythmes sociaux et des modes de vie dominants. Leurs emplois, socialement dévalorisés, demeurent pensés comme transitionnels. Pourtant, nombreux sont ceux qui « font les saisons » durant plusieurs années, voire toute leur vie de travailleur. Comment parviennent-ils à faire « carrière » dans le cadre d’un système d’emploi précaire ? L'analyse s'attache à saisir la place des saisonniers dans les entreprises comme dans l’espace de la station de tourisme. Cette recherche démontre que ces travailleurs sont l’objet d’un mécanisme d'invisibilisation sociale. L’attention se porte également sur l’organisation du travail dans le cadre de variations importantes du volume horaire. Enfin, l’analyse se concentre sur les diverses façons de composer avec l’intermittence des revenus (y compris durant l’intersaison). Il est question d’envisager les trajectoires des saisonniers sur le temps long. Les liens entre travail et hors-travail sont au centre de cette recherche. S’intéresser aux conditions d'existence de ces salariés du tourisme conduit à une réflexion plus large sur la place du travail et des loisirs ainsi que sur le sens de la norme d’autonomie dans nos sociétés. / This thesis focuses on the social condition of seasonal workers in tourism from an ethnological point of view. These seasonal workers carry out their activities in tourist resorts in the South East of France and are subject to flexible and unsecure employment policies. This form of intermittent employment implies geographic and professional mobility which corresponds to the rhythms and requirements of the tourism sector. These workers question the dominant set of norms regarding employment, social rhythms and lifestyles. Their socially depreciated work is considered as transitional. Nevertheless, many of them “work the seasons” for many years, sometimes during their whole working life. How do they manage to “have a career” within a precarious employment system? The analysis looks at the position of the seasonal workers in the companies and within the tourist resort. This research shows that these workers are subject to a mechanism of social invisibilization. The study also encompasses work organization in the context of large variations in the amount of working hours. Finally, the analysis looks at the various ways of coping with intermittent revenues (during the between seasons periods as well). We will consider long term trajectories of seasonal workers.The relationship between work and non-work is at the center of this research. Being concerned with the living conditions of these tourism workers leads to a broader consideration of the position of work and leisure and the sense of norm and autonomy in our society.

Ce travail de recherche s’intéresse aux processus de construction d’un problème public à une échelle locale, en partant des différentes questions nées autour de campements de travailleurs saisonniers migrants dans des régions d’agriculture intensive en Italie. Il est principalement basé sur une recherche empirique menée entre 2013 et 2017 dans la zone rurale de Saluzzo (Piémont) avec une méthodologie qualitative croisant entretiens sociologiques, observation participante au sein de collectifs militants et à l’intérieur des campements de migrants et analyse d’articles de presse locale. L’objectif principal était celui d’étudier la façon dont la présence de migrants dans ce contexte spécifique est perçue comme un problème public, de quelle manière ce dernier est défini et construit dans un jeu de mobilisations et contremobilisations par une multitude d’acteurs aux intérêts divergents, puis d’analyser les conséquences de ces dynamiques sur les actions mises en places pour tenter de le résoudre. La thèse démontre en particulier comment la construction du problème se focalise progressivement sur le caractère temporaire de la présence des migrants, au détriment d’autres possibles cadrages, en justifiant la mise en place de dispositifs d’accueil provisoires et précaires, conduisant au confinement spatial et temporel des migrants. On verra également comme la création de camps de plus en plus institutionnalisés et contrôlés, gérés par une association humanitaire bénéficiant d’un large consensus, a favorisé un apaisement des conflits autour de cette question et un éloignement du problème au sein du débat politique public. D’une façon plus générale, ce travail, en analysant une question inhérente aux faits migratoires par le prisme de la sociologie politique, invite à une réflexion plus ample sur le traitement politique des migrants et sur la construction collective de la place qu’ils occupent aujourd’hui au sein de la société italienne. / This thesis examines how the presence of seasonal migrant workers’ camps in intensive agricultural areas in Northern Italy is framed and addressed as a public problem. It draws on fieldwork carried out between 2013 and 2017 in the rural area of Saluzzo (Piedmont). The qualitative methodology includes sociological interviews, participant observation with organizations and in migrants’ camps, and the analysis of the local press. The thesis aims to understand how the presence of seasonal migrants is defined and constructed by a range of actors with divergent interests. In particular, it examines a set of public mobilisations and counter-mobilisations, analysing how they have influenced the actions undertaken to solve “the problem” of migrants’ camps in the Saluzzo area. The main argument is that the problem has been progressively constructed around the temporariness of migrants’ presence in the area. This has justified the setting up of temporary and precarious reception systems, leading to the spatial and temporal confinement of the migrants. In particular, the thesis shows how the organisation of institutionalised and controlled camps, managed by a major humanitarian organization and benefiting from wide public consensus, resulted in a decrease of conflict around seasonal labour migration, and to the sidelining of the issue in the political debate. Contributing to literature on migration in the field of political sociology, the monograph represents a timely intervention in highly topical debates on the politics of migrants’ presence in the Italian society. / Questa ricerca riguarda i processi di costruzione di un problema pubblico ad un livello locale, partendo da diverse problematiche scaturite intorno ad accampamenti di lavoratori migranti stagionali in alcune zone di agricoltura intensiva in Italia. Lo studio è principalmente basato su una ricerca empirica svolta tra il 2013 e il 2017 nell’area rurale di Saluzzo (Piemonte) utilizzando una metodologia qualitativa che comprende interviste sociologiche, osservazione partecipante con associazioni militanti e all’interno degli accampamenti di migranti e l’analisi di articoli della stampa locale. L’obiettivo principale era quello di studiare il modo in cui la presenza di lavoratori migranti, in questo contesto specifico, è percepita come un problema pubblico, in che modo quest’ultimo è definito e costruito da una serie di attori animati da interessi contrastanti in un gioco di mobilitazioni e contro-mobilitazioni, poi di analizzare le conseguenze di tali dinamiche sulle azioni messe in atto per la risoluzione del problema. La tesi dimostra in particolare che la costruzione del problema si è progressivamente focalizzata sul carattere temporaneo della presenza dei migranti, a scapito di altri possibili frame, andando a giustificare la messa in atto di dispositivi di accoglienza precari e provvisori, finalizzati al confinamento spaziale e temporale dei migranti. Inoltre, l’instaurazione di campi sempre più istituzionalizzati e controllati, gestiti da un’organizzazione umanitaria riconosciuta, ha favorito la riduzione dei conflitti intorno alla questione e un accantonamento del problema sul piano del dibattito politico pubblico. Più in generale, questo lavoro, analizzando una questione inerente a dinamiche migratorie attraverso il prisma della sociologia politica, invita ad una più ampia riflessione sul trattamento politico dei migranti e sulla costruzione collettiva della posizione che essi occupano all’interno della società italiana di oggi.