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Parea non servin: strategies of exploitation and resistance in the caporalato discourse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2018

Fabio I. M. Poppi  and
Giovanni A. Travaglino
Fabio I. M. Poppi*
Affiliation:
Institute of English and American Studies, University of Gdańsk, Poland
Giovanni A. Travaglino*
Affiliation:
School of Humanities and Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen; School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury
*
*Email: fabioimpoppi@me.com
**Email: GATravaglino@cuhk.edu.cn
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Abstract

In this article, we analyse the ideological content of the discursive strategies used by a group of migrant workers subjected to ‘caporalato’, a form of illegal hiring and exploitation of farm day workers through an intermediary. Starting from a series of collective open interviews with farm workers, we examine the way in which the dynamics of both exploitation and resistance are reproduced through linguistic and discursive practices. What emerges from the analysis is a complex set of ambivalent experiences and representations. Despite its inherent exploitative and controlling nature, the workers tend to justify, legitimise and deny the negative aspects of caporalato. Nonetheless, they also use linguistic devices of resistance to reconfigure the meanings of, and their role in, caporalato. Interestingly, the analyses show that caporalato is also perceived as a mechanism of social mobility. Only limited attempts at explicitly challenging its criminal nature are strategically expressed.

Italian summary

In questo articolo, analizziamo il contenuto ideologico delle strategie discorsive usate da un gruppo di lavoratori migranti soggetti a ‘caporalato’, una forma illegale di reclutamento e di sfruttamento del lavoro dei braccianti agricoli mediante l’operato di un intermediario. Partendo da una serie di interviste aperte di tipo collettivo con un alcuni braccianti, si esamina il modo con il quale le dinamiche di sfruttamento e resistenza siano riprodotte attraverso pratiche linguistiche e discorsive. Ciò che emerge, è un complesso ed ambivalente sistema di esperienze e rappresentazioni. Nonostante l’intrinseca natura di sfruttamento e controllo, i lavoratori sembrano giustificare, legittimare e perfino negare gli aspetti più critici del caporalato. Pur tuttavia, i braccianti si servono anche di strumenti linguistici di resistenza con l’obiettivo di riconfigurare i significati ed i ruoli del caporalato stesso. Tra questi, si evince come tale fenomeno possa essere altresì percepito come un meccanismo di mobilità sociale. In ultima analisi, l’analisi riflette su come solo esigui tentativi siano strategicamente messi in atto dai braccianti per denunciare la nature criminale del caporalato.

Keywords

caporalatodiscursive strategyexploitationgangmaster systeminterviewsresistance
Type
Research Articles
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , February 2019 , pp. 81 - 97
Copyright
© 2018 Association for the Study of Modern Italy 

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