鈥淓verything I know is Canada鈥�: Migrant Farmworkers and the Making of Homes Across Borders

Thursday, August 14th | 10AM | HC 2270+Zoom

Abstract:
Canada is wholly reliant on migrant farmworkers who provide cheap labour while being barred from a wide range of rights and services, including pathways to permanent residency (Sharma, 2012; Satzewhich, 1990; Basok, 2002). Whereas most of the research on migrant farmworkers follows a deficit model, my thesis focuses on collective agency by asking: how do migrant farmworkers create a sense of home in Canada while being unable to settle permanently in the country? Drawing from interviews and participant observation conducted in Guatemala and Canada, I show how migrant farmworkers exceed the boundaries of the farms where they live and work, forging their own modes of social organization using Indigenous Mayan cultural logic. Framing migrant farmworkers as strategic boundary-crossers, I highlight how they breach farm borders and, through the exchange of ideas across nation-states, inspire new migration journeys. 

Keywords: migration; home-making; borders; transnationalism; community-engaged; advocacy

Examining Committee:
Chair: Dr. Amanda Watson, Assistant Professor, Sociology & Anthropology, SFU
Supervisor: Dr. Evelyn Encalada Grez, Assistant Professor, Sociology & Anthropology, SFU
Committee Member: Dr. Michael Hathaway, Professor, Sociology & Anthropology, SFU
External Examiner: Dr. Madelaine Cahuas, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Environment & Society, University of Minnesota

This event will be hosted via hybrid, in person at SFU Vancouver Harbour Centre Room 2270 and Zoom. Anyone wishing to attend should contact gradsecsa@sfu.ca before August 124th 4:30PM to request to be added to the attendee list.