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Journal article

The Human Condition of West Indian Migrant Farm Labour in Southwestern Ontario

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Date

1991

Authors

R. G. Cecil and Eddie Ebanks

Abstract

West Indian migrant farm laborers are crucial to the agricultural process in Ontario. Also, they are human beings isolated from homes & families, for varying lengths of time, in a foreign environment. The fundamental issue raised here concerns the conditions of life for these workers. The methods of anthropology, demography, & geography were combined to conduct a pilot study, collecting questionnaire data from 300 workers & 25 farmers. Concurrently, anthropological analysis was carried out on both groups via in-depth interviews. It was postulated that the work situation would replicate some aspects of the old tropical colonial plantation relationship, & indeed it was so for certain aspects. It was further hypothesized that the workers would experience certain degrees of loneliness & isolation in Canada, which was also proven to be true in many cases. Data allow some preliminary examinations of farmer-worker relationships, which ran the gamut from pure detachment to quasi-familial integration. The global aspects of the workers' human condition are presented. 3 Tables, 37 References. Modified AA

Journal title

International Migration/Migrations Internationales/Migraciones Internationales

Volume

29

Issue

3

Page numbers

371-495

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    Economic sectors

    Agriculture and horticulture workers

    Content types

    Policy analysis

    Geographical focuses

    Ontario

    Spheres of activity

    Geography and Sociology

    Languages

    English