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Immokalee: An analysis of capitalist political economy in a Florida farming community
Friday, June 22, 2018 at 3:30 PM–5:00 PM EDT
Y400
Type of Session
Individual Paper Presentation
Abstract
This research project investigates the nature of worker exploitation occurring in the city of Immokalee, a rural town in Collier County where 20,000 migrant workers return each winter season to harvest crops in the tomato farms, such as the 2008 case when 2 Immokalee farm-owners were sentenced to 12 years in prison for enslaving and abusing 9 migrant farm workers. The case study attempts to identify the structural causes of abuse in the industrial food system through an analysis of institutions, political economy, and civil society. This includes Florida’s legislation for worker protection, immigration, anti-slavery, trafficking laws, the power relations of farmers and labor, and the effect of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a “worker-based human rights organization.” I hypothesize that civil society successfully proposed and passed in Florida and Collier County, but that exposure to market forces provides incentives for abuse that is largely invisible to the consumers in the food system. This presentation will highlight the theme of inclusion and legitamacy by showing how disregarded migrant farm workers have been in obtaining basic worker and human rights.
Primary Contact
Amy Garbarini, University of Central Florida
Presenters
Amy Garbarini, University of Central Florida
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Chair, Facilitator, Or Moderators
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Workshop Leaders
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