This paper examines the situation of rurally rooted cross-border migrant workers from Myanmar during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Published in Agriculture and Human Values, the authors look at the circumstances of the migrants prior to the global health emergency, before exploring possibilities for a post-pandemic future for this stratum of the working people by raising critical questions addressed to agrarian movements.
They focus on the nature and dynamics of the nexus of land and labour in the context of production and social reproduction, a view that in the context of rurally rooted cross-border migrant workers necessarily requires interrelated perspectives on labour, agrarian and food justice struggles.
They argue that the question is not ‘whether’ it is necessary and desirable to forge multi-class coalitions and struggles against external capital, while not losing sight of the exploitative relations within rural communities and the household; rather, the question is ‘how’ to achieve this.
Read the article online - Borras, S.M., Franco, J.C., Ra, D. et al. 'Rurally rooted cross-border migrant workers from Myanmar, Covid-19, and agrarian movements', Agriculture and Human Values (2021)
- More information
The article is jointly authored by ISS researchers working on the Commodity & land rushes and regimes: Reshaping five spheres of global social life’ research project - Professor Jun Borras, PhD researcher Doi Ra and PhD alumn and post-doc Dr Yunan Xu.
- Related links
- Commodity & land rushes and regimes (RRUSHES-5) research project