New perspectives on the agriculture–migration nexus

In this introductory article to the special issue on ‘Agricultural Regimes and Migrant Labour’, we first propose the analytical concept of the ‘agriculture–migration nexus’. This is made up of a series of causal and co-constructive links between specialised agriculture, on the one hand, and seasonal and temporary regimes of migrant labour on the other. In the second part of the paper we identify a number of cross-cutting themes which resonate across the papers that make up the special issue. These include new geographical patterns of agricultural labour migration, especially in Europe; a focus on specialised agricultural districts involving the intensive production of crops such as tomatoes and strawberries; the disciplining function of time, inscribed into regimes of seasonal migrant labour and daily work rhythms; and moral questions surrounding the justification for agricultural labour exploitation and how it can be challenged. The final section of the article presents highlights from the eight substantive papers that follow, demonstrating how they are logically sequenced and integrated as a whole.