ssiim 10€¦ · faisal garba from moroccan towns to dimona in israel. from the interior ......

SSIIMPaper Series

10thyear

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 >

SSIIM Paper Series Vol. 18, October 2018ISBN 978-88-99243-55-5

SSIIM Paper Series is an initiative of SSIIM Unesco Chair on Social and Spatial Inclusion of International Migrants - Urban Policies and Practice, Università Iuav di Venezia.As a consequence of an increasingly urbanizing world migrants head primarily to cities, especially the globalized metropolises. Cities provide better prospects for income generation; they concentrate most support networks which are so crucial to incoming migrants; they are the main entry points to destination countries; and are information hubs on existing opportunities.Through the scientific contribution of individual authors, SSIIM Paper Series intends to disseminate research results on the urban dimension(s) of internatio-nal migration, both in cities of the global North and of the South.

MASONS AND MAIDS. CLASS, GENDER AND ETHNICITY IN MIGRANT EXPERIENCES

Edited by Bruno Monteiro and Faisal Garba

MASONS AND MAIDS. CLASS, GENDER AND ETHNICITY IN MIGRANT EXPERIENCES

Edited by Bruno Monteiro and Faisal Garba

I NDI C E

5 Foreward MarcelloBalbo 9 Introduction BrunoMonteiro,FaisalGarba13 An analysis of migrant presence in the Galician labour market AntíaPérez-Caramés,IriaVázquezSilva29 Absent presences. Neoliberalism, political exclusion and precarity among African migrants in Germany FaisalGarba41 The Construction Industry in Portugal: trends in production and labour from 2000 to 2015 GonçaloMarquesBarbosa59 Construction Workers in Dimona: an Oral History ShellyShaul79 The public image of construction workers; Media representations in Portuguese newspapers (1997-2017) FranciscaMenaGómez93 Establishing and performing an intimate work culture through identity niching in South Africa’s domestic sector BiancaTame113 On “race”, racism and “class racism”: research notes on Portuguese migrants in the construction industry BrunoMonteiro129 The City under Construction: Cape Verdean construction workers in Lisbon CatarinaSampaio

139 SSIIMPaperSeries

©SSIIMUNESCOChairUniversitàIuavdiVeneziaCa’Tron,SantaCroce195730135Venezia-ItalyE-mail:[email protected]:www.unescochair-iuav.it

Graphic designIuavCommunicationService(Comesta)

October2018ISBN978-88-99243-55-5

SSIIM paers SertiesScientific DirectorMarcelloBalbo

Editor in chiefGiovannaMarconi

Editorial BoardMaysaAyoub(TheAmericanUniversityofCairo,Egypt),KristenBiehl(UniversityofOxford,UK),AdrianoCancellieri(SSIIMUnescoChair,Italy),MirkoMarzadro(CONACyT-ITESCA,Mexico),CarlottaFioretti(UniversitàRoma3,Italy),NataliaGavazzo(UniversidaddeSanMartin,BuenosAires,Argentina),MarcelaIglesias(UniversidaddeCadiz,Spain),BrunoMonteiro(UniversidadedoPorto,Portugal),ElenaOstanel(SSIIMUnescoChair,Italy),CarolineRozenholc(EcoleNationaleSupérieured’ArchitectureParis-ValdeSeine,France)

Scientific Partner

WhentheSocialandSpatialInclusionofInternationalMigrants(SSIIM)UNESCOChairwasestablished,in2008,internationalmigrantsacrosstheworld, includingundocumentedmigrants,wereestimated tobe in the rangeof200millions.Tenyearslater,thenumberhasgrowntomorethan250with25millionsof refugees and asylum-seekers adding to them (UNDESA,InternationalMigrationReport2017).Asweallknow,themovementofpeople,goodsandcapitalisanintegralpartofpresentdayopeneconomies.Asaconsequenceof increasing economic and social inequalities, migratingrepresents an essential component of family and communitystrategiestoimprovethelivingconditionsofthosewhomigrateas well as of those who remain. International migration isalso necessary. With globalisation cities that are, or want tobecome,partsofthefinancialandtechnologicalflowsneedtorelyoninternationalmigrantsandtheircontributiontourbanproductivity.Migrantsinfactareimportantactorsinmaintainingor creating the economic dynamism of cities both by fillingsectorsofthelabourmarketeschewedbythelocalpopulationandbringingwiththeminnovation.Moreover,thepresenceofinternational migrants also makes cities cosmopolitan, hencemoreattractivetotheforcesofglobalisation.Cross-bordermovementsofpeoplearegrowingdespiteawidespreadstrengtheningofcontrolmeasures,incontrastwiththeworldwideliberalization of the movement of goods, services and capital.Notwithstandingtheintroductionofrestrictiveadmissionpoliciesinnearlyallcountries,internationalmigrationisaself-sustainingprocess doomed togrow in the future, unlessmajor changes inthe distribution of wealth between rich and poor countries areimplemented. Thus, the question is no longer whether to haveinternationalmigration,butratherhowtomanageiteffectivelytoenhanceitspositiveeffectsandreducethenegativeones.Most international migrants add to the low-income urbanpopulationandindevelopingcountiestotheirregularsettlementsthatoftenrepresentlargepartoftheircities.However,inadequatemigrationpolicies,orlackthereof,makeit

FO R EWARD

6

difficulttoprovidetheassistancetheyneedwithregardaccessto education, housing, services and formal labour market.Decentralisationpolicieshavetransferredto localgovernmentthe responsibility of managing urban growth. Though localauthorities have very little say over national immigrationpolicies, they inevitablyareat the front line inmanagingtheflowofinternationalmigration,respondingtotheirneedsandpromotingtheirinclusion(immigrantpolicies).Asaconsequence,though management of international migration and of theresultinggreatermulticulturalism isbecomingan increasinglycrucial issue for urban governance, local governments areseldomprepared to copewith the adhoc policies needed tointegrate people with different cultural, social and religioustraditionsintotheurbansociety.Understanding themobilityofpopulationand the socialandcultural changes that accompany it is essential for designingeffective urban policies to deal with the problems andopportunitiesofferedbymigrantssettlinginthecitiesofbothhigh,middleandlow-incomecountries.Sinceitsinception,theChaircarriedoutanumberofresearchprojects, contributing to highlight the importance of localpolicies and practices in addressing international migrationto cities. In sodoing, ithas raisedawarenesson theneed toguaranteethemigrantsrighttothecitybyadoptinginclusiveurban public policies, supporting organizations from the civilsociety as well as migrants associations. The Chair researchprojectsandtrainingactivitieshaveprovidednew insightsonthe opportunities and challenges raised by the presence ofinternationalmigrantsindifferentcitiesoftheglobalSouth,aswellasinEuropeandItaly.In addition to their research and publishing activities, theChair’sresearchersactivelyparticipateintrainingcoursesattheinternational, national and regional levels, and support localgovernments in designing migration policies and actions. Byhosting visiting researchers and PhD students from differentcountries,theChairprovidesawidelyrecognizedspacefortheexchange of experiences on urban policies and practices forinclusivepolicies.Finally,theChair’spublicationSeriesiswidelycirculatedamongItalian and European researchers, as well as researches fromLatin America, Asia and Africa. The papers presented in thisvolumearetheresultofin-depthresearchworkcarriedoutbyyoungresearchersfromdifferentcountriesonmigrantsworking

intheconstructionandcaretakingsectors.Thesignificanceofthetopicsaddressedinthedifferentchapterswithregardstherolemigrantsplay inthecity leadSSIIMChairtopublishthisSpecialIssue,inauguratingonemoretoolfordisseminatingtheresultsofresearchonthemigration-citynexus.

Marcello BalboSSIIM ChairholderAnd the Chair research team

I N TRO DUC T ION

Bruno MonteiroFaisal Garba

From Moroccan towns to Dimona in Israel. From the interiorof the Portuguese Northwest region to the construction sitesdispersed amidst the Spanish countryside. Through CapeVerdean migratory paths to the suburban surroundings ofLisbon. Or from the small villages in Zimbabwe to the SouthAfrican metropoles. This SSIIM Paper Series’ Special Issuemapsallthesecrossedlinesthatmakethelivesofconstructionworkersanddomesticworkers.Albeitbeinghighlymobileandfamiliarpresencesinthosesocieties,theyremain,toooften,offthesociologicalradar.Graspingthemost intimatesaspectsofthe livesof thesemenandwomenmeansunderstanding themechanics of the global processes shaping the internationaleconomy.Thiscircuitofplaces,sociologicallyintegratedfortheircontributiontotheshapingofthistransnational“proletariat”inspiteofbeinggeographicallydisperse,alsoshowstheimportanceof cities in everyday life of the contemporary world. Theintersectionofthesebiographiesoverthesecities,wheretheyoften appear “aliens” while abroad, point to the salience ofthepoliticaleconomyofmigrations: theconstructionand thepristinemaintenanceof thehomesof the “natives” imply thedislocationofthesemigrantmenandwomen.This special issue gathers a significant variety of cases tounderstandtheexperienceofconstructionworkersanddomesticworkers, without exhausting the range of possibilities of thepresent-day configuration of those workplaces. Focusing ontheseparticularcases,wehavetheopportunitytoanalysetheintersection between the class structure and the genderisedlogicsofwork.Quiteoften thecompositionof thehouseholdand,therefore,thematrimonialstrategieswithinthelabouringclassesareexpressionsofthisverysociologicalcouplebetweenmale industrialworkersandfemaleserviceworkers.Followinga pattern of discrimination that is not precisely overlappingneither the class nor the gender lines, the issue of ethnicity

10 SS I IM PAPER S S ER I E S 11

arises to show the fractal complexityof the labouring classesoftoday.Asidefromthisthematicvariety,thetextsgatheredinthisvolumeappealtoawiderangeofmethodsandtechniques.FranciscaMena uses her expertise in media studies to understand thepublicimageoftheconstructionworkers,shapedwithpatternsofpoliticalandeconomicdomination.BiancaTamestudiestheencounters between the “technicians” of private employmentagenciesandtheirfemaleemployeesinordertohighlighttheimplicitmodulationof thebehaviours andpostures that takeplace during these moments. Going for a completely distinctapproach, Gonçalo Barbosa appeals to the intensive use ofstatisticstopicturethefluxesandthestructureoftheapparentlycompactgroupofPortuguesemigrants from the constructionindustry. Shelly Shaul, forherpart, usesoralhistorymethodstoaccessthediscursivenarrativesthatimmigrantconstructionworkersconveyastheymakesenseoftheirmigrationtoIsraelwhere they are excluded from the country’s idealized andcelebrated class of pioneers and laborers. Catarina Sampaiostudies the trajectories of construction workers from theCapeverdeanoriginwithinPortugal:usuallyseenastheoriginofmigrantstootherEuropeancountries,itshouldbestressedthat in Portugal some construction workers are “immigrants”.AntíaPerez-CaramésandIriaVasquezSilvastudythepresenceofmigrantsinGalicia,givingtheconstructionworkersaparticularspace in theiranalysis. Through thecombinationoffieldworkandstatisticalanalysis,theypinpointsignificantaspectsofthecontemporary situationof immigrants ina regionalsoknownfor being a nest of emigration. Bruno Monteiro shows theeverydaylifeofPortugueseconstructionworkerswhileabroad,questioningespeciallytheexperienceofracismandxenophobia.The setof thesepapers,precisely forbeingdisparate in theirthematicandmethodologicaloption,canshowusthemosaicof situations that lay under these two singular professions.Finally, FaisalGarbahighlights thepotential tensionbetweencitizenshipandexploitation,showingtheoverlappingbetweenpolitical exclusion and economic precarity that compromisestheverymeaningofdemocracyforAfricanmigrantslivingandworkinginGermany.The starting point for this issue was the seminar “Masonsand maids. Class, gender and ethnicity in the constructionindustryanddomesticservices”,heldintheFacultyofArtsoftheUniversityofPortounder thesponsorshipof theongoing

research project “Breaking Ground for Construction: Changesin the Portuguese Construction Field and their Impacts onWorking Conditions in the 21st century” (POCI-01-0145 –FEDER – 016621), funded by FEDER Funds, through thePrograma Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização– COMPETE 2020 and by Nationals Funds through FCT –FundaçãoparaaCiênciaeaTecnologia.Alargepartofthesepapers were produced for or improved during this seminar.We also wish to thank to the Erasmus + Programme and, inparticular, to the InternationalAffairsOfficeat theUniversityofPorto,whereAnaCastroPaivaandJoanaPintohavedoneinvaluablecontributionstoensurethepresenceofFaisalGarbaand Bianca Tame in these academic activities. Of course, thelastwordofgratitudeshouldbeaddressedtoMarcelloBalbo,GiovannaMarconi,ElenaOstanelandAdrianoCancellieri,the“wonderteam”thatensurestheSSIIMUNESCOChair.

AN ANA LY S I S O F M IGRA NT P RE S ENCE IN TH E GA L I C I A N L A BOUR MA RKE T

Antía Pérez-CaramésIria Vázquez Silva

ThistextoffersaninsightintomigrantconditionsintheGalicianlabourmarket.Basedonsecondarysources,namelytheLabourForce Survey, (EPA in its Spanish initials), drawn up by theSpanishStatisticalOffice,(INE,initsSpanishinitials)itfocusesinparticularon twosectors thathaveproved fundamental inthecreation–andlaterdestruction–ofjobsformigrants:theconstructionindustryanddomesticwork.This issue must be addressed within the socio-demographiccontextofimmigrationinGalicia.Theregionishometomorethan 200,000 people born abroad, representing almost 8%ofthetotalpopulation(INE,2017).Between2004and2010migrantarrivalsreversedthenegativedemographictrendGaliciahad experienced in previous decades, although populationratesbegantofallonceagainasaresultoftheeconomiccrisis(Fernández,2017,Pérez-Caramés,2016).Between1850and1930some1,700,000Galiciansmigratedto America and more than 500,000 never returned (Núñez,2010).Inthesecondhalfofthetwentiethcentury,Switzerland,FranceorGermanybecame thenewdestinations forGalicianmigratoryflows.Accordingtodataprovidedby theStatisticalYearbook(INE,variousyears),duringthe1950stheemigrationflow from the Galician provinces was four times the numberof immigrants, and this latter flow was comprised mainly ofreturneesfrompreviousmigratorywaves.CurrentmigrationtoGaliciacomprisestwomaingroups:migrantsfrom countries to which Galicians migrated in the past, andmigrantsfromcountrieswithnolinkstotheregion,inotherwords,‘autonomous’immigration.Lamelaetal.(2005)identifythreecate-gorieswithinthefirstgroup:returnees,returneefamilymembers,andimmigrationattributabletoperceivedbondswithGalicia.Figures 1 and 2 show that immigration consists not only ofpeople linked toGalicianemigration (Venezuela,ArgentinaorUruguay, as well as European countries such as Switzerland,France,GermanyortheUK)butalso‘autonomous’immigration,whichincludescountriessuchasPortugal,Brazil,ColombiaorRumania,(Pérez-Caramés,2017).

Antía Pérez-Caramés isPhDinSociologyandSeniorLecturerintheDepartmentofSociologyandCommunicationSciencesoftheUniversityofCoruna.SheisamemberoftheResearchTeamonSociologyofInternationalMigrationandtheCentreforGenderandFeministStudiesattheUniversityofCoruna.Atpresent,sheisinchargeoftheresearchproject“ThenewemigrationfromSpain:profiles,mobilitystrategiesandtransnationalpoliticalactivism”,financedbytheMinistryofEconomyandCompetitiveness.Herresearchinterestsincludeinternationalmigration,genderrelationsandcarework,anddemographicageing.Sheisaco-authorwithRenéeDePalmaofthebookGalicianMigrations:ACaseStudyofEmergingSuper-diversity(2017),Springer.

Iria Vázquez SilvaiscurrentlyAssociateProfessorofSociologyattheUniversityofVigo.Shehasrecentlycompletedtheresearchproject“Immigrantwomen,languageandsociety.NewperspectivesforIntegration”(2015-2017),developedattheUniversityofVigoandfinancedbytheGovernmentofGalicia.SheholdsaPhDinSociologywiththethesisSenegalese Immigration in Galicia: Remittances and Care in Transnational Familiesand


Figures 1 and 2. Foreign population in Galicia, 2007 and 2016. representationinlow-skilledjobs(whichdidnotalwayscorrespondtotheimmigrants’educationallevel),occupationalmobilityandconsequentlyaconsiderablepresenceinlow-salaryjobs”.The Spanish economic model was based on a high degree ofsegregation.Thesectorsconcentratingtheforeignlabourforce,such as domestic care, hotels and catering, and low-skill jobsin the construction sector, experienced extended periods ofsustained growth for a long period (Del Río and Alonso-Villar,2014:99).Whentheeconomiccrisisbrokeoutin2007,migrantswereinevitablyoneofthemostvulnerablegroupsinfrontofthedownturnoftheeconomiccycle.AccordingtoAlonso-VillarandDelRío(2017),twooutofthreeforeignwomencontinuedtobeemployedmainly incaretakingactivities, the so called catering industry, as shop assistantsandwarehouseorpersonalserviceworkers.Ontheotherhand,although significant, the degree of labour concentration offoreignmenislower,anddoesnotexceed25%ofthetotal,eveninthosesectorsinwhichtheirpresenceisstrongest(Alonso-VillarandDelRío,2017:146).Inthissense,occupationalsegregationis clearly highest amongst foreign women, which also had asignificant impact in terms of income for the period between2006and2016.Specifically,therewasanaveragepercapitadropinsalarylevelsof20%,comparedwithjustunder12%inthecaseof foreignmenandamere1%amongnative-bornwomen. Incontrast,native-bornmen’spercapitaincomerosebyaround4%duringthisperiod(Alonso-VillarandDelRío,2017:152).

The evolution of migrant and native-born employment in Galicia: the impact of the crisisOur analysis is based on secondary sources, in particular onmicrodatafromtheLabourForceSurvey(EPA),whichoffersaninsightintotheimmigrants’situationinthelabourmarket.ThisquarterlysurveyincludestheforeignpopulationresidentinSpainforatleastoneyear.The analysis of this survey reveals that the age profile of theimmigrantpopulationinGaliciadiffersradicallyfromthenative-bornpopulation. Itcomprisesmainlyyoungactiveages,withaverysmallproportionfallingwithintheso-called ‘passiveages’,namelythosewhodonotparticipate inthe labourmarketandareagedover65andunder15.Asaresult,activityratesfortheforeign population are considerably higher than those of thenative-born population, as can be seen from the informationpresentedinFigure3.

specialistinGenderStudiesattheUniversityofVigo.Hercurrentresearchlinescoverthesociologyofmigration,aswellasthesociologyofworkandgender.ShehasrecentlypublishedwithLunaVives(2017)“TransnationalMotheringStrategies:SenegaleseExperiences”,Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies,andsheiscoauthorwithLauraRodríguezSalgadoofthebookMullerinmigrante,linguaesociedade(2017)intheGalaxiapublishinghouse.

Source: Based on the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, 2007

and 2016, National Statistics Institute (INE).

Immigrants labour market: paradigm of segregationBetweenthemid-1990sand2008,theSpanisheconomicmodelallowed for significant increases in the employment of boththe native and foreign-born populations. However, the labourmarketwashighlysegmented;confiningtheforeignpopulationtopoorlypaidjobs,andalsodisplayedaconsiderabledegreeoffeminisation/masculinisation(DelRíoandAlonso-Villar,2014).Variousstudieshaveanalysedthesevereimpactoftheeconomiccrisis on the immigrant labour market in Spain (Oliver, 2013,Alonso-VillaranddelRío,2017,amongothers)andanumberofrecentstudieshavefocusedspecificallyontheimpactofthecrisisontheimmigrantlabourmarketinGalicia(Golías,2016,OsoandMartínez,2018).Inparticular,OsoandMartínezrevealhowthecrisisaffectedGalicialaterthantherestofSpain(theissuewillbeaddressedindetailinthefollowingsection);consequently,andasindicatedbyanumberofotherauthors(Fernández2017)itwasnotuntil2011thatthenegativemigratorybalanceandtheonsetofaperiodmarkedbytheemigrationofboththeautochthonousandimmigrantpopulationemergedinGalicia.Alargeconsensusexistsregardingthereasonsforthenegativeimpact of the 2008 economic crisis on migrant employment.Golías(2016:29)claimsthatmigrantswerethefirsttobecomeredundantastheyhadbeenonthelabourmarketforarelativelyshort period of time. In addition, key sectors employing largenumbersofforeignworkerssuchastheconstructionandserviceindustries,weremostseverelyhitbythecrisis.DelRíoandAlonso-Villar(2014:90-91)alsoexplainthatduringthe boom years of economic growth in Spain (between themid-1990s and 2007), “the labour integration of immigrantswascharacterisedbyahighdegreeofprecariousnessgiventhehighoccupationalseasonalityandsectorspecialisation,anover-


Figure 3. Evolution by nationality of the quarterly activity rates of the population residing in Galicia (2002-2017).

Source: Based on information from the Labour Force Survey (EPA)

(INE, several years)

On theotherhand, theactivity ratesofnative-bornGaliciansremained steady throughout the period (2002-2017), withfigures ranging between just over 50% and under 55%. Incontrast,foreignpopulationvaluesfluctuateandareespeciallysensitivetoperiodsofrecession,characterisedbyanincreaseintheactivemigrantpopulation.Thisisprobablyduetotheneedtointegratemorefamilymembersinthelabourmarketinordertooffsettheimpactofjoblosses.Likewise,theevolutionandconsequencesofemploymentratesforaperiodpriortothecrisisrevealsimilardifferencesbetweenthe foreign and native-born populations. Thus, as Figure 4shows,theratiobetweenemployedandactivepeopleismorefavourablefortheforeignpopulationthanforthenative-bornpopulation. The employment rate rose sharply among theforeign population in the early years of the crisis (between2006andmid-2009)when severe jobdestructionwasoffsetbyanotableincreaseinthelabourforce.Indeed,ratespeakedduringthisperiodatbetween65%and70%.Thisincreaseinthe employment rate can also be observed among SpaniardslivinginGalicia,albeittoa lesserdegree. Intheaftermathofthemostsevereperiodofjoblossesandalthoughtherecessioncontinued,theratesreturnedtovaluesclosetoorevenslightlylowerthanthosebeforethecrisis,regardlessofnationality.This

ledtoacertaindegreeofconvergencebetweentheemploymentratesofthenative-bornandforeignpopulations.

Figure 4. Evolution by nationality of the quarterly activity rates for population residing in Galicia (2002-2017).

Source: Based on information extracted from the Labour Force Survey


However, migrants’ contribution to reversing labour markettrendsinGaliciafailedtoleadtoimprovedintegrationintermsofemployment.Unemploymentratesamongtheforeignpopulationare consistently higher than in the case of the native-bornpopulation,asshowninthefollowingfigureforthe2002-2017period.Thedataindicateaturningpointin2009,whenGaliciafeltthefullimpactoftheeconomiccrisis,markedbyasharphikeinunemploymentratesamongstallsegmentsofthepopulation.


Stages Native-born population

Non-EU population

2002-2005 (beforethecrisis) 11.92% 20.40%

2006-2008(recession) 7.90% 15.50%

2009-2014(crisisstage) 17.52% 32.37%

2015-2017 (slightrecovery) 17.33% 32.32%

Source: Based on information from the Labour Force Survey (INE, several years)

Table 1 presents the unemployment rate data according tofour sub-periods, offering an insight into the differentiatedbehaviourofmigrantsand thenative-bornpopulation for thevariousstagesoftheeconomiccycle.

Table 1. Average unemployment rates in Galicia by nationality and sub-periods (2002-2017).

andanunprecedented increase inunemploymentrates,Galiciacontinuedtoexperiencethedownwardtrendofpreviousyears.Thus,unemploymentamong thenative-born fell tobelow8%,andremainedatanaverage15.5%fortheforeignpopulation.ThesedataindicatethatGaliciawithstoodtheinitialonslaughtofthecrisis,althoughthistrendchangedradicallyinthefollowingyears(2009-2014),whenunemploymentamongthenative-bornpopulationreached17.5%(eventhough itwasstill lower thanthat of thepre-crisismigrantpopulation) andone thirdof theactivenon-EU foreignpopulationwasunemployed. From2015onwards, unemployment rates experienced a slight recovery.Although limited, recovery was greater among the native-bornpopulation, with unemployment falling from 17.5% to 17.3%,comparedwithjust0.05%inthecaseofmigrants.

Differencesbygenderinthenon-EUgrouparealsoworthyofnote.AsFigure6shows,overallunemploymentamongmigrantwomenwasconsiderablyhigherthanamongmen,withasoleexceptionbetween2011and2012whensevere job losseswere recordedin essentially male-dominated sectors such as construction. Infact,femaleunemploymentfollowedasomewhatcountercyclicaltrend,risingintheyearsleadinguptothecrisisandwideningthegapwithmen,beforefallingslightlyattheonsetoftherecession,followedbyseveralyearsofincrease,withhigherunemploymentratesobserved(2016and2017)amongwomenthanmeninthelasttwoyears.Thiscountercyclicalpatterninfemaleunemploymentisexplainedbythesubordinatepositionofwomen ina labourmarket,favouringmaleemploymentandresultinginhighratesofmaleemploymentandfemaleunemployment.


Atjustover10%,native-bornunemploymentduringtheperiodimmediatelypriortothecrisiswasveryclosetowhatisusuallytermed ‘structural unemployment’. However, among the non-EUforeignpopulation,unemploymentratespracticallydoubledthoseofthenative-bornpopulation.Nevertheless,attheoutbreakof the economic crisis between 2006 and 2008, and whilstthe restofSpainwas suffering theeffectsof severe job losses

Figure 5. Evolution by nationality of the quarterly employment rates for the population residing in Galicia (2002-2017).


Figure 6. Evolution by gender of the quarterly unemployment rates of the non-EU population residing in Galicia (2002-2017)


Thecrisistookitstollonthemigrantpopulation,andforalmostadecadeonethirdofthissegmentoftheactivepopulationwasoutofwork.Asthegapbetweenthenative-bornpopulationandmigrantswas alreadywideprior to the crisis,we canassumethat the migrant workforce held a more precarious positionon the labour market and was considered more dispensable.Furthermore,theywereemployedineconomicsectorsthatwerehitmostseverelybythechangesintheeconomiccycle.

The niches of migrant employment: caught between the housing bubble and ineffective welfare provision Two economic sectors have traditionally provided a gatewayformigrantemploymentandthereforeplayedakeyroleinthe‘migratoryboom’duringthefirstdecadeofthecentury,namelythe construction industry and domestic work. Our analysis inthissectionisagainbasedontheLabourForceSurvey,butalsoconsidersdataobtained fromqualitativefieldwork conductedas part of a research project into Senegalese population inGalicia(Vázquez,2014).Intheperiodleadinguptothecrisis,theconstructionindustryhadbeenamajoreconomicdrivingforce,theresultoftherealestatehousingbubbleandeasyaccesstomortgagesandloans.Infact,accordingtotheGalicianQuarterlyEconomicAccounts(INE, several years), construction accounted for approximately

10%oftheGalicianGDPin2000,2004and2008,comparedwithjust6%in2016.ItsrelevanceinGalicianeconomicactivityoverallissimilartotheshareoftheworkforceemployedinthissector,whichstoodataround10%(INE, severalyears). In linewithprevious studies (Monteiro,2014),Portuguese immigrantscomprisedaconsiderablepartofthisworkforce,atrendthatcanbeseennotonlyinGalicia,butalsoinMadridandtheBasqueCountry.ItmustberememberedthatthecrisisreachedPortugalbefore Spain, in the year 2000. Construction companies andmigrantsalikedetectedtheopportunityforemploymentinthissector,whichcontinuedtogrowinGalicia.ThestrategyadoptedbyPortugueseworkerswastoremaininGaliciaduringtheweekandreturntoPortugalattheweekends(manywereresidentintheSousaValley,innorthernPortugal),inanexampleofparadigmaticcross-bordermovement(Monteiro,2014,Ribas,2014).However, in addition to Portuguese immigration, the studyconductedontheSenegalesepopulationrevealedseveralcasesofSenegaleseimmigrantsemployedintheconstructionsectorinPortugalwhoin2001re-emigratedtoGaliciainthelightofthecrisisaffectingthecountry.Theychosetosettlethereandwork in thesamesector.However,a fewyears later (2009)anew,or ratherasimilarcrisiscaughtupwiththeminGalicia.Thefollowingexcerptreferstothere-emigrationfromPortugaltoGaliciaofaSenegalesepersonwithpreviousexperience intheconstructionindustryinhishomecountry,asectorthatwasartificiallyinflatedbothinPortugalandinGalicia.

Babou (B): I’ve been unemployed for six months, I’ma first-rate form setter, I was site manager with VidalAlonso,Iworkedforhimformanyyears,butthere’snowork,...withthecrisis,healwayscallsme,for....,nothingcomesof it, [...] I’mdoingacoursenow; itpaysmeasubsidy,yes,I’mreceivingthat[subsidy].Interviewer(I):DoyouplantostayinGaliciaforawhile?B:Acouplemoreyears,andthenI’llgoback,Iwanttogoback,Iwantedtostartacompany,myfatherhasaconstructioncompany,IwasinchargeofthecompanybeforeIgaveupeverythingtocometoEurope,Ididn’tknowwhatIwasdoing...Ithoughtthathere…I:Whendidyoucomehere?B:IwasinPortugalfor5years,inLisbon,[...],yes,Igothere in2001, I arrived in Lisbon in1997. Iworkedasa construction worker, I liked it... in 2001 I arrived in


Galicia,inVigo,withaworkcontract,IhadPortugueseresidency, and I had work in Vigo, with a Spanishcompany,andthatbroughtmehere,andIchangedmypapers for here”. (Babou, a 35-year-old married man,resident in Vigo since 2001, interviewed in Vigo on03/25/2009).

In turn, domestic employment arose from what we term“ineffective welfare provision”: in other words, a context inwhich shared responsibility between men and women in thedistributionofdomesticworkandcare-givingisremarkablylow,andthestateisincapableofmakingprovisionforgrowingcareneeds, leadingtoasituationreferredtoas“carecrisis” (PérezOrozco, 2006). Many Spanish and Galician women resolvedthis situation by hiring migrant women. The introduction ofthe2007DependencyAct1favouredtheincreaseofmonetarytransfers to households, since more economic benefits thanservicesareprovided,therebyincreasingthefinancialcapacityofmanyhouseholdspreviouslyunabletohiremigrantcaregivers(Martínez,2011),leadingtoariseindemandinthesector.Although both sectors represent labour niches for foreignworkers, this is not the case for the native-born population.Thus, the proportion of people employed in the constructionsectorduringayearpriortotheperiodofhighjobdestructioninthisarea(2008)wasverysimilarforbothSpanishandforeigncitizens residing in Galicia (11% and 10% respectively). Thesamecannotbesaidfordomesticwork,whichwasanancillaryactivity for native-born workers, since only 2% of employedSpanishnationalsworkedinthissector,comparedwithalmostoneinfivemigrantwomen,asshownintheTable2.Therefore,constructionisalaboursectorsharedbytheforeignandnative-bornlabourforce,whiledomesticworkispracticallyexclusivetomigrantwomen.

Table 2. Population employed in Galicia by sector (construction and domestic employment) and nationality (years 2008, 2012 and 2016)

Nationality Employedpopulation

Constructionsector

Domesticemploymentsector

%oftotalemploymentintheconstructionsector

%oftotalemploymentinthedomesticemploymentsector

2008

Spanish 1,131,962 125,411 26,232 11.08% 2.32%

Foreign 53,680 5,512 9,826 10.27% 18.30%

2012

Spanish 986,001 74,516 23,802 7.56% 2.41%

Foreign 42,663 2,291 9,002 5.37% 21.20%

2016

Spanish 982,006 66,483 25,304 6.77% 2.58%

Foreign 35,768 2,699 5,778 7.55% 16.15%

Source: Based on information extracted from the Labour Force Survey


Theunderlyingreasonforthisisthatoccupationalsegregationinthemigrantpopulationishigh,asshowninFigure7,wherethesegregationcurveforforeignworkersinGaliciain2016isrepresentedasaLorenzCurvesortedbytheirgreaterorlesserimportanceinthevariousoccupationsandcomparedwiththedistribution of null segregation, which is represented by thecontinuousblackline,accordingtoAlonso-VillarandDelRío’sanalyses (2017). The extent to which the curve representingmigrantemploymentisdistancedfromtheperfectdistributioncurve of occupations is indicative of the existing degree ofsegregation.

1Act39/2006,of14December,onthePromotionofPersonalAutonomyandCareforDependentPersons,popularlyknownasthe“DependencyAct”,isthemaintoolfortransformingthelong-termcaresysteminSpain,settingupaportfolioofservicesandbenefitsfordependentswhichtheycanaccessbasedontheirdegreeofdependency.InSpain,cost-savingandausteritymeasuresofrecentyearshaveresultedinshortcomingsintermsofthecoverprovidedbythisprotectionsystem


Figure 7. Foreign employment segregation curve in Galicia (2016)

Source: Based on information extracted from the Labour Force Survey (INE, 2016)

Wewillnowconsiderhowemploymenthasevolved followingthe onset of the economic recession. Between 2008 and2012, unemployment rose by 13% in the case of the native-born population and 21% for the foreign population whenthehighest jobdestructionratewasrecorded.Thenumberofpeopleemployedcontinuedtodropbetween2012and2016,buttherewerefewer losses,especiallyamongthenative-bornpopulation,witha0.4%decreaseinthenumberofemployedpeople, and 16% among foreigners. This confirms the earlierclaim regarding the considerably greater impact of the crisisamongtheforeignpopulation.As regards the construction sector, between 2008 and 2012employment rates fell to10%forSpanishnationals,andwashalved (falling to 5.4%) in the case of foreign-born workers.Inabsoluteterms,nearly55,000jobswere lost inthissector.Between2012and2016,employmentinthissectorcontinuedto fall among the Spanish-born workforce, compared with aslightupturninthenumberofforeignworkers,reaching7.6%.

As discussed above, domestic employment is a key sector forfemale migrant workers, representing approximately one inevery five people employed. Between 2008 and 2012 morethan 3,000 jobs were lost, 10% of the jobs that existed in2008,a trend thathada slightlygreater impactonSpanish-born workers. On the other hand, between 2012 and 2016,

whenmorethan1,700jobswerelostinthesector,native-bornemploymentincreased(6%),butmigrantemploymentdropped,with a third of jobs being destroyed. The increase in native-bornparticipationinhouseholdemploymenthasalreadybeenobserved inother studies (Díaz,2016),pointing toastrategybySpanishwomentocopewiththeeffectsthatthecrisishadonhouseholdeconomies.Whatisstrikingisthesharpdropindomesticworkamongthemigrantpopulation,whichmaywellbeduetothedepletedresourcesofemployerfamilies,whoareno longer able to keep employing caregivers. Alternatively, itcouldbeanunwelcomeconsequenceofthechangesintroducedintothesectorasaresultoftheenforcementofRoyalDecree-Act 29/2012, amending the employment and social securityconditionsfordomesticworkers2,whichmigrantworkersreactedtoambivalently.Thisisbecausetheycouldnotbehirediftheirworkpermitwastemporary,andinthecaseofworkerspaidbythehour,registeringasaself-employedworkerwasnotfeasibleineconomicterms(BrionesVozmedianoetal,2014).

Conclusions: who will take the blame?ThecrisisthatbrokeoutinSpainin2008andbegantotakeitstollonGaliciaayearlater,highlightedasituationthathadbeenbuildingup inSpainasa resultofaneconomicmodelbasedon speculation and the real estate bubble. During the boomyears, immigrant employment rose based on an exceptionaloccupationalsegregation,affectingmainlyimmigrantwomen.Thespectaculargrowthofimmigrantunemploymentduringtheperiod of recession (2009-2014) has reduced the size of thispopulation,withanumberreturningtotheircountriesoforiginoroptingtore-emigratetothirdcountries.However,thishasnotbeen theonly consequence: job losseshave leftmany labourgroups inSpainandGaliciawitha lowerbargainingcapacity,turning precarious work into a long-standing phenomenon.Attentionmustnowbeplacedonthis‘slight’economicrecovery,focusingonemploymentqualityandoccupationalsegregation(byoriginandgender),which seemsdifficult toamendgiventheSpanish labour legislationandthe lackofpoliticalwill inthisregard.

ReferencesE.AJA,J.ARANGO,J.OLIVER(eds.),2013,Inmigración y crisis:

entre la continuidad y el cambio. Anuario de la inmigración en España, 2012 (edición 2013),CIDOB,Barcelona

2ThisisRoyalDecree-Act29/2012of28DecemberonimprovingmanagementandsocialprotectionintheSpecialSystemforDomesticWorkersandothermeasuresofasocialeconomicnaturemodifiesthecontributionsystemfordomesticworkersandassignsworkersemployedinthesectortotheGeneralSocialSecuritySystem.


O.ALONSO-VILLAR,C.DELRÍO,2017,“SegregaciónocupacionalporrazóndegéneroyestatusmigratorioenEspañaysusconsecuenciasentérminosdebienestar”,Ekonomiaz,Vol.1,n.91,pp.125-163

E.BRIONESVOZMEDIANO,A.A.AGUDELOSUÁREZ,M.J.LÓPEZJACOB,C.VIVESCASES,F.BALLESTERLAGUNA,E.RONDAPÉREZ,2014,“PercepcióndelastrabajadorasinmigrantesdelserviciodomésticosobrelosefectosdelaregulacióndelsectorenEspaña”,Gaceta Sanitaria,Vol.2,n.28,pp.109-115

R.DePALMA,A.PÉREZ-CARAMÉS(eds),2018,Galician Migrations: A Case Study of Emerging Super-diversity,Springer,NewYork

C.DELRÍO,O.ALONSO-VILLAR,2014,“Mujeresanteelempleo(yeldesempleo)enelmercadolaboralespañol,1996-2013,AREAS. Revista internacional de Ciencias Sociales,n.33,pp.87-103

M.DÍAZGORFINKIEL,2016,“LaconfiguracióndelempleodomésticoenEspaña:impactodeloscambioslegislativosenelfuncionamientodelsector”,Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas (REIS),n.155,pp.97-112

B.FERNÁNDEZSUÁREZ,2017,“PolíticasdeintegracióndapoboaciónestranxeiraenGalicia:migraciónsepolíticalingüística”,inRODRÍGUEZ,L.&I.VÁZQUEZ(eds.),

pp.59-88M.GOLÍASPÉREZ,2016,“InmigraciónecriseenGalicia”,

inRECALDE,M.&C.SILVA(eds.),pp.15-45INSTITUTOGALEGODEESTATÍSTICA(IGE)(severalyears).

Contaseconómicastrimestrais.Availableat:goo.gl/74apRnLastaccessedAugust,3,2017

INSTITUTONACIONALDEESTADÍSTICA(INE,NSI)(severalyears).EncuestadePoblaciónActiva.Availableat:goo.gl/yiQhxNLastaccessedAugust,2,2017

C.LAMELAVIERA,D.LÓPEZDELERA,L.OSOCASAS,2005,“LainmigracióninternacionalenGalicia:latinoamericanos,comunitariosyotros”,inC.SOLÉ&A.IZQUIERDO(eds.),pp.89-104

R.MARTÍNEZBUJÁN,2011,“Lareorganizacióndeloscuidadosfamiliaresenuncontextodemigracióninternacional”,Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales,Vol.1,n.29,pp.93-123

B.MONTEIRO,2014,“PortugueseconstructionworkersinSpain:situatedpracticesandtransnationalconnectionsintheEuropeanfieldofconstruction(2003-2013)”,inThe lives

and works of migrant workers,CLRNews,n.2,pp.8-32X.M.NÚÑEZ,2010,“Galegoseirlandesesnadiáspora(

1830-1950):elementosparaunhacomparanza”,Galicia 21: Journal of Contemporary Galician Studies,pp.92-108

J.OLIVER,2013,“LainmigraciónyladoblerecesióndelmercadodetrabajoenEspaña,2011-12”,inE.AJA,J.ARANGO&J.OLIVER(eds.),pp.28-59

L.OSOCASAS,R.MARTÍNEZBUJÁN,2018,“GenderedMobilityStrategies,LaborMarketinaContextofEconomicCrisisinGalicia”,inDePALMA,R.&A.PÉREZ-CARAMÉS(eds),pp.165-178

A.PÉREZ-CARAMÉS,2016,“CriseeconómicaemigraciónsenGalicia:análisesociodemográficadoscambiosrecentesnosmovementosdepoboación”,Administración & Cidadanía,Vol.1,n.11,pp.55-68

2017,“ContextosociodemográficodainmigraciónenGalicia(2006-2016).Unhaperspectivadexénerosobreoscambiosrecentesnopanoramamigratorio”inRODRÍGUEZ,L.&I.VÁZQUEZ(eds.),pp.29-58

A.PÉREZOROZCO,2006,“Amenazatormenta:lacrisisdeloscuidadosylareorganizacióndelsistemaeconómico”,Revista de Economía Crítica,5,pp.7-37

M.RECALDE,C.SILVA(eds.),2016,Ser inmigrante en tempos de crise. Unha ollada multidisciplinar,USC,SantiagodeCompostela

L.RODRÍGUEZ,I.VÁZQUEZ(ed.),2017,Muller inmigrante, lingua e sociedade,Galaxia,Vigo

N.RIBAS,2014,Tierras movedizas. La frontera luso-galaica,Workingpaper,UniversitatAutònomadeBarcelona,pp.1-106

C.SOLÉ,A.IZQUIERDO(eds),2005,Integraciones diferenciadas: migraciones en Cataluña, Galicia y Andalucía,Anthropos,Barcelona

I.VÁZQUEZSILVA,2014,“LainmigraciónsenegalesaenGalicia:remesasycuidadosenfamiliastransnacionales”,PhDdiss.,UniversityofCoruna,Spain

2017,“ContextosociodemográficodainmigraciónenGalicia(2006-2016).Unhaperspectivadexénerosobreoscambiosrecentesnopanoramamigratorio”inRODRÍGUEZ,L.&I.VÁZQUEZ(eds.),pp.29-58

A.PÉREZOROZCO,2006,“Amenazatormenta:lacrisisdeloscuidadosylareorganizacióndelsistemaeconómico”,Revista de Economía Crítica,5,pp.7-37

28

«The last shall be the first.»Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth

IntroductionThis chapter paper sets out to do three things: (1) brieflyoutlinetheapplicationofneoliberalisminAfricaandattendantmigrationofAfricans toGermany, (2) tracethesocial locationof a category of African migrants in Germany to a sphere ofclassexploitationandpoliticalnativism I call theademocraticrealmofsocialordering(3),putforwardanalternativemodelofbelongingbasedonresidencyandopenpoliticalcommunityasopposedtothedominantnativistunderstandingofbelonginginGermany.Iarguethatexistingdemocracies,includingGermany’ssocial democratic variant, are compatible with political andsocial exclusion and extreme exploitation. Accordingly, afundamentallymeaningful democracywouldhave to set itselfthetaskofchallengingallformsofexploitationandexclusion.InthecaseofGermanytoday,itismycontentionthattheplaceofmigrantsinthepolityandeconomymeansthattheirstrugglesforequalitymustbeafundamental–notanadditive–partofany critique of the limits of growth and the mappings of theoutlinesofapost-growthemancipatorysociety.

Neoliberalism and Contemporary African MigrationFollowingHarvey(2000),Iconceiveofneoliberalglobalizationas a continuation of the long existing relations of capitalistexploitationacrossspacethatdirectsresourcesfromoneportionof theworldtoanotherandatevery localeacrossclass lines.Contemporarymigration–whoserootslieintheimplementationof SAPs- is a response by ordinary people to dispossessionthrough neoliberal globalization. A dispossession throughorganizedclasstransferofresourcesthatleavesordinarypeoplewith little option but to trail the footpaths of capital to thehistoricandnewcentersitcarves.ThemovementofproletarianAfricanstoEurope,NorthAmericaandportionsofAfricaisan

AB S ENT PRE S ENCE S . N EO L IBERA L I SM , PO L I T I C A L E XC LU S ION A ND P RECA R I T Y A MONG AFR I CAN M IGRA NT S IN GERMA NY

Faisal Garba

N.RIBAS,2014,Tierrasmovedizas.La frontera luso-galaica, Working paper,UniversitatAutònomadeBarcelona,pp.1-106

I.VÁZQUEZSILVA,2014,“LainmigraciónsenegalesaenGalicia:remesasycuidadosenfamiliastransnacionales”,PhDdiss.,UniversityofCoruna,Spain

Faisal GarbahasaPhDinSociologyandspecializesinLabourstudies,Africanmigrationandpoliticaleconomy.HeisafellowwiththeCentreforHumanitiesResearch(CHR)attheUniversityoftheCapeTown(UWC),SouthAfrica.


actofstakingaclaimtoresourcesindirectoppositiontostateandcapitalerectedbarriers.Thisinnowaydismissesthemicroand actor-based approach to understanding migration thatrightlyemphasizepeople’sagencyandtheimportanceofsocialnetworks in the migration process. The approach taken hereforegroundstheactoragencywithintheprimarydriversofsuchmovements – a geography of unequal accumulation. Actors,networksandgroupagencyregardingthedecisiontomigrate,wheretomigrateto,andtheinitialsettlementarrangementisacaseofordinarypeopleactingouttheirindividualandcollectivehopesanddesires.Contemporary African migration is therefore an instance ofa global trend of proletarian movement across the world inresponsetoneoliberalglobalization.Africanmigrationaspartofthisconstellationisanoutcomeoftheapplicationofneoliberalthinking to public policies across the world. The vulnerable,especially women, who already bear the burden of socialarrangementsofdominationandunequaleconomicstructures,arefurthermarginalizedandforcedtoseeklivelihoodsoutsideoftheirplacesofregularresidence.

Views of Migration in GermanyAsaresultofthelongstandinggeographyofunequalaccumulation(Wallerstein,2011;Harvey,2005), theageofmigration largelyfollowscapitalism’shistoricpatternsofspatialinequality,withinlimits(CastlesandMiller,2003).Thus,somecountriesaremostlysendingregionswhileotherspredominantlyserveasreceivingcentres. Germany was, and remains, an important receivingcentre.Asof2010,19.3%oftheentireGermanpopulationhada migration background while foreigners officially constitute7.9%ofthetotalpopulation.Thefiguresfornetmigrationfor2012 stood at 369,000 (Körner, Puch and Wingerter, 2013).Inspiteoftheconsistentlysignificantin-flowofmigrants,andsubstantial evidence to the contrary, German political éliteshave until recently insisted that Germany is not a country ofmigration. The historic roots of this thinking can be locatedin the19thcenturywhenGermannationbuilders committedto the Volkstum prioritized the control of the immigration ofPolishworkers.Thefearthenwastwo-pronged:Firstly,thatthePolish migrants would form an ethnic alliance with German-Poles,adangerouspossibility in theeyesof thosecommittedtobuildingaReichoutofnativeGermans.MaxWeber(1893)forexamplesawtheimmigrationofPolishworkersasdisplacing

nativeGermansfromtheirLebensraum.Hethereforeprovidedammunition to the widespread fear of Überfremdung byarguingthat the in-migrationofPolishworkers toportionsofEastGermanyledtotheout-migrationofnativeGermans.Thiswasthesecondfearofmigration.Toforestallthis,workerswererecruited via agencies and middlemen from Poland to workin Germany for limited periods of time after which they hadto leave the country given the limited validity of their workpermits.ThelimitedrecruitmentinitiativewasmeanttopreventthecontaminationoftheVolkbyworkersofsupposedinferiorracial stock. The initiative also had another function: it wasadvantageoustoemployersasitkeptdownthecostoflabour,especially on the farms,where seasonal employmentwas thenormandorganizedworkerswerestrugglingforbetterworkingconditionsandstandardizedemployment(cf.Herbert1990).The requirement for cheap labour by employers and thepropagationofthefearofÜberfremdungwerejointlyresponsibleforthesimilarassumptionthatTurkish,Moroccan,andTunisianGastarbeiters were a transient source of labour that wouldhavetoreturntotheir ‘placesoforigin’atatimewhentheirlabourcanbedispensedwith.ThiswasacalmingthoughtthatproponentsoftheGastarbeiterschemeusedtoallaythefearsofopponentsoftheschemeuncomfortablewithwhattheysawastheimportationofforeigners(Herbert1990).Carduck, Kronberg and Nipper (2008) have argued that thelack of a deliberate effort by the German state to facilitatethesocialparticipationofmigrants inGermany is responsiblefor the creation of seemingly self-contained national and/orethnicmigrantcommunitiesthatallegedlyinteractmainlywiththemselves.Forthem,migrationdenialismandtheconsequentabsenceofintegrationpolicyresultingfromthelong-heldviewbysuccessiveGermangovernmentsthatthemigrant isonlyatemporarysourceoflabourwhowilleventuallyreturntoher/his home country, shifted the burden for social participationsolelytothemigrant.Itwasinthemigrant’shandtonavigatethe socio-cultural world if s/he desires to be socially active(Kvistad,1998).Dejurethismindsetappearstohavechangedwith the introductionofan integrationpackagethat includesspecialized language classes to facilitate the integration ofmigrants,amongothermeasures.

Africans and Germany: absent presenceThemigrationofAfricansintoGermanyinsignificantnumbers

32

is a relatively recent phenomenon. However, Africans havehistoricallylivedinGermanysincethe14thcentury.IndeedtherewasasettlementnexttoKasselthatwascalled“MohrenkolonieMulag”whichwasinhabitedbyAfricans,mostofwhomarrivedinGermanyascourtservants,slaves,ormilitarybanddrummers(Mazonand Steingroever, 2005). Africans were then reveredin the German social imaginary. This was before the rise ofeugenicsanditsattemptstohierarchicallyrankitsphantasmaldistinct human races. Further African presence in GermanywasmediatedbyGermancolonialand imperialexpansions inTogo,NamibiaandEastAfrica.TheGhanaianborn18thcenturyphilosopherWilhelmAntonAmooisoneexampleoftheearlyAfricanpresenceinGermany(ibid).ThesporadicearlymovementsfromAfricatoGermanytookadecisiveturninthelate1970sandearly1980swhenAfricansreelingundersocialandeconomicdifficultiesandrelatedcivilconflicts sought livelihood and refuge outside the continent(Tonah,2007).Germanybecameattractiveduetoitsrequirementforlabouratthetime(Adepoju,2005).Forexample,significantnumbers of Ghanaians moved to the cities of Hamburg andDüsseldorf and created a music sub-culture known as Burgerhi-life2.Todate,theword‘burger’isastatussymbolinGhana,usedtorefertosomeonewholivesoutsidethecountryandwhoisperceivedtobeeconomicallywell-off.Overtime,boththesettledandnewAfricanmigrantsinGermanydiversified their geographical radii. Cities like Berlin, MunichandFrankfurtattractedsubstantialnumbersofnewmigrants.Frankfurt in particular became home to a number of Africanmigrants due to its economic strength and a cosmopolitanoutlook.Today,AfricansresideinandaroundthecityofFrankfurtwithmostworkingindifferentservicesectors–fromcleaningfirmstothepostoffice.Ahandfulrunbusinesseswhileotherssimplymanagetogetbydoingoddjobsthatareintermittentlyavailable(Garba,2012).

From precarity to precarityTheGermanwelfarestateisunderstrain(Dörre,LessenichandRosa,2015).Theright-wingidentifiesmigrants,theunemployed,and welfare recipients as the culprits. Those of progressivepersuasions identify neoliberalism as the driver of the ‘ThirdWorld’conditionpresentinGermany.Whileboththeright-wingand those of progressive persuasion will consider their viewsto be in fundamental opposition, they are in reality united

byanahistoricalviewoftheworld.Forbothseetheworldasdisconnected:Germany,andbyextensionEurope,isperceivedasa regionof self-generatedprosperitywhile the thirdworldstands for self-incapacitation. Nothing can be farther fromthe truth. The reality is that the world has been intricatelyconnectedpriortotheemergenceofEuropeasapoliticalandeconomic force. (Boatca 2015; Sitas et al., 2014; Wallerstein,1978;Rodney,1973).Thepolitical-economicprocessthatledtothewelfarestatewaspartlyaproductofaglobalconnectionthatleft–andcontinuestoleave–otherpartsoftheworldimpoverished.Therelegationofpartsoftheworldtotheexportofrawmaterialsisadirectconsequenceofanactiveprogramofindustrialdevelopmentinthe centresof capitalist accumulationandunderdevelopmentintheperiphery.ThegrowthofinequalityinEurope,whichwillcontinuetorise(Dörre,LessenichandRosa,2015),isthelogicoftheunequalaccumulation and distribution of resources that sustainsimperialism (Asamoa, 2001). The contraction of avenues foraccumulation due to the exhaustion of further profit makingopeningsmeanstheconcessions(intheformofanembeddedliberalism)thatmetropolitancapitalwasforcedtomakeduetoworking-classstruggleswillberolledbackifacountermovementisunabletostopit.Thecurtailmentofjobandworksecurityisa reality that imperialcapitalismhas imposedonThirdWorldworkingclassesformorethan400years.InSouthAfricaforexample,racialcapitalismwasstructuredinsuchwaysthatworkersneededmorethan50yearsofstruggletogainthelegalrighttobeworkers:Toorganizeinunions;tocollectively bargain for better working and living conditions.ThemigrantlaboursystemacrosssettlercoloniesinAfricaandsome non-settler plantation-colonies such as Ghana, Nigeriaand the Ivory Coast (Asamoa, 2001; Mamdani, 1996) wasbuilt on the denial of the most basic civil and labour rightsata timewhenworkersacrossEuropehadsecured thesame.TheprofitssqueezedonthebacksofacaptivelabourforceinAfricacontributedtosecuringtheclasscompromisewhichisthewelfarestate.InthecaseofGermany,theargumentputforwardis that its relativelyshortcolonialexploits limited itscapacityfor external accumulation. Granted that Germany was a late-comerinthescrambleforcolonies,thefactremainsthatitwasanimperialistpowerwithconcessionsandnationalcapitalthatwasdeeplyentangledwiththenationalcapitalsofthepioneers

1Burgerhi-lifeisasamusicgenrecombinesWestAfricandrummusicandGermaninstrumentalsintoanewsynthesis.Theotherdimensionoftheburgercultureisdressingcomponent.HeadlinedbyPimpiniswherementuck-intoalmosttothewaist.Menandwomenwearjerrycurls,longgoldnecklacesandverypronouncedrings.


of the scramble. It is these international entanglements ofnationalcapitalsthatholdimperialcapitaltogetherasaunitaryalbeitunstableentity(MazonandSteingrover,2005).Datsa,Malsa,Andre,Erti,Dama,andMinamilawereworkinginAfricabeforemovingtoGermany.Andre,Datsa,andMinamilaresigned from their full-time jobs that were precarious.Andreworkedat aplasticmanufacturing company inGhana,earning very little wages. His wage was not enough to payforhis transportation toand fromwork for thedurationofamonth.Hewasonlyable togo toworkbyborrowingmoneyfor transportation. Datsa, a bookshop attendant in BurkinaFaso,hadaworkers’associationtothankforhislunchatwork.Minamila was a teacher in a public school in Benin. Prior toteachingat thepublic school,he leftaprivate schooldue toirregular salary. Itwasnot anybetterwhenhemoved to thepublic school either. Teachers in Benin frequently embark onstrikesbefore theyarepaid.Even then, theyoftenonlygetaportion of their accumulated wage arrears. Dama and MalsaweretransnationaltradersalongtheWestAfricancoastbeforemovingtoGermany.MalsasoldAfricanmovies,chocolatesandflipflops.Mostofher customersbought thegoodsoncredit.Gettingthemtopaytookagreatdealofeffort.Theunreliablepayment means that some of her customers still owe hersomemoneyclosetoadecadeaftershestoppedthebusiness.Yas’anwasacivilservantinTogobeforeleavingthecountryonaccountofpoorworkingconditions.Tinasheworkedasamaidin a hotel in Harare earning very little. She was unable saveenoughmoneytobuyasewingmachineinordertopursueherdreamofbecomingaseamstress.Kofiwasapart-timeteacherandpart-timeprofessionalsoccerplayerbeforetryinghisluckinGermany.Hisincomefromtwopart-timejobswassupplementedbyhisfamily,andheinturnprovidedfortheirupkeepwheneverhecould.WagihadworkedasacasuallabourerforanItalianfirminLibyabeforemovingtoGermany.Liaci,Mala,Terfa,Biane,Dictaben,andYau’armewereunemployedbeforearrivinginGermany.Precarityisthereforenotnewforboththepreviouslyemployedand thepreviouslyunemployed. Itwas thedefinitionof theirlives and the reason why they left Africa for Germany in thefirstplace.UponarrivalinGermanytheyencounteredanotherprecarity.TheprecarityinGermanyistheproductofthesameglobalprocessofunequalcapitalistaccumulationthatsetthemigrationinmotion.InthecaseofAfrica,itsperipheralnature

meansthattheworkingconditionsevenforthosewithsecurejobsarebelowwhattheyrequiretolivedecentlives.InGermanytheycontinuetofacesimilarhardshipsastheyhadencounteredwhile inAfrica.Contrary towhat theGerman right andevennot-so-rightpoliticalformationspeddle,itisnottheirpresencethatbroughtprecarityandjobinsecuritytoGermany.Aglobalcapitalist system which had maintained precarity in Africa isresponsiblefortransposingthesametoGermany.TheGermanstate, likeothercapitalist states, isactive in thistransposition of precarity. The state provides the legislativeframework and administrative basis for the emergence andfunctioning of temporary, mini, insecure, and precariousworkingandlivingarrangements.TheseriesofHartzlegislationscreatedthelegalbasisforsuper-exploitativeworkingandlivingconditions. The state normalizes precarity by disciplining andcoercing workers into accepting jobs that are incapable ofmeeting their basicneeds (Dörre, LessenichandRosa,2015).Under the welfare laws of the German state a worker whorefusestoacceptthreeconsecutivejobofferscouldforfeither/his entitled unemployment benefits as a sanction. The stateallowsemployerstopaybelowtheminimumwageiftheyprovethatpayingtheminimumwagewouldhaveadverseeffectsonthesustainabilityoftheirenterprise.Thestatecommitsitselftomeetingtheshortfallofthewagetherebypavingthewayfortheemployertopaybelowtheminimumwage.Itisimportanttohighlight the fact that theminimumwage is incapableofmeetingtheneedsofworkers.The gulf between a minimum wage and a living wage isexplainedawaybytheneedforthestatetoarbitratebetweenthe demands of workers and the demands of capital (Dörre,Lessenich and Rosa, 2015; Harvey, 2005). Implied in thisarbitrationrolethatthestateassumesistheneedtomaintainademocraticbalancebetween,inliberaldemocraticterms,theconflictinginterestsofcompetingsocialforces(Dörre,LessenichandRosa,2015;ClaudeAke,1996).Thisisinspiteofthefactthat the conflicting social forces are not on equal footing.Production relations in a capitalist society necessarily placeworkersatadisadvantagebytheveryexistenceofwagelabour.Irrespective of the social pact that the state aims to achievein its mediation, an outcome that perpetuates the existenceofwagelabourasthegeneratorofcapitalitdoesnotownorcontrolnecessarilydisadvantagesworkers.Thisrealmoflimited,perversedemocracyaimedatprotectingtheprivilegedposition


ofcapitalisnotavailabletotheillegalizedworker.Democracyintheliberalandsocialtermmeanslowwages.It isperfectlylegitimate for exploitative wages to be paid in a democraticmanner given that the state has to equally cater to all itsconstituency-capitalistsandworkersalike.

“Ausländer” as Political (non) IdentityThedemarcationandgradationofthosewhobelongfromthosewhodonotbelonghasa longhistory inGermany.Thenotionof an exceptional occident as compared to a broad Europe(Boatca,2015)wasconstructedbytheassociationofaVolkgeistandhistorythatsupposedlyanimatedifferentgroupsofpeoplealaHegel.Asstatedearlier,PolesinparticularhaveconstitutedtheotherofGermannationbuildingforawhile(Herbert1990).TodayEasternEuropeansingeneralconstitutethefrontierwithin.Africa and Africans have played a similar role in the self-formation of Germany, whether within or outside Germany(MazonandSteingroever,2005).AfricansweretheeternalotherfromwhichtheVolkmustdistancethemselves.TheyconstitutedwhatEuropeansmustnotaspiretointermsofconduct,aptitudeanddisposition.Thenumerousnamesofmealsandthemanycolonial relics that litter Germany’s cities and public placesattest to this (ibid). The triple association of culture/place/belonginginadvertentlyconstructmigrantsingeneral,butforthispurposeofthispaper,Africansinparticular,asthosewhosealien cultures linked todistant andbackwardplaceshavenoplace in Germany (ibid). African workers like Kozi who havespent two-thirds of their adult lives in Germany and formallypossessGerman citizenship reportofbeing viewedas eternaloutsiders:

“Forget about us, even our children who were bornheredon’tgetaccepted.Teachersinschoolseethemasoutsidersandoftenask them to tell their classeswhytheir family left theirhometocometoGermany.Theyareoftenreferredtoasrefugees.’’

The outlook of individuals could influence such treatments.But what Kozi is drawing attention to is the structuralrelationshipthatinformshowculture,belongingandthepublicsphereareconceivedinGermany2.TheideaoftheVolk isnotoperationalizedashavingahistoricity;itoftencomesacrossasanunchangingontology (Keim,2014).Tobelong,onehas to

traceacontinuouslineagetoGermany.Thisisnotonlyarecenthistoricalinvention,giventherecencyofGermanyasaunifiedentity,butthemanyFrenchHuguenotsandDutchthatmakeuptheseparatepre-BismarckianGermanyishushedinfavourofamonoliththatfreezehistoricalchange.This way of conceiving belonging in Germany allows for theallocation of belonging and political identities that wantonlyexcludes.TodaytheAusländerwhohasnodeutschesBlutcanjuridicalbecomeaBürger.Butsocially,sheisstillanAusländer,albeitanotchabovetheillegalAusländerwhoispoliticallyandsocially an Ausländer and for that matter, outside the broadVolkthatiscoveredbypracticesofdemocraticparticipationanddecision-making.Analternativeapproach,onewhichAfricanmigrantsexemplifyin their resistance to the ideology of the exclusive Volk is theinsistencethat“thisplacebelongstoustoo.”Thebasisoftheirthinking is the association of belonging to residence and asunderstandingofcultureasever-changing.Inoppositiontoaviewofcultureasstaticandunchanging,AfricanmigrantsinGermanyactoutcultureasacontestedterrainwithdifferentsources.Here,‘Germanculture’willbeinclusiveofpracticesofpeoplewhohavelived, (often moved into) the disparate independent GermanterritoriesandthosewhotraceoriginsandrelationstoTurkey,theCaribbean,LatinAmerica,Africa,andbeyond.

Conclusion: In solidarity towards alternativesInthefaceofthechallengesthatmigrantworkersinGermanyface, not least an estrangement that militates against theirsocial membership, there raises the question of how theycope with, and adjust to such conditions. This is in the faceof Dörre’s (2005; 2006) observation that precariety preventssocialparticipationevenforlocalswhoseeconomicconditionslimittheirlifechancestherebyestrangingthemtothemarginsof society. Formigrants therefore, it couldbe contended thatprecarity limitstheircapabilitytobecomemembersofsocietyandtojoin,oralignwithothersinsimilarconditioninfightingfor better living conditions – more so, given the reality thatthe neoliberal onslaught actively delegitimizes working classformsoforganizationbyattackingunions,workscouncilsandallformsofworkingclassformations.BoltanskiandChiapello(2006) citing the French example, observed that unionmembership declined sharply because companies resorted tounion-breakingstrategies suchas signing individual contracts

2ItisimportanttoaddthatthisisnotinanywaypeculiarlyGerman,althoughtheconfigurationofthetripleassociationhasitsspecificitiesinGermany.


withworkersandretrenchingworkersthatareactiveinunions.This,coupledwiththenatureofflexible,part-timeandagencyworkofdifferentiatedworksites(Standing2011),demobilizesworker organizations by atomising workers. Following Dörre(2006), it is apparent thatprecarityhasanenormous impacton worker organization, and dialectically, the very act ofindividuating work contains the seeds of organized workers’actionaimedatchallengingpoorworkingandlivingconditions.Precarious African workers in Germany like Dezva gravitatedtowardstheircolleaguesatworkandformedaworkscouncilinordertodefendtheirworkingconditionscollectively.Yau’ArmeandWagiseeworkersasunitedbytheirsimilarfateaslaboureragainsttheemployer.Nonetheless,AfricanworkersinGermanyfeelexcludedfromthelargersociety.Theyfeeltheyarenotjustmadeto feeloutofplacebecauseof theirclassposition,butalsoduetowhotheyareasAusländer.Whiletheexclusionthatthey face is underwritten by an economic arrangement thatrequires cheap disposable labour, it is secured via a politico-legalregimethatdelimitsbelongingonaccountoforiginandanautochthonousmodelofcitizenship.Consequently,itismycontentionthatanyattemptatreconstitutingthesocialfabricinGermanyviathecreationofahumanealternativesocietynotdrivenbyunendinggrowthmustalsotakeseriouslythetaskoffundamentallyre-conceptualizingwhatitmeanstobelong.A model of social belonging based on political communitywhere anyone who lives and makes a livelihood in a societyisacknowledgedasamemberofsuchasocietyis intricatetoa counterhegemonic project. Among many political tasks forunions,activistsandprogressivegroupingsistotakeseriouslythe question of migrants as a political question instead of ahumanitarian concern with saving the desperate. As theepigraphat thebeginningbyFrantz fanonconveys, it isonlywhen the most despised and dehumanized of the labouringclass is placedat the centreof anew sociality that a societybeginstofundamentallytransform.Creditsandacknowledgements: I acknowledge theCentre forHumanitiesResearchoftheUniversityoftheWesternCapeforthefellowshipawardthatfacilitatedthewritingofthepresentarticle.AllcreditforDHETpurposesforthisarticleisattributedtotheCHRatUWC.

ReferencesA.ADEPOJU,2004,‘Trendsininternationalmigration

inandfromAfrica’,In:D.SMasseyandJ.ETaylor(eds),International migration: prospects and policies in a global market.Oxford,OxfordUniversityPress,pp.59-76

A.ADEPOJU,2005.‘PatternsofMigrationinWestAfrica’, inT.Manuh(ed)At home in the world? international

migration and development In contemporary Ghana and West Africa.Accra:Sub-SaharanPublishers,pp.24-54

J.ADESINA,Y.GRAHAM,AOLUKOSHI(eds),2006,Africa and development challenges in the new millennium: the NEPAD debate.LondonandDakar,ZedBooks

andCODESRIAC.AKE,1996,Democracy and development in Africa.

BrookingsInstitutionA.ASAMOA,2001, On social change in sub-saharan Africa:

A guide to the study of the process of social transformation.Accra.Accra,WoeliPublishers

M.BOATCA,2015,Global Inequalities beyond occidentalism.London,Ashgate

L.BOLTANSKI,E.CHIAPELLO,2006,The new spirit of capitalism.London,Verso

S.CASTLES,J.MILLER,2009, The age of migration: international population movement in the modern world (4th edition).Basingstoke,PalgraveMacmillan

R.BOS-JONES,2005,‘TheDutchperspectiveoncontemporarymigrations’,inT.Manuh(ed),pp.103-117

B.CARDUCK,U.KRONBERG,J.NIPPER,2008,Foreigners in Germany: reasons for migration, spatialpatterns, integration7.10.2017

J.COMAROFF,J.L.COMAROFF,2012.‘TheoryfromthesouthorhowEuro-AmericaisevolvingtowardsAfrica’inAnthropological Forum,vol.22,no.2

K.DÖRRE,2005,‘Prekarisierungcontraflexicurity:unsicherebeschäftigungsverhältnissealsarbeitspolitischeherausforderung‘,inM.Kronauer&L.Gudrun(eds)

K.DÖRRE,K.KRAEMER,F.SPEIDEL,2006,‘Theincreasingprecariousnessoftheemploymentsociety–drivingforceforanewrightwingpopulism?’,inInternational Journal of Action Researchvol.2no.1,pp.98-128

K.DÖRRE,S.LESSENICH&H.ROSA,2015,Sociology, capitalism and critique.London,Verso

Creditsandacknowledgements:IacknowledgetheCentreforHumanitiesResearchoftheUniversityoftheWesternCapeforthefellowshipawardthatfacilitatedthewritingofthepresentarticle.AllcreditforDHETpurposesforthisarticleisattributedtotheCHRatUWC.


K.DÖRRE,M.SCHUMANN,2016,‘FluchtlingspolitikalsRückstaupolitik’,Frankfurter Rundschau,May09,goo.gl/oZ2szp(last accessed on August 7, 2017)

F.M.GARBA,2012,Of livelihoods and belonging – burger or amakwerekwere?: African diasporas in Germany and South Africa(MAThesissubmittedtotheFacultyofPhilosophy,UniversityofFreiburg)

D.HARVEY,2000,Spaces of hope.Edinburgh,EdinburghUniversityPress

D.HARVEY,2005,A brief history of neoliberalism.Oxford,OxfordUniversityPress

U.HERBERT,1990,History of foreign labour in Germany, 1880-1980.Michigan,UniversityPress

W.KEIM,2014,‘Colonialism,nationalsocialismandtheholocaust:onmodernwaysofdealingwithdeviance’’,inA.Sitas,S.Damodaran,W.Keim,N.Trimiklionitis&FaisalGarba(eds),pp.109-188

T.KÖRNER,K.PUCH,CWINGERTER,2013,Quality of employment: earning and what else counts?Wiesbaden,StatistischesBundesamt

T.KORPI,LLEVIN,2001,‘Precariousfooting:temporaryemploymentasasteppingstonetounemploymentinSweden,Work, Employment and Society,vol.15,pp.127-48

G.O.KVISTAD,1998,‘Membershipwithoutpolitics:theSocialandpoliticalrightsofforeignersinGermany’inH.Kurthern(eds)

N.MAYER-AHUYA,2003,Wieder dienen lernen? vom westdeutschen ‘normalarbeitsverhältnis‘ zu prekärer beschäftigung seit 1973.Berlin:editionsigma

P.M.MAZON,R.STEINGROVER,2005,Not so plain as black and white: Afro-German cultureand history, 1890-2000.Rochester,UniversityPress

T.MKANDAWIRE,C.SOLUDO,2003,African voices on structural adjustment: a companion to our continent, our future.Dakar,CODESRIA

M.MAMDANI,1996, Citizen and subject: the legacy of late colonialism in contemporary Africa.PrincetownUniversityPress

A.SITAS,2004,Voices that reason: theoretical parables.Pretoria,UnisaPress

A.SITAS,A.LORGAT,2010,The human and social dynamics in development grand challenge: mapping the Third African Diaspora.workingpaperseriesno1

G.STANDING,2011,The precariat: the new dangerous class.LondonandNewYork,BloomsburyAcademic

G.STANDING,2013,‘Definingtheprecariat:aclassinthemaking”.Retrievedfrom:goo.gl/1XTq53

S.TONAH,2007,Ghanaians abroad and their ties home: cultural and religious dimensions.CentreonMigration,CitizenshipandDevelopmentUniversityofBielefeld,workingpaper25

W.RODNEY,1982,HowEuropeunderdevelopedAfrica.DaresSalaam,TanzaniaPublishingHouse

M.WEBER,1892,’DieVerhältnissederLandarbeiterimostelbischenDeutschland:DargestelltaufGrunddervomVereinfürSocialpolitikveranstaltetenErhebung‘,SchriftendesVereinsfürSocialpolitik.In:GesammelteAufsätzezurSozial-undWirtschaftsgeschichte(Tübingen1924),470-507

I.WALLERSTEIN,2011,‘Structuralcrisisintheworldsystem:wheredowegofromhere?’Monthly Review.goo.gl/dCgfTX

E.WEBSTER,2008,‘RecastinglabourstudiesintheTwenty-FirstCentury’.Labour Studies Journalvol.33,no.3,pp.249-254

P.T.ZELEZA,2005,RewritingtheAfricandiaspora:beyondtheblackatlantic.African Affairs.Vol.414,n.104,pp.35-68

P.T.ZELEZA,2005.‘ThePost-ColonialUprisinginFrance’.www.zeleza.com(lastaccessed:August7,2017).

TH E CO NS TRUC T ION INDUSTRY IN P ORTUGA L : TR ENDS IN P RODUC T ION A ND L A BOUR FRO M 2 000 TO 2015

Gonçalo Marques Barbosa

Asaresultofthe2009financialcrisis,theconstructionindustryinPortugalunderwentsignificantremodellingprocesses,whichculminatedwithadownfall. Thispaperoffers anoverviewofthetrendthePortugueseconstructionsectorrecordedbetween2000and2015,takingintoaccounteconomicvariablesrelatedtolabourandproduction,followedbyapresentationofavailabledataonpostedworkers.Theideaspresentedinthepaperareafirststepintheefforttoelucidateandmeasuretheintensityofthe changes that the construction industry experienced sincethe2009crisis.ThepaperpresentsananalysisoftheconstructionindustryinPortugalbetween2000and2015.Theexerciseisafirstresultofabroaderattempt todefine this sector in the21stcentury,followingonfrompreviousstudiesthatcompiledandanalysedstatistical data from the last decades. The work of Baganha,MarquesandGóis(2001)isthebestexampleofusingsecondarydataasatoolfor identifyinggeneralsocioeconomictrendsintheconstructionsector.ThefirstpartofthepaperisbasedondatafromNationalAccounts(Contas Nacionais)compiledbytheNationalStatisticsInstituteofPortugal (INE) focusingonconstructioncompanieson theonehand,andonconstructionworkersontheother.ThesecondpartlooksatthemobilityofworkersintheEuropeanUnion,presentingdatapublishedbytheEuropeanCommissiononpostedworkerstoandfromPortugal,i.e.employeesacompanysendstoworkinadifferentEUMemberStateonatemporarybase.

The trend in the construction industry: from a strong 2000 to a six-year period of economic crisisAt the beginning of the 21stcentury, Portuguese constructioncompanies were financially sound, as demonstrated by theindustrykeyeconomicindicators1.The sector experienced a favourable trend all along the lastdecade of the twentieth century, driven as well by a positivedomesticeconomicclimate.Between1995and2000,Portugalsaw strong gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates, with

Gonçalo Marques Barbosa hasBachelorandMaster’sdegreeinSociologybytheFacultyofArtsofthePortoUniversity.Collaboratedasaresearchfellowwiththeprojects“Climate@EduMedia-ClimateChanges:learningthroughtheschoolmedia”and“BreakingGroundforConstruction:ChangesinthePortugueseConstructionFieldandtheirImpactsonWorkingConditionsinthe21stcentury”.StartedinFall2018theDoctoralPrograminSociologybytheFacultyofArtsofthePortoUniversity,withtheresearchproject“Policies,practicesandexperiences:thePortugueseincubationecosystem”,fundedbythePortugueseFoundationforScience(FCT).

1NationalAccountsseriescompiledbyINE:production,intermediateconsumption,grossvalueadded,grossoperatingsurplusandgrossfixedcapitalformation,allofthemwithpublisheddatauntil2014


valuesalwaysabove2%.Thiswasreflectedintheannualrateofchangeinconstructionbetween1999and2000:itsproductiongrew10.1%whileitsgrossvalueaddedincreasedby12.9%.In the years that followed, the trend reversed, announced bynegativeannualratesofchangeingrossfixedcapitalformation,whichsuggestedadeclineintheindustry’sproductivecapacity,with2003showingforthefirsttimeadecreaseinthelevelsofproduction, intermediateconsumptionandgrossvalueadded,due tithe decline of the country’s economy.The-0.9%rate ofGDPgrowthwasonceagainindicativeofthepro-cyclicalnatureoftheconstructionindustry.In2004,theindustrybouncedback,drivenbya21%growthingrossfixedcapitalformationandbyanationalGDPgrowthof1.8%.Asidefrom2000, itwastheonlyyearthatrecordedpositiveratesofchangeinthefiveeconomicindicatorsunderanalysisbetween2000and2014.It is worth noting what was happening at the time in theconstruction sector in Spain, a major source of the previouseconomicgrowthinPortugal.AsnotedbyAlonso-Nuez,Flores-García and Muñoz-Porcar (2015), during the end of the 20thcentury and the beginning of the 21stcentury, Spain endureda continuously positive trend in construction: it represented6.4%ofthecountryGDPinthefinalquarterof1997,growingup to 12% in the last quarter of 2006.In that last year, theconstructionsectorwasresponsiblefor13.6%oftotalnationalemployment.For Monteiro (2014), Spain had ideal conditions for theconstructionsectorupuntilapproximately2008.ItalsoenjoyedastrongrelationshipwithSousaValleyfromwhereitrecruitedsignificant numbers of Portuguese workers, thus helping thenationaleconomyaswell.Between 2005 and 2008, the construction industry wasplagued by instability, with the sectorial economic indicatorsfluctuating between positive and negative annual rates ofchange.Theoveralldomesticdynamicremainedpositive,albeitwithsignificantlylowerratesofGDPgrowthwhencomparedtothe1995to2000period,reachingonly0.2%in2008.With the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008, bothPortugalandSpainstartedaperiodofdownturn.Whatfollowedwasaseriesofslowdownsinconstructionindustryactivityandbankruptcyofawideamountofconstructionfirms.From 2009, the Portuguese economy entered a significantcyclicalchange,bothatthenationalandsectorlevel,asaresult

ofthefinancialcrisisatthetime.Thiswasthefirstofsixyearsinwhichtheconstructionindustryrecordedconsecutiveannualnegativeratesofchangeinallthefiveindicatorsunderscrutiny,withonlyoneexceptionin2014.In 2010 and 2011, the country faced multiple stability andgrowth plans designed by the Government, aiming at highertaxrevenuesandlowerdeficitsandpublicdebt.Ultimately,in2011Portugalrequestedabail-outprogramof78billionEurosfromtheInternationalMonetaryFund,theEuropeanFinancialStabilisationMechanismand the European Financial StabilityFacility, further aggravating the economic situation of thecountry.2012 was by far the worst year of this six-year period, withallfive indicators recordingannualdecreasesofbetween9%and30%.This isconsistentwiththetrendofthePortugueseeconomyinthatyear,asitwastheworstoneforthecountry,withGDPfalling4.0%.In2013and2014,theindustry’srateofeconomicdeclinewasmitigated,despite thepersistenceofnegativeannual ratesofchange,withtheexceptionofgrossfixedcapitalformationin2014, which grew 3.7%, the first sign that the industry wasrecovering. It was also in that year that GDP growth ratesreturnedtopositivelevels.Figure1combinesthetrendsofthesefiveeconomicindicatorsduring the 2000 to 2014 period, comparing them with theevolutionoftheGDP.While this graphic is fairly illustrative of the scale of theeconomicimpactofthecrisisintermsoftheratesofdecreasein the absolute values of these variables, it suggests as wellthattheseindicatorsfacedaharshertrendduringtheeconomiccrisisthantheonefoundatanationallevel,sinceGDPvaluesdidnotfallsomuchandrecoveredmorerapidly.


Figure 1 Main business variables of construction – annual rates of change.

Figure 2 Main business variables of construction – percentage of total domestic values.

-35

-25

-15

-5

5

15

25

35

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Production Intermediate consumption

Gross value added Gross operating surplus

Gross fixed capital formation Gross domestic product

Source: adapted from INE (Contas Nacionais, 2018)

The discrepancy between those trends is an argument thatjustifiesanalysingaswelltheevolutionoftherelativeimportanceoftheconstructionsectorinthecountry’seconomicdynamics.Figure1alsoallowstointerpretthe2000to2014periodasatwoactstoryoftheconstructionsector.From2000to2008,itoftenshiftedfromyearlygainstoyearlylosseswhichmoreorlessannulledeachotherwhen taken together,demonstratingageneraltrendofsmalldeclinesorstabilityinrelativevalues.From 2009 and 2014, construction begun a new period ofcontinuous yearly falls, which in their entirety resulted in anabrupt decline of the sector’s importance. The trends in therelativevaluesoftheseindicatorsconfirmthistwo-actapproach.In2000,theindustryaccountedfor7.6%ofthecountrygrossvalueadded,whilein2008,onthevergeofthecrisis,itstoodat6.7%,downto4.1%in2014.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Production Intermediate consumption

Gross value added Gross operating surplus

Gross fixed capital formation


Thesamedownwardtrendwasobservedinproduction:in2000,itaccountedfor11.9%ofthedomestic total. In2008, ithadalreadyfallento9.7%and,in2014,itstoodat5.4%.Figure 2 summarizes these trends, including data fromintermediate consumption, gross operating surplus andgross fixed capital formation, all of which followed the samedownwardpattern,with the lossesof importance intensifyingfrom2009onwards.Insummary,between2009and2014theconstructionsectorexperiencedasignificantdeclineinitsabsolutevaluesandwashitharderincomparisontothedomesticeconomicsituationasawhole.Theyeartoyearnegativeratesofchangewereamanifestationof howPortugalwas dealingwith the recession. In face of acrisis, the Portuguese economy suffered a readjustment, withconstruction losingasignificantamountof importance inthenationaleconomicactivity.Inotherwords,Portugaldidnotrecordassignificantadeclineintheabsolutevaluesoftheseindicatorsvis-à-vistheconstructionindustryanditwasabletorecoverfaster,recordingpositiveGDPvaluesin2014,whilefouroftheconstructionrelatedmeasurescontinuedtodeclineinthatyear.


Similar patterns were observed between 2000 and 2014 inregard to labourvariables, concerningacontinuous reductionintheworkforce,intheworkinghoursandinthewagesofthisindustry,bothinabsolutetermsandinrelationtotheirrelativeweightindomestictotals.Suchlikeresultsemergefromtheanalysisoffivemorevariablesmadeavailableby INE, related to thework side:wages, paidwork hours, paid full-time equivalents, paid jobs and paidindividualpersons.Acomparisonbetweenthe2000to2008and2009to2014periodswillalsoguidethisevaluation.Since 2000, all these variables experienced yearly increases,driven by the strong growth in both domestic and sectorialactivity (Figure 3). 2002, 2006 and 2007 also saw all fivevariables with positive growth rates. Despite that, between2000and2007 therewasageneral tendencyof stagnation,withslightpositiveandnegativeyearlyvariations.In absolute values, therewas a soft reduction in thenumberof workers from 2000 (469.2 thousands) and 2008 (443.2thousands) that became dramatic when in 2014 only 239.2thousandwere left. Similarly, the industry relativeweight fellfrom11.6%in2000to6.3%in2014.Thesedatademonstratethat,despiteadeclineinthisindustry’spaidworkforcebetween2000and2008,itpaledincomparisontothatofbetween2009and2014,losingasignificantamountofweightinthelabourmarket,asisillustratedinFigure4.Lallement (2011) notes that countries such as Spain, Franceor Portugal used initially voluntarist measures aimed atlabourmarkets, through increasingpublicexpenditure relatedto infrastructure projects and housing. But unemploymentnumbersinevitablystartedtorapidlygrow.AsLallement(2011)stressed,withinOECDcountriesoverallunemploymentevolvedfromarecordlowrateof5.6%in2007to8.3%justtwoyearslater.InSpain,itincreasedveryquickly,gaining10percentagepointsjustbetweenthattwo-yeartimeframe.

Figure 3 Main labour variables of construction – annual rates of change.

-23

-18

-13

-8

-3

2

7

12

17

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Wages Paid jobs Paid individual persons

Paid full-time equivalent Paid work hours Gross domestic product


The trend in the number of jobs followed that of individualpersonsemployed:theyearsfrom2009to2014recordedthesharpest declines. In 2000, there were 472.9 thousand paidjobs in the construction industry, or 11.2% of the domestictotal. Up to 2008, there was some stability: 445.3 thousandpaidjobs,or10.1%ofthenationaltotal.However,from2008to2014, absolute values fell to243.1 thousand, and relativevaluesto6.2%.Intermsofwages,between2000and2008therewasanalmostuninterruptedperiodofcontinuouspositiveincrease,withtheexceptionof2003,whichfellby0.8%asaconsequenceofthedecreaseintheconstructionbusinessindicatorsandafirstyearofGDPdecrease.However,inalltheremainingyearstheratesofchangewerepositive,rangingfrom0.6%,in2008to18.5%,in2000.


Figure 4 Main labour variables of construction – percentage of total domestic values.

theconstruction industry’ssignificantvulnerability toexternalevents,havingbeenparticularlyaffectedbythe2009financialcrisis in terms of the economic growth of companies, in thecompositionoftheworkforceandin its respectiveworkhoursandwages.The reductionof its relativeweight in thedomestic economysuggeststhatthePortugueseeconomysoughttoadaptbetween2009and2014,preservingmoreothersectorswhilereducingitsrelianceupontheconstructionindustry.Between2001and2013theconstructionindustrystalledafterreachingitspeakin2000and2001(Monteiro,2014).Butdespitebeingrecognisedasoneofthemostimportantindustriesintermsofnumberofcompaniesandofpeopleemployed,itisundeniablethatithassincethenlostaconsiderableamountofitsrelevancein the national economy. Data for the years following 2014willbedecisiveinassessingwhethertheconstructionindustrywasable to regain importance in thenationaleconomy,withanotherpro-cyclicalevolutionandthusmitigatingtheeffectsofthecrisis,oriftheeconomicreadjustmentwasmorepermanent,withlong-lastingconsequences.ThegrowingtrendinthepostingofPortugueseworkersinEUMemberStatesisanotherpossibleindicationoftheramificationsoftheeconomiccrisis,asconstructionworkerstrytofindworkalternatives,whilecompaniesmakeuseofinternationalizationstrategies in a Europeanwork market, insomuch as itwill beaddressedinthefollowingsection.

The construction industry in Portugal within an EU framework: posted work between 2008 and 2015Withtheeconomiccrisis,migrationpatternsinPortugalchangedveryquickly.Ontheonehand,thenumberofpeopleleavingthecountryreachedlevelssimilaronlytothoseofthedictatorship-fuelleddecadesinthe1960sandthe1970s.Ontheotherhand,immigrantsfacedsevereeconomicconditions.AspointedoutbyPereiraandEsteves(2017),unemploymentratesofimmigrantsinPortugalrosefrom16.5%in2009to29.2%in2013.In this context of greater difficulty to invest and work inPortugal, it is important to lookalsoathowpostedworkhasshifted in this period of crisis. By posted work, we refer toworkersmovingabroadinthecontextofaworkingrelationshipwithanemployerinhisorherhomecountry.Bosch,DanijelandNeumann(2013)andCremer(2010)havesuggestedthatthisstrategy is usedby employers to avoid labour regulationand

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Wages Paid jobs Paid individual persons

Paid full-time equivalent Paid work hours


In2000, constructionworkerwages represented8.2%of thenationaltotal,apercentagethatremainedsignificantlysteadyuntil2008 (8%).2009marks theendof the trendobservedbetween 2004 and 2008, as a natural result of the declinein the number of paid jobs available and of paid individualpersons,thathadalreadybegunin2007.In2014,theweightofthesewagesdroppedto5.2%ofthedomestictotal.Duringthisperiod,thefull-timeequivalentrecordedasignificantconsistency in its behaviour compared to the trend in thenumberofpaidworkersandpaidjobs. Itshouldbenotedthatitsimportancealsofellincomparisontothedomestictotal:from11.8%in2000,droppingslightlyto10.8%in2008,and,in2014,accountingfor6.4%ofthetotalfull-timeequivalentinPortugal.Lastly,thenumberofpaidworkinghours,whichonlyreachedpositive annual rates of change in 2000, 2002, 2004 and2007.In2000,933.4millionhourswererecorded,anamountwhich,in2014,was455.2million,correspondingtoadeclineofmorethanhalfitsvalueatthebeginningofthe21stcentury.Itsdomesticweightreflectedthatchange:in2000,itstoodat12.3%,in2008,at10.7%,and,in2014,at6.4%.This second set of indicators goes hand in hand with thearguments made when discussing the first set in relation to


hirelow-wagemigrantsinprecariousjobs.Caroetal. (2015)andArnholtz (2013)notethat this formoflabourhasbeenflourishinginaEUinstitutionalenvironment,in a pan-EU labour market framework, that is, a marketdynamicdrivenbyautonomousactionsfromcompanies.Itisarelationshipofweaktieswiththehostcountry,inaflexibleandshort-termlogic.The second part of this paper investigates the scale of postedworkersintheEuropeanUnion,focusingparticularlyontherolePortugalhasplayedintheEuropeanlabourmarketwithspecificreference to the construction industry, and tounderstandwhatchangestookplaceasaconsequenceofthe2009economiccrisis.Itisnotyetcommonpracticeforcountriestodisclosenationalstatistics on this type of labour, and the only official sourceavailableonpostedworkersarethefiguresfrom2008to2015publishedbytheEuropeanCommission.In an industry approach, little information is presented withdisaggregateddataallowingforaseparateanalysisofpostedworkers in construction. However, it is possible to collect thepercentageofpostedworkersintheconstructionindustrysentbyPortugal,withrespecttosomeoftheyearsinthe2008to2015period.Thelowestrecordedvalueisin2009,at53.1%,whichmeansthatconstructionhasalwaysaccountedforatleastmorethanhalfoftheoverallamountofpostedworkerssentbyPortugal.Thispercentagejumpedto67.5%in2011,fallingagaintothe50%rangebetween2013and2015,aspresentedinTable1.In2013Portugalrecordedthehighestnumberofpostedworkersinconstruction(48.551),asignificantincreaseover2011.Thatvaluefellinthefollowingtwoyears,inatrendthatreflectsthepoorperformancesof theeconomy in thecountryand in theconstructionsectorinparticular.Other observations on posted workers can be made, nowconsidering all posted workers sent from Portugal and theparticipation of the country as a whole in the posted workercommunity.SummarizedaswellinTable1,thesedataalsoallowtoinferadditionalaspectsofconstructionworkersinpostedwork.

Beginningin2008,Portugalshowsarelativebalancebetweenthe number of incoming (12.831) and outgoing workers(19.245).Overtheyears,thatgapbecomessignificantlywider.This is mainly due to an exponential increase in the numberof posted workers from the country, a trend that started in

2009andpeakedin2013.Fromwithinatotalof82.851thattemporarilyleftthecountryin2013,anestimated58.6%camedirectlyfromtheconstructionsector(NACEF).ThegrowingnumberofworkerslookingforjobsinotherMemberStatesisonemoreindicatorofhowdeepthe2009financialcrisishitthePortugueseeconomy.Theincreaseinpostedworkerswasnotonlyexponential,buttookplacealsoatafasterratethantheoverallincreaseintotalworkersofthereportingMemberStates.From 2008 to 2014 the percentage of posted workers fromPortugalincreasedfrom1.5%to5.1(Table1).

In2013Portugalrecordedthehighestnumberofpostedworkersinconstruction(48.551),asignificantincreaseover2011.Thatvaluefellinthefollowingtwoyears,inatrendthatreflectsthepoorperformancesof theeconomy in thecountryand in theconstructionsectorinparticular.Other observations on posted workers can be made, nowconsidering all posted workers sent from Portugal and theparticipation of the country as a whole in the posted workercommunity.SummarizedaswellinTable1,thesedataalsoallowtoinferadditionalaspectsofconstructionworkersinpostedwork.

Table 1 E101 certificates (2008 and 2009) and portable documents (PDs) A1 (2010 to 2015) for posted workers sent/received by Portugal.

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

TotalofEUreportedcountries

1289526 1289376 1329883 1507714 1525244 1741255 1454687 1495307

Receiving(PT) 12831 13028 12193 13345 11422 10696 12833 15374

%Receiving(PT/EU) 1,00 1,01 0,92 0,89 0,75 0,61 0,88 1,03

Sending(PT) 19245 65499 58948 54183 55901 82851 74735 64020

%Sending(PT/EU) 1,49 5,08 4,43 3,59 3,67 4,76 5,14 4,28

Balance(Receiving–Sending)

-6414 -52471 -46755 -40838 -44479 -72155 -61902 -48646

%Sending(PT)ofIndustry(NACEBtoF)

NDA 95,0 NDA 88,8 NDA 72,1 74,8 76,7

Sending(PT)ofConstruction(NACEF)

NDA 34780 NDA 36574 NDA 48551 43795 34763

%Sending(PT)ofConstruction(NACEF/Total)

NDA 53,1 NDA 67,5 NDA 58,6 58,6 54,3


Figure 5 Number of posted workers from Portugal (outgoing) (%) industry.Together,FranceandSpainaccountedformorethanhalfofthetotalnumberofpostedworkerssentbyPortugalineveryyearoftheperiodunderscrutiny.Ontheotherhand,FranceandSpainalwaysrepresentedmorethan60%ofpostedworkersreceivedbyPortugal.FrancewasthemainsendingMemberStatein2008,butinthefollowingyears Spain sent more posted workers, in increasingly higherpercentages: in2009, thecountryaccounted for37.4%,and,in2015,56.2%.

Final remarksThe economic recession that hit Portugal between 2009 and2014,theeffectsofthecrisisrippledthroughtheconstructionindustry.Thepro-cyclicalnatureofthisindustrywassignificantlynoticeable,hasthesectorfinished2014withastrikinglyshrunkimportance in the Portuguese economy, especially whencomparedtothesofterdecreasesofnationalGDP,whichhadalreadyregisteredapositiveyearlygrowthratein2014.Therecurringcomparisonbetweenthe2000to2008andthe2009to2014periodsallowedforabetterunderstandingandmeasurementofthetwostagesofbehaviourofthePortugueseconstruction industry: a first one of general stability or softdeclines, followedbyasecondoneof sharpdeclines ineveryproductionorlabourvariables.The economy reacted to the collapse of the industry andreadjusted its sectorial distribution, with the constructionindustryplayingamuchreducedrolethaninthepreviousyears.As the construction industry is often work-intensive, it wasforced to adjust its workforce, reducing its investment in thenumberofpaidworkhoursorthenumberofpaidindividuals,asillustratedbytheevolutionoflabourrelatedvariables.Construction workers, as discussed by Monteiro and Queirós(2010),haveanomadicorientation,withafluctuantworklifeandnostablespatialorgeographicalplaceofbelonging.Constructionsiteschange,oftentolongdistances,whichinvitethisgroupofworkerstobeeasilyreadyandaccustomedtomove.ThatworklogichelpstoexplainwhytheseworkersweregenerallydominantwithinthegroupofpostedworkersfromPortugal.Giventhesocioeconomiccontextduringthecrisis,theycontinuedto represent more than 50% of that universe, increasingsignificantlyinabsolutevaluesuntil2013.Manyoftheseworkerssawmigrationasanoptionandmanycompaniesviewedpostedworkasanalternativetofindnewbusinessopportunities.

7,1

29,8

10

23,6

4,9

19,4

7,4

36,4

8,7

29,2

8,8

32,2

10,4

34,1

8,8

23,6

13,4

43,4

7,7

19,8

16,5

47,1

8,3

13,2

18,5

45,3

9,1

12,615

,7

44,4

7,6

16

B E L G IUM FRANC E GERMANY SPA IN

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Source: adapted from European Commission (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016)

Figure 6 Number of posted workers to Portugal (incoming) (%)

1,3

40,8

10,8

31

1,3

33,8

11,8

37,4

1,8

25,1

11

43,2

2,1

24,8

13,1

46,2

2,5

23,2

18,6

48,3

2

21,7

18,7

52,1

1,6

19,5

14,9

54,6

1,6

19,2

14,3

56,2

B E L G IUM FRANC E GERMANY SPA IN

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Source: adapted from European Commission (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016)

Finally,thedestinationprofileofthepostedworkersisnoteworthy.AsFigure5andFigure6show,SpainandFranceplayedamajorrolefromtwopointsofview.Ononehand,Spainhasbeenthemaindestinationcountry in2009(36.4%)and2010(32.2%),replaced by France in the following years. Beginning in 2011,thelattersawasignificantincrease,reachingvaluesabove40%between2012and2015,whiletheformerfelltothe10%range.Thischangewasvery likelyduetotheeconomiccrisis,whoseimpact extended significantly to Spain and its construction


TheIberiandimensionofthecrisismanifesteditselfinthepostingprofileofworkerssentfromPortugaltootherEUcountries,withSpain losing importance during the crisis period, even fallingbehindnotonlyFrance,butBelgiumaswellin2013and2014.The figures about posted workers show that the Portuguesemigrationflowsduring the crisis periodwere very significant,expandingtherelativeimportanceofthecountryinthepostedworker community. Furthermore, it reveals that those flowswere predominantly made up of workers without academicqualifications or those related to low-skilled jobs (Monteiro,2014), namely construction, which again accounted for morethanhalfofallpostedworkersbetween2008and2015.However,BaganhaandCarvalheiro (2001)noted thatpostedworkerstatisticsshouldbeapproachedwithcaution,aspostingprocesses are often fluid and informal, while Cremer andJanssen(2006)arguethatundeclaredeconomyinconstructionischallengingwhenusingofficialstatistics,asthosevaluesmaybeunderestimated.Morenoetal. (2000)pointouta setof characteristicsof theconstructionindustrythatenhancethelikelinessofundeclaredwork, such as the seasonal fluctuations in production, theflexible structure of the enterprises and the labour-intensivenature of construction. For Monteiro and Queirós (2010), itleadstoinformalworkrelationshipswithsubcontracting,short-term contracts, or a salary split between the official and thenon-officialcomponent.Futurestudiesoughttoapproachtheinterconnectionsbetweenformal and informal construction work markets, specificallythroughthecombinationof intensiveandextensiveempiricaldata.Similarly,follow-upresearchshouldcrossmultipledatasourcesfromNationalorEuropeanstatisticalreportsinordertoenrichresearch efforts and to give more scientific robustness toanalyticalinterpretationsofconstructiontrends.Lastly, it is also recommended that additional data fromcompaniesandworkersbeequated,includingvariablessuchasthepercentageofnationalorinternationalcapital,themediumsizeofenterprisesinemployeesandrevenue,thegeographicaldistributionofconstructioncompanies,thesexandageprofileofconstructionworkersoritseducationallevels.Considering the first positive signs identified in 2014, futureresearcheffortscouldaddressthebehaviourofthePortugueseconstruction sector from 2015 onwards, in order to not only

understandingreaterdepththeimpactsoftheeconomiccrisis,butalsotoassessiftheprocessesofabsoluteandrelativedeclineoftheindustry’srelevanceweretemporaryorpermanent.

ReferencesM.J.ALONSO-NUEZ;M.FLORES-GARCÍA;A.MUÑOZ-PORCAR,

2015,‘ConstructionindustryinSpain,isitguiltyofthecurrentcrisis?’,Applied Economics,vol.47,n.37,pp.3994-4006.

J.ARNHOLTZ,2013,A‘Legal Revolution’ in the European Field of Posting? Narratives of Uncertainty, Politics and Extraordinary Events,Copenhagen,PhDdissertationfromtheDepartmentofSociologyoftheUniversityofCopenhagen.

M.I.BAGANHA;I.CARVALHEIRO,2001,‘Umaeuropeizaçãodiferenciada:osectordaconstruçãocivileobraspúblicas’,inJ.REIS;M.I.BAGANHA(orgs.).

M.I.BAGANHA;J.G.MARQUES;P.GÓIS,2002,‘OSectordaConstruçãoCivileObrasPúblicasemPortugal:1990-2000’,Oficina do CES,n.173,pp.1-35.

G.BOSCH;N.DANIJEL;L.NEUMANN,2013,‘MinimumWageandCollectiveBargainingintheConstructionIndustry’,inD.GRIMSHAW(ed),pp.168-193.

E.CARO;L.BERNTSEN;N.LILLE;I.WAGNER,2015,‘PostedMigrationandSegregationintheEuropeanConstructionSector’,Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies,vol.41,n.10,pp.1600-1620.

J.CREMER,2010,‘RulesonWorkingConditionsinEurope:SubordinatedtoFreedomofServices?’,EuropeanJournalofIndustrialRelations,vol.16(3),pp.293–306.

J.CREMER;J.JANSSEN,2006,‘ShiftingEmployment:UndeclaredLabourinConstruction’,CLRStudies5,Rotterdam,Antenna.

EUROPEANCOMMISSION,2011,Posting of workers in the European Union and EFTA countries: Report on E101 certificates issued in 2008 and 2009,Brussels,EuropeanCommission.

EUROPEANCOMMISSION,2012,Posting of workers in the European Union and EFTA countries: Report on A1 portable documents issued in 2010 and 2011,Brussels,EuropeanCommission.

EUROPEANCOMMISSION,2014,Posting of workers: Report on A1 portable documents issued in 2012 and 2013,

Credits and acknowledgements.Thispaperwasproducedinthecontextoftheseminar“MasonsandMaids–Class,genderandethnicityintheconstructionindustryanddomesticservices”,promotedbytheongoingresearchproject“BreakingGroundforConstruction:ChangesinthePortugueseConstructionFieldandtheirImpactsonWorkingConditionsinthe21stcentury”(POCI-01-0145–FEDER–016621),fundedbyFEDERFunds,throughtheProgramaOperacionalCompetitividadeeInternacionalização–COMPETE2020andbyNationalsFundsthroughFCT–FundaçãoparaaCiênciaeaTecnologia.

58

Brussels,EuropeanCommission.EUROPEANCOMMISSION,2015,Posting of workers: Report

on A1 portable documents issued in 2014,Brussels,EuropeanCommission.

EUROPEANCOMMISSION,2016,Posting of workers: Report on A1 portable documents issued in 2015,Brussels,EuropeanCommission.

D.GRIMSHAW(ed),2013,Minimum Wages, Pay Equity, and Comparative Industrial Relations,London,Routledge.

INSTITUTONACIONALDEESTATÍSTICA,2018,‘ContasNacionais’,https://www.ine.pt/xportal/xmain?xpid=INE&xpgid=ine_cnacionais,31/01/2018.

M.LALLEMENT,2011,‘Europeandtheeconomiccrisis:formsoflabourmarketadjustmentandvarietiesofcapitalism’,Work, employment and society,vol.25(4),pp.627-641.

B.MONTEIRO,2014,‘PortugueseConstructionWorkersinSpain:SituatedPracticesandTransnationalConnectionsintheEuropeanFieldofConstruction(2003-2013)’,CLRNews,n.2,pp.8-32.

B.MONTEIRO;J.QUEIRÓS,2010,‘PelaEstradafora’,inJ.M.PINTO;J.QUEIRÓS(orgs.),pp.261-271.

S.PEREIRA;A.ESTEVES(2017),‘Osefeitosdacriseeconómicanasituaçãolaboraldosimigrantes:ocasodosbrasileirosemPortugal’,Revista Interdisciplinar da Mobilidade Humana,vol.25,n.49,pp.135-152.

J.M.PINTO;J.QUEIRÓS(orgs),2010,Ir e voltar. Sociologia de uma colectividade local do Noroeste português (1977-2007),Porto,EdiçõesAfrontamento.

J.REIS;M.I.BAGANHA(orgs.),2001,O curso da economia: contextos e mobilidades,Porto,Afrontamento.

CO NS TR UC T ION WORKERS IN D IMONA : AN O R A L H I S TORY

Shelly Shaul

Themass influxof700,000 immigrants to Israel in theyears1948–1951, mostly from Yemen, Iraq, Poland, and Romania,doubledtheJewishpopulationofthenascentcountry(Morris,1989)1.Theneedtoattractmass immigrationbecameurgentwith thewindingdownof thewarof1948,and thegrowinginternationalpressureonIsraeltoallowthereturnofPalestinianrefugees,whohadbeenuprootedfromtheirlandsinthecourseof hostilities. The Israeli government decided to prevent thereturnofrefugeesandtoincreasetherateofJewishimmigration,inordertopopulatetheareasthathadbeenemptied,andtoensure control over Palestinian homes, which were officiallyreferredtoas“abandonedproperty”(Hacohen,2003).In1951,withlargenumbersofJewishimmigrantsfromEasternEurope,Yemen,andIraqalreadysettled in Israel, theneedtoincreasetheJewishpopulationofthecountrysubsided.Withthedeclineofdemographicurgencyandfacingeconomicdifficulties,Israeliauthoritiesadoptedamoreselectiveimmigrationpolicy.TheidealimmigrantcouldbereshapedtofittheZionistethos.Peopledeemed“unproductive”and“economicallyburdensome”were not welcome. The Jewish Agency, a quasi-governmentalorganizationpredatingIsraelistatehood,decidedinNovember1951toterminatethepreviouspolicyofmassimmigrationandto institute a screening process targeting especially the JewsarrivingfromNorthAfrica(Picard,2013a)2.JewishimmigrantsfromMoroccoandnearbycountriesweretobeallowedin,butonlyinaccordancewiththeprioritiesandrequirementsoftheZionists movement. Immigration was encouraged, but quotaswere set and strict criteria established that rebuffed manywould-beimmigrants.MostDimonaresidentsareMizrahi,atermreferringtoJewswhotracetheirorigintotheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica.TheyareofficiallyentitledtothefullrightsofIsraelicitizenship,andtocertainprivilegesbyvirtueofbelongingtotheJewishmajority.In reality, however, Mizrahi Jews occupy a socially, culturally,andeconomicallymarginalpositioninrelationtoIsraelicitizensofAshkenazi,orEuropean,origin3.

Shelly Shaul isahistorianwhostudiesimmigrationtoIsraelfromMorocco.ShehasproducedanethnographyoftheIsraelitownofDimona,analyzingthelifestoriesofresidentswithinthehistoricalcontextsofbothcountries.Hercontributiontothisvolumeisaworkoforalhistorythatisdrawnfromthatresearch.Sherecentlyearnedamaster’sdegreeinhistoryfromTelAvivUniversity,graduatingwithacademicdistinction.ShecontinuestofocusherscholarlyworkonIsrael’sMizrahipopulation,atermreferringtoJewswhotracetheiroriginstotheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica.

1Meanwhile,700,000PalestinianswereexpelledorfledthecountryduringtheArab–IsraeliWarof1948anditsaftermath(Morris1989).

2Morocco’sJewishpopulation,whichwasthelargestamongtheJewishcommunitiesoftheIslamicworld,madeupaboutaquartermillionofthecountry’seightmillionresidentsin1948.

3ThetermMizrahireferstoasocial-culturalreality,butitisinaccuratefroma


Thisarticle focuseson theperiodof the1950sand60’sandexploresthememoriesandlifestoriesofMoroccanimmigrantswhoworkedasconstructionworkersinDimona.IanalyzehowtheexperienceofimmigrationandsettlementinaremotetownintheIsraelidesertshapedtheirself-definition.AtthecoreoftheresearchisthecollectionoflifestoriesofDimonaresidentsfromNorthAfricaandIndia–ascapturedindozensof interviews4conducted in2011–2015–dealingwithaperiodthatbeginsin Morocco of the late 1940s and ends in contemporaryDimona.Oralhistorymethodologyguidesmyanalysisoftheseinterviews,asIattempttorevealthehiddenmeaningsbehindthecollectednarratives.Treatingthesubjective–viz.memory,self-characterization, and the impact of past experiences onpresent-day consciousness – as historical will help to explaintheeventsandprocessesthatemergefromtheinterviews5.Upontheirarrival inDimona,Mizrahi immigrantsexperiencedcultural,socialandfinancialimpoverishment.Israelisocietywasstratified in a settler colonial fashion with European Jews atthetopandtheremainingPalestiniansat thebottom. Inthishierarchy, Jews were slotted according to ethnic origin andMizrahi immigrantswere relegatedto the lowest rung.At thecore of the Mizrahi experience lays a tension between theirdependenceandmarginalization, on theonehand, and theirformalacceptanceintothegroupofJewishcitizensinIsrael.IexplorehowtheconstructionworkersIintervieweddealwiththistensionintheirlifestories.Howdidtheyconceiveoftheirplacewithinthepoliticalprojectinwhichtheywereincorporated?Didtheyseethemselvesaslaborerswithlimitedoptions,aspioneersoftheZionistproject,orboth,andifso–inwhatways?Current researchaboutMizrahis in Israel,whethercelebratoryorcritical,tendstofocusoninstitutionsandpolicies.Otherwise,afewprominentindividualsareconsidered–asarule,politicalleaders, generals, or powerful administrators. This leaves outthe “objects” of official policies. Moreover, their experiencesand subjectivity can hardly be reconstructed from the officialwritten records. Few historians have so far ventured to dealwith memories, experiences, and aspirations of people andthewaytheytellaboutthemselves.Butafullerunderstandingof historical events requires examining the way they wereexperienced and interpreted by the individuals who wereimpactedbythem.InitialconditionsforthefirstgroupsofimmigrantswhoarrivedinDimonaweresevere.Itwasaremotespotinthedesertwith

paltry living facilitiesandno infrastructure. Theyhomesweremetalshacks.TherewasnodecentroadconnectingDimonatothenearestcity.Here ishow livingconditionsweredescribedbyMorocco-bornDavidZana,oneofthefirstimmigrantstobesettledinDimona:

“WecamefromMoroccoandarrivedattheportofHaifa.They took us by truck. The whole way, it went: bump,bump,bump.WhatcanItellyou?Ashittytruck.WeleftHaifaatten,arrivedatfour.Thateveningwewerethirtyfamilies.WhatwasthereinDimona?Mountainsandhills[...]Empty,justonedoginDimona,therewasonedoginDimona.Therewasnoonethere.Atnightyou’reshiveringat home– there’s nopower.Water – just barely.Whatwewentthrough…WhatcanItellyou?Itwasinsane.OnFridayevening,asitbecameShabbat[theJewishSabbathstartsatFridaysundown],therewasnobread.WewerewithoutfoodforShabbatuntilmidnight.SomeonedrovetoBe’erSheva[thenearestcity toDimonaand itsonlyconnection to basic services]. They brought us bread,anditwastwointhemorning.Afterthat,wemovedintopermanenthousing.Ittooksixmonthsforustomoveintothepermanenthousing.Alsonoelectricity…Eventually,theystarted tellingus– [therewouldbeelectricity for]2–3hoursaday.Therewasagenerator.WhatcanItellyou?That’swhatwewentthrough.”(DavidZana,23/07/2013)

DavidZanaandhiswifewereamongthe32familiesbroughtby the Jewish Agency in September 1955 to a spot in thedesertcalledDimona6.Aspartofthe“ShiptoVillage”plan,thetruckscarryingtheimmigrantswoulddeparttheportofHaifaandmakenostopsuntil theyreachedtheirdestinations, thusminimizingthechanceofresistance.The Jewish Agency used this tactic in order to confineimmigrants to designated specific sites of settlement. Israeliofficials commonly deceived the immigrants, intentionallymisidentifyingormischaracterizingtheplacewheretheywouldbe settled (Picard, 2013b).This policy, officially in place fromAugust 1954 until October 1956, succeeded in maximizingcontrolover themovementof immigrantsandconfining theirsettlementtothetownsfoundedinthatperiod.Theexperienceofimmigrantsinterviewedforthisstudysuggeststhatthepolicy

historicalandgeographicperspective.Literally,Mizrahimeans“eastern”inHebrew,butMoroccoispartofthewesternIslamicworldandislocatedfartothewestofIsrael.GerardoLeibner,“HaTikvaEncampment,2011:TheAmbiguousAgencyoftheMarginalized,”CurrentAnthropology,56(2015),p.160,n.3.

4TheinterviewsreferencedinthisarticlewereconductedinHebrewaspartofanoralhistoryprojectfocusingonthetownofDimona,Israel,incollaborationwithformerDimonaresidentsAmitBotbolandOfirItah,aswellascommunityactivists.Alltranslationsweredonebytheauthor.

5IhavebeenespeciallyinfluencedbytheworkofAlessandroPortelli,whohasshownuniquescholarlypotentialoforalhistory.Thewrittenwordalone,heargued,doesnotcaptureenough,especiallynottheunderlyingmeaningpeoplegivetotheirlives(Portelli2006).

6Afteroneyear,Dimonareachedapopulationof500,afterfive,5,000andafteradecade,20,000.Onlyin1969wasDimonadesignatedamunicipality.TheethnicmakeupofDimonaremainedlargelythesamethroughoutthisentireperiod:thevastmajoritywereMizrahi,andonlyaminoritywereEuropean-orIsraeli-born.Twothirdsofresidentsweresettledtherebythegovernmentandathirdarrivedoftheirownvolition(Reich2011).Today,about33,000peopleliveinDimona.


mayhavecontinuedtoexistunofficiallyforsomeyears.In1955,theheadoftheJewishAgency’sImmigrantAbsorptionDepartment, Giora Yoseftal, explained to his colleagues howhecarriedout thepolicyofdispatching immigrants to live inremote locations. He described a mechanism that disorientsthemandforcesthemtocomply:

“[Theimmigrant]climbsaboardaship,goesthroughasortingprocess,andgetsaslip.Hedisembarksfromtheshipandthere’sabuswaitingforhim,andhe’sgivenall sorts of slips. He cannot escape the administrativesystemofslips,andinstructions,andappointments.Andthenonedayhefindsahouse,furniture,andcookware[…]Theyhavenoideawhatwedidtothem.”7Yoseftal explained the Jewish Agency’s operation moresuccinctlyonanotheroccasion:“ThisisaPrussianbureau-cracyimposeduponprimitivepeople.Thesignaturesareworthless.Thesepeoplehavenoideawhattheyaresigning.”8

Dimonaisoneofseveraldozenlocalesknownas“developmenttowns”whichwereestablishedinthecountry’sremoteruralanddesertregionssoonafterthefoundingofthestate.Atthetimeof its founding, Israel’s population was heavily concentratedinthegreaterTelAvivarea,alongthecountry’scentralcoast.Smadar Sharon’s research has revealed that the governmentsought to increase settlement in the rural periphery of thecountry and drafted plans for the development towns. Onlyonce theplansweredrawndid thegovernment seekout theimmigrantstopopulatethem(Sharon,2012),afactthatcaststheIsraeligovernment’sclaimabouttheneedtosaveMorocco’sJewsfrompersecutionbyMuslimrulersinacynicallight.Thepurposeofdispersingimmigrantpopulationswasto“Judaize”areasinhabitedprimarilybythecountry’sArabpopulation,suchastheBedouinoftheNegevdesert.Thepolicywasdesignedtobolsterthestate’sholdontheland,andtoplacetheimmigrantsasgatekeepersnearthecountry’sborders.ButsettlingDimonawith immigrants also served another goal: the creation of alaborpoolforindustrialdevelopment(Cohen,2007).Intheearlyyears,theonlyjobsavailabletoDimonaresidentswereinforestation,construction,andDeadSeaminingoperations.In1958, Kitan Dimona, the first textile plant in the region, wasestablished.Localresidents,includingwomenandyouth,beganworkingthere.Dimonaalsobegansupplyingunskilled laborto

the nearby Nuclear Research Center, Israel’s classified atomicreactorwhoseconstructionhadstartedin1958.InallmyinterviewswithDimona’smaleresidents,theyframetheir life stories – after leaving Morocco and settling in thetown–aroundtheirworkaslaborers.Theirmemoriestendtobeorganizedaroundtheiremploymenthistory,andallothermajorlifeeventsradiatefromthecentralnarrativeofworking.Asher Abukasis, born in Casablanca, Morocco, recalled thatwhennewresidentsarrived,theywereimmediatelyputtowork,building stone structures for their own habitation. They weretaskedwithbuildingpermanenthousingtoreplacetheshacksthathousedthematfirst.

“After that, they came and said: Who wants to work?Theonlyworkisconstruction,somydadandeveryonewent to work in construction. They built… all the firstones built… I am telling you this now, and of course,thatabouteverymonth,everymonthandahalf,anewdelivery of immigrants arrived [...]. Something like 20families[...]Meanwhile,theveteransbuiltthehomeswelivedin...andthenHa’AravaStreetorBabaSaliStreetasitisknowntoday–allthestonehouses.”(AsherAbukasis,06/01/2014)9

The immigrants I interviewed described having no choiceof vocation. Their prior professional experience – usually ascraftsmenandmerchantswas renderedworthless inDimona,wherethelocaleconomywasconcentratedinafewindustriesanddependedonahandfulofprivateandstate-runcompanies.MiriamDahan relayedhowher father,who came fromSefrou,Morocco, tried to maintain his socioeconomic status byestablishinghimself in cities suchasBe’er ShevaandLod,buthefailedtomoveoutoftheworking-classtownofDimona.ShedescribedhowheeventuallysuccumbedtothesystemthatsettledhiminDimona,acceptingtheprofessionalrunghewasoffered.“So they told him, ‘Listen, I have got no job postings at theNuclearResearchCenter,exceptforjanitors.Youwanttoworkasajanitor?I’llsendyoutothenuclearcenter.’[Heresponded:]‘HowcanIdothat?Me,whohadapprentices,whohadmyowncarpentryshop?AMoroccanmanworkingasajanitor?’Sotheylethimbeinchargeoftheclinic.Attheclinic,sometimes,therewasanailtohammerdownorsomethingtofix,something.Thatwashis job for twenty years,untilhe retired.”(MiriamDahan,

7AsquotedinSharon,2011,p.120

8Ibid.

9MeitalAbukasisisthefilmmakerbehindthe2015documentaryFatherLand,whichfocusesonherfatherAsherAbukasis,whowasalsointerviewedforthepresentarticle.AsherworkedattheCenterforNuclearResearchnearDimonafor41years.ThefilmexploresthecodeofsilencesurroundingthehighratesofdiseaseamongthosewhohaveworkedattheCenter.


13/10/2013)Davar,thenamajordailypaperinIsrael,reportedinSeptember1955thatfollowinglengthypreparations,theZionistmovementhadfoundedanewZionistsettlementcalledDimona.Infusedwithpathos,thenewsstorydescribeshowtheJewishAgencyshuttledimmigrantsdirectlyfromtheshipthatbroughtthemtoIsrael.Thetreatmentofimmigrantsisdescribedindetail,asistheprojectedfuturedevelopmentofthetown.Aselectionfromthereportreads:

“The Jewish Agency’s screening team, working in theimmigrants’ countries of origin, hasmade every efforttoensurethatDimonawillbesettledbyyoungpeoplewhocanworkandwhopossessprofessionaltraininginconstruction. They were brought from a region whoseclimate is similar to that of Dimona. [...] The firstimmigrants to arrive will be given work constructingpermanenthousing,consistingofone-andtwo-bedroomunits,forthemselves.Atalaterdate,theywillworkatthenearbydevelopmentfactories.”10

ThemainstreamZionistnewspaperexplainedwhotheimmigrantswere andhow theywouldbedirected intoworking-class lives.ThegovernmentarguedthatthegeographyofDimonawouldbefamiliartothem,andthattheworkavailablewassuitedtotheirbackgrounds.ThisseemedtotheofficialstobethemostnaturalwayoffurtheringtheZionistplantosettletheland.In fact,however,mostof the immigrants inDimona, includingMiriamDahan’sfather,hadnoexperienceorskillsinconstruction.Somewereeducated,manywerecraftsmenormerchants.Mostcamefromacapitalist labormarket.Whatever the reality, suchnewspaper reports shaped the common image of Moroccanimmigrantsasconstructionworkers.Indeed,fellowIsraeliswouldcome to perceive their Moroccan-born compatriots as “naturallaborers”whowerenotequippedto jointheprofessionalclass.Withthehelpofsuchreports,aconnectionhasbeenestablishedbetween supposed underdevelopment in the immigrants’countriesoforigin,andtheirsubordinatepositioninIsrael,thusrationalizing a policy of proletarianization. Israeli academicslikewise argued that the poverty experienced by Mizrahiimmigrants was the result of their poor qualifications uponarriving in Israel. In contrast, Israelwaspresented as having acomparativelyhigherlevelofeconomicdevelopment.Nowonder

thattheseimmigrantsdidnotadjustwelltomodernlife,astheywere supposed tohavecome from“primitive societies.”That ishowauthoritiesrationalizedtheover-representationofMoroccanimmigrants in lower socioeconomic positions (Bernstein &Swirski, 1982). These preconceptions regarding immigrationfromMoroccopersisted,despitethefactthatgovernmentdataavailable at the time contradicted the official view. ShoshanaMaryoma-Marom has analyzed publications issued by Israel’sCentralBureauofStatistics,andusedthedatashefoundtorefutethenotionthatMoroccanimmigrantscametoIsraeluneducatedand ill-equipped. A survey of mass immigration in the 1950sshowsthat5.9%ofall immigrants lackedprofessional trainingofanykind,withtherateamongMizrahiimmigrantsbeingonly1%higherthanthatamongimmigrantsfromEuropeandNorthAmerica(2010).In those years, modernization theory dominated public andacademicdiscourse in Israel, leadingtothewidespreadbeliefthat for Mizrahis to achieve equality, they must shed theirsupposedly oriental traditions and adopt so-called Westerncultural and economic values (Khazzoom, 1999; Tsur, 2003).The theory prescribes immersive Western education for theyouth and employment in the market economy for the adultimmigrants. “Modernizing” the newcomers would ostensiblynarrowtheperceived“gaps”betweenimmigrantsofEuropeandescent and those of Eastern descent, and thus solve Israel’s“ethnicproblem.”ShlomoSwirskihasusedgovernmentdatatoarguethatIsrael’seconomybecame“modern”(i.e.,characterizedby an industrial economy with a sophisticated managementstructure)onlyafterthearrivaloftheMizrahis.Inotherwords,Israelbecame“modernized”byexploitingthelaborofitsMizrahipopulation.Thecountry’snascentagriculturalandconstructionsectors,whichbegantoexpandinthe1950s,dependedonalaborforcethatwaslargelyMizrahi(Swirski,1989).Advocatesofmodernizationtheoryingovernment,thepress,andacademialocatedtherootoftheproblemintheimmigrantsthemselves.Thetheory’sproponentswere,infact,fabricatingajustificationfor the state’s treatment of Mizrahi immigrants, and for thepolicy of relegating them to lower socioeconomic strata, ashappenedinDimona(Shohat,1988).MosheButbul,whowasone of the first immigrants to be settled in Dimona, recalledhavinglimitedemploymentoptions:

“Thenextday,hearrived.ThemanagerfromtheAgency…

10“IrHa’AtidDimona–Me’AtaYehafkhuHa-khayyimBamakomHashomem,”[Dimona,Cityofthefuture–lifewillbetransformedinthedesolateplace],Davar,September20,1955.


[Yigal]ElAl.Hetoldus,‘TherearejobsatSolelBoneh,inphosphatesandattheDeadSea.11Eachofyoupickwhereyouwant.’ I chose… It’snext tomyhouse.SolelBoneh.Let itbeSolelBoneh […] IworkedatSolelBonehasacarpenter,makingwoodenformworkmoldsandpouringconcrete. Formwork isallaboutcarpentry…youmakeaslab,asortofscaffoldingforpouringconcrete.Youbuildmolds,walls,allkindsofpillars.That’sformwork.Istudied[construction] plans and... became a foreman. I was asenior foremanby the time I left SolelBoneh.” (MosheButbul,14/8/2014)

Ashisrecollectionsshow,Butbulwaseventuallypromotedtobeaforeman,amoreseniorpositionthanmanyofhispeersheld.Butbul expressed pride in his contribution to the foundingofDimona.Heoutlinedanarrative thatpositionshimas themasterofhisown fatewithhis choiceshavingalonedefinedthecourseofhislife.However,hisnarrativeofpersonalautonomycomesintotensionwithanotherexperienceherecalled.

“For thefirst time, Iheard thename “Dimona.” That’showIrealized...IfIhadneverheardofit,howcoulditbethatit’s15minutesawayfromHaifa?Alreadybackthen,Iknewitwasatrick,buttherewasnothingIcoulddo.”

Here,heexpressedthehopelessnesshehadexperiencedwhilesettlinginDimona.It seems that it was only from a distanced perspective thatButbul could see some degree of autonomy in his choice ofworking in construction. Moreover, from his criticism of thedeceptionthatbroughthimtoDimona,itseemsthathekeepsthestateoutofhisnarrativeofpersonalsuccess.AbrahamItahwasemployedundersimilarcircumstanceswhenhearrivedinDimonain1962,afewyearsafterMosheButbul.

“In‘62,Istartedworking.ThemomentIarrived,Iwentout.Iwentoutintotheworldexactlyin‘62.Someonetoldme,‘Sir,doyouwanttowork?’Hewasaforeman.Itoldhim,‘Yes.’Itwassomeunknowncontractor,Idon’trememberhim.Hesaid: ‘Digformefromoverheretooverthere.I’llpayyou.’Ok,Idug.Hesaidtome,‘What?Youfinished?Doyouwantanotherone?’Hegaveme

102Liras[Israelipounds].102Liras,doyouknowwhatthatis?It’shalfamonth.”(AbrahamItah,31/10/2013)

In the 1950s, Israel’s construction industry was experiencingrapid growth, aided by the new immigrants who formed acheap and ready labor pool (Swirski, 1981).Statistics showthat 70 percent of workers employed in the industry wereclassified as “temporary.”They suffered from low wages, poorworkconditions,andlackofjobsecurity(Shafir,2002;Swirski,1981).Inallthetestimoniescollectedforthisstudy,residentsofDimonarecalledhowtheywereroutedtojobsthatwerealientothemandtotheirdreams.TwotenetsofZionism,amovementthatproclaimedtheneedtocreatea“rehabilitate”theJewinhishistorichomeland,werebehindtheideologicalrationaleforthispolicy.ThefirstistheestablishmentaJewishlaborforcesto the exclusion of Palestinians (kibbush ha’avodah), and thesecondisterritorialexpansionand“tamingtheland”(kibbush ha’karka).TheseideasweredeployedastheflagshipslogansoftheZionistLabormovementduringIsrael’spre-stateperiodandlateradoptedbytheMapaiparty,themovement’sincarnationastherulingpartyofIsraelduringthestate’sfirstfewdecades(Sternhell, 1998). And yet, the ideological prestige that wasattachedto“pioneeringwork,”orcarryingoutIsrael’snationalprojects, did not extend to Mizrahi immigrants. They did notshare in this ideological framework and they were assigneda secondaryposition in the social and economichierarchyofZionistcolonization(Shafir,2002).Geographicallyisolatingtheimmigrantsandroutingthemintolow-wage and unskilled employment were policy goals thatcreatedoptimalconditionsforsocialcontrolbythegovernment.DavidZana’sinterviewdemonstrateshowtheauthoritiesusedtheir power to try to draw the boundaries around people’sconsciousness:

“Thebathroomwasoutside.Itwassmall.Asmalltoilet,ashower.Youseesnakespassingby[...]Wehadnomoney.Theygaveusvouchers.We’dgotoasmallgeneralstore.We’dbuybread,food,sugar.ThenIstartedworkingatSolelBoneh.IworkedatSolelBonehforthirtyyears…Ibecamedisabled inmyhand…I felldown.WhatcanIsay?ThisisthestoryIamtellingyou.”(DavidZana,23/7/2013)

11SolelBonehwasthestate-ownedconstructioncompanythatemployedlargenumbersofmanuallaborers.TheotheroptionformanyresidentsofDimonawasworkingforthesaltminingoperationsattheDeadSea.


Inorder togeta fullerpictureofhis life, IaskedDavidZanato lay out the “important stages” in his life. This questionproved equivocal, because in Hebrew, the word for “stages”and“stations”isthesame.Hemisinterpretedmyquestion,andassumedIwasaskingabouthisencounterswithpolicestations.“No,nothingeverhappened,”he responded, “Iwasn’tone towanderabout.Straighthomefromwork…there’snowhereelseto go.” He became defensive. He was also defensive when Iaskedifhewasinvolvedinthetown’spoliticalissues.“No,no,honey,”hesaid.“Thattypeofthing–notme.Iputinmyeighthours,camehome,ate,andquietlywenttosleep.”David’s wife, Yakut Zana, who interpreted my question inthe samewayasherhusband, interjectedand reaffirmedherhusband’s response. “Not even once,” she said. “57 years wehave been in Dimona. We don’t have a bad name with thepolice.Godblessthem,mychildren.[Theyworkat]theDefenseMinistry,andeverywhere.”DavidZanamadesuretoemphasizethatthecouplesucceededin meeting the expectations of the authorities, and did notget into trouble. Their children even managed to enter stateagenciessuchastheDefenseMinistry,thusapparentlyprovingbeyondashadowofadoubtthattheywereloyalcitizens.Theline about going “straight home from work” represents aninternalizationofanormativelifestylethatwasconvenientforauthorities and employers. Having children who work in thenationalsecurityapparatusisarealizationoftheirgoaloffittingintoIsraelisociety.Ya’acov Haliwa had worked as a merchant in Morocco. InDimona, he tried to avoid becoming a manual laborer, buteventually,likemanyothers,hebeganworkinginconstruction.Thisishowhedescribedhisemploymenthistory:

“At first, they suggested I study at an ulpan [ZionistHebrew languageschool fornew immigrants]becauseIknewhowtoreadandwriteandspeakonlyinFrench.And I saw that at theulpan, therewasnoway that Icouldgetadecentenoughstipendtomakealiving...soItoldthemthatI’dlookforworkinmyprofession,theoneIhadabroad.Oh,howgoodandhowpleasant.12Atthetime,itwasdifficulttofindjobsinthatprofession,hard to get them. Only in places, like, say, Tel Aviv,Jerusalem,buteventhennotexactly,noteverythingtheprofessionentails,onlypartofit.SoIdecidedtogowork

forthecountry’spublicinfrastructureprojects.IdecidedtoworkfortheJewishNationalFund.”(Ya’acovHaliwa,13/10/2013)

InCasablanca,Morocco,Ya’acovHaliwahadworkedasaretailmerchant for a department store, andhadbegunbuilding anindependentcareerintrade.ButworkinginthatprofessionwasimpossibleinDimonaatthetimeofhisimmigration.Withlimitedemploymentoptionsofferedinthearea,manyimmigrantswereforcedtoabandonpriorskillsandexperience,andstartanew.In declaring that he “decided” to find a job in public worksfor the nascent Israeli state, Ya’acov appears in retrospect togrant himself agency, while also assigning patriotic, logicalsignificance to his actions. His own narration of the eventsleading to his decision, however, seems to indicate that hehadlittlechoiceinthematter.WorkingfortheJewishNationalFundmeantdoingdifficultphysicallaborandearningmeagerwages and sometimes only vouchers. Moreover, having a jobdidnotalwaysmeanhavingfull-timeemployment.Thenationalgovernment allotted each development town a finite numberofworkdaystodistributeamongitsresidents.Workdayswouldthenbegrantedtoeachheadofhouseholdbasedonfamilysize.Ya’acovHaliwaandothersrecalledtheirinabilitytosustaintheirfamiliesonthepaytheyreceived(Reich,2011;Swirski,1981).After working for the national infrastructure projects, Ya’acoveventuallysettledintotheconstructionjobhewouldholdforseveraldecades.TheworkhefoundatSolelBoneh,thestate-run construction firm, again involved difficult physical labor.Ya’acov’s story contradicts the widespread rhetoric of thatperiodthatIsraelwasamoderncountrywithamechanizedandindustrialeconomy.

“[Theforeman]toldme,‘Listen,ourworkishard.Pouringconcrete, digging holes for foundations, for erectingpillars,andthatway,thebuildingwillhavefoundationstostandon.’Backthen,therewasnothing,everythingwas done by hand. [...] He told me, ‘Listen, there are32holeshere,forabuilding.You’repaidperhole,andyou’rethesubcontractor.’”

WhenIaskedhimwhathemeant,Haliwaexplainedthatthepaywasbasedonthenumberofholeshedug.Hewaspositionedatthebottomofthechain,wherehiswagewouldbeafactorof

12ThephrasesheusedisinterestingsinceitistakenfromPsalm133:1,whichispartofSongsofAscents.Thefullsentenceinthescriptureis,“Behold,howgoodandhowpleasantitisforbrotherstodwelltogetherinunity!”ThisversehasbeenrenderedasafolkloresonginIsraeliculture.Sinceheinvokedtheversebeforetellingofhisfailuretoobtainhisfavoredprofession,hischoiceofwordsmaybearhetoricaldevicetosetupthestoryfortheeventualdisappointment.


hisimmediateoutput.Hisgreatestprofessionalpridewasthathewaspromotedtobeaforemanafterafewyears,arolethatwasusuallyreservedforpeoplewhowerebroughtinfromthecountry’surbancenter.

“So God bless… I studied. My manager recommendedme.Theyusedtobringaprojectcompletionmanager,amanagertofinishthebuilding…theyusedtobringthemfromTelAviv,notevenfromBe’erShevaorsomewhereelse. That’s because only senior managers that werebrought in especially would get expenses paid, travel,lodging...and whatever’s needed. He’d come from TelAviv,hangoutallweek.They’dgivehimaplacetosleep.He’dbuyfood,buythisandthat,andtheywouldpayforallhisexpenses.”

Ya’acov Haliwa viewed his professional promotion not onlyfrom a personal perspective, but also as an accomplishmentfortheresidentsofDimona,ashatteringofabarrierthatwasholdingthemback.Heexpressedthissentimentwhileexcitedlydescribing how he earned his promotion, and the eventsleadinguptothatmoment.Hetoldthesamestoryinashortintroductoryinterview,showingthatthiswasamemorythathadbeenprocessedpreviously,andsharedmanytimes.Ya’acovhadworkedforSolelBonehfor30years,atwhichtimehedecidedto take severance pay and retire. The reason he gave for hisrelativelyearlyretirementrevealsthatheheldontohisoriginalprofessionalambition:thedreamhehadbroughtfromMoroccobutburiedwhenconfrontedwithconditionsinDimona.

“I raised the kids, thegirls, until they all gotmarried.Aywa[‘Yes’ incolloquialArabic],at thatpoint,whenIretired,Itoldmywife,‘Iamgoingtoopenupastore.’[...]Abusiness. I rentedashop. Iwantedtobuyone,butcouldn’tfindany,soIrentedone.Iopenedagrocerystore.Iranitfor14years.”

Here, Ya’acov’s words suggested that he had reclaimed hisambitionandhadpursuedhisoriginalvocationasamerchant,avocationhehadchosenbackinMorocco.After30yearsasaconstructionworker,Ya’acovattemptedtorealizethedreamthathehadbeendenied.ItappearsthathewantedtousetheabilitiesandknowledgehegainedinMorocco,andapplythemin

anIsraelicontext.Thisdecisioncanbereadasawayofgrantinghimself agency over life events that were largely dictated byoutsideforces.Overthecourseofhislife,hewascompelledtodealwithhissecondaryandmarginalroleintheZionistproject.Hiswordsreflectanattempttoresolvethetensionbetweenhisexperienceofdownwardeconomicandsocialmobility,andtheimagehetendedtopresentasanauthenticIsraelipioneer.YossefHadad,whowasborninCasablanca,Morocco,wasamongthefirstgroupof immigrantssettled inDimona.An injuryhesustainedatworklefthimwithadisability,recognizedbythestateasa30%impairment.Heheldmanyjobs,includingasaconstructionworkerbuildingthetextileplantforKitanDimona,acompanyfoundedaspartofthelocalindustrializationpolicy.HadadalsoseemstohaveframedhislifestoryalongthelinesofofficialnarrativesthatflauntheroicZionistpioneers.Heopenedtheinterviewbysaying:

“IamYossefHadad,sonofZoharaandDavidofblessedmemory.IwasoneofthefoundersofDimona.Onthefirstday, Iarrivedwith the36families. Iwasayoungman,aboy.”(YossefHadad,28/7/2013)

He recalled his attendance at every event of significance intheofficial,collectivehistoryofthetown,markingatendencyto situate his story within the Zionist framework. Here he isrecallinghisparticipationasastudent,in1956,attheopeningceremonyforRetamim,thefirstschoolinDimona:

“Theyneededtobuildaschool.Sowhodidtheypick?They picked me. Me… and another girl [...] I greetedGolda Meir [who was labor minister and would laterbecomewouldbeprimeminister]withaflag.Andshegreetedmewithflowers.Theywantedtoplaceacornerstone… I already had my trowel. My signature is stilltheretoday.(YossefHadad,28/7/2013)

Yossef Hadad continued, recalling the recognition he hadreceivedfromtheZionistestablishment:

“Thereweren’teven rocks.Webuiltourhomesonourown. We did it ourselves [...] Later, a few years after


that,theyinvitedustoJerusalem.Twopresidents.One–Herzog.Andthesecond–Navon.Now,Iwastheretoo…IhavepictureswithBenGurion[Israel’s“foundingfather”andfirstprimeminister].I’llshowyouinamoment.”(YossefHadad,28/7/2013)

Evenwhen recallinghisprocessofproletarianization,Yossef’snarrative seems tofitwithin theheroicnarrativeof Zionism’sreclamation of manual labor. The following portion of theinterview, describing the construction of the textile plant,exemplifieshistendencytodescribeworkinpatrioticterms:

“At Kitan, 10 meters deep in the ground. 74 meterslengthwise and again 10 meters deep. I entered theduct from here, and I came out the other side, doingworkinsideasIwent.Why?What’sthestory?Thestoryisthatastheystartedworking…theystartedeverythingfromscratch.Thesewagedidnotevenstartoperatingyet.AndtheerosioncameandsmackedKitan.Therewasnothingtoblocktheflow.Allthisdirtandtheserockssweptintotheduct.Workwasstopped.Theybroughtafirehouseandfirefighters.Itoldthem,‘I’llgoin.’It’s40degrees[Celsius]andIamunderground.WhatcouldIdo? This is what I did. I took a length of jute canvasandtiedaropetoit.Igrabbedonesideandsomeoneelsegrabbedtheother,andweworked.IthinkIhaveaphotographofit.”(YossefHadad,28/7/2013)

Thestoryistoldinthenarrativemodelofawarstory,describingthebraverynotofbattle,butofwork.Thiscanbeseenasanattempttocompensatefornothavingservedinthemilitaryduetohisdisability,asconscriptioninIsraelismandatoryformostcitizens. And indeed, in another part of the interview, YossefexpressedregretfornothavingenlistedintheIsraeliarmy.Yossef’s wife, Suzanne Hadad, who was also present for theinterview,proddedhimtowardcertaintopicsthatshedeemedmoreappropriate.Sheoften“summarized”Yossef’srecollections.Herwordsattheendoftheinterviewmayoffersomeinsightastohowshewishedtoshapethenarrativeofherhusband’spersonalhistory.

“Theydidn’thaveroads.Thereweresandsand…chaos.Itwaschaos.Theysuffered…alot.Butstill,theyheldonand

hereweare[...]Andtheresult–look,whatacity.AndhelitatorchforIndependenceDay.HereinDimona.”(YossefHadad,28/7/2013)

Suzanne offered to conclude the conversation with broadercontext about Yossef’s story, which elevates the residents ofDimonafromtheir typical roleasvictims. Inher retelling, theimmigrantswhoarrived inDimonamadebig sacrifices (“theysuffered”), in order to further the Zionist vision of settlingDimona. She casts Yossef in the role of the pioneer, and likethe original Zionist pioneer, he was granted recognition bythestateatanofficialtorch-lightingceremony.Liketheotherintervieweesinthisoralhistoryproject,Suzanneconcludedherdescriptionofthehardshipstheyexperiencedonanoptimisticnote. She insisted thather testimony isnota criticismof thegovernment,butratheranaccountoftheperiodthathighlightsthemagnitudeoftheirvoluntarysacrifice.Shesaidshewantedto emphasize her pride in Dimona’s contribution, howevermarginal,tothestoryofpioneerheroisminIsrael.Whatemergesisaversionoftheevents,thatendswithadeclarationofpride,whileapparentlyabsolving the stateof its responsibility. Thissentiment is not uncommon among the founding generationofthetown.Other parts of the interview seemed to reveal hidden sidesto themainnarrativeexpressedearlierby thecouple.Here isSuzannecorrectingherhusband:

“Butitwasfull…Dimonawasalready…Notthewayhe’stellingit.Hesuffered…buttheyhadagoodexperience.Everythingwasopen, theyused to sit and tell stories,jokes… No television, no radio. Nothing. Completedarkness.Theyhadnothing.Andyettheyhadfun…theywouldlightupthekerosenestove.”(YossefHadad,28/7/2013)

Although Suzanne had previously emphasized how thegovernment recognizedherhusbandasa founderofDimona,here she expressed a different sentiment. She described thegovernment’sneglect,whilepraisingDimona’s founders.Theypersevered,sheexplained,eventhoughtheywereabandonedwithnoelectricity,andtheyfosteredasenseofcommunityandhumanity. Forced to survive without means, since “they hadnothing,”theystillfoundawaytoenjoylife.Theywere“open”


withoneanotherandmutuallyaccountable.Yossefmighthaveboastedabouttheofficialpraiseshereceived– he got to meet David Ben Gurion and Golda Meir, two ofIsrael’slegendaryleaders–buthealsorecalledanexperienceof collective perseverance. His community may have beencreatedthroughthedeceitoftheauthorities,butitdidsurvivethe hardship of the initial conditions they encountered. As acommunity,hisnarrativeseemstosuggest,Dimona’sfounderssurvived and reclaimed their dignity, despite the state’sdisregard for their dreams and ambitions. Here are Yossef’srecollections about Charlie Biton, who was with Yossef whentheyweresettledinDimonain1955:

“First of all, in the name of Biton, whose memory beblessed,Iwillopenwithhim…becausehehelpedusalot…Hewouldgiveeveryounceofhimself,nightandday.Whenwearrived inDimonaon two trucks, therewasn’tevenaroadconnectingDimonatoBe’erSheva.OnSeptember19,1955,weareinthebackofatruckonaverybumpyride…Therewerepregnantwomenyelling,andchildren.Andtheroadwasonlyatrail.Therewasnoroad.ThemomentwearrivedinDimona,wewerehitwithasandstorm.”

The government officials, who were responsible for theseimmigrants,broughtthemtoaplacewhere“therewasn’tevena road.” Crammed the whole way like cattle in the back of atruck, the immigrantsweren’tgreetedbyBenGurionnorMeir,butbyasandstorm.Thatwasthemomenttheydecidedtotaketheir fortunes into their own hands. After talking about hisfriendCharlie,Yossefmentionedotherpeoplewhowerecriticaltothesurvivalofthecommunityduringthat initialperiod.Hisaccountentailedinnumerableanecdotesofsolidaritywithinthecommunityofimmigrants.HegavetheauthoritiesnocreditforanyoftheaccomplishmentsinestablishingDimona.Atonepointin the interview, Suzanneunderscored themeaningofYossef’sstory.

[YossefHadad:]“Therewerenoshowers.Youshoweredoutside.Wegotwhatwegot–onlywater.Webathed.Thetoilet–therewas a toilet in the field, like in the military. Once amonth, a truck came to scoop it all up. Therewasno

sewage,nothing.Butwesatandwelaughedandsang.”[SuzanneHadad:]“...Family.”Suzanneemphasizedthepridetheyfeltforbeingunitedasa “family.”Atanotherpoint,Yossef returned to the“dignity”hefelt,owingtohisstrongconnectiontohisneighbors.[YossefHadad:]“Wecametothiscountrylikeeveryoneelseandwehadourmutualrespect.”[SuzanneHadad:]“Therewasonekey, forall theshacks.Everythingwasopen.”[YossefHadad:]“Anopenwallet.Nooneworriedaboutanything.”(YossefHadad,28/7/2013)

Yossef bookmarks his story with the official accolades hereceived for his life’s work. But a close reading of his storyseemstosuggestthatthestateismarginalorentirelyabsentfromhisrecollectionsofhislifeinDimona.Therecognitionhereceivedlateinlifeservesasproofthathesucceededdespitethegovernmentandnotbecauseofit.In many of the interviews, Dimona residents credited bondsof solidarity for the community’s survival.DavidZanaofferedanotherexample:

“Fromtheverybeginning,itwasdifficulttolive,butinthe end, it worked out, slowly everything worked out.Dimonadeveloped.Everythinginabundance.Therearestores,cinemas,atheater…allkindsofestablishments.Everythingworkedoutforthebest.”“Thethirtyofustogetherwerelikeonebigfamily.We’dsitoutside,talking,playingcards,foranhourortwo,andtheneachtotheirownshack.”(DavidZana,23/07/2013)

Inanotherinstance,headded:“Thingsweregoodandnotgood.Thereweren’tmanypeople.Wewereallonefamily.”

Whatever price they had paid by moving to Dimona andwhatever the personal and collective sacrifices, the people of


Dimonaseemedtobesatisfied,inretrospect,withthefruitoftheirlabor.

“Dimona was... it was very hard to live there. Only inBe’er Sheva, couldwebuy things.And then suddenly,the stores started popping up. Slowly, slowly, slowly,thefamiliesstartedcoming,wegottoknowthem,wemadefriends.Andwecarriedon.[Myhusband]startedworking.Iraisedthekids.Sixkids.”(EsterItah,31/10/2013)

Onthesurface,itseemsasthoughtheimmigrantsweresimplyproudofDimona’scontributiontotheZionistproject.Buttherewasaconstanttensioninthisnarrative.Thoughtheirpridewasconnectedtothedominantnationalstory,thatfeelingappearedto originate in the autonomy they had claimed. By focusingontheirperseveranceasacommunityandasindividualswhoenduredtheirimmigrationprocessinthefaceofofficialneglectandabuse,this“innernarrative”suggestedadistancefromtheZionistnarrative.

ConclusionThe participants in this oral history study, all of whom areworking-classMoroccanimmigrantslivinginDimona,expressedacomplicated,conflict-riddenrelationshipwiththeZionistprojectandtheirrolewithinit.Theyappearedtohavemetthestate’svocationalexpectationsforthem.Althoughtheycriticizedthegoverningestablishmentanditspolicies,theyalwaysappearedtorefrainfromoutrightcondemnation.Intheinterviews,theytended to express patriotism and a strong identification withthestateandgenerallyexpressedcontentmentwithwheretheyhadendedupinlife.While expressing acceptance of their assigned roles, theyinvariablyemphasizedthefactofhavingmadetheirownchoicesinlifeandachievingautonomy.Theyalmostinvariablyattributedtheir successes topersonal, familial,andcommunal sacrifices,nevertoassistancebystateauthorities.EvenwhenrelatingtheireffortstoassimilateintothemythologyoftheZionistproject,theyconsistentlymaintainedthattheseeffortswerenotaidedby or aligned with government policy. This hidden narrativeof self-sufficiency, not connected with the Zionist narrative,suggeststhattheydidnotseethemselvesfullyintheroleoftheZionistsettlers,butasimmigrantswhoovercamechallengesin

theirlives.Nordidtheimmigrantsidentifyashelplessworking-classvictims,becausetheydidmanage,intheirview,toachieveameaningfuldegreeofautonomywithinthisprocess.Inotherwords, theirnarratives impliedan identityoutsideoftheprevailingnationalorclassarchetypes. In theirnarratives,theresidentsofDimonainvokedanautonomythatdefiedtheirexperience of oppression. From this unique position, they layastakeinthenationalnarrative,expressingtheircontributiontotheestablishmentofDimonabut intermstheythemselvescreated,andnotabidingbythenationalandclassboundariesthestatehasshapedforthem.

ReferencesD.BERNSTEIN,andS.SWIRSKI,1982,‘TheRapidEconomic

DevelopmentofIsraelandtheEmergenceoftheEthnicDivisionofLabour’,inThe British Journal of Sociology,vol.33,n.1,pp.64-85

A.COHEN,2007,The Formation of the Development Towns Sederot, Ofaqim and Netivot 1951–1965(DissertationsubmittedtoBenGurionUniversityoftheNegev)

D.HACOHEN,2003,Immigrants in Turmoil: Mass Immigration to Israel and Its Repercussions in the 1950s and After,SyracuseUniversityPress,NewYork

A.KHAZZOOM,1999,‘WesternCulture,Stigma,andSocialClosure;TheOriginsofEthnicInequalityAmongJewsinIsrael’,inIsraeli Sociology,vol.1,n.2,pp.385-428

G.LEIBNER,2015,‘HaTikvaEncampment,2011:TheAmbiguousAgencyoftheMarginalized,’inCurrent Anthropology,vol.56,n.S11,pp.159-168

S.MARYOMA-MAROM,2010,‘Medini’utha-revahabe-yisra’elve-hit’havutshe’havotha-metsukahha-mizrahi’ot’[WelfarepolicyinIsraelandtheFormationofMizrahiDependency],inTe’oryahu-vikoret,vol.36,pp.113-136

B.MORRIS,1989,The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949,CambridgeUniversityPress,Cambridge

B.MORRIS(ed),2007,Making Israel,UniversityofMichiganPress,AnnArbor

R.PERKSandA.THOMSON(eds),2006,The Oral History Reader,Routledge,NewYork

A.PICARD,2013a,Olim bi-mesurah: mediniyut Yisra’el qelape ‘aliyatam shel Yehude Tsefon Afriqah, 1951–1956,BenGurionUniversityoftheNegev,BeerSheva

.

78

A.PICARD,2013b,‘TheReluctantSoldiersofIsrael’sSettlementProject:TheShiptoVillagePlaninthemid-1950s’,inMiddle Eastern Studies,vol.49,n.1,pp.29-46

A.PORTELLI,2006,‘WhatMakesOralHistoryDifferent’,inR.PERKSandA.THOMSON(eds.),pp.63-74

D.REICH,2011,Dimona: the First Decade and Its Role in the City’s Development,(DissertationsubmittedtoUniversityofHaifa)

G.SHAFIRandY.PELED2002,Being Israeli: The Dynamics of Multiple Citizenship,CambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork

S.SMADAR,2012,Not Settlers but Settled - Immigration, Planning and Settlement Patterns in the Lakhish Region

in the 1950s(DissertationsubmittedtoTelAvivUniversity)E.SHOHAT,1988,‘SephardiminIsrael:Zionismfromthe

StandpointofItsJewishVictims’,inSocial Text,n.19/20,pp.1-35

Z.STERNHELL,1998,The Founding Myths of Israel: Nationalism, Socialism, and the Making of the Jewish State,PrincetonUniversityPress,Princeton

S.SWIRSKI,1989,Israel, the Oriental Majority,ZedBooks,London

S.SWIRSKI,1981,‘Loneheshalimelamenuhshalim:Mizrahimve-Ashkenazimbe-Yisrael:nituahsotsyologive-sihot’impe’ilimu-fe’ilot’,inMahbarotle-mehkarule-vikoret

T.YARON,2007,‘IsraeliHistoriographyandtheEthnicProblem’,inB.MORRIS(ed),pp.231-277

List of interviewsThelistindicatesforeachpersoninterviewedname,cityhe/sheimmigratedfromanddateofinterview.AsherAbukasis,Casablanca,06/01/2014DavidZana,Casablanca,23/07/2013EsterandAbrahamItah,M’hamid,31/10/2013MiriamDahan,Sefrou,13/10/2013MosheButbul,Zagora,14/08/2014Ya’acovHaliwa,Midelt,13/10/2013YossefHadad,Casablanca,28/07/2013

Nowadays,whenitseemsthatthemediaandnewtechnologieshavetakenoverpublicopinion,itisimportanttoanalyseandreflectontheroleplayedbysocialagentsandhowtheyhavebuilttheirpositionwithinthepublicspace.Thisstudyisbasedontheanalysisof1,151newsarticlesthatappearedbetween1997and2017intheninemostprominentnewspapersinPortugal,sourcedfromthepressarchivesoftheUnionofConstructionWorkersofPortugal.ObservinghowconstructionworkersarerepresentedindifferentPortuguesenewspaperscanhelpusunderstandtheperspectivesadoptedbythemediaintheircoverageofworkingconditionsand labour laws affecting the sector. Although the presentsample isnothomogeneous, it is significantenough toallowfor a qualitative analysis. The objective of this research is tounderstandthepositioningofthemediaonsocialconflictsandpowerstrugglesinvolvingtheconstructionsector.Politicaleconomy,interpretedasthefieldofstudyanalysingthesocialdimensionofproductiveprocesses, isthestartingpointfor understanding the symbolic and social power behind thewaynewspaperstreatconstructionworkersinPortugal.AspositedbyBourdieu,publicopinion isa social andmediastructureconsistingofvariousspheresofknowledgedisputinga society’s notion of common sense. Therefore, the media’sportrayalofsocialconflictsinthelabourworldisrelevantwhenreflectingonthecontradictionsinwhichthelatterisinserted.Media coverage is problematic in and of itself, since theproduction, selection and filtering of information ultimatelyproduces and disseminates a deceitful structure of truth thatconditionsthepoliticaldebate.The complexity in distinguishing journalistic practice fromthepoliticalcontextinwhichitiscarriedoutmeansthenewscannotbeanalysedinisolation;itshouldinsteadbeanalysedasaphenomenonwhereinvariousjournalisticandsocialinterestsintersectinabattleoverthesymbolicpublicopinionspace.Theperformativeaspectoflanguagefoldsmassmediaintothedisputeovercommonsense,resultingnotinsimplediscourse,

TH E PUB L I C IMA GE OF CONS TRUC T ION WORKERS ; MEDI A R EP RE S ENTAT IONS IN P ORTUGUESE NEW S PAPERS ( 1997-2017 )

Francisca Mena Gómez

.

. .

.

..

. . ..

.

.

. .´

ˆ

´ .

Francisca Mena GómezisaChileanjournalistanddiplomainInternationalRelationsfromtheUniversityofChileandMasterinSociologyintheUniversityofPorto,Portugal.Duringherworkthroughouttheyears,shehasdevelopedinterestinareasassocialcommunication,medias,migrationandinternationalrelations.


butinpoliticalpositionsthatconditiontheverydevelopmentofthesocialconflictinwhichitisimmersed.In the face of this scenario, two similar approaches presentthemselves: one by Pierre Bourdieu and another by PatrickChampagne.Both authors reveal similar perspectives of the limitationsregardingtheextenttowhichpublicopinion,andthepressingeneral,canbetruetoolsofsocial transformationdueto theverynatureofthefieldofjournalism.Thisspaceisutilisedbypower groups to legitimise their decisions, discourses and/orpolicies,allofwhich,ofcourse,havebeenpre-fabricatedandresideinmuchmorelimitedspheresofpower.However,theseperspectivesdivergeatonecentralpoint:whileBourdieu’sapproachassumesthatthemediaparticipateinthesame system of interests as society in general, Champagne’sapproachargues that the roleof themedia is to extendandreproduce opinions that have already been established bypublicopinion,actingasamere“ventricle”fortheseideas.In this symbolic struggle, the media seek to legitimise theirposition by reorganising public debate in accordance withtheir own editorial lines, political interests and pressures andcommunication strategies to influence the symbolic andmaterialstrugglewithinthesocialspace.

“[…]Inbrief,insayingthatpublicopiniondoesnotexist,Imeanitdoesnotexistintheformwhichsomepeople,whoseexistencedependsontheillusion,wouldhaveusbelieve.Atpresent,thereis,ontheonehand,mobilisedaroundasystemofinterests,andontheother,certaininclinations, opinions in an implicit state which, bydefinitionarenotreallyopinions,ifbyopinionwemeanaformulateddiscoursewithapretentiontocoherence.”(Bourdieu,2000)

It is not coincidental, then, that discourses acquire politicaland ethical dimensions, becoming capable of reconfiguringand representing interdependent relations and structuraldominationwithinsocietybyplayingeitherfororagainstthem,accordingtotheirowninterests.Thatbeingsaid,itisnecessarytounderstandthatthediscursiveconstructs produced by the field of journalism also faceepistemiccontradictionstypicaloftheprofession:thepracticeitself,thetechniquesusedinthecollectionofdata,thecreation

andeditingofthenews,editoriallinesandconflictsofinterestare just some of a multitude of factors that condition newsproduction and leave journalists at an epistemic crossroads,unabletodisengagefromtheirownconditionsofproduction.

“Onemightconcludethatthenewsman’sorganisationalexperience prejudices him against possibilities whichcounter his pre-existing expectations. From the pointofviewofthenewsmen,though,theirexperienceswithotherorganisationsoveraperiodoftimevalidatetheirnewsjudgmentsandmaybereducedtocommonsense.By ‘common sense’ the newsmen mean what mostnewsmenholdtobetrueortakeforgranted.”(Tuchman,1999)

The cycle that traps theproduction of informationultimatelylegitimisesinstrumentsandstructuresoftruthattheserviceoftheintereststhatoperateit,atthesametimeasitdisengagesthecentralpointsuponwhichsocialconflictsareestablished,byeithermakingtheminvisibleordiscreditingtheminpublicopinion.

“Certainly, as a proposition, the division betweentrue and false is neither arbitrary, nor modifiable, norinstitutional,norviolent.Puttingthequestionindifferentterms, however - asking what has been, what still is,throughout our discourse, this will to truth which hassurvived throughout so many centuries of our history;or ifweaskwhat is, in itsverygeneral form, thekindofdivisiongoverningourwill toknowledge - thenwemaywelldiscernsomething likea systemofexclusion(historical, modifiable, institutionally constraining) intheprocessofdevelopment.”(Foucault,1992)

As the Argentine semiologist Eliseo Verón explains it, the“reading contracts” established between the media and theaudience are an implicit agreement in which the viewpointpresentedisalreadyknown,therebypositioningtheinformationwithintheaudience’sexistingconstructofreality.

Workers in Portugal: Beyond representationsFaced with these structural limitations in media depictions


of social conflicts, it is necessary todeepenanddescribe theidentityoftheseworkersandtheirissuesinordertoconfigureapointofreferencewithinthemediaanalysis.Historical tensions and complexities can still be seen inthe construction sector, which preserves class relations anddependencybetweenthesocialgroupsthatcompriseit(ownersofcapital,workers,andgovernmentasaregulatoryentity)inasmuchtheireconomicpositionastheirsocialandculturalcapital.Althoughtheconceptofclasscouldtheoreticallybediscardedinananalysisoftheidentityandrepresentationofworkersinthemedia,itisdifficulttoignoretheeconomiccharacterofthesocialandculturalperspectivesofthisgroup,especiallytakingtheenormousexistingsocialclassinequalitiesintoaccount.Consideringthis,itbecomesimperativetocarryoutanintegralanalysisof these representations,viewingworkersnotonlyasaproductiveforcewithinasocially-vulnerablegroup,butalsoasanotherelementwithinthesymbolicandphysicaldisputeinwhichthissocialgroupisimmersed.

“(…) The analysis of social inequalities has spread toseveral areas and domains (gender, ethnicity, sexualorientation, etc.), no longer restricted only to thoseresulting from the position occupied in the relationsof production. This enlargement is not in itself anegativefactor.Amultidimensionalconceptionofsocialinequalities does not imply diminishing the relevanceof social class as a concept, it ratherhas themerit ofadding dimensions and concepts indispensable for asociological understanding of the (re)production ofinequality, inoppositiontothe linesofargumentationdefendingtheideathatsocietyisopeninitsessenceandthatopportunitiesareavailablebasedonmechanismsofmeritocraticrecognition.Finally, even when the concept of social class is used,analysesoftentakeanexaggeratedculturistperspectivethat denies its economic dimension. In contemporarycapitalism,thedistinctionsbetweencultureandeconomicshavebeendilutedandculturalaspectshavebecomemorerelevantthaneconomiconesinunderstandingsociety.“(Carmo,2013)

The conflict becomes even more acute when we understandthattheportrayalofworkers isunderpinnedbyacommonality

acrosstheobservedrelationsofpowerintheconstructionsectorandinsocietyatlarge.Indeed,Portugueseconstructionworkersbelongtothelowestandmostvulnerablesocialclass,withlowerincomes,fewerlabourrightsandlessculturalcapital.Accordingtothesocio-professionalindicatorsderivedfromtheclassanalysesofAlmeida,DaCosta andMachado (1994), Portuguese socialstratificationtakestheshapeoffivemaingroups:entrepreneurs,leaders and professionals (EDL); professional and technicalworkers(ETP);self-employedworkers(IT);whitecollaremployees(EE)andlabourers(O)(Carmo,2013).Thesocialclassesaredividedsuchthatthosewiththefewestyearsof formal educationbelong to the social classwith thefewestresources:

“Despite having a structure similar to other southernEuropean countries, Portugal is characterisedby lowerlevels of education, especially among the subalternclasses (workers and employees). [...] Thus, the gapbetween those with higher qualifications and workerswith lower levels of schooling is higher than in othercountries, creating a pattern of reproduction that hasbeen carried over from previous political regimes.“(Carmo,2013)

Notwithstandingthesocialandeducationalreformsdrivenbythereturntodemocracy,whichincludedimprovedfundingandaccess tohigher education, certain social dynamics persist inmaintaining inequality as one of the main characteristics ofPortuguese society (in 2015, the Gini coefficient in Portugalreached34%).

“Even though some traits of modernity can be foundin Portugal, there is still a duality that leads to adisarticulation between different social groups dueto thedifferent underlying statutes and thedistancesbetweenthem[...]”(Carmo,2013).

However, the conditions of inequality in which the workingclassfinds itselfhavemorethananeconomicdimension.ThestratificationofPortuguesesocietyhassucceededindevaluingthe labourer’s social and symbolic status. The connectionto a particular social group emerges as the result of specific


messagessentbyvarioussymbolicstructuresthatdevalueandalsoblametheindividualforhisownsocioeconomicconditions.Establishedasapartofneoliberaldiscourse,meritocracyandperformance ethics appear to disrupt the social conflict andvulnerableconditions towhichworkersare subject,obscuringand depoliticising the social context of production from theinequalitiesinwhichtheyareimmersed.Inthiscontext,itwouldseemnormaltofindreactivephenomenawithintheworkingclass;whileolderworkersmaintainacertain“class pride”, some younger workers have an incipient needtodenyanderasethebrandofclasstowhichtheybelongbyconcealing their identity through fashion and ostentatiousconsumerism,dilutingtheirplacewithintheworkingclass.Consumerism as a means of concealing social origin and/or work status can be seen more clearly in Bruno Monteiro’s“Armar estrondo”, where this phenomenon emerges as aproductoftheprogressivesymbolicdevaluationexperiencedbythePortugueselabourer.

“Inthesecircumstances,theemergenceofunprecedentedmodalities of ‘life styling’ among young workersconfirmstheintensityofthedeteriorationofthelocally-rooted worker’s greatness. Therefore, it translates intofeelings of (self) aversion to factory occupations andworkingmannersassociatedwiththeirownsocialclass.[...]However,theseattemptsatstylinglifearenotonlyconsideredculturally inferiorand illegitimate,butalsoseenassavageanddangerous,andthereforecriminalised(Monteiro,2013).

Despite the different phenomena influencing the identitycomponentofthePortugueseworkingclass,itisstillpossibletoaffirmthepresenceofastrongsocialstructure,basedmainlyinworkers’organisations,thatsustainsworkers’strugglefortheirrightsandcontinuestofightattemptstodevaluetheirworkandmakeitmoreprecarious.Thisongoingpoliticisationofthesocialconflict means there is still a space where the work is beingdefended as a social unit, with full awareness of the currentinequalitiesinlabournegotiations.In this context, the historic social narrative linked toworking groups becomes even more relevant, since it furtherdemonstratesthepoliticalstancethemediatakeasparticipantsinthestrugglefortherepresentationofsocialconflicts.

Analysis of media discourse in selected publicationsAs previously mentioned, it is important to note theepistemologicalandmethodologicallimitationsofthesamplesused.Bothourresearchandthefiltersweusedwereconditionedby the selectionofpublications collectedby the labour tradeunion of Porto, which clearly has consequences for both thetemporality of the samples and the continuity of the mediacoverage. These limitations prevent us from taking a morequantitativeanalyticalapproach,butstillallowforaqualitativeanalysis of the approaches and themes found in Portuguesenewspapers.The first transversal thematic axis in the coverage of thePortuguese labourer is thenarrativeand successivedescriptionofcomplaintsandinformationregardingtheprecariousworkingconditions affecting construction workers. The informationgenerallyconcernslabourabuses,theabsenceofon-the-jobsafetyandworkplaceaccidents,aswellasirregularitiesinemploymentcontracts that particularly and negatively impact immigrantworkers.

Labour precariousness: the body as a starting pointThetrajectoryofthenarrativeonworkingconditionscutsacrossthecoverageofalmostallnewspapers.Thelabourer’sidentityisbuiltthroughpublicationsrelatedtojobinsecurity,acquiringapublicconnotationasbeingareceivingagentofthestructuralviolenceinwhichtheyareinserted.Thus, the collective imagination regarding the labourer isbased on a succession of complaints that demonstrate thesocialvulnerabilitytowhichtheyareexposed.Inthissense,thebiologicalandsymbolicrelationshipestablishedundercapitalistproductionaccordingtoMarxisconfirmed:theworker’ssaleofhislabourisanactthatatonceincorporatesboththeprovisionofa“workforce”andthesaleofavailabletimeinexchangeforasalary,effectivelyacceptingthepremiseoftimeasacommodityand making the exploitation of workers the cornerstone thatsustainstheprocessofproduction.Marx thus defines the worker’s body as raw material forexploitation, domination and subjugation by the bourgeoisieandcorporateinterests.“Theworkerbecomespoorerthemorewealthheproduces,themorehisproductionincreasesinpowerandextent. Theworkerbecomesanevencheaper commoditythe more commodities he produces. The devaluation of thehumanworldgrowsindirectproportiontotheincreaseinvalue


oftheworldofthings.Labournotonlyproducescommodities;italsoproducesitselfandtheworkersasacommodityanditdoessointhesameproportioninwhichitproducescommoditiesingeneral.”(Marx,1976)However,Marx’sexplanationofthesaleoflabourisinsufficientifweconsiderthat,inthiscase,andunderapoliticalstructurethatisgreaterthanmerelyitseconomicorlabourdimensions,thesaleoflabouralsomeansmakingtheworker’sbodyavailableasatoolofwork.Marx’sconceptionofthebodyislimitedtoitsroleintheprocessofproductionandhowitismouldedtofitwithinthisprocessoverthecourseofitslifethrougheducationandthe“technicaldivisionoflabour”,creating–fromthebody–categorisationsperpetuatedinsocialstructures.Inthecaseofthebody,theworkerisnotonlyconditionedbyhisownvulnerabilities,butalso,duetothisfragility,bythebio-politicalstructurethatcompelshimtoriskhisphysicalintegrity,whichhasalreadybeenmouldedandcategorisedunderotherpowerstructures.On the other hand, Foucault refutes the Marxist stanceby arguing that workers not only remain on the fringes of aproductivestructure,butarealsosubjectedtoapoliticalorderwhereintheyacceptthattheirbiologicalcategorisationpreventsthemfromexertingenoughpowertoexercisetheirbasicrights.

“Thehumanbodyis,asweknow,aforceofproduction,but the body does not exist as such, as a biologicalarticleorasamaterial.Thehumanbodyexistswithinandthroughapoliticalsystem.Politicalpowerprovidesacertainspacefortheindividual:aspacetobehave,toadoptaparticularposition,tositinacertainwayortoworkcontinuously.Marxthought–ashewrote–thatwork constitutes the concrete essence of man. I thinkthatisatypicallyHegelianidea.Workisnottheconcreteessenceofman. Ifmanworks, if thehumanbody isaproductive force, it is because he is forced to work.Andheisobligedtoworkbecauseheissurroundedbypolitical forces, trappedby themechanisms of power”(BarreraSánchez,2011)

For example, entrusting private parties (the employer) ora public entity (the government or another fiscal body) tomaintainsafetyconditions,toprotect(ornot)workers’physicalintegritywhileperformingtheirduties,revealsacompletelack

ofworkerautonomyovertheirownbodies.Asaresult,itisworthnotingthatsocialviolencerelatedtolabourprecariousnesshasmaterialconsequencesforworkers,notonlyintheirlifechoicesandconditions(whicharealreadydiminishedandlimited),butalsobecausetheirbodiesbecomeanothervehicleforexertingthecoerciontowhichtheyarealreadysubject.Inthecaseofoccupationalaccidents,thesimultaneoususeofthebodyandtheriskofinjuringitpresentaparadoxicalsituation:althoughthebody isexposedto“transitory”exploitation, theconsequencesof thebody’sappropriationwithin thispoliticalestablishmentpersistevenwhenthebodyisremovedfromit.Thus,werethebodytosuffertheconsequencesofaworkplaceaccident, social insecurityanddiscrimination, itwouldbe thephysical body that would receive the blame and punishmentthatsocietyhaspre-established,forcingittomovewithinthesestructureswithoutanydecision-makingcapacity.Takingthis intoconsideration,wefindthatthemediadepictsthisgroupbytyingtheworker’sidentitytothelabourdimensionandthe tradeunion’s interests.Therefore, the representationsarelimitedtothecharacteristicsoftheareaitself, insinuatingthat common violations suffered by the exploited bodies aretheironlyidentity-definingelement,whichcreatesaninvisibleandvulnerableworkingclass,renderedhelplessand,aboveall,subjectedtoapredeterminedfuture.Therepresentationofworkersasonlyexistingwithinthelabouror physical dimension, where their body as a tool of labourdefinesthemassuch,andprecariousworkingconditionsaretheelementsat thebeginningandtheendof thesocialviolencethatmanifestsitselfintheworkplace.Therefore,thecategorisationsmadebythemediarefermainlyto workers’ physical characteristics: old/young, able/injured,legal/illegal, migrant/national. There is no need to create asocial fabric beyond that of the trade union’s identity, nor asymbolic value outside of the worker’s body, as if the abusesufferedbytheexploitedbodyistheonlycommonelement.Thereisnodeeperanalysisrelatedtothevariousoverlappingidentities within the working class. For example, descriptionsof the worker’s body correspond to a patriarchal structure,or the creation of identities related to masculinity, whilesimultaneouslynegatingorlimitingotheridentitieswithinthediversityofthelabourmovement,whichmaynotservethepre-establishedpublicopinion.


Political position of the mediaInthefaceofsocialconflictarisingintheconstructionsector,themediaexpresstheirviewpointineitheranimplicitorexplicitway,byrespectivelyomittingorhighlightingspecificaspectsintheirproductionofinformation.Allmediaoutletsweanalysed,exceptfortheweeklynewspapers“Sol”and“Expresso”,assumeapositionthatisopenlypro-workerand pro-labour rights, although they differ in their approachandscopeofcoverage.Whilethecoverageoftheseoutlets isprimarily focusedon exposingand reporting, thenewspapers“Sol”and“Expresso”deliberatelyemphasiseissuesandinterestslinked to company owners and potential investors whilecompletelyignoringanysocialconflictsrelatedtotheworkers.Inthiscontext,itisunderstoodthatthetargetaudienceofthesenewspaperscomesfromaprivilegedsocialandeconomicclass,quiteremovedfromthegeneralpublic, thereforerepresentingthemostentrepreneurialandbusiness-relatedvisionofpublicopinion. At the same time, these publications deliberatelydisregardconflictsofinterestandethicalconsiderations.An example presenting a conflict of interest in “Expresso” isthe placement of an advertisement for XLReal Estate [namechanged]nexttoanewsarticleabouttheincreaseinresidentialhousingconstruction.Ontheotherhand, thenewspaper failstoreportonsocialissuesrelatedtoillegalimmigrationandthepossibilityofsocialunrestduetohighlevelsofunemployment–theseissuesaredismissed,astheyrepresentadangertothestatusquo.The remaining media outlets adopt a critical viewpointregardingworkingconditions,pointingtoshort-andmedium-termsolutionsandaccountabilities,butwithnoconsiderationforstructuralterms.Público is one of the few newspapers that publish opinionpieces with deeper and systemic analyses of the social,economic and labour conditions faced by the working class.There are also spaces to reflect on the evolution and needsof the labour movement through trade unions, opening thepublic debate on social organisations, their perspectives andjunctures,whichdemocratisesandpoliticises the social spaceforworkers.Alongthesamelines,coveragerelatedtotheleaderAlvaroCunhademonstratesaclearattempttoimbuehisworkwithasocialdimension.Beyondhiscontributions,coverageisstructuredaroundthepopularacknowledgementofhispersonainanarrativelinkedtothecreationofPortuguesesocialhistory.

The role of trade unionsWithin this context, and considering the coverage analysed,it is relevant to highlight the role of trade unions, at leastat a symbolic level. These are organisations that stand up tothe injustices that workers suffer, alongside media reportsdenouncingtheirprecariousworkingconditions.Throughtheirlabour leaders,andwith theparticipationandcooperationofsomemediaoutlets,labourunionsareabletoprovidesupportandlegalaidtoworkers.In contrast, trade unions and workers’ organisations areportrayedasstrongandhighlypoliticisedinstitutions,focusedontheprotectionoftherightsoftheworkingclass.Persistent media coverage, particularly linked to tradeunion issues, seeks to strengthen an identity that has beendiminished by the obvious abuses workers have sufferedin trying to reshape the social space to afford workers moreprotection.Consequently, unions areportrayedas institutionscapableofcontainingandchannellingtheworkingcommunitythrough strikes, protests, denunciations and workers’ politicalparticipation. The familiarity and frequency with which thetrade unions find themselves in some publications serves todemonstratetheirstrongpresenceinthemedia.The relationship between journalists and some high-profilelabour leaders, particularly in newspapers from the Northernregionofthecountry,revealsarepetitionofnewssourcesandfrequently-publishedinformation.In this type of news coverage, we can observe thecommunicational conscience of the trade unions and theirleaders as they influence and use the media to positionthemselvesinthepublicspace,whileatthesametimetryingtosocialisetheneedsofthegrouptheyrepresent.Theaimistomakethevoiceofunions,collectiveorganisationsandworkersheard,andtopresentthemasactiveagentswithinpublicopiniontodisruptthenarrativeputforthbyentrepreneursand contractors. On the other hand, and within the conflictsoutlined,companies,thelackofstatecontrolandthestateitselfas a regulatory entity are all pointed to as the main culpritsbehindtheproblemsfacedbylabour.

Conclusion The challenge in reading and interpreting the informationproducedregardingworkersisthatonemustnotonlyconsiderthesocialormaterialconditions inwhichtheyarefound,but


mustalsounderstandhowpublicopinionisstructuredandhowthemediaplayaroleinthepoliticalgame,whereinforcesandinterestsareleveragedbydifferentpowergroupswithinsociety.It is according to this logic that the journalistic portrayal ofPortuguese workers in the press becomes another way ofperceiving their realities as depicted through the media. Ofcourse, this portrait has material consequences within thesymbolic struggles faced by each group. According to thislineofanalysis,itispossibletoidentifythreemainthemesofjournalisticbehaviour:– Analysis of the biopolitics of the working classes in labourconflicts,whichrevealsthepoliticalorderunderlyingthesocialandeconomicorderthatsubjugatesthem.The political position developed by the media through theircoverage of these conflicts is achieved by either omitting orhighlighting social constructs related to the interests andviewpointsthataparticularnewspaperrepresents.–Althoughthecoverageofmanyofthepublicationsanalyseddemonstrates a social and class position in defence of theworker,itcannotbesaidthattheseportrayalsstimulateamorebalanced and less vulnerable identity. On the contrary, manynewsarticlesreinforcecommonperceptionsoftheworkingclassanditssocialandeconomicdisadvantages.Bythesametoken,andwithinthesamecoverage,itisnotpossibletofindaworkernarrative beyond the social problematic or one originatingoutsideitssymbolicfailure.– The communication strategy of trade unions within themediaworksasanexampleofclassorganisation;usingpublicopinionnotasaspaceforsymbolicdomination,butasawayofsocialisingtheprecariousworkandsocialconditions inwhichconstructionworkersareimmersed.

ReferencesO.BARRERA,2011,ElcuerpoenMarx,Bourdieu yFoucault. Revista de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad

Iberoamericana,vol.VI,n.11,pp.121-137P.BOURDIEU,2000,La opinión pública no existe. Questiones

de Sociología,España:Istmo,pp.220-232P.CHAMPAGNE,1990,Faire l’opinion.París:LesEditions

deMinuitR.DOCARMO,2013,‘Portugal, uma Sociedade de Classes

– Polarização Social e Vulnerabilidade:Armar estrondo’,

MonteiroB.,(LeMondeDiplomatiqueEdicões70),pp.56-116

E.ESTANQUE,J.M.MENDES,1998,Classes e desigualdades sociais em Portugal: um estudo comparativo(Vol.11).EdiçõesAfrontamento

M.FOUCAULT,1992,El orden del Discurso.BuenosAires:TusquetsEditores

K.MARX,2006,Manuscritos económico-filosóficos de 1884.BuenosAires,Argentina:EditorialColihue

C.REEVE,2011,‘1974-1975:Larevolucióndelosclaveles. LaExperienciaolvidada’G.TUCHMAN,1999,La objetividad como ritual estratégico:

un análisis de las nociones de objetividad de los periodistas.CIC.CuadernosDeInformaciónYComunicación.goo.gl/83CTdA

T.A.VANDIJK,1999,Elanálisiscríticodeldiscurso.Revista anthropos: Huellas del conocimiento,186,pp.23-36

E.VERÓN,1985,Elanálisisdelcontratodelectura. Les mèdias: experiences recherches

Theuseofprivateemploymentagencies(PEAs) for recruiting,hiringandplacingdomesticworkersinprivatehouseholdsisawidelyresearchedthemeinternationally.Thisarticlefocusesonpermanentplacementsmadeby licensedPEAs.Althoughnota new practice in South Africa, the use of PEAs in the post-apartheideraremainsfairlyunder-researched.Scholarswritingon domestic work have noted this gap, but highlight theirconcern regarding the infamous labour practices of informalagencies operating in the sector that challenge the state-ledinitiative toprotectdomesticworkers’ rights (Ally,2009;Fish,2006). Overall, these developments are generally understoodasemployers’reluctancetocomplywithlabourlegislation.YetPEAsrepresentanimportantjob-seekingstrategyandhavethepotentialtopromoteacultureofregulatorylabourcomplianceinavulnerablesector.Focusingonfemaletransnationalmigrantdomestic workers from Zimbabwe, this article explains whyandhowZimbabweanwomenstruggletogainaccesstoworkthroughPEAsoperatinginCapeTown’sdomesticsector.I focusonZimbabweannationals for twomain reasons.Firstly,a key aspect regarding the recruitment and hiring practices ofdomesticworkersgloballyistheinternationalbutracialdivisionofreproductivelabour(Glenn,1997;Parreñas,2001).Thisliteratureraises important questions concerned with who performsdomesticwork, forwhomdomesticwork isperformed,andtheaffordability of reproductive labour provided by transnationalmigrants. For this reason, transnational migrant workers aregenerallydepictedasthe“lightinfantryofglobalcapitalism.Vastnumbersviewitheachotherforjobs.Mosthavetoputupwithshort-termcontracts,withlowwagesandfewbenefits”(Standing,2011:113).Sinceworkopportunitiesavailabletomigrantworkersarefrequentlyprecarious,theyarealsotypicallycharacterisedasahomogenousgroupwhoare“hireableondemand,availableoncall,exploitableatwill,andfireableatwhim”(Foti,2005).Theirdisposability,oftenacutebecauseoftheirmigrantstatus,playsanimportantroleinchannellingthemawayfrom‘decentwork’–qualityworkthatoffersworkersfullemployment,socio-economic

E S TAB L I SH ING A ND P ERFORMING AN IN T IMATE WORK CU LTURE THROUGH IDENT I T Y N I CH ING IN SOUTH A FR I CA ’ S DOMEST I C S EC TOR

Bianca Tame

Bianca TameisaLecturerintheDepartmentofSociologyattheUniversityofCapeTown.PreviouslysheworkedasaresearcherattheIndustrialOrganisationalandLabourStudiesUnitattheUniversityofKwaZulu-Natal.Hercurrentresearchfocusesonthecommodificationofanintimateworkculture,thefutureofworkandgenderandmigration.Sherecentlyco-authoredtwochaptersinLabourbeyondCosatu:MappingtheruptureinSouthAfrica’slabourlandscapeeditedbyBezuidenhout,A.,&Tshoaedi,M.(2017).


security,workerrightsandopportunitiesforstrengtheningsocialdialogue(ILO,1999).Secondly, my focus is on Zimbabweans because it relates tothe fairly recent development around the perceived increaseofforeignnationalsinSouthAfrica’sdomesticsector.InSouthAfrica,majoremployersofforeignnationalsincludethemining,construction, agriculture, security and hospitality sectors. Butunlikethesesectorsandthelivelihoodstrategiesthatmigrantsengagewithintheinformalsector,littleisknownaboutforeignlabourinthedomesticsector.Ally(2009:18)notesthat,“[w]hiletheextentofillegalitymakesitdifficulttoascertainaccuratelythenumberoftransnationalmigrantdomesticworkersinSouthAfricatoday,thereisapervasivefeelingthatthephenomenonhasintensifiedinrecentyears”.Academicshaverespondedtothisgapbybeginninganimportantdialogue on what Nyamnjoh (2006) refers to as “flexiblemobilities”insouthernAfrica(seealsoAlly,2009).FocusingonZimbabweanwomenwhosearchfordomesticworkinBotswana,Nyamnjoh’swork representsan important contribution to thesouth-southmigrationliteraturethataccountsfortransnationalflowswithinAfrica.Sincethe1990s,SouthAfricahasbecomea major migration hub in the continent because of labourmarket transformation, economic or ecological conditions,and political restructuring or crises as a result of structuraladjustmentprogrammesinthehomecountries(Segatti,2011).Variousrecentstudieshaverevealedthatwomenfromcountriessuch as Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi and Zambiafindwork inSouthAfrica’sdomestic sector (Peberdy&Dinat,2005;Ally,2009).Withlowbarrierstoaccesswomenoftenfindemploymentinthedomesticsector.ThemostnotablemigrantgroupsseekingworkthroughPEAsareZimbabweannationals.Scholars writing on domestic placement agencies in Canada,France and Hong Kong have documented how domesticplacement agencies tend to invoke gender, racial and ethnicstereotypes. These stereotypes are embedded in bureaucraticpracticesrelatedtotheselectionprocessforhiringandplacingdomesticworkers (Bakan&Stasiulis,1995;Scrinzi,2011). “Asmediators,agenciesalsoreflectthestereotypedimagesheldbytheirclients”(Bakan&Stasiulis,1995:321).Ifthereisdemandforaspecificethnicgroup,agenciestendtocatertoemployers’requests.Tyner’s(1999)examinationofweb-basedrecruitmentstrategies amongagencies inAsia for example, revealed thatwomen were classified according to their personality types

associatedwiththeirethnicidentity.Certainethnicprofileswereconsideredmorefavourablewithemployers.InSouthAfricathispracticeisnodifferent.PEAshavenotedthattherehavebeengreatresultswithZimbabweannationalsamongtheirclientsinthelastdecade.Garcia Castro (1989:122) explains that while employers buyworkers’ labour power, they also buy the domestic workers’identity.InthecontextofPEAs,Iarguethattheidentitysoldisthatofa‘comfortableother’.Ideveloptheconceptcomfortableother todescribe thedemandforan identity thatalignswithemployers demand for an intimate work culture. Throughvarious processes PEAs ensure that quality candidates areselected, hiredandplacedbecause they aredeemed suitablefortheintimateworkplace.Thisdecision-makingprocessisbyandlargedeterminedaccordingtothewayaworkerworksandthereforehighlightsanidentitythatisnotlimitedmerelytorace,ethnicity and/or gender biases but reflects an intimate workculture.Ifocusontherelevanceofanintimateworkculture(itsconstructionandthewayitiscommodified)sincethisremainsan importantaspectof theemployment relationship.Shiftingattention to intimacy in the workplace allows for a closerexamination into, not only why employers and workers areapproachingPEAs,butalsowhatservicesareofferedandwhoisplacedinprivatehouseholds.Inrelationtothelast,whichisthe focusof thisarticle, Idemonstratehowmigrantdomesticworkersestablishandperformanintimateworkculturethatissoughtafter.Thispaper isstructuredasfollows:(1)abriefdiscussionofthemajorlegislativedevelopmentsinSouthAfrica’sdomesticsectorandtheimplicationsoftransformingtheprivatehouseholdintoanintimateworkplace;(2)anoverviewofanintimateworkculture;(3) the rationale forproposing the concept identitynichingasopposedtoethnicniching;(4)howworkerspracticetheiridentityascomfortableotherstoearnareferenceletter,and(5)thewaysinwhichnarrativesofselfandworkperformancedemonstratethevalueemployersattachtoanintimateworkculture.Thisarticledrawsonmy researchonPEAsoperating inCapeTown’sdomesticsector.InthisprojectIexploretheprocessofidentitynichingby taking into consideration thedemand for,andservicesof,PEAs.In-depthinterviewswereconductedwithreputablePEAs,employersandZimbabweanmigrantdomesticworkersduring2013-2014.


Intimate workplace restructuring from aboveUnlike the post-apartheid era, the domestic sector underapartheidwascharacterisedasa“toxiccocktailofinformality,personalised dependence on employers, and the failure ofrecourse to state institutions” (Ally,2009:94). In1993,whentheBasicConditionsofEmploymentAct(BCEA)wasextendedtodomesticworkers,itwasconsideredamajorvictorymovingforward under the new democratic dispensation. Domesticworkers were afforded the same rights as workers employedacrossvarioussectors.WithspecificamendmentstotheBCEAin1997,therighttoanemploymentcontract,detailingworkinghours, conditions of accommodation and leave for example,granteddomesticworkersanopportunitytoberecognised‘likeanyotherworker’(Jacobset al,2013).

According to du Toit (2010), employers have reacted torestructuring from above implemented by the state with“indifference or resistance”. Some opt to reduce costs byemployingworkersonapart-timeorad hocbasiswhileothersbypass labour legislation altogether (Ally, 2009; du Toit,2010).InthecontextoftheproliferationofPEAstwospecificemployments arrangements standout in thedomestic sector.Clientscanoutsourcetheiremployerresponsibilitybyoptingto‘rent a maid’ to avoid the hassle of drawing up employmentcontracts,payingaminimumwage, registeringtheirdomesticworkerforbenefitssuchastheUnemploymentInsuranceFund(UIF) and if need be, dismissing a worker unfairly withoutpenalty. As a symbol of the ‘rent a maid’ phenomenon, thetriangular employment relationship generally foregroundsemployers’ reluctance to complywith labour legislation. Fromthis viewpoint emphasis is placed on the changes to theemploymentrelationshipandthewayinwhichworkisorganisedbothbecauseofstateinterventionandthroughPEAs.Butintermsofplacements,whereclientsretaintheiremployerstatus, alternative rationales stand out. These includerecognising that clients require assistance with fulfilling theirresponsibilitiesasemployers,andthat‘makingtherightmatch’holdsnewmeaningforprospectiveemployersenteringalong-term employment relationship. Triandafyllidou & Marchetti(2015) for example, argue that employers of domesticworkers are unlike other employers. Grounded in the contextofthe intimateworkplace, thisperspectiveresonateswiththepoint raised above regarding the appeal of agencies offering

triangular employment arrangements to avoid interpersonalrelations. However, recognising that not everyone is trainedto manage workers and may lack experience as managers inthe intimate workplace, insight and expert knowledge fromagenciesisanadditionalserviceclientsseek(Triandafyllidou&Marchetti,2015;Souralová,2015).Forclients inSouthAfrica,understandingandfulfillingtheirresponsibilitiesasemployersisnotsimplyabouttickingacheck-listtodemonstratetheyarefulfillingtheirregulatoryobligationsasemployers.Instead,formost,itisalsoaboutcomingtotermswiththesocialrelationsthatunderlietheworkingconditionsintheintimateworkplace.Since laws even with the best of intentions do not changesocial relations, ‘making the rightmatch’holdsnewmeaningforclientsusingPEAs.Hiringandfiringnormsthatweretypicalduringapartheidhavebeendisrupted.Employerswhoacceptworkplaceregulationadoptapragmaticapproachbyrelyingonintermediariestoadviseandassistthemwithselectingaworkerdeemedsuitablefortheirintimateworkplace.Ideallythisisanindividualtheyfeelcomfortablewithintheirprivatespaceandcanmanagethroughjobdescriptionsandemploymentcontractsinaccordancewithlabourlegislation.Additionalconsiderationsmayincludetheirrace,ethnicity,genderandskillslevel.Drawing on employers’ former recruitment and hiringexperiencesunderscorestheirdemandforacomfortableotherand the appeal of engaging the services of PEAs. Prior toapproachingaPEA,employersreportedthattheyusedinformalrecruitment and hiring strategies. This included the word-of-mouth hiring strategy (tapping into employer and workernetworks) and posting online requests on platforms such asFacebookorGumtreetowidentheirsearchamongtheemployerandjob-seekingcommunity.There were three striking similarities all employers describedthat informed their rationale for using PEAs. Firstly, theirignorance of labour regulation in the domestic sector, whichwas either absent or poorly applied throughout their hiringhistory. Secondly, although a few employers reminisced of atleastonedomesticworkerwhowas“wonderful”,“fantastic”or“amazing”,almostallwhoeventuallyapproachedaPEAweremostly unsatisfied with the quality of domestic workers theyfoundinformally.Themostcommonlycitedreasonsrelatedtoencountersthatmadethemfeeluncomfortablebecauseoftheftorpilfering,apoorworkethicoretiquetteandtheirdiscomfortwithworkersinventiveworkcultureassociatedwithpersonalism


because of their everyday social reality. For those seekinglong-term employment relations employers were particularlyconcerned with issues of honesty, reliability, industriousnessand ‘competence’. Thirdly,when these aspects of an intimateworkculturewereabsent,employerslamentedthedifficultyofmanaging or confronting workers. Rather than following dueprocess (for example issuing letters of warning according tolabourregulation)theyoftenoptedto‘retrench’workersunderfalse pretences to avoid the conversation regarding theft/pilferingandapoorworkethic.

An intimate work cultureIfwe turn our attention to the intimateworkplace culture inprivatehouseholds–whatitisandhowitemerges–wegainanunderstandingofthework-basedidentitythatworkersconstructforthemselves.Itiswithinthiscontextthattheconceptualisationofcomfortableothersasanidealtypeintimateworkerissituated.Tounderstand these connections it is important tonote thatworkplacecultureisconsideredasystemofvaluesthatemergesfromworkersratherthanthoseimposedbymanagers(Benson,1986).Inthissenseworkplacecultureisoftenviewedasaformofresistancebecauseitemergesasaresponsetopoorworkingconditionsoroppression.Intheextensiveliteratureondomesticworkglobally,workplaceculturehascertainlybeenarticulatedasalearntbehaviourandaformofresistance(Ally,2009).Giventhatdomesticworkhasalonghistoryoffallingoutsideofthestatusofpaidandproductivelabour,itisnotsurprisingthatworkershavedevelopedvariousstrategies, such as using the tropes of intimacy, to negotiateworkloadsandmanageunrealisticjobtasks.Whileworkculturemaynotbeimposedbyemployers, itcanbeshapedbythem,especially when considering the expected norms and valuesassociatedwithintimatework.Therefore,althoughworkculturemay be seen as a form of resistance or survival strategy tocertainworkconditions,itcanalsoemergeasalearntbehaviourthatanchors thedesiredwork-based identityofaworker inaspecificworkcontext.This means that the way a worker works is not only aboutrespondingtoharshworkingconditions.Althoughitcanbe,itisalsocloselyintertwinedwiththeexpectationsthatemployershaveregardingthetypeofworkconductedandthewayworkis expected tobeperformed. For example, tobe a successfulcandidate or to excel at one’s job entails responding to the

sometimes unspoken but expected norms of certain work-relatedbehaviour.Thesework-basedpractices,whichformpartofworkers’workcultureandtheirworkperformance,canalsoaidinsolidifyingasenseofgroup-basedidentityasidealtypeintimateworkers.Stereotypesassociatedwithwork-relatedbehavioursarerelevantbecausetheyarepartofthesociallyconstructedintimateworkidentity and culture discussed in this study. The stereotypicalattributes conveyed through the common description‘hardworking,honest,andreliable’forexample,emergeassomeofthekeycharacteristicsofacomfortableother.ThesestereotypesarecommonlyassociatedwithZimbabweannationals.AsStuartHallremindsus,stereotypesreinforceracialisedorinthecaseof my study, ethnicised regimes of representation. He addsthat “stereotyping reduces, essentializes, naturalizes and fixesdifference”and“[i]tsymbolicallyfixesboundaries,andexcludeseverythingwhichdoesnotbelong”(1997:258).I argue that the work-related stereotypes mentioned aboveshould be reframed as a reactive aspect of a negotiatedintimate work culture. It is reactive because it is a responseto poor working conditions. However, at the same time, it isalsoalong-termstrategyusedtoescapethelimitsofinformalhiringpracticesinthedomesticsector.Itisalearnt,strategisedandperformedworkculturethatarisesfromstruggle.Forjob-seekersitisanecessitybecausetheintimateworkculturehasbecome an institutionalised requirement established by PEAsattemptingtomeetthedemandsofbothclientsandemployerssearching for a comfortable other. By this I mean that PEAs,as is the caseglobally, exercise variousgatekeepingpracticesto ensure that the candidates they select demonstrate theattributesassociatedwithacomfortableother.Institutionalised practices include, for example, recruitingcandidateswhohaveaminimumoftwoyears’workexperiencecoupledwithacontactablereferencewhocanverifytheirworketiquette(Constable,2000).Thedomesticworkidentitysoldisbasedonwhetherformeremployersconsideredthejob-seekerto be honest, reliable, and skilled with the right attitude fortheintimateworkplace.Thesepracticesmayvaryandareoftenarticulated as racial or ethnicised regimes of representationthrough stereotypes. However arbitrary these representationsmay be, PEAs in South Africa attempt to promote thecommodification of comfortable others as a response to thedilemmaofmanagingpoorqualitycandidates.


ThescreeningprocessdemonstratesnotonlywhatPEAssearchforbutalsohowthey institutionaliseaprocessthatproducescomfortable others for placements in private households.Candidates without a reference letter are often turned away.Those who are flagged as trouble-makers or former criminaloffendersareenteredontoadatabase.Sincereferencechecksare not a foolproof strategy, PEAs also encourage clients toconduct a polygraph test. This is an additional cost for theclient.Infact,morerecently,afewPEAshaverespondedtothedemand for quality candidates by investing money in state-of-the-art software to screen candidates for criminal records.Super Nannies informs prospective clients that “[they] run[their] criminal checksusingan IdecoAutomatedFingerprintIdentificationSystemAFISwitchdigitalfingerprintscanner.ThescannertakesdigitalfingerprintswhicharethenelectronicallysubmittedthroughsoftwaretotheSouthAfricanpolice”.1The(AFIS)hasaturnaroundtimeofapproximately48hours.With such measures in place the initial screening process isdesignedtoensurethatqualitycandidatessuitedto intimatelabourareselected.OneofthemainreasonsclientsapproachPEAs is to ensure that they avoid hiring someone with acriminal record. Perceptions of, and/or personal experienceswith, domestics who have stolen or are part of gang-relatedsyndicates that ‘clean out’ houses, circulate in the media,among PEAs and employer networks. With these concerns inmind,employerseagerly,butsometimesgrudgingly,paypriceyplacementfeesforpeaceofmind–evenifthesestrategiesarenotfoolproof.

Identity nichingToadvancethediscussiononhowworkerslearnandconstructtheiridentityascomfortableothersIusetheconcept‘identityniching’.Iusethisconceptasopposedtoethnicniching,whichfeatures prominently in the migration scholarship, to giveprimacytothe intimateworkcultureofdomesticwork ratherthan other forms of social identity such as ethnicity, genderand/or race. In terms of the international literature, ethnicnichingisdefinedbroadlybySchroveret al.(2007:535)as“…aprocess whereby an association develops between a certaineconomicsectorandanethnicgroup”.InSAit’snotuncommonto readabout ‘Zimbabwean’ farmworkers, ‘Senegalese’ streettradersor‘Somalisinthesmallbusinesssector.Internationalliteraturetellsusthatthe‘niching’phenomenon

is inextricably linked to the social networks of both migrantsand employers (Waldinger, 2000). Taking this into accounttherefore,theprocessofnicheformationcanbeinfluencedbyallactorsandthepublicclassknowledgetheygenerate(Sitas,1983). Thisprocessallows foranethnicgroup todevelopanassociationwithasectorofemployment.Assuch,toexplorehowniching takesplace entails examininghowa “senseofgroupidentityisembeddedinstablenetworksandpatternsofhiring,recruitment, and mobility” (Waldinger, 2000:30). Essentially,the shift towards ‘renting or recruiting a maid’ who belongsto a specific ethnic groupnot only represents the emergenceof a niche but also points to an ideological or cultural shiftembeddedinhiringpractices.But it is important to point out that understanding ethnicnichingfromthisviewpoint(theinternationalapproach),meansthatdespitehomecountrydifferences, suchas theShonaandNdebele ethnic groups from Zimbabwe, groups are ‘niched’objectivelyas ‘Zimbabweans’. This is similar tohow ‘Mexicans’and‘Cubans’havebeennichedintheUSA.Thisisashortcomingbecausethegroupidentityofaworkerratherthanthevariousidentity-related factors that allow for niching to occur alwaysremains thecentral focus.This includes, forexample, the race,gender and/or ethnicity of a worker. For this reason I arguethatidentityniching,asabroaderconceptualtool,ismoreaptfor describing variances in hiring and recruitment practices.Fish(2006), forexample,acknowledgestherelevanceoftheseprimaryconstructionsofdifferencebutalsonotestheimportanceofsecondaryconstructionsofdifference,suchasage,skill,workexperience,geographic location–allofwhich influencehiringpatterns.Identitynichingisembeddedinworkexperienceandpractice(workperformances)and soughtafter in the recruitmentandhiringphase.Ideasofwhatconstitutesamodelintimateworkercirculate among the various actors. By focusing on identitynichingemphasis isplacedon the recognisablewayaworkerworks,namelytheirworkculture.

Earning the status of comfortable otherEmploymenttrajectoriesareshapedbymultiplefactorsofwhichbothnetworksandworkers’dispositionsplayasignificant role.Withtheexceptionofafew,mostmigrantwomenenteredthelabourmarketusingtraditionalhiringmethodsand/orinformalagencies before finding employment through PEAs. Without

1See,www.supernannies.co.za/useful-numbers/criminalchecks/


workpermitsorasylumstatus,workexperienceandcontactablereferences,manywomenare restricted to informal job-seekingstrategies. Framed in the context of their vulnerable statusas ‘maids from Africa’ and linked to the discourse on ultra-exploitation theorised by Cock (1980), Nyamnjoh (2005:182)assertsthat

[n]otonlyaremaidsoftenvictimsofultra-exploitation,they enjoy little legal protection and even theirbasic human rights are always in jeopardy, thanks toinequalitiesgeneratedthroughtheintersectionofrace,geography,class,genderandcitizenship.MaidsinAfricaareindeedasarulepowerlessandextremelyvulnerabletomanipulationandabuse.

BasedonthispremiseNyamnjoh(2005)criticallydeliberatesonhowwomencopeindividuallyandcollectivelyunderdeplorableconditions,arguingthatmaidscananddoexerciseagency inthe employment relationship. Nyamnjoh explicitly states that“[n]etworks are very important for them, if they must haveaccommodation,domorethanpiecejobs,beinformedof jobopportunities at the earliest, and earn a reasonable amountof money before their stay expires or before they fall preyto one of the routine ‘cleanup’ campaigns organisedby thepolice”.Herenetworksaredescribedasacelebratoryoutcomeof transnational social formations that occur in the receivingcountry and between the receiving and sending country.However, the ‘farflung’natureof thesenetworksand its linkto themobilityofwomenfromZimbabwetoBotswanaand/or South Africa, in search of work, highlight not just diverseemployment trajectories but also informational flows relatedto job-seeking strategies. In addition to exercising agencyin the employment relationship to counter difficult workingconditions, women also exercise their agency when makinginformed decisions, based on shared information about jobopportunitiesindifferentcountries.AllwhoeventuallysecuredemploymentthroughaPEAdescribedtheir employment trajectories as a “terrible struggle”. In thecontext of PEAs, their struggle is multifaceted since it is notonly about “inequalities generated through the intersectionof race,geography, class, gender and citizenship”asarguedbyNyamnjoh (2005:182). It includes the expectations associatedwiththeinstitutionalisedprocessesembeddedinPEAs’hiringand

placementpractices.AdefiningfeatureofPEAs’gatekeepingroleisillustratedthroughthefunctionofreferenceletters.Job-seekersareexpectedtopresentareferenceletteroutliningtheirpreviouswork experience, job description, the reason for their contractendingandacommentrelatedtotheirperformedintimateworkculture.SincePEAsconsidercandidateswithtwoyears’workexperience,many had to endure difficult working conditions to earn areference letter that establishes their identity as comfortableothers. Newcomers were encouraged by other migrants topersevere in the informal domestic sector so that they couldaccessbetterworkingconditionsthroughPEAs.Intheprocessofearninga reference letter,migrantworkerswere subject toexploitation.Thisincludedlowwages,longworkinghoursandageneraldisregardfortheirworkingrights.Newcomersfoundthemselvesatthemercyoftheiremployersastheysetouttoearn a reference letter. This meant that they had to performan intimate work culture that employers demanded despiteharshworkingconditions.For this reasontheydescribedtheirsearchforemploymentthroughaPEAasa“terriblestruggle”.Nothavingareferenceletterwasareminderofwhattheyhadtoendure inordertobecomeanagencyrecruitedworker.Formanywomenreferencelettersweresymbolicoftheirstruggle.Oncetheyearnedareferenceletteritusuallyservedasariteofpassagetobetterworkingopportunities.Giventheemphasisplacedonthescreeningandhiringprocess,PEAs as institutions, serve as a ‘human technology’ of controlinthedomesticsector.Humantechnologieshavethefollowingfeatures:theyarecontrolledbypeople,haveaninstitutionalisingimpact, function to achieve certain ends such as education,productionoradjustment,and throughknowledgeandvariousmethods aim to transform human conduct (Rose, 1996).Curiously,verylittleattentionhasbeenplacedontherolethatreference letters, as a method of transforming and controllinghuman conduct, play in fostering and promoting disciplinein the domestic sector. Part of the reason for this is that withlabourbrokeringstatesandagenciesthatexportworkerstoothercountries, job-seekers are often new recruits to paid domesticwork (Constable,1997). Insteadof submitting reference letterstheysubmitletter-formattedessays.Theseessaysareaddressedtoprospectiveemployers.Thelettersinformthemoftheireconomicdesperation, hardworking capabilities and willingness to be“honestandobedient”witheveryintentionoffulfillingatwo-year


contract (Constable, 1997). Unless there are state-sanctionedflexibilities in place, some recruitment agencies insist on twoyears’workexperiencefromapplicants(Constable,1997).Likeworkpermitsandthesponsorshipsystem,referenceletterscanlimitworkers’mobility inthelabourmarket.AsAnderson(2010:310)explains,referringspecificallytoworkpermitsandthe sponsorship system, “employers are handed additionalmeans of control” over workers whose residency can easilybe jeopardised by employers who feel that their workers areperforming poorly. In the case of earning a reference letterorcertificateof service, labour retention isaclearadvantageandmeansofcontroloverworkers.Furthermore,cultivatingadesirable intimatework culture formspartof thediscipliningeffectthatthescreeningprocesshasoverworkers.Inthisway,thecommondescriptionassociatedwithmigrants’workethic(Anderson,2010)and, inparticular,an intimateworkculturecannot be separated from the level of dependence workershaveon theiremployers toobtain reference letters.With thisline of reasoning migrant worker’s struggle for work, even ifpoorly paid, represents their short-to-medium term strategyfor escaping such working conditions. But, more importantly,theirperseveranceor“disciplinedself”(Constable,1997)allowsforaworkidentitytodevelopthatgivesrisetotheircollectiverepresentationas“reliable,honestandhardworkingworkers”.

Narratives of self and work performances

Wendy:ThiswhitepeopletheyarelookingforZimbabweanladies to work for them because Zimbabweans, we arehardworkers.WeworkandtheXhosa,ifshefinishat4o’clock,thensheputsthemop[down]at3o’clock.Thatiswhytheydon’tlikeXhosapeople.AndtheZimbabweans,wewaitfor4o’clock.Orit’shalfpast4.Thatisexactlywhenyoustartmakingyourselfsothatyouarepreparingyourselfsothatyouaregoing.ThatiswhytheydonotlikeXhosa.TheywantZimbabweans.Wearehardworkingandwecanwork.Andwedon’tsteal.TheyknowthatbecauseXhosapeopletheycarrybigbagstowork.

Author:Soyouhaveasmallbag?Wendy: Yes! I’ve got a small bag because the Xhosapeople they know that today she is notgoing tobuymeat. She’s going to take from the fridge. Washing

powdertheydon’tbuy,Sta-soft,everything, theydon’tbuy. [...] We Zimbabwean ladies, we say, “Hai [No],I can’t do this because I’ve got children to look afterathome.Shecanfiremebecauseofsaltandwashingpowder.Whatisthat?Wendy,Zimbabweandomesticworker,28.04.2013

When Zimbabwean nationals described their intimate workculture theyoften spoke about their collective representationand/orselfpresentationinrelationtoSouthAfricans.Thiswasinformedbyspecificmarkersofidentitybasedontheirmannerand appearance as ideal domestic workers. These ideas werelearnt through domestic training courses or through socialinteractions with their former employers, PEAs and workers.Whensuchmarkersof identityareadoptedandexploited forspecificsituations,ethnicityisdescribedassituational(Cohen,2006).But,ethnicityisalsoconsideredrelationalwhenethnicgroups are understood in terms of ‘us’ vs. ‘them’ (Wallman,1979). Both ways of understanding ethnicity can be used inways that are linked to thepresentationof an intimateworkidentity. This was typically reflected through the maxim andpracticeofbeing‘hardworking,honest,andreliable’.DrawingonWendy’snarrativeabove,shediscussesanintimatework culture based on her understanding of what workbehaviouremployersdon’twantandinevitablywhotheydon’twant.Forexample,shebeginsbystatingthatwhiteemployerswantZimbabweanwomenbecause“wearehardworkers”.ShethendrawsadistinctionbetweenZimbabweans’workbehaviourbydescribingwho leavesworkearlyandwhoworksuntil theendofday.Sheusestheexampleofwhoputsthemopdownattherighttimeto indicatehowemployerswanttheirdomesticworker to work. Wendy invokes the collective representationof Zimbabweans’ appearance andmanner as hard-working incomparisontoXhosawomen.ItisimportanttonotethatbothgroupsareAfricanBlackwomenbut theirnational identity isdifferent. According to Wendy, putting the mop down at theright time is indicativeofaproductiveworker rather than,asshe implies, a lazyworker.Bymeeting thebasic expectationsoftheemployerthroughconsistentactionsthatincludedbeingpunctual and leaving work at the correct time, women wereengagingandestablishingtheiridentityascomfortableothersthroughimpressionmanagement(Goffman,1959).Wendyadds:“And we[myemphasis]don’tsteal”.Herstatementthat“Xhosapeopletheycarrybigbagstowork”isjuxtaposedto


“I’vegotasmallbag.”EmployersandPEAsalikeemphasisedthevalueattachedtotrustandfindinganhonestworker.Thisformedanimportantaspectofwhatandwhoconstitutesacomfortableother.Workersgenerallydiscussedtheirstatusastrustworthyinrelationalterms.Heretheydifferentiatedbetween‘us’vs.‘them’bydrawingonthecommonlyheldstereotypesassociatedwiththeft/pilferingthatemployerslamentedonpriortoapproachingaPEA.WhilereferringtoherworkidentityinindividualtermssheelaboratesonthecollectiverepresentationofXhosapeopleaspilferersbylaterdetailingthedifferentitemstheymaytakefromthehousehold.Sheadds,“Wedon’tdothat”byassertingZimbabweans’workculture.Lastly,sheconcludeswiththepointthat suchbehaviours are notworth losing a jobover. This isimportantinlightoftheadvicewomengaveandreceivedfromeachother–cling toyour jobwholeheartedly.This suggests,in addition to persevering through tough work conditions tocreatearecognisableworkidentity,womenalsohadtoembedtheirstatusascomfortableothersbyexercisingtheirsituationalidentity.Womenwerenotonly‘doinggenderandethnicity’asdomesticworkerstheywerealso‘doingdifference’(Lutz,2010).Bydoingdifferencetheirworkcultureembodiedthewaytheyworkedasintimatelabourers(Sitas,1983).ImplicitinWendy’sstatement,“Ihavegotasmallbag”,isherself-conceptionofherworkethicas an intimate worker. This is based on her socially derivedunderstandings of what constitutes a comfortable other, anunderstanding that is informed by social interactions amongworkers,employersandPEAs.There are a number of encounters that occur between theclient(bothprospectiveemployerandjob-seeker)andPEA.Thisincludes:registeringwithoneormorePEAs;gainingaccesstocandidate profiles or CVs to review and select; interviewingselected candidates; undertaking a trial work period withone or more candidates; and, finally, selecting a candidatefor employment. The interaction among all three actors isintensiveand theprocess itself is similar across all reputablePEAs operating in South Africa. The process is designed toensure that employers make the right match. This is not adecisionthatismadelightly.Asmentionedearlier,employersandPEAsacknowledgedomesticworkers’rightsandrecognisetheprivatehouseholdasanintimateworkplace.Theirneedtomaketherightmatchtakesintoaccounttheprofoundnatureoftheemploymentrelationshipandthetensionthatoftenarises

whenworkersuseintimacytode-emphasiseservitude(Parreñas,2001). The use of personalism is one such strategy. It is awidelyacknowledgedexpressionofdomesticworkers’inventiveworkculturethatisusedtoexercisecontrolovertheirworkingconditions(Ally,2009).Yet,inanefforttoseekacomfortableother throughPEAs, employers strategically select candidatesthatperformandnarrateaself thatcoincideswiththeir ideaofadesirable intimateworkculture.Thisoftenamountstoarejectionofthepersonalismassociatedwithdomesticworkers’inventiveworkculture.Makingtherightmatchthereforeinvolvesanexerciseofreviewingcandidatesandcomparingthemaccordingtotheirwork-relatedperformance and narratives of the self. This exercise is mostpronounced during the interview process and the trial workperiod.Inthisway,engagingtheservicesofPEAsisnotmerelyaboutselectingaZimbabweannationalbecauseofcommonlyheldstereotypesthatincludetheir“goodEnglish”.Insteaditisaboutselectingacandidatewhopersuadesthemthattheyhavethe characteristics associated with an intimate work culture.To illustratethe importanceof intimacyandan intimateworkculture in the household, I draw on a narrative to highlightemployers’ impressions of candidates’ work performance andthesignificanceofworkers’narrativesofself.Whenaskedwhatmadeherchoosehercurrentdomesticnannyovertheothertwocandidatessheinterviewed,MrsNkhutaexplained:

Well thefirst thingshedidwhenshewalked into thehousewaswashherhandswhichpeopleseemtonotthinkisimportantwithaninfant.[...]SoIwaslike,tickbox,sheunderstandsit’sessentialwhenyouaroundaninfant.Secondlyshewasverykeentolike,“MayIholdhim, may I play with him?” So he was very happy toplaywithher.Itwasmorethecomfortshehadwiththebaby immediately thatmadeherstickoutandbethefavouritecandidate.

ApartfromreviewingCVsMrsNkhuta’swasimpressedbythebest candidate’s work-related performance that depicted herprofessionalknow-howregardinghygieneandthusinfantcare.This performance was observed during the interview whichtookplace inherhome.Asmentionedearlier,andapracticecommonplace among PEAs globally, training courses tend tomould and produce the work ethos demanded by employers


under the banner of professionalising domestic work (Scrinzi,2010;Lan,2016).Zimbabweannationalsnotedtheadvantageoflearninghowtoperformtheseidealisedexpectationsduringtheinterviewprocessandtheintimateworkplace.Thebenefitofcreatingtheimpressionofanidealworker,atleastthroughPEAs, is that often they gained access to middle- and uppermiddle-incomehouseholds(thetargetedclienteleofPEAs)thatcouldaffordtopaythemmarket-relatedsalariesthatwerewellabovetheminimumwageprescribedbythestate.Themoststrikingreactionemployersreflectedandacteduponwasworkers’ inventiveworkculture.Employerswere reluctantto embark on a long-term employment relationship with acandidate who presented social issues. In most cases socialissues were tied to the possibility of personalism wherebyworkers use the ambiguities of intimacy to negotiate betterworkingconditionsorgainaccesstomaterialassistance(Ally,2009).Anytell-talesignsofsocialissuesresultedinemployersopting for a candidatewhopresenteda ‘sound’ life thatwasless likely to affect the employment dynamic. The commonsocial issues employers described related to their experiencewithSouthAfricandomesticworkerswhoweresinglemothersand/or had multiple dependents relying on their income.Sympatheticemployerstriedtohelp“withwhateverwecould:funerals, her family, with some additional food, with someadditional clothes”. However, being too familiar with theirdomestics’ personal situation often challenged their role asemployersbecause theprofessional andpersonal relationshipbecame blurred. In this regard Zimbabwean candidates oftencameacrossasbelongingtostablefamilieswithfamilysupport.

ConclusionThesefindingsbringtotheforetheambiguitiesofintimacythatrepresentworkers’inventiveworkculturewhichisatoddswiththeworkculturethatemployersdemand.Therightmatchisnotsimplyaboutselectingacandidateaccordingtotheirnationalidentity but rather securing a worker who is less likely tochallengeemployers’roleasmanagersofintimateworkers.Thecommondescription‘hardworking,honest,andreliable’isbetterunderstoodwhenreframedasareactiveaspectoftheintimateworkculture.Inpracticingthisworkerssetouttoearnareferenceletter that enables them to apply for, and potentially secure,betterworkingconditionsthroughPEAsthattargetmiddle-andupper-middleclassclientele.Byassertingtheirworkeridentity

andinvokingan“us”vs.“them”narrativeworker’sstrategicallypracticetheiragencythroughidentitynichingwhichinvariablyinvolvesthepresentationof‘self’.ReferencesS.ALLY,2009,‘GlobalizationandRegionalInequalities’,

inLigayaLindio-McGovernandIsidorWallimann(eds)Globalization and Third World Women: Exploitation, Coping and Resistance,Burlington,VT:Ashgate.

S.ALLY,2009,From Servants to Workers: South African Domestic Workers and the Democratic State, Durban.UniversityofKwaZulu-NatalPress.

B.ANDERSON,2010,Migration,immigrationcontrolsandthefashioningofprecariousworkers.Work, Employment and Society,24,2,300-317.

B.A.BAKAN&K.D.STASIULIS,1995,‘MakingtheMatch:DomesticPlacementAgenciesandtheRacializationofWomen’sHouseholdWork’inJournal of Women in Culture and Society,20,2,303-335.

S.P.BENSON,1983,“TheCustomersAin’tGod:TheWorkCultureofDepartmentStoreSaleswomen,1840-1940,”inM.H,FRISCH,andD.J.WALKOWITZ,Working-class America: essays on labor, community, and American society.Urbana:UniversityofIllinoisPress.

J.COCK,1980,Maids and Madams: A Study in the Politics of Exploitation.Johannesburg.RavanPress.

R.COHEN,2006,MigrationAndItsEnemies:GlobalCapital,MigrantLabourAndtheNation-state.AshgatePublishing:London.

N.CONSTABLE,1997,Maid to order in Hong Kong: Stories of Filipina workers.Ithaca,N.Y:CornellUniversityPress.

M,GARCIACASTRO,1989,“WhatisBoughtandSoldinDomesticService?TheCaseofBogota:ACriticalReview.”Pp.106-26inMuchachas no more: Household workers in Latin America and the CaribbeaneditedbyE.M.CHANEY,M.G.CASTRO,Philadelphia:TempleUniversityPress.

S.Hall,1997,‘Thespectacleofthe“other”’inHall,S.(ed.)Representation:CulturalRepresentationsandSignifyingPractices.London/ThousandOaks,CA/NewDelhi:Sage,pp.223-290

D.DUTOIT,2010,“Extendingthefrontiersofemploymentregulation:thecaseofdomesticemploymentinSouthAfrica”.Law, Democracy & Development,14,1,1-27.

Credits and acknowledgementsThispaperwaspresentedattheseminar Maids and Mason: Class, Gender and EthnicityattheUniversityofPorto.IparticipatedintheErasmus+mobilityprojectwhichmadeitpossibletopresentthiswork.Theworkpresentedinthispaperappearsinandistheoutcomeoftheauthor’sPhDthesis.TheauthorwouldliketothankDr.BrunoMonteiroandhiscolleaguesfortheirvaluablefeedbackandsuggestionsandcreatingthespacetoestablishandstrengthenresearchlinksthroughthesupportoftheErasmus+mobilityproject.


A.FOTI,2005,MAYDAYMAYDAY:euroflexworkers,timetogetamoveon!EIPCPmultilingual webjournal,www.republicart.net

J.N.FISH,2006,Domestic democracy: At home in South Africa.NewYork:Routledge.

E.N.GLENN,1992,Fromservitudetoservicework:Historicalcontinuitiesintheracialdivisionofpaidreproductivelabor.Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society,18,1,1-43.

E.GOFFMAN,1959,The presentation of self in everyday life.ILO,1999,Report of the Director General – Decent Work to the

87th session,Accessedfrom:www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc87/rep-i.htm

N.JACOBS,D.MANICOM,K.DURRHEIM,2013,‘Helpsomebodywhohelp[sic]you’:theeffectofthedomesticlabourrelationshiponSouthAfricandomesticworkers’abilitytoexercisetheir.Alternation,20,1,273-294.

P.-C.LAN,2016,DeferentialSurrogatesandProfessionalOthers:RecruitmentandTrainingofMigrantCareWorkersinTaiwanandJapan.Positions,24,1,253-279.

H.LUTZ,2011,The new maids: Transnational women and the care economy.London:ZedBooks.

F.B.NYAMNJOH,2005,MadamsandMaidsinSouthernAfrica:copingwithuncertainties,andtheartofmutualzombification.AfricaSpectrum,181-196.

R.S.PARREÑAS,2001,Servants of globalization: Women, migration and domestic work.Stanford,Calif:StanfordUniversityPress.

S.PEBERDY&N.DINAT,2005,“Migration and Domestic Workers: Worlds of Work, Health, and Mobility in Johannesburg”.MigrationPolicySeriesNo.40.CapeTown:SouthernAfricanMigrationProject.

N.S.ROSE,1996,Inventing our selves: Psychology, power, and personhood.Cambridge,England:Cambridge

UniversityPress.M,SCHROVER,M,VANdeLEUN,&QUISPEL,C,2007,“Niches,

LabourMarketSegregation,EthnicityandGender”.Journalofethnic&migrationstudies.33,4,529-540.

F.SCRINZI,2011,“Gender,MigrationandtheAmbigiousEnterpriseofProfessionalizingDomesticService:thecaseofvocationaltrainingfortheunemployedinFrance”inFeminist Review,98,154-171.

A.SEGATTI,2011,“MigrationtoSouthAfrica:RegionalChallengesversusNationalInstrumentsandInterests”

inSegatti,A.,&LandauL.B.(eds)ContemporaryMigrationtoSouthAfrica:ARegionalDevelopmentIssue.TheWorldBank.

A.SITAS,1984,‘AfricanWorkerResponsesontheEastRandtoChangesinSouthAfrica’sMetalworks,c.1960s–1980s’.PhDThesis,UniversityoftheWitwatersrand,Johannesburg.

A.SOURALOVÁ,2015,‘AnEmployerSuiGeneris:HowPlacementAgenciesAreChangingtheNatureofPaidChildcareintheCzechRepublic’inAnna Triandafyllidou and Sabrina Marchetti (Eds.): Employers, Agencies and Immigration: Care Work in Europe Ashgate,Aldershot,1-16.

G.STANDING,2011,The precariat: The new dangerous class.London:BloomsburyAcademic.

A.TRIANDAFYLLIDOU,&S.MARCHETTI,2015,The Employers’ Perspective on Migrant Domestic and Care Work in Anna Triandafyllidou and Sabrina Marchetti (Eds.): Employers, Agencies and Immigration: Care Work in Europe Ashgate, Aldershot.

J.TYNER,1999,The Web-based Recruitment of Female Foreign Domestic Workers in Asia.SingaporeJournalofTropicalGeography,20,2,193-209.

R.WALDINGER,2000,Still the Promised City? African-Americans and New Immigrants in Postindustrial New York.HarvardUniversityPress:Cambridge.

S.WALLMAN,1979,‘Introduction:TheScopeofEthnicity’inWallman,S.(eds) Ethnicity at Work.Macmillanpress:London.

ThemostrecentwaveofPortuguesemigrationhasitsinvisibleareas. Despite representing an important proportion of allPortuguese migrants (Peixoto et al, 2016), the most sociallyfragile migrants tend to receive the least public attention.This restricted symbolic representation is on par with theirsituationof“socialdisqualification”(PintoandQueiroz,1996).Thispaperfocusesonthemigratorypatternofaspecifictypeof migrant from that group – the Portuguese constructionworkers. Particular attention is given to those that comefrom the traditional and labour-intensive industrial sectors ofthe Sousa Valley, which makes them particularly sensitive tonegative economic cycles like the “crisis” that started at thebeginning of this century (Silva, 2010). Their life trajectoriesareoftenmarkedbylittleformaleducationandearlyentryintothemostprecariouslabourmarkets,whichplacesthemwithinthemosteconomicallyandculturallydeprivedsegmentsoftheiroriginal society andhas a strong impact on their subsequentmigrationexperience.Althoughthesemigrantsareoftenabletorelyonextensivenetworksoffamiliarandvicinalties,theirpersonalandcollectivemigrationexperiencestakeplaceunderconditions of relative economic and cultural constraint. Here,accordingtoNicolasRenahy,wearedealingwiththe“migrationofprecariousness” (2009): thegeographicalmobilityof thesemigrants preserves their exposure to situations of relativeeconomicscarcityasmembersofthe“workingclasses”.Within Portugal, migrant construction workers are traditionallyperceived as “ignorant”, “dangerous” or prone to illness – asevidencedbyavastarrayofexpressionsfrombotheruditeandpopular culture. Their coverage in the media is often only inconnectionwithaccidents,illegalitiesandothernegativeevents,andtheirownself-representationisnotmuchbetter,frequentlybeing tainted with stigmatised descriptions about themselves.Their personal accounts of the migratory experience indicatethat they also experience racial prejudice and discriminationin their “destination communities”. This paper aims to explorethecircumstancesunderwhich thestatusof thesemigrantsas

O N “R ACE” , RA C I SM A ND “ C L A S S RA C I SM” : R E S EARCH NOTE S ON P ORTUGUESE M IGRA NT S IN TH E CONS TRUC T ION INDUSTRY.

Bruno Monteiro

Bruno Monteiroissociologist(BA,MA,PhD),havingbeendoctoralandpost-doctoralfellowwiththesupportfromthePortugueseFoundationforScienceandTechnology.HeismemberoftheInstituteofSociology(UniversityofPorto).HismajorresearchtopicsarethetransformationsofthePortuguesesocialstructureaftertheIIWorldWar,withafocusontheelitesofPorto,andthecontemporarylivedexperienceoftheworkingclasses,especiallyfromtheconstructionsector.HeparticipatedinscientificactivitiesintheAlbert-Ludwigs-Universität(Freiburg-im-Breisgau),intheUNESCOchair(UnivertiàIuavdiVenezia),andtheSAGEcenter(UniversitédeStrasbourg),amongothers.Besidesarticlesinpeer-reviewedjournalsandbookchapters,mostrecentlyhepublished,togetherwithJoãoQueirós,thebook«Trabalhosemcurso.EtnografiadeoperáriosportuguesesdaconstruçãocivilemEspanha»(DerivaEditores,2017)andhasorganized,withNunoDomingos,thevolume«Portugalemfalta.Atlasimprovável»(SantillanaEditores,2017).


“white”,“European”malesdoesnotalwaysbenefittheireverydayexperiences,asdetailedintheirreportsofdiscriminationbasedonphysicalcategoriesandbehaviouralcodesthattheyconsiderto be typical of relationships between different “races”. Thesemigrantsappeartoliveacontradictoryexperienceofenjoyingthebodilyappearanceoftheethnic“European”worker,whilebeingsubjected to informal interactions and institutional treatmentthat emphasise the idea that they belong to a distinct “race”.Ourresearchexploresthosesituations,whereintheprofessionalprecariousnessorsubalternityoftheseworkerstendstoresultina(self-)perceivedchangeintheirraciallabelling.Our interviews andother ethnographicmaterials tell us that,although workers see themselves as “European” and “white”,their experiences can change their perception of their skin“colour”.Forsome,thereiseventhefeelingofbeingtransparentwhile in the public space – an invisibility that, as in RalphEllison’sThe Invisible Man,onlyexistsbecause“peoplerefusetosee”them(1999:9).Takingthisperspective,weshowthatthe social construction of racialised categories and practicesis inextricably linked to the power asymmetries embeddedin particular places of sociability and socialisation, such asconstructionsitesandotherworkplaces.Needlesstosaythen,itisneithernecessarilynorexclusivelybasedonworkers’physicalor ethnic characteristics. Their relatively scarce economic andcultural resources make these migrant workers more proneto selective perceptual and pragmatic behaviours based on“racialised” categories–behaviours thatuse social indicatorssuch as poverty, illiteracy, or proneness to work accidents asblatant proof of their supposed “racialised” condition1. Theconsequences of occupying specific social places in societyingeneral,and inconstructionsites inparticular, includethethreatofexposingtheseworkerstoaccentuatedraciallabellingwithintheir“destinationcommunities”.

Defying the obvious: European migrations, structures of power and internalisation of racist violence

BM:LetmestartbyaskingyouhowyoucametoSpain…R: I was just moving around from place to place andnotfindinganythingtodowhentheopportunitycamealong.MyparentsalwaystoldmethatifeverIwantedto have something, I would have to do it at my ownexpense. I found myself in a tight spot and a friend

offeredtohelp…Igaveitsomethoughtbecause,Imean,we’re talkingaboutSpain,butaguyneedsmoney forstuff,soIacceptedandwent.(…)BM:Didyoufinditdifficulttodealwith?R:Yes,everythingwashard!Itwasashocktome.TheSpaniardsdon’tdothecrappyworkandthePortuguesego there to do it, you see? I was there, but it washumiliating.Yousee,theyhaveallthebenefitswedon’thavehere,becausetheystopinthemorningforagoodwhile, then theystopagain in theafternoon for sometimetoo,butwehavetoworkourbuttsofflikenegroes!It’snotgood,man,notgoodatall!

During the very tense interview from which this excerpt wastaken,Roberto’s voicewas chokedwithgrief andheusedanaccusatorytonetoshow,throughverbalpoeticsheavilychargedwith (self-) irony and rage, that mechanisms of power cansweepawaythemostvisibleattributes–suchasskincolour–whilstpromptingexpressionsofexclusionthatseemtypicalofexposure to racistactsandwords.Focusingondiscriminationnotbasedonanyobviousbiologicalmarkers,suchasthatwhich“white” European migrants to the United States of Americaexperienced a century ago, allows us to more easily avoidthe supposedly obvious arguments that support controversiessurrounding“race”(suchasskincolour)and,conversely,makeit appear a “public fiction” (Jacobson, 2003, 2). This type oftransfiguration, through which Portuguese workers become“negroes”or,atleast,adifferentshadeof“white”,demonstratesthe plasticity of racist thought and practices. These racistpracticesandthoughtscandefineandredefinethecolourscaleusedtoshapediscrimination,sothatitcanbeusedtomediatepower strugglesbetweenphysically similarworkers; Jacobson,for example,describesprecisely theexistenceof “a systemof‘differences’ by which one might be both white and raciallydistinctfromotherwhites”(idem,6).Skin colour, as such, is only an index; if necessary, itmaybeemphasisedanddistinguishedintoasmanyshadesasthesocialdivisions considered significant at a certain moment in timerequire.AsWittgensteinnotes regarding the “commonsense”ofa“tribeofcolour-blindpeople”,theconceptofcolourisnotamerelyphysiologicalorpsychologicalconstruct.Ourperceptionofcolourislearnedandappliedaccordingtoculturalprinciplesadoptedbyaspecificwayoflife(1987:127-128).Itisnotmere

1ThispaperisheavilyinspiredbyVictorKarady’sworkon“anti-Semitism”,whichintroducestheneedtoequatethehistoricalprocessofgenesisandtransmissionofthat“ideologicalconstruction”with“thecategoryofobsessions,beliefs,self-fulfillingpropheciesorconstitutivepiecesofmentalanddispositionalhabitus(…)asunquestionableconvictionsgeneratingattitudesandvariousformsof(anti-Jewish)actionsandbehaviours”(2012,85).Thispeculiarrelationshipbetweenphysicalityanddiscriminationinwhich“physicaldifferences,howeverrealtheymaybe(…)couldnotjustifytheanti-Jewishdiscriminationswithoutthepre-constructedimageoftheJewasradicalalien”(idem:97-98)onthebasisofChristianheritage,theirlaterexclusionfromemergingnationalcommunities,ortheideaoftheracialdivisionofhumanitynurturedviaSocialDarwinism(idem,96-97).Onthecontrary,“thelessandlesssignificantdistinctivenessofJewsintermsoftheiranthropologicalculture,tendedtobereinterpretedasmoreorlessmonstrousformsofotherness”(idem:98),thankstothe“projections”ofthesystemofperceptualandbehaviouralclassificationsthatwereinternalisedbythesurroundingpopulation.Therefore,“Jew-hatred,generatedthroughsuchexcessiveattentiontothesignificanceofperceived(supposedorprojected)tinydifferences,couldactuallyoperateevenwithoutthedemonstrableexistenceofsuchdifferences,due

topre-establishedprejudice”(idem:98).AmongourPortuguesepeers,thetheoreticallensusedinFernandoLuísMachado’ssurveyofGuineanmigrantsinPortugal(2002)wasalsoveryinfluential.AccordingtoMachado,thereisa“spaceofethnicity”structuredaroundapairofaxessynthesising,ontheonehand,theculturalproprietiesofmigrants,andontheother,theirsocialproprietiesincomparisonwiththePortugueseoverallpopulation.Throughoutthispaper,theword“native”isusedsimplyasaheuristicnotiontodistinguishbetweenPortuguesemigrantsandthepopulationofthe“receivingcountries”.


coincidencethatPortugueseworkersoccasionallyseeorpresentthemselvesas“negroes”or“moors”;theyuselabelswithmarkedracistconnotationstoexpresstheirparticularexperienceswithintheconstruction site labourhierarchy,namely those involving“native”workers,foremenormanagers.Thisreasoningseemstoshowthat,regardlessoftheiractualskincolour,theseworkerssee themselves as having another, less valuable colour (orhavingnocolouratall;transparent,sotospeak).Thefactthatthese workers describe themselves as “negroes” and “moors”shows that they, too, adhere to the same racial prejudicesembedded in these racial categories. These categories are,therefore, metaphorical expressions that these workers useto illustrate their social subordination, while simultaneouslydemonstrating that they also share a racialised vision of thesocialworld.Infact,theassumptionthat“races”existatall,andthattheyarerankedaccordingtoanimplicithierarchy, isonethatissharedbytheverysamePortugueseworkerswhomustsufferitsconsequences.Theseworkerswillmostlikelygoontoreplicatethesesameprocessesofracialdiscriminationwithyetothergroupsofsubalternworkerstheyinteractwith.Racism can, therefore, be seen as a particular case amidst alargevarietyofsymbolicrelationsofsubordinationorsupremacythat separate individuals and groups with contrasting powerpositions within the same community (“we” – “they”), whereeveryone competes for valuable, and sometimes scarce, localresourcesandrewards,usingnotonlymaterialandinstitutionalmeans(i.e.legalauthorisationsortechnicalcredentials),butalsoracialstereotypestoestablishtheirreciprocalsituations.Inthiscase,theideaof“race”canbeviewedasasymbolicoperator,orbetter still, asagiven factora tacitlyandunquestionablyacceptedtruism,liketheprinciplesof“doxa”(Bourdieu,1998).Assuch,itconstitutesaperceptualandintellectualautomatismformanyoftheparticipantsindebatesonracism.Thisnotionthreatens, therefore, to become a “pre-conception” taken forgrantedinthedebateonracismandracialprejudice.Sincethisreasoningacceptstheideaof“race”fromthestart,itbecomesaviciouscirclethatultimatelytendstospontaneouslyconfirmitsinitialpremises:theconvictionoftheinescapableexistenceof“races”ashomogenous,substantialandinnateentities.As with the invention of “nationalities” or national “origins”(Noiriel, 1995), it is important to consider the historicalprocesses that drove the amalgamation of individuals withperceived similarities into distinct “races”. Regardless of the

varying economic and social circumstances that characteriseeach individual and segment within the group in question,theyarestill subsumedunder thesame“racial” label.AmongthesePortugueseworkers,forinstance,wecandetectinternaldistinctions that have been created through multiple socialcleavages, such as: the variable integration of the group’smembers in the labourmarket (technical qualifications,wagerelations and social protection);whether they are includedor excluded from the dominant linguistic or behaviouralnorms; their degree of isolation, alienation and anonymity inthe community; or their legal rights and status to deal withpublic matters (police, labour inspection, and so on), amongmany other socially relevant aspects (see also Sayad, 1999).Additionally,“race”ismorethanatranscendent,“pureidea”;itinspiresandarticulatesitselfwitharangeofracist practicesthataresensitivetoeveryday, immediateand“normal”contextsofactionandenunciation(Peukert,1987)–“race”ispaired,inthiscase,withapractical state of racism,whichdoesnotevenneedtobeverbalisedtobeexpressed.Summarisingmultiplesomaticexpressions, the notion of “race” pervades the atmosphereof interactions between working bodies, involving not onlyverbalcues,butalsothesensesoftouchandsmell.Onthoseoccasions, and recalling Toni Morrison’s descriptions in The Bluest Eye, itshowsitselfaseitherdisgustorfearfulgrimaceswhenstandingbeforethe“ugly”(i.e.“lackinginWhiteness”),orasthedistractedgazedirectedtowardsinsignificantpresences(Morrison, 1999). Even if such aspects are not analysed herefor the sakeofbrevity,we takenoteof some featuresof thisentanglementbetweenthesociallyrelevantproprietiesofthesePortuguese construction workers (who are likely to occupy aparticularplaceamongthesocialstructuresinboththecountryofdepartureandthecountryofdestination)andthesymbolicdiscriminationtheyexperienceintheireverydayenvironmentsasmigrants,togiveourperspectiveonthehistoricalconstruction,socialstructureandpracticalstancesthatcomprisethenotionof“race”.For “nationality” or “race” to become markers or labels thatcan be used, at least tacitly, to legitimise the distribution ofworkersintheworkplacesystemoftheconstructionsite,withitstechnicalandhierarchicallevelsanddivisions,theyneedtobeconstantlysanctioned,reproducedandmaterialisedthroughrelevantcriteriasuchasthedistributionofeconomicbenefits,statutoryprivilegesandsignsofrespect.AccordingtoNicolas


Jounin(2006),theexposuretogreaterdanger,beingsubjectedtoprecariouslabourprotectionorearninglowerwagesjustify,in retrospect, the “coloured” thresholds that initially imposedthem, since they converge to produce the very phenomenathat were predicted and anticipated with the enunciationof nationalist or racist biases. Following this chain of circulareffects, “nationality” or “race” have come to act as implicitcriteria that allow or prevent, at the construction site, accesstoadvantagesandprivileges thatwill later justify that initialdivisionalongnationalandethniclines,especiallysincethoseasymmetric resources tend to stimulate or imposebehavioursandattitudesuponthoseworkersthatconformwithexpectedpatterns of racialised thought. The system of opportunitiesandconstraintsattheconstructionsiteperpetuatesthebeliefthat certain nationalities or “races” automatically attractwoesandhandicaps,whileothers seem to conferapalliativeorprophylacticnatureuponanyof thoseevents (vd.Holmes,2006).Onabroaderlevelofanalysis,the“endofborders”inEuropehas not ended the symbolic alchemy that they give rise tothem:administrativelycontrolledornot,borderscontinuetobeinstitutionalmechanismsthatconvertworkersinto“foreigners”as soonas they cross them. The social value attached to the“foreigners”thuscreatedisnot,however,randomlyattributed.From our research, we can raise certain hypotheses thatbeg further research. Firstly, depending on the hierarchicalrelationship between the “country of departure” and the“country of destination” within the cultural and economicinternational system, the migrant can expect either more orlesspositiveevaluations(seeSayad,1999).Thetransmutationthat occurs at the borders is also dependent upon migrantprofilesintermsofculturalandeconomicindicators,meaningthat their status as “aliens” canbe accentuated according tothe degree to which their individual and collective attributesdisplaysignificantsocial“strangeness”incomparisonwiththe“receivingcountry”.Encapsulatingthesemultipleindicatorsofsubordinationunderthesolenotionof“race”tendstohighlightracially-motivated divisions between migrants and “natives”within the “destination communities” and, at the same time,contributestolegitimisingthesepowerrelationsthroughtheir“naturalisation” in the allegedly pre-existent, irreducible andinherentcharacteristicsofmigrants.

The social embeddedness of racismWhendealingwithmigrantsrecountingexperiencesofracism,including their allegations of skin metamorphosis or thereductionoftheirpresencetoinvisibilitywhenstandingbefore“natives” in residential areas or construction sites, it is alsoimportant to note the impact of social structuring principlesbeyond the strictly racialones.Thus, for thecasesconsideredhere, it is important to mention the notion of “class racism”,bearing in mind the consequences suggested by ClaudeGrignon’s work regarding the mechanisms of imposition andsublimationthatsustainracistpracticesandcategories.WearehighlytemptedtoviewtheseaccountsofPortuguesemigrantsas solely the result of their submission to inherently “racist”populationsofthe“destinationcommunities”inotherEuropeancountries.Thereisthedangerofre-essentialising“race”asthesolecauseofsocialstructuring.Thispitfallseemstopresentitselfin interpretations that isolate “race” as a unique, exceptionalandself-containedprinciple,separatefrommultipleothersocialconnectionsanditsveryprocessofhistoricalconstruction,butitcanbecontrolledbytakingnoteofthesocialpositionoftheapparentlyracistsegmentsofthe“native”populationwithinthelocalstructuresofpower–where,accordingtosomemigrants’accounts,thosesegmentsalsoseemtooccupyprecariousandmarginal positions, leaving them in direct competition withincomingmigrants.ForClaudeGrignon,thepoliticalandmediaaccusationsabout“popularracism”(i.e.racismofthe“popularclasses”)asthesoletriggerforthesesituationsmaybe,initself,partiallyaproductof “class ethnocentrism”. Grignon suggests another way ofthinkingaboutthatspecifictypeofracialdiscrimination,treatingitasa specificmodeofdomination that “is simultaneouslyafactof theeruditecultureanda factofpower” (1991,5). “Itisnecessary,then,toseeinracismtheanomicformthatsocialrepulsiontakesinsocieties,wherethatwhichcontributestotheseparationofgroups,andmoreparticularlythepreparationofa separateorder for those inadominantposition, cannotbemanifestedthroughadirectandopenactioninthenameofthehierarchicalprinciple;fromthisstandpoint,thereisnodifferencebetweenthenatureofclassracismandthatwhichiscurrentlyunderstood as racism” (idem: 9). Speaking directly about“popularracism”withoutquestioningthesocialembeddednessof its verbal and physical expressions may become a specificformof“racism”initself.AccordingtoClaudeGrignon,“racists”


areallthosewhoinsistonautomaticallyapplyingtheprinciplesofavisionorganisedexclusivelyaroundanideaof“race”thatthey have themselves internalised as “common sense”. Beingthusready-madeinterpretationsofthesocialworld,theyavoidor inhibittakinganycriticalstancetowards latentconvictionsabout the pre-existence of “races”. Those interpretationsseem to repress, therefore, any questioning of the social andeconomic conditions that explain the conversion of powerstruggles(normallylimitedtothesocialarenaofthesubalternsegmentsoftheworkforce)intostruggleswithstraightforwardnationalisticorethniccontours.

BM:Butwhathappenedthen?J:Weweregoingdown the road, the four of us, easygoing, minding our own business and not talking toanyone.Justthefourofus,talkingtoeachother,walkingdown the road; then a guy came out of a bar… andapproached us and just asked F. [another Portuguesemigrant]ifhehadgonetothefair,-itwassomethingthathappenedatthefair,somethingtodowithgirls,Idon’tknow,something–andtheguyjustasked“haveyougonetothe fair?”,andsuddenly,hepunchedhimrightthereandthen…(…)BM:Didyougotothepolice?J:Wewent to thepoliceand thepolice said: “Doyouknowthem?”,“No,wedon’tknowthem”,“So,whatdoyouwant?Wecannotdoanything,wedon’tknowwhohewaseither,orwhyhedidit”…BM:Andthatwasthepolice’sanswer?J:Thatwaswhattheysaid,nothingmore.Weweretheones who got punched… That was on a Sunday. OnMondaymorning,myheadwasinbadshape,butIstillwenttowork.IwastalkingtoafellowPortugueseguyfromOvar[acoastalcityinPortugal’sNorthregion]whoworkedthere,andItoldhimwhathappened.Afterwards,hetalkedwiththeotherEnglishguys[inthecompany],andwith the [English] foreman,and the foreman toldhim:“Theseguysfromheredon’tevenlikethemselves”andalso said: “We realise that thishappensnon-stop,we don’twant to talk to them andwe are English aswell”…(…)BM:WhydotheseproblemshappenwiththePortuguese?J:Theproblemissimple,theydon’tlikethePortuguese

atall,yousee?Therewasthat…HowcanIputit…?Theywereracists.Therewasracismthere,sotheywouldseePortugueseanditwouldgetugly…(…)AllthePortuguesethathavetheirPortuguesecarsthere,theyscratchedthepaint,dentedthemandslashedthetires…

These excerpts from the interview with Joaquim, whosemigratory journey took him across a number of Europeancountries (Luxembourg in the 1980s, Spain and the UnitedKingdom in the 2000s) and professions (such as factoryworker),despite his experience in the construction industry,preciselyshowthattheuseofterminologyfilledwithmotifsandpracticesof stigmatisationwithamarkednationalistor racialemphasisareintimatelyassociated,intheirimmediatecontextsof enunciation,with situationsofhigh competition for scarceresourcesthatcharacterisethemostprecarioussocialcirclesinthe“destinationcommunities”.ThesePortuguesemigrantsandthese local (sub)proletarians are both immersed in the samecircumstances of physical violence and statutory anxiety (seeCharlesworth,2001).Thisracistandnationalisticreactiontothearrivalof“foreigners”seemsinextricablylinkedtothepressureofhavingtodefend,preserveandvaluetheir(few)benefitsandrewardsinplaceswhereeconomicandsymbolicopportunitiesarealreadyscarceforthemas“natives”.Avastarrayoffactorsseems to endorse the “threat” that “foreigners” represent forthe“natives”forcedtocompetewiththem,andevenmakesitplausible. The increase inhousehold costs, theover crowdingofpublicservices(suchaschildcarefacilitiesorjobcentres)incommunitieswheretheStatehasheldbackorpreferredtouserepressivestrategies(Wacquant,2008)andincreasingpressureonwages,togetherwithincreasingprecariouslabourcontracts,allseemtoprovidereasonforcompetitionamongthedifferentsegmentsofthelocalpopularclasses.All inall,asaresultofthis narrowing range of available options, the disadvantagedlocalpopulationtendstosymbolicallyandphysicallycompete,sometimes violently, with other impoverished segmentsof society, “alien” or “native” alike. In accordance with ourinterviewee’s account, certain “natives” fight and insult eachother, and are even seen by other segments of the “native”populationastroublemakers(“Theseguysfromheredon’tevenlikethemselves”).Thatsamecompetitionforvaluableresourcesthatimmigrantsexperience with the “native” population can also occur with


othermigrants,whichmeansthat“thePortuguese”,particularlythosePortuguesemigrantswhoarealreadyestablishedinthecommunityandaretryingtoparlaytheirlessrecentarrivalintosocialintegration,canrepresent“theworstrace”,touseanotherexpression from this interviewee, for their own countrymen.Such cases show that spatial proximityornationalbelongingamongmigrantsiscounterbalancedbytheemergenceofcriteriaof inclusion and exclusion related with community ancestry.Therefore,inthesecases,weseethattheintegrationofmigrantsamongstthemselvesisnotspontaneouslyornecessarilycreated,butisrathersusceptibletocleavagesbetweenthe“established”andthe“outsiders”amongthem(EliasandScotson,1993).InthefollowingexcerptfromJoaquim’sinterview,otherPortugueseworkerswhoarrivedearlieronandaresettledrelativelywellinLuxembourgsawthenewcomersasapotentialthreattotheir(precarious)positionwithinthecommunity.

BM:WhywerethoseolderPortugueseworkerscomplai-ningaboutthenewcomers?J:Theydidn’twantthenewcomerstogotherebecausetheywereafraidthattheywantedtoearnagoodsalaryby working harder. And they wanted to live a nicelife andhavenothing todowith thenewcomers; andanythingthatweaskedto learn, to tellushow itwasdone,they…Therewasone[Portuguesemigrant]therethatevenstartedtalkinginFrenchorLuxemburgishorwhatever,andItoldhimthatIdidn’tunderstand…BM:ButwashePortuguese?J: He was Portuguese, from Gaia [a city in the Northregion,closetoPorto]…AndIcameuptohim…Ihadseen him talking to other Portuguese guys before,becauseIknowthoseguyswerePortuguese…(…)AndI came up to him and [asked]: “What is the name ofthat?WherecanIfindit?”Andtheguyreplied:“Idon’tunderstand”,andItoldhim:“That’sfine”.Afterawhile,IcaughthimspeakinginPortuguesetoanotherguyandI told him: “Thank you”, and he said: “What?”, [and Ireply:] “What? You don’t understand Portuguese, butyouspeakPortuguese?Youareasonofabitch!”.

The racialisation of the controversyThe racialisation of the social world through principles ofthought and action that establish “race” as the primary

premiseof belongingandexclusion, conceals its longhistoryof internalisation in the human body and its materialisationin thesocialworld.Given that itwas translatedand imposedover the very structures of the social world that would laterdictate its everyday manifestations, “race” sustained theappearance of its own “naturalness” under the guise ofcommon sense and was, unintentionally, even assimilated bythe “collective unconsciousness” of intellectual communities.WalterBenjamin,inhisessayCharles Baudelaire. A poet in the era of high capitalism, focusesonthehistoricalemergenceofthevisionofclassstruggleasacollisionofraces,emblematicallyrepresented in the Baudelairian opposition between Cainand Abel. Formulated in 1838, the “racial theory” of Granierde Cassagnac, which saw the proletariat as a “class of sub-humans” originating from the “crossbreeding of bandits andprostitutes”,couldhavebeentransferredtoother“racial”visionsof the social classes, essentialised in theirnatureandmutualopposition(1974,523-524).Thisimplicitworldviewreappearsinothereruditetranscriptionsthathaveembracedtheexistenceof compactand incommensurable “identities” connectedwith“races”,“religions”or“cultures”asbeingself-evident.ExploringthecaseofFrenchpoliticsonmigrationissues,BenoitBréville(2015)notesthereplacementofthe“socialapproach”withthe“ethnicangle”,whichconverts“labourconflicts” into“culturalconfrontations”.ForBréville,thismeansthat,atanotherlevel,politicalattentionandpressureischangingfromthe“struggleforequality”tothe“struggleagainstdiscriminations”.Themostsimplified versions of the discourses on “race” that permeatethemedia,politicsandacademiatendtowardsanuncontrolledreification of the idea of “race” as a transcendent substance;exactly the opposite of what research on the historical andsocialprocessesof“race”categoriesandpracticeshasshownus.The univocal attention paid to only one, albeit important,principleoforganisationofthesocialworldcouldbecome–aswith the “economist” readings of so-called “vulgar Marxism”–an epistemic obstacle in itself. Especially when it prevents usfromquestioningthestructuresofpowerthatsustain,legitimiseand reproduce such organisation, thanks to its allegations ofunquestionability or neutrality, as Everett Hughes tells us hashappenedwiththestatisticalartefactsthat, imbuedwithracistdefinitions,conditionedGermanstatisticalcategoriesinthe1930s(2009,516-523).Theessentialisationofthenotionof“race”(or“class”, or “people” or “nation”) bars, in such cases, scientific


researchfromadvancingbeyondthelimitsofthethinkablethatthosenotionstrace,sincesuchanessentialistreadingseesthemas matters of dogma or accepts them as unquestionable and“obvious”realities.The logic of racialised reasoning serves, under circumstancessuch as those of the aforementioned “class racism”, tostigmatise members of the working classes as inherentlyxenophobicand racist, refusing tounderstand the impactsofintensified competition, disaffiliation and precariousness thatthe popular classes of contemporary societies are subject toand,inparticular,theemergenceanddiffusionofstigmatizingstereotypes inthepoliticalarenaasacceptabledefinitionsforthesegroups.Thediscoursesthatnowadayspromoteavilifiedvisionoftheallegedlyparochial,savageandprejudiced“masses”(i.e. thenotionof“whitetrash”),seemtocolludeina“jargonofauthenticity”,inwhichconcepts“areuntouchedbyhistory”(Adorno,2003,5).Thesejudgementsonthesupposed“racismoftheworkingclasses”notonlyexcludeanyseriousquestioningofitsownhistoricalinceptionwithintheideologicalcosmos,butalsoignorethechangesinthestructuresofpowerthataffectallworkingclasses,“native”and“foreign”alike,puttingtheminasocialplaceparticularlysusceptibletothisimposedlabelling.

ConclusionThe discrimination felt by these workers, who see and feel itasconveyingracistprejudicesandactions,isonlysatisfactorilyexplained through a form of reasoning that refuses theessentialisationofcategoriesandtaxonomiesusuallymobilisedeitherintheracistandnationalisticnarrativesor(thoughwithcompletely reversedpolitical intentions) in certainversionsof“multiculturalist” thought (Taylor, 2010).2 Through episodesof racismdevoid of the supposedly most visible indicators of“race”,thispapershowsthatthepossibilityandplausibilityofthesespecificexperiencesofracismarealsoconnectedwiththecompetitionforscarceresourcestakingplacewithinterritoriallycircumscribed systems of power relations, which lateralisesconflicts between the segments of the working classes andsymbolically marginalises these Portuguese migrants. Theasymmetries of these power relations are legitimised andreproduced through a racialised representation of the world,as seen in the recruitment procedures or the technical andprofessionalhierarchiesdescribedbyNicolasJouninregardingconstructionsitesinFrance(2006).Thismutualentanglement

betweenthesocial structureofpowerandracial segregationsanddivisionsgiveparticularresiliencetotheideaof“race”.Asakindof tautological reasoning,where theeconomicandcultural precariousness of migrants seems to support theimpositionof racialdiscriminationandvice-versa, theprocessof racialisation is especially highlighted in the seeminglycounterfactual case of Portuguese migrants, since it short-circuitsthecrudecorrespondencebetweensocialandbiologicalattributesplacedat thebottomof “racism” incommonsensediscourses. This relationshipbetween structuresofpowerandsymbolic violence occurs at various levels, morphing itself toadapt to the peculiar shape of local contexts or workplaces,suchastheconstructionsite.TheagriculturalworkersstudiedbySethHolmes(2006)expressedthisempiricalsuperpositionbetweentheoccupationalhierarchyorganisedalongraciallinesand thehierarchiesof sufferinganddangerof the farm.Thissuperposition makes the accidents and illnesses that, giventheir social place, touch those migrant bodies, seem simpleexpressions of their intrinsic ethnic nature. The absence ofmarked physical evidence is not an absolute obstacle to theimpositionofracialiseddiscrimination.Wecanalsodetecttheprevalence of racist mechanisms and behaviours combinedwiththeabsenceofthemostnotablebiologicalmarkers.Asaparticularcaseofsymbolicviolence,theideaof“race”legitimisesthe social asymmetriesofpower,making themappearas the“natural” order between distinct beings. In contrast, sinceit neutralises any reflection on the social asymmetries andstruggles that underscore the racialised mode of domination,this ideaof“race”appearsastranscendent,which ispreciselytheissuewhosegenesisandrelevancedeservetobeunderstoodinsocialandhistoricalterms.Bythinkingnotonlywithconcepts,butalsoaboutthem(Ryle,1965), we can understand apparent paradoxes such as thevariety of racism that apparently doesnot need to appeal tothe most obvious biological and cultural traits (“skin colour”,religion, gastronomy or clothing, among many others), orthe accounts of Portuguese migrants who insist that theircountrymen, especially the ones who have been settled thelongest in the “communities of destination”, are “the mostracist”againstthem.Thisapproachsuggeststhatwemustthinkcritically about those discourses as well, insisting on takingall methodological precautions needed when addressing theissue.Sincethiswouldimplyconductingadualcritiqueonthe

Credits and acknowledgementsThispaperhasbeeninformedbythe“MasonsandMaids–Class,genderandethnicityintheconstructionindustryanddomesticservices”seminar,heldonApril20th,2017,attheFacultyofArts–UniversityofPorto.Boththepaperandtheseminarweresupportedbytheresearchproject“BreakingGroundforConstruction:ChangesinthePortugueseConstructionFieldandtheirImpactsonWorkingConditionsinthe21stcentury”(POCI-01-0145–FEDER–016621),fundedbyFEDERFunds,throughtheProgramaOperacionalCompetitividadeeInternacionalização–COMPETE2020andbynationalsfundsthroughFCT–FundaçãoparaaCiênciaeaTecnologia.Theinitialresearchwasbasedonpersonalresearchand,also,intheresearchproject“RecentdynamicsinPortugueseemigration”,coordinatedbyJoãoQueirósandsupportedbytheDirectorate-GeneralforConsularAffairsandPortugueseCommunities.ThediscussionsheldasavisitingscholarattheSSIIM,wheretheauthorbenefittedfromthecommentsofElenaOstanel,AdrianoCancillieri,GiovannaMarconiandMarcelloBalbo,wereimportantforincubatingtheauthor’sinterestinthistopic.AfirstattempttodealwiththissubjectwaspublishedasanarticleinthePortugueseeditionofthenewspaperLeMondeDiplomatique.TheconversationsheldwithNunoDomingos,JoãoQueirós,SethHolmes

2Thelineofthoughtthatinsistsontheincommensurablenatureofdistinct“cultures”hasastronghistoricalconnectionwiththetraditionof“irrationalism”andeven“anti-enlightenment”(seeSterhnell,2010).


symbolicviolenceencapsulatedintheracialisedcategoriesand,atthesametime,thesocialstructuresofpowerthatorganisethepatterns of resourcedistribution in our societies, such anapproachwouldpreventusfromignoringboththespecificitiesof ethnic discrimination and the relevance of the objectiverelations of power. The reciprocal critique between symbolicdomination based on the idea of “race” and the reading ofpowerstructuresis,inconclusion,aproductivewaytomutuallycorrectourownepistemological limitations–and it is alsoaheuristicdeviceforresearchinthefieldofracistpracticesandrepresentations.

ReferencesT.ADORNO,2003,The Jargon of Authenticity,London,

RoutledgeW.BENJAMIN,1974,“CharlesBaudelaire.EinLyrikerim

ZeitalterdesHochkapitalismus”,Gesammelte Schriften,I-1,FrankfurtamMain,SuhrkampVerlag.

B.BRÉVILLE,2015,“Islamophobiaouproletariofobia?”,Le Monde Diplomatique (edição portuguesa),février2015,pp.13,17

N.ELIAS,J.SCOTSON,1994,The Established and the Outsiders,London,SagePublications,2ndedition

R.ELLISON,1999,Homem Invisível,CruzQuebrada,CasadasLetras/EditorialNotícias

C.GRIGNON,1991,“Racismeetracismedeclasse”,Critique Sociale,n.2,pp.5-14

S.HOLMES,2006,“AnethnographicstudyofthesocialcontextofmigranthealthintheUnitedStates”,PLoS Medicine,Vol10,n.3,pp.1776-1793

E.HUGHES,2009,“TheGleichschaltungofGermanStatisticalYearbook”, The sociological eye: selected papers,NewBrunswick,TransactionBooks,pp.516-523.

M.JACOBSON,2003,Whiteness of a different colour. European immigrants and the alchemy of race,Harvard,HarvardUniversityPress

N.JOUNIN,2006,“Lasecuritéautravailaccaparéeparlesdirections.Quandlesouvriersdubâtimentaffrontentclandestinementledanger“Actes da la Recherche en Sciences Sociales,165,pp.2-91

F.L.MACHADO,2002,Contrastes e continuidades: migração, etnicidade e integração dos guineenses em Portugal,Oeiras,CeltaEditora

T.MORRISON,1999,The Bluest Eye,London,VintageBooks

G.NOIRIEL,1995,“Socio-histoired’unconcept.Lesusagesdumot“nationalité”auXIXesiècle”,Genèses,20-1,pp.4-23

J.PEIXOTOetal,2016,Regresso ao futuro. A nova emigração e a sociedade portuguesa,Lisboa,Gradiva

D.PEUKERT,1987,“AlltagundBarbarei-ZurNormalitätdesDrittenReich”,Gewerkschaftlichen Monatshefte,3,pp.143-153

J.M.PINTO,J.Queirós(eds),2010,IreVoltar.Sociologia de uma colectividade local do Noroeste Português (1977-2007). Volume I: Estratégia observacional e análise da economia, migrações e relação com a escola.Porto,EdiçõesAfrontamento

J.M.PINTO,M.C.QUEIROZ,1996,“Qualificaçãoprofissionaledesqualificaçãosocialnaconstruçãocivil”,Cadernos de Ciências Sociais,17,pp.41-85

N.RENAHY,2009,“«Lesproblèmes,ilsrestentpasoùilssont,ilsviennentavectoi».Appartenanceouvrièreetmigrationdeprécarité”,Agora. Débats / Jeunesses,53-3,pp.135-147

A.SAYAD,1999,La double absence. Des illusions de l’émigré aux souffrances de l’immigré,Paris,Seuil

Z.STERNHEL,2010, Les anti-Lumières. Une tradition du XVIIIe siècle à la guerre froide,Paris,Gallimard

C.TAYLOR,1994,“Thepoliticsofrecognition”,Multiculturalism,Princeton,PrincetonUniversityPress,pp.25-73

L.WACQUANT,2008,Urbanoutcasts.A comparative sociology of advanced marginality,Cambridge,PolityPress

L.WITTGENSTEIN,1987,Anotações sobre as cores,Lisboa,Edições70

andVirgílioBorgesPereiraonthesetopicswereinvaluabletotheauthor.

Starting from the second half of the twentieth century, themigratory mobility of the Cape Verdeans had Lisbon as theirmaindestination.This essay examines how the history of Cape VerdeanimmigrationtotheAML(MetropolitanAreaofLisbon),sincethemiddleofthe20thcentury,dependedonthepoliticaloptionsandtheirconsequenturbanchanges,andhowitmorphologicallytransformedLisbon.Focusingontheeverydaylifeandworkoftheseimmigrants,andontherelationshipcreatedbetweentheexpansionofthecityofLisbonandthearrivalofconstructionworkersfromCapeVerdeanorigintoPortugal,itisverifiedthatknowledge of the migratory mobility and its consequencesto the urban space is essential to understand the city in itscomplexity.”ThepopulationofCapeVerdeanorigingathered in theAML,helpingto“create”astripofinformalurbansprawlontheborderbetweenthemunicipalityofLisbonandthecountiesofOeiras,AmadoraandLoures.Thepromotionofaseriesofworksandthecreationofinfrastructuresbydifferentgovernmentsenabledthearrivalofa largenumberofCapeVerdeanworkers,which ledto the formationofbe largelymarginalizedcommunities thatgrewintheinformalneighborhoodsunderconstructionintheperimeterofthecity,suchas inthecaseofBairro6deMaio(Sampaio,2013).Oneresidentofthisneighborhoodstates:

“[...] Specifically, the Cape Verdeans were the greatestbuildersofallthePortuguesearea.Thebiggestbuilders...Somewerekilled,somewerecrippled...I’ll say one thing, the first major company I knew inPortugalthatfilledthefirstbankruptcywasJ.Pimenta.HebuiltthetaxofficebuildingatReboleira(...)Or JoséMonteiro,whobuilt thatneighborhoodof theBenficacemetery.The Cape Verdeans were the ones that built theneighborhoods.

TH E C I T Y UNDER CONS TRUC T ION : C A P E V ERDEA N CO NS TR UC T ION WORKERS IN L I SBON

Catarina Sampaio

Catarina SampaioisaPhDresearcherinAnthropologyattheInstitutodeCiênciasSociaisofthe_UniversityofLisbon”insteadthan“CatarinaSampaioisaPhDresearcherinAnthropologyattheInsttitutodeCiênciasSociaisofthe_UniversityofLisbon(ICS-UL).WithadegreeinarchitecturefromtheDepartmentofArchitectureoftheUniversityofCoimbra(Darq-FCTUC),masterinArchitecture,TerritoryandMemory(Darq-FCTUC)andinSocialandCulturalAnthropology(ICS-UL),hermainresearchinterestsareurbaninformality,architecture,housing,migration,labourandthedialoguebetweenlabour,cityandcorporalityinCapeVerdeandiaspora.Atthistimesheisdevelopingthedoctoralthesis“Betweentheinformalcityandtheformalcity:everydaylife,workandcorporalityoftheconstructionworkersoftheBairro6deMaio”,financedbyFundaçãoparaaCiênciaeTecnologia(FCT).

1InterviewwithAdrianoinDecember2011


TheCapeVerdeanswerethelargestAfricancommunitytoworkinconstructionhereinPortugal.Andtodaysometimestheysufferatreacherouscensorship.Theysuffercensurorshipthattheydonotdeserve.Doyouunderstand?[...]”1

TakingintoaccountthecontextoftheCapeVerdearchipelago,and the demand for labor in Portugal both due to therecruitmentfortheColonialWarandtheemigrationtoFrance,representatives of several portuguese construction companiesmoved to the archipelagowith thegoal of hiringworkers. InPortugal,CapeVerdeansworkedmainlyasmasons,carpenters,andinpreparingtheironsubgradeforreinforcedconcrete,etc.(Carreira, 1977:168). Accordingly, different periods show thedifferentmomentsofimmigrationofCapeVerdeanconstructionworkers to Lisbon and their relationship with the differentconstructionsitesinthecity.Considering that the majority of Cape Verdean men work intheconstruction industry, theflowof theseworkers toLisbonis closely related to the various stages of consolidation andaffirmation of this city as an urban project. The differenturbanization and infrastructure consolidation operations thathavetakenplaceovertimeinLisbon–fromthesecondhalfofthetwentiethcenturytothepresent–designedandredefinedthepresenceofconstructionworkers intheurbanspace,thusmakingtheseworkersintoactiveelementsinthedefinitionofLisbonasacapitalcityandcenterofpowerand,atthepresentmoment, one important touristic center. In this way, severalperiods of the history of the immigration of Cape VerdeanconstructionworkerscanbedefinedaccordingtotheirrelationwithdifferentconstructionsitesandtheirtimelinesinLisbon.

First phase, 1960-1973Manyconstructionworkerswereneeded inorder tocarryoutlarge-scaleurbanoperations,whichtookplaceinLisbonsincethe 1940s. These operations included urban upgrading andexpansionworks,suchastheconstructionoftheLisbonmetro– thefirst linewas inaugurated in1959–, the constructionof the Salazar bridge, later renamed the 25 de Abril bridge,inauguratedin1966–,andurbanizationprojects–suchastheOlivaiscomplex–inthe60’s–andAltodoRestelodesignedby the architect Nuno Teotónio Pereira, in 1972-1973; andtheChelascomplex, inthebeginningofthe70’s.The lackof

laborinPortugal,duetoemigrationtoFranceandcompulsoryrecruitmentfortheColonialWar,atatimewhensomedynamicsof economic development were visible, and an increase inindustrialization reinforced by the expansion of public worksand construction in the civil society, fostered the arrival ofnativesfromthethenCapeVerdeanprovincetoLisboninordertofillthisgap.Thefirst phaseof themigratory flow toAML, between1960and 1973 (França, 1992), coincided with a first moment oflandoccupationforillegalhousingconstructionintheoutskirtsof thecity.Thefirst immigrantswhoarrived inLisbonworkedinconstructionandpublicworks. In fact,Portugal in the60swas characterized by an increase in civil construction andpublicworks,whichattractedCapeVerdeanworkers(Batalha,2007:31):

“Cape Verdean emigration to Portugal acceleratedrapidlyinthe1960s,whensomePortugueseconstructionand public works companies were contracted to builddesalination, electrification, fountains, roads, airfieldsand ports in the then colony of Cape Verde. ThesecompaniesbegantoofferworktoCapeVerdeanworkersinthecapitalcity.“(Batalha,2007:31)

Although these immigrants traveled on personal initiative,theirtravelswere,toacertainextent,protectedbygovernmententities.Thisprotectionwasreinforcedin1972bythecreationof a department dedicated to the support and professionalreferral of these workers, called the Nucleo de Apoio aos trabalhadores Migrantes Cabo-verdianos.Atthistime,themainemployers were the companies J. Pimenta, Pereira da CostaandtheDourodaMargueira.Civilconstruction,mines–fromPanasqueira,Aljustrel,etc.–,cleaningservices inthecityandsuburbanareasandothersectorsofworkrequired immediatelabortoavoidparalysis.Inthisperiod,CapeVerdeanworkerswereconsideredPortuguese,becauseCapeVerdewasnotyetindependentfromcolonialrule.The majority of the Cape Verdean community in Lisbon wasmadeupofmen,mostlypeasantsfromtheinterioroftheislandofSantiago,whohadtoadapttourbanlifeinPortugal.Inspiteof moving from peasants to workers, they did not renouncethe “fundamental values and social representations of CapeVerdeanruralsociety”(Batalha,2007:30).Theseworkerssettled


inLisbon–CampodeOurique,Estrela,Camões,CondeBarão–andintheirperipheries,likeAmadora,Reboleira,Carnaxide.Intheseareas,theyformed,throughtheself-constructionoftheirdwellings,informalcitystreetsinordertoguaranteehousingforthemselvesandtheirfamilies.

Second phase, 1974-1992During thephasebetween1974and1976, after theprocessof decolonization, there was a flow of Cape Verdeans fromthe former colonies, including many who had fought on thePortuguesesideduringtheColonialWar.InPortugal,mostofthemcontinuedtoworkincivilconstruction(França,1992).Withfewexceptions,themanyimmigrantswhoarrivedinLisbonduring this period did not find a place in the urban housingcontext,eitherasaresultofthepriceofhousingorofpracticesofdiscrimination.Consequently, itwasmoreadvantageoustothem fit into thehousingdynamicsof the informal city. TheoccupationofthelandontheoutskirtsofLisbonforconstructioncontinuedthereforeintensifysinceApril1974:

“These neighborhoods were places where poor post-colonial immigrants – construction workers, men, andhousekeepers or fish sellers, women – who had diffi-culty accessing the housing system because of poorincome or racist practices of landlords who did notrent houses to them, solved their housing problem.” (Ascensão,2012:10)

In this way, the “informal city”, in the axis of the Portas deBenfica to the station of Damaia, was consolidated with thearrivalofnewinhabitantswhoself-buildtheirhouses,generatingthegrowthofthesedistrictsinextension,constructivedensityand population increase. The houses grew in height and theemptysitesalongtheEstrada Militar–amongotherterritories–continuedtobeoccupiedfortheself-constructionofhouses.IntheCapeVerdeanmigratoryscenario,Portugalhasoperatedsincethe50’sasa“turntable”orgatewaytootherdestinations–EuropeortheUnitedStates,forexample–wheretherewasaneedforconstructionworkers.TheindependenceoftheformerPortuguesecoloniesinAfrica,andtheensuingcivilwars-whichdidnotoccurinCapeVerde–causedlongmigratoryflowstoPortugal.ThisexodushadtheAMLasitsprimarydestination.Intheperiodbetween1976and1992,CapeVerdeanworkers

appearedasforeignworkersworkinginconstructionandpublicworks(France,1992).Duringthisperiod,itwasusualfortheseimmigrants towork inprecariousworkingconditions,withnoemploymentties,thatforcedthemtoadoptnon-legalformsofstayinthePortuguesenationalterritory,andinsomecases,todevelopformsofaparalleleconomyfortheirownsubsistenceandoftheirfamilies:

“Theadoptionof‘hiddenformsoflabor’throughillegalemployment and escape from social responsibilitiestowardsworkersfindsfertilegroundincivilconstructionand public works, with special use of Cape Verdeanworkers, who, as immigrants and foreigners, are in amorefragilesituationandaresubjecttoacceptworkingconditionswhich, ingeneral, Portugueseworkers tendnottoaccept.“(França,1992:78)

ThisperiodofthehistoryofimmigrationinPortugalcoincideswiththesigningoftheapplicationformembershipoftheEECin1977andbecomingamemberin1986:

“Thearrivalofthesenewmigrantsrespondstotheneedfor labor for the construction of urban infrastructuresaftertheentryofPortugalintotheEuropeanEconomicCommunityin1986,enablinganumberofprofessionaloccupationsinthefieldofcivilconstructionthroughoutthecountry.”(Martins,2012:51)

The post-entry period of Portugal in the EEC was, therefore,fertileintheconstructionofinfrastructuresandothersymbolicbuildingsofaLisbonthatwantedtobe“European”.Thisgaverisetonumerousconstructionworkswhichwereaimedtogiveanewstandingtothiscity,inaprocessof“urbanrehabilitation”that tried to bring it closer to the European counterparts.The urban interventions of the time in Lisbon were mainlycharacterized by renovations of the infrastructures and theconstruction of several emblematic works in the city. AmongthesesignificantinterventionsarethereconstructionofChiadoafter the great fire of 1988, the Centro Cultural de Belémstarted in1988and completed in1993; andCasadosBicos–nowtheJoséSaramagoFoundation-rebuiltin1983forthe


XVIIExhibitionofArts,ScienceandCulture.The flow of workers to these construction jobs also meant alargeoccupationoftheinformalneighborhoodsontheoutskirtsofLisbon.Therewasanaccelerationof theoccupationof thehousesalreadybuilt–bymeansofloanorsub-lease–andoftheconstructioninthisurbaninterstice,aswellasanincreaseofpopulationdensity.Inthoseneighborhoods,thepopulationgrewto accommodate workers that had come during the previousmigratoryflowsandworkers thatarrived in thisnew influxofimmigrants,bothworkingmainlyasconstructionworkers.

In fact, the high population density in these informalneighborhoods,togetherwiththeirstrongcommunityties,makesthemintorecruitmentplacesforworkersincivilconstruction.Inthis social and geographical context, the hiring of workers isdonebywordofmouth,amongfamily,friends,neighborsandotherCapeVerdeans.The daily life of these construction workers is structured incontexts of informal work, characterized by the absence ofemployment contracts, exclusion from the social securitysystem, long working hours, high geographical mobility andhighturnoverofemployers(Machado,1993).TheCapeVerdeancommunityofAMLacceptsthislaborprecariousnessaspartoftheirdailylife.

Third phase, 1992 – 20042

Theconstructionof largepublicworks inPortugalduring theeighties increasedduring thenineties.Agoodexample is theExpo 98, an international exhibition in Lisbon organized tocelebratethefifthcentenaryofthevoyagesofthePortuguesenavigators of theXVandXVI centuries. Itwas thought of asa specialized internationalexhibition,built inanenclosureofabout50hectares,locatedinLisbon.Theeasternpartofthecitywaschosen,inavastareaconsidereddegradedandpolluted.The years from 1994 to 1998 were the consolidation andconstruction of this event. The site of the future exhibitionwas “cleaned” of the buildings considered obsolete, and theplace of the exhibition gained shape, as the construction oftheNorthandSouthInternationalAreas,thePortugalPavilion,thePavilionoftheFuture,thePavilionoftheKnowledgeoftheSeas,theOceanariumortheOrienteStation.TheconstructionoftheVascodaGamaBridge-between1994and1998-andthe construction of the Regional Internal Circular of Lisbon

(CRIL) in1991.ThesebigpublicworksgavesignsofPortugalasaprosperouscountrywithmanyworkingopportunities,andthusthecountryattractedmanyimmigrantworkers.However,accordingtoFikes(2009),theintegrationofPortugalintotheEuropeanUnion(EU)hasincreasedtheprecariousnessoflaborrelations and the marginalization of the PALOP immigrants,changingthedailyrelationshipbetweenthemandPortuguesecitizens, with impact on the urban dynamics and sociabilityprocesses.ImmigrantsfromCapeVerdecontinuetoarriveandjoinedthecontinued informal settlement on the periphery of Lisbon –inneighborhoods suchas Fontainhas,6deMaio andEstrelad’Africa-,whichledtofurtherconstructionandoccupationofhouses in a massive way, in these neighborhoods. To answerthedemandforworkers,thePortuguesegovernmentcreatedaprotocoltofacilitateimmigrationtoPortugalin1997:

“TheD.L.No60/97of19November1997approvedaprotocolbetweentheGovernmentsofPortugal andCapeVerdeaimedatfacilitating“theemigrationofCapeVerdeancitizenstoPortugal,foralimitedperiodoftime,withaviewtotheexerciseoftemporaryactivities“[...].Thisemigrationwasdependentonthepre-existenceofan employment contractwith amaximumduration ofoneyear, extendableup toamaximumof threeyears(article1and2oftheProtocol).Inaddition,theProtocolestablishes the conditions to be met by PortugueseemployerswishingtohireCapeVerdeanworkers”.(BaganhaandMarques,2001:54).

In2004,PortugalreceivedtheEuropeanFootballChampionship.The organization of this event required large investments ininfrastructures in order to meet all the necessary conditionsrequired by the Union of European Football Associations(UEFA). The construction or remodeling of ten stadiumsspread across the Portuguese territory and the improvementof accesses, implied infrastructural projects in roads, railwaysandairports.Anotherconsequenceofthiseventwastheurbanredevelopment operations in the cities that were the sceneof thecompetitions. If,during thatperiod, the recruitmentofconstructionworkerswasessential,thispopulationwouldlaterhavetoleavePortugaltoensureemployability.

2In1998thedistrictsofLisbonandSetubalheld90%ofCapeVerde’spopulation,consistinginabout70,000people.Oftheactivepopulation,about67%workedincivilconstruction,orinrelatedjobs.In“StudyofcharacterizationoftheCapeVerdeancommunitylivinginPortugal”,EmbassyofCapeVerdeinPortugal,1998.


Fourth phase, 2004 -2017Since 2008, the international economic crisis had majorconsequencesonmigrationworldwide.Unemploymentamongimmigrantsincreasedexponentially,especiallyforthosewhoseactivitieswereconnectedwiththeoneswhichhadbeenmostaffected by the recession as was the case of construction.However, before 2008 the unemployment rate in immigrantcommunities was already significant, affecting mainly maleunskilledlaborinconstruction(Peixotoet al,2011).Duringthisperiod,themobilityofCapeVerdeanconstructionworkers was intense. Some of them returned to Cape Verde,others travelled to France and the Netherlands looking fornewjobopportunities.Portugalwentonbeingtheaxisforthemobilityofthesepeople,asanimportantpointofdeparturetoothercountries.Nowadays,after thecrisisof the realestatesector, theurbanregeneration of Lisbon associated to the ‘touristification’process of the city is one of the biggest sources of work fortheseworkers:

“Construction, after the collapse of recent years, hasrecovered from the crisis and is already lacking inworkers–23,000jobswerecreatedinthefirstquarterof this year alone, but it will take 80,000 workers inthenexttwotothreeyears.Thesector,whichhas lost200,000 jobs since2010, shortlybefore thearrivalofthetroika,isbeingdrivenbythegrowthoftourismandurbanrehabilitation,closelylinkedtolocalhousing.Lastyear11thousandnewbuildingsand6thousandurbanrehabilitationwerelicensed.By2014,atthepeakofthecrisis,only8955buildingshadbeen licensedandrealestaterehabilitationdroppedtoalowof5435by2015.Andsince thebeginningof this year, theconstructionproduction index has not stopped growing, havingincreasedonly1.6%inApril.”3

Newpartners from thearchipelagoarenow joining the largenumber of Cape Verdean construction workers in the city.Theseusuallyalternateconstructionworkduringtheweekwithdifferent types of work at weekends performing as musiciansor porters bouncers in small bars and nightclubs scatteredthroughoutthecity.Lisbon are is now interspersed by an uncountable series of

constructionworks.While thepublic policies in the city havebeenfocusingonurbanreordering,suchas–asitisthecaseoftheredefinitionoftheroadsystem,oftheparkingsystemandtheenvironment–thereisnotonlyalargenumberofbuildingstoberequalifiedinthecitycenternow–mainlywithAirbnb–butalsotherehabilitationofoldbuildingsfornewpurposes,alsoconnectedtothehotelindustry.Inthiscontext,thehumanlandscapeofthecityisnowmarkedbytwoevidentdynamics:the immense circulation of tourists and the movement ofconstructionworkers’movement.Whileitistruethattourismhaspushedurbanrehabilitationtosuchanextentthatthereisalreadyashortageoflabor,ithasalsoopeneddoorstogreaterclandestinityandtheincreaseofillegalpracticesregardingworkersrights.Infact,theseillegalpracticesareincreasinginthissectorwiththegroweurbanrehabilitationand immigrant communities and heavily affected by them.Immigrantstatushasinitselfastigmadifficulttoovercomeintheworldofwork.Thesituationofbeinganimmigrantimposeson theseCapeVerdeanmasonsa condition thatmakes themlivetheireverydaylifeinprecarioussituations.Inthissense,theabsenceofpoliticalandcivilrightsassociatedwithprocessesofsocialandeconomicmarginalization,poorhousingconditions,low access to health and education and precarious workingconditionsareindicatorsofthevulnerabilityandprecariousnessoftheseworkersinPortugal(SarróandMapril,2011:31).Changes in organization modes and work dynamics, as wellas the results of political andeconomic constraints of aneo-liberal tendency, have given rise to policies where laborflexibilityisagrowingtendency,atatimeinwhichxenophobicpositions are also increasing. Immigrant workers from thePortuguese-speaking African countries (PALOP), especially intheconstructionindustry,arethemostaffectedbythiscontext.

ReferencesE.ASCENSÃO,2012,Depoisdasbarracas:históriaeteimosia

nacidadeinformalinLe Monde Diplomatique,ediçãoportuguesa,agostode2012,pp.10-12

M.BAGANHA,J.C.MARQUES,2001,Imigração e Política o caso por tuguês,Lisboa,FLAD

L.BATALHA,2007,Cabo-verdianosemPortugal:‘comunidade’eidentidade”InPedroGóis(coord.), Comunidade(s) Cabo-Verdiana(s): As Múltiplas Faces da Imigração Cabo-Verdiana,Lisboa,EdiçõesACIDI,pp.25-36

3“Construçãoprecisade80miloperáriosnospróximosanos”inwww.dn.pt/dinheiro/interior/construcao-precisa-de-80-mil-operarios-nos-proximos-anos-8561195.html,consultedinJune2017.

138

A.CARREIRA,1977,Cabo Verde: Classes sociais, Estrutura Familiar, Migrações,Lisboa,EdiçõesUlmeiro

P.COSTAetal.,2012,No Quarto da Vanda: Conversa com Pedro Costa,Lisboa,MidasFilmeseOrfeuNegro

K.FIKES,2009,Managing African Portugal: the Citizen-Migrant Distinction,Durham,DukeUniversityPress

L.deFRANÇA,1992,A Comunidade Cabo-Verdiana em Portugal,Lisboa,InstitutodeEstudosparaoDesenvolvimento

P.GÓIS,2006,Emigração Cabo-Verdiana para (e na) Europa e a Sua Inserção em Mercados de Trabalho Locais: Lisboa, Milão, Roterdão, Lisboa,ACIME

F.L.MACHADO,FernandoLuís,1992,“EtnicidadeemPortugal–contrastesepolitização”,Sociologia–Problemas ePráticas,(12):pp.123-136

J.MARTINS,2012,“BairrodaLiberdade:umaabordagemhabitacionaldaurbanizaçãoàportuguesa”.InRitaÁvilaCachadoeJoãoBaía(orgs.),Políticas de Habitação e Construção Informal,Lisboa,EditoraMundosSociais,pp.43-55

J.PEIXOTOetal,2011,Crise, Imigração e Mercado de Trabalhoin Portugal: retorno, regulação ou resistência? Principia/FundaçãoCalousteGulbenkian.Lisboa

N.PORTAS,2005, Arquitectura(s): Teoria e Desenho, Investigação e Projecto,Porto,PublicaçõesFAUP

C.SAMPAIO,2013,Habitar o 6 de Maio: as casas, os homens, o bairro,DissertaçãodeMestradoemAntropologia,ICS-UL.

R.SARRÓ,J.MAPRIL,2011,“«Cidadãosesúbditos»:imigração,cidadaniaelegadocolonialnaEuropacontemporânea”,inRevista Migrações,Abrilde2011,n.8,Lisboa,ACIDI,pp.27-34.

List of AcronymsAML-MetropolitanAreaofLisbonPALOP–Portuguese-speakingAfricancountriesUEFA-UnionofEuropeanFootballAssociationsEU-EuropeanUnionEEC-EuropeanEconomicCommunityCRIL-RegionalInternalCircularofLisbon

S S I IM PAP ER S ER I E S

SSIIMPaperSeriesNo.1,October2009SocialandSpatialInclusionofInternationalMigrants:localresponsestoaglobalprocessMarcelloBalbo

SSIIMPaperSeriesNo.2,December2009Conexionestranslocalesyformacióndeterritoriosmigratorios.ElcasodelosCochabambinosdeBérgamoMirkoMarzadro

SSIIMPaperSeriesNo.3,February2010Practiceofcitizenship,practiceofresistance:MozambicansinJohannesburg,SouthAfricaElenaOstanel

SSIIMPaperSeriesNo.4,April2010ContribucionesparaunateoríadelasegregaciónresidencialylosmercadosétnicosdelosinmigrantesenciudadesdeAméricaLatinaTitoAlegría

SSIIMPaperSeriesNo.5,June2010PositioningtheUrbaninAsia’sInternationalMigrationFlowsMichaelLeaf

SSIIMPaperSeriesNo.6,October2010Notjustpassingthrough:internationalmigrantsincitiesof‘transitcountries’GiovannaMarconi

SSIIMPaperSeriesNo.7,December2010LainmigraciónenBolivia,¿fenómenosocialinexistenteoinvisibilizado?ElcasodelosperuanosenLaPazyElAltoMirkoMarzadroSSIIMPaperSeriesNo.8,Februay2011Accesodiferencialalaciudad.IdentificacionesyestereotiposentreloshijosdeinmigrantesbolivianosyparaguayosenBuenosAiresNataliaGavazzo

SSIIMPaperSeriesNo.9,April2011TheBolivianmigrantssocioterritorialinsertioninSãoPaulo.ApossiblereadingontherelationbetweenmigratoryprojectsandthespacesofthecityIaraRolnikJavier

140

SSIIMPaperSeriesNo.10,October2012MigrationandUrbanChange:ThecaseofIstanbulKristenBiehl

SSIIMPaperSeriesNo.11,November2012UrbanCitizenshipandtherighttothecityincitiesintheUnitedArabEmiratesKajaKühl

SSIIMPaperSeriesNo.12,December2012ForeignWorkersinTelAvivandPoliticalInnovation:theRedefinitionofCitizenshipinIsraelCarolineRozenholk

SSIIMPaperSeriesNo.13,June2014MigrantssharingthestreetsofCairo-Cantheyasserttheirrighttothecity?ACaseStudyofSudaneseMigrantsMaysaAyoub

SSIIMPaperSeriesNo.14,December2014SmallcitiesofdifferencesAdrianoCancellieri

SSIIMPaperSeriesNo.15,July2016Lahospitalidadalamexicana:AlgunoselementosapartirdelnuevomarcolegalhacialosextranjerosenMéxicoLeticiaCalderónChelius

SSIIMPaperSeriesNo.16,September2016TranslocalUrbanisminSouthernAfrica:Practices,StoriesandPlacesofCross-BorderTradersbetweenJohannesburgandMaputoPaolaPiscitelli

SSIIMPaperSeriesNo.17,December2017Músicaenlasciudadesinterculturales:estrategiasdevisibilidaddelosjóvenesmigrantesenLisboayBuenosAiresAnaEstevens,NataliaGavazzo,SóniaPereira

SSIIMPaperSeriesNo.18,October2018MasonsandMaids.Class,GenderandEthnicityinMigrantExperienceseditedbyBrunoMonteiroandFaisalGarba

ssiim 10€¦ · faisal garba from moroccan towns to dimona in israel. from the interior ......

Documents