On the Margins: Migrant Farmworkers and Public Space in British Columbia, Canada

• In Event: Spaces of Exclusion, Inclusions and Return

Abstract

Each year thousands of Mexican and Caribbean men and women come to Canada under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to work in the fields, orchards, and greenhouses. Despite being legal, albeit temporary, migrants, these workers are often excluded from public spaces and their access to public services is severely constrained by a variety of complex factors including linguistic and geographic isolation, lack of knowledge about their rights, and coercion and surveillance by consular officials and bosses. We believe a unique conceptualization of public space may be gained by examining it through the lens of migrant farmworkers' experiences, a group largely excluded from it.

First, we outline the unique barriers that temporary farmworkers face in accessing public space, arguing that during their time in Canada, they are largely relegated to the realm of private space and private interests. Then we move on to discuss the role of the border plays in structuring workers’ inclusion in the public sphere and in upholding ideas of belonging and non-belonging. We conclude with a look at efforts made by migrant farmworkers to contest their exclusion from public space and social isolation. Ultimately, we argue for a radical reimagination of public spaces in order to be more inclusive for migrant farm workers and other temporary migrants.

Authors

• Amy L Cohen, Okanagan College

• Susana Caxaj