Agro-industrial labour in Kenya : cut flower farms and migrant workers' settlements
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Bibliographic Information
Agro-industrial labour in Kenya : cut flower farms and migrant workers' settlements
Palgrave Macmillan, 2020
- pbk.
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Originally published: 2019
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This ethnography analyses labour relations within the export-oriented cut flower industry at Lake Naivasha in Kenya. Though this agro-industry has attracted critical attention from journalists and non-governmental organizations, this book is the first comprehensive, social scientific analysis of the industry's labour arrangements and production processes. Gerda Kuiper here interprets the work on the farms as 'agro-industrial labour': a labour system characterized by high levels of discipline and a strict rhythm of work, due to the demands posed by a highly perishable agricultural product. This framework enables the author to draw on insights from a wide range of anthropological and sociological studies on (agro-)industrial wage labour around the globe. This mixed-methods approach, deployed alongside rich ethnographic detail, allows the author to center the flower farm workers in her analysis.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction.1.1 Lake Naivasha: A Contested Research Sige1.2 Ethnographic Research in an Agro-industrial Context1.2.1 Methodology1.2.2 My Position within Social Hierarchies1.3 Theoretical Positioning1.3.1 Agro-industrial Labour1.3.2 The Production of a (Gendered) Workforce1.3.3 Translocal Labour Migration in Kenya1.4 Aims and Outline of the StudyBibliography
Chapter 2: Naivasha's History: From Livestock to Flowers.2.1 Colonial Period: Settlers and Squatters
2.2 After Independence: "A Farming Town with Steady Growth"
2.3 Blooming Business: The Establishment of the Cut Flower Industry
2.4 Naivasha in the Twenty-First Century: Paradise Lost?
2.5 Conclusion: Naivasha's Past and Present
Bibliography
Chapter 3: Coming to Naivasha: Finding a Place to Stay and a Place to Work.3.1 Three Workers
3.1.1 Flora
3.1.2 Lucy
3.1.3 Glory
3.2 The Decision to Move
3.3 Finding a Place to Stay
3.4 Finding a Job: The Naivasha Labour Market
3.5 Finding a Job: Farm's Recruitment Processes
3.6 Finding a Job: Migrant Workers' Preferences
3.7 Conclusion: The Use of Networks
Bibliography
Chapter 4: Inside the Farms: Rhythms and Hierarchies.4.1 The Lay-out of the Farms
4.2 Daily Routines: Accountability and "Responsibilisation"
4.3 Rhythms of Labour: Yielding to the Flowers and the Markets
4.4 Farm Hierarchies: Discipline and Social Distance
4.5 Unskilled Labour? The Need for Stability and Experience
4.6 Changing Labour Conditions: Standardization and Unionization
4.7 Gender on the Farms: Divisions of Labour, Sexual Harassment, and Gender Committees
4.8 Ethnicity on the Work Floor: Which Language to Speak?
4.9 Conclusion: Disciplined Labour
Bibliography
Chapter 5: Workers' Settlements: In Search of Order.5.1 The Establishment of Settlements in Kenya
5.2 The Eight Naivasha Workers' Settlements
5.2.1 Karagita
5.2.2 Trading centres DCK/Sulmac and Kongoni
5.2.3 Kihoto
5.2.4 Kamere and Kwa Muhia
5.2.5 Kasarani
5.2.6 KCC
5.3 The Economic Position of Settlements' Residents: "Hustling" and "Struggling"
5.4 The Settlements' Illicit Economies: Fish Poaching, Chang'aa, and Sex Work
5.5 Ethnicity in the Settlements: Mixed Marriages and Mutual Mistrust
5.6 Community Relations: Churches, "Self-help Groups", Colleagues, and Neighbours
5.7 Governing the Settlements: Creating Order and Allowing for Disorder
5.8 Conclusion: "Spontaneous" Settlements?
Bibliography
Chapter 6: Building a Future: Preparing to Go 'Home'.6.1 The Meaning(s) of Home
6.2 Strategies for the Future: Constructing a "Home"
6.2.1 Investing in Networks: Visits and Remittances
6.2.2 Investing in Assets: Plots and Livestock
6.2.3 Investing in Groups: Participation in Organizations
6.2.4 Postponing the Future: Flora and James
6.2.5 A Woman's Future: Helen
6.2.6 A Future in Naivasha: Moses
6.3 Leaving Naivasha: Wage Labour Pasts?
6.4 Conclusion: Securing the Future
Bibliography
Chapter 7: Conclusion.Glossary.Index.
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