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Paper short abstract:

Drawing on in-depth interviews and participant observation, this paper aims to explore the social construction of seasonal migrant workers as a way of legitimizing forms of labour exploitation and extraction against the backdrop of the development of the ski industry in Val d'Aran (Spain).

Paper long abstract:

In the last decades, the decline of farming activities in Val d'Aran and the engagement in a postindustrial economy based on leisure and tourism related to the development of the ski industry has led to new ways of inhabiting the mountain. The presence of international, national, permanent, temporary and multi-local residents in these rural area entail socio-cultural diversity as a factor of production of the locality in a global context, changing local social dynamics and structures and creating new forms of social and cultural distinction and otherness.

Temporal migrants, both national and international, are currently involved as seasonal winter workers in the tertiary sector, particularly in services for tourists and second-home owners, and are essential economic and social agents, contributing to the development and reproduction of the local communities. However, these workers face poor working conditions, difficulties to find an accommodation due to gentrification, and negative stereotypes.

In the framework of the research project, "Becoming local in mountain areas: diversification, gentrification, cohabitation. A comparison between the Swiss Alps and the Spanish Pyrenees" (funded by Swiss National Foundation), in this paper we will present partial findings from ongoing ethnographic research being carried out in Val d'Aran (Spanish Pyrenees). Drawing on in-depth interviews and participant observation, we aim to explore the social construction of seasonal migrant workers as a way of legitimizing forms of labour exploitation and extraction against the backdrop of the development of the touristic industry in the mountain areas and its unending race for profits.