Paper Short Abstract:

This paper examines what happens to labour, theoretically and ethnographically, when the focus is primarily on environmental protection. In doing so, I seek to understand the idea of agri-food systems and to answer whether such an approach is useful in the age of monocrops.

Paper Abstract:

The Sierra Purhépecha region in the Mexican state of Michoacán is the world's leading producer of Hass avocados. This region underwent a process of transformation, especially after the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the 1990s, when the United States allowed the import of avocados from Mexico. As a consequence, illegal logging and water depletion gradually increased, but so did the attraction of cheap, disposable labour for all aspects of the production phase. Agricultural labourers are hired for limited tasks, such as picking avocados, pruning trees, or guarding orchards, and are often migrants from other Mexican states. In addition, Michoacán is one of Mexico's most dangerous states, often making international headlines for extortion and kidnappings by drug cartels. As one of Michoacán's most prosperous industries, avocado producers are a regular target of drug cartels.

In recent years, due to pressure from grassroots movements and local activists, the state government has launched some initiatives aimed at protecting the forests from illegal logging. However, the labour issue has only been addressed in relation to the formalisation of temporary agricultural labourers. This paper examines what happens to labour, theoretically and ethnographically, when the focus is primarily on environmental protection. In doing so, I seek to understand the idea of agri-food systems and to answer whether such an approach is useful in the age of monocrops.