Migrant entrepreneurs in the ‘Farm of Europe’: the role of transnational structures
Fradejas-García, Ignacio (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Antropologia Social i Cultural)
Molina, José Luis (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Antropologia Social i Cultural)
Lubbers, Miranda J. (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Antropologia Social i Cultural)

Date:	2023
Abstract:	The so-called ‘sea of plastic’ in Almería, Spain, is a 450km2 area devoted to intensive greenhouse farming managed by 10,000 small farmers who employ a labour force of 50,000 workers, mostly immigrants from Africa and eastern Europe. Romanian immigrants arrived at the beginning of 2000s and have occupied various positions within this agro-industrial district. Some started their own businesses in greenhouse reparation and construction employing fellow Romanians. They seized the market, providing more stable jobs through their transnational networks, and extending their businesses nationally and internationally. This paper analyses the global processes “from below” that explain the occupation of specific economic spaces by transnational migrant entrepreneurs. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and social network analysis, the paper shows how the seasonal mobilization of a workforce through a transnational social field connecting Romania and Spain provided a competitive advantage to these entrepreneurs to start investing in their ventures and acquiring new markets.
Grants:	Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CSO2015-68687-P
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Romania ; Spain ; Agro-industrial district ; Demographic enclave ; Globalization from below ; Greenhouse farming ; Informality ; Migration ; Transnational entrepreneurship
Published in:	Globalizations, Vol. 21, Num. 3 (2023) , p. 453-470, ISSN 1474-774X

DOI: 10.1080/14747731.2023.2178806

26 p, 1.2 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Social and Legal Sciences > Research Group on Fundamental and Oriented Anthropology (GRAFO)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles