Papers by Apostolos Kapsalis
BRILL eBooks, Dec 9, 2020
Introduction The strawberry producing village of Nea Manolada, whose name has become a synonym fo... more Introduction The strawberry producing village of Nea Manolada, whose name has become a synonym for undeclared migrant labor coupled with violence and compulsion on behalf of the employers’ side, is the popular archetype of a coercive geogra-phy in the Greek context. Institutionalized precarity, as we meet here, is situ-ated and shaped by particular political geographies which constitute different coercive geographies producing confined, restricted spaces which create un-freedom, stuckness and immobility (cf. introduction this volume). An outcome of enduring migration/labor policies on the national level combined with so-cial and labor market particularities on the local level, Manolada constitutes a divisive and exclusionary geography, which facilitates the emergence of severe forms of labor exploitation of both legally and “irregularly” residing migrants. In the past 25–30 years, migrants have been living there in slum settlements working under harsh and unhealthy conditions. They have been shot at while asking for their salaries in 2013, workers have been severely injured or died in accidents during their transportation to the fields and they have witnessed the conflagration of three of their settlements and the subsequent burning of large amounts of money, personal belongings and administrative paperwork. Still, as many as seven hundred Bangladeshi migrants stay there permanently throughout the year and up to nine thousand migrants (mainly of Bangladeshi origin) provide their labor during the peak of the harvesting season, which lasts from January to June.This chapter investigates the causes which enable a steady supply of mi-grant labor in Manolada and outlines migrants’ im/mobility (cf. Bélanger and Silvey 2019) patterns within the Greek territory. Our research is based on twenty-nine qualitative interviews with Bangladeshi migrants, through which we delve deeper into their aspirations and self-perception of their situation and agency. In order to analyse how such a geography has been stabilized for �1Migrants’ Entrapment in a ‘State of Expectancy’<UN>more than a decade we apply the aspiration-capability framework (Schewel 2019) into our empirical case. Moreover, we observe how legal frameworks cre-ate barriers to migrants regarding their integration in the labor market and impede their mobility. We especially focus on attempts to occupationally and geographically immobilize migrants within the Greek agricultural sector and institutionalize their precarious condition through recent policymaking (Flo-ros and Jørgensen 2020), which introduced the concept of ‘para-legality’ (Kap-salis 2018a) as a new category in stratified labor and residency statuses. Our aim is to justify the terming of Manolada as a coercive geography by providing a nuanced report on a) migrants’ labor and housing conditions, b) the role of restrictive migration/labor frameworks and c) migrants’ personal accounts about their situation and im/mobility.In the Greek political discourse Manolada figures as the par excellence ex-ample of a coercive geographical space, mainly because of migrant protest against the exploitative conditions and the violent incidents of 2013 (Papado-poulos et al. 2018). Nevertheless, through our research we became aware of several other coercive geographies within the Greek agricultural sector, as the same Bangladeshi migrants relocate by hundreds and by seasons across the country to work and lodge, in circular patterns more or less similar to each other and in equally degrading conditions. Their consecutive back and forth in the same exploitative routes coupled with their current or original aspirations to reach some other European country, lead us to term this pattern as ‘mobility in immobility’, as an ongoing mobility in the frame of an institutionalized im-mobility both in the country and in their occupational activity.We conclude that Bangladeshi migrants working in the Greek agricultural sector are entrapped in a constant ‘state of expectancy’ created by restrictive – yet under special circumstances promising – residence permit policies, which standardize their exploitation within diverse agricultural settings in Greece. This comes as no surprise. The restructuring of European agricultural produc-tion has been premised on maintaining “vulnerable legal status and social condition(s) of migrants” (Corrado et al. 2016: 4) and Greece does not pose as an exception in this regional map of coercive geographies.In our chapter we begin by briefly outlining the legal framework that shapes the agricultural labor market for migrants in Greece. We then introduce the concepts that constitute our theoretical framework and the methodological approach to our research. In the next part we present and analyse our empiri-cal findings, arguing on the existence of a ‘state of expectancy’ and a ‘mobility in immobility’ pattern, before concluding by explaining the reasons for the perpetuation of Manolada’s…
Koinōnikī Politikī, Feb 22, 2018
The development of Greek migration policy and the invention of "para-legality" in labour relation... more The development of Greek migration policy and the invention of "para-legality" in labour relations of immigrants
Social Cohesion and Development, Jan 18, 2021
ΚοινωνιΚη Συνοχη Και αναπτυξη 1. Introduction: Description of objectives and methodological issue... more ΚοινωνιΚη Συνοχη Και αναπτυξη 1. Introduction: Description of objectives and methodological issues N on-compliance with social security or labor rules is a phenomenon of growing concern for researchers and policy makers that leads to unfair economic competition and the "opportunistic actions of employers to reduce labour costs" (Goveia & Sosa, 2017, p. 90). Assuming that during an economic crisis competition accentuates, non-compliance is expected to rise in times of economic crisis as well, thus reducing social security protection, compromising financial sustainability and leading to a disrespect for decent working conditions. Tackling issues of noncompliance is a "wicked" endeavor, according to Williams (2014), in the sense that it involves complex problem-solving along with their interrelated factors and unintentional side-effects. "Wicked" problems are difficult to formulate and there is no definitive solution to them. They are also interrelated with other problems and implicate various actors (Rittel & Weber, 1973). Therefore, articulating suitable measures and combining them with other policy measures constitute delicate tasks that should be adjusted for each labour market separately. This study attempts to examine the causes of non-compliance practices in Greece. Greece has been viewed since 2009 as an economy that has experienced deep economic recession, which has deregulated its labour market and profoundly reformed its social security system. The estimated size of the Greek informal economy during the period 2003-2017 steadily decreased from 28.2% to 21.5% (Schneider, 2017). According to Medina and Schneider (2018) this decrease was smaller in 2018, from 26.1% to 21.5%, although still leaving Greece well above the OECD average (11.6%). In an effort to contain the expansion of the informal economy and wage the fight against undeclared work, appropriate measures must be designed. A deeper understanding of the factors that generate non-compliance practices and behaviours is of outmost importance in order to design and implement appropriate policies, whether they entail prevention, deterrence or the redesigning of incentives and motivations. To evaluate non-compliant behaviour in the context of labour markets and social security systems in deep crisis, Sections 2, 3 and 4 provide an overview of the different approaches towards the informal economy and the literature on contribution evasion. This sets the theoretical framework to discuss the results of a survey conducted for the Research Institute of the General Confederation of Greek Workers (INE GSEE) in Section 5. The questionnaire for this research was designed to target workers in the HORECA sectors. These sectors are of considerable interest because comprise the third largest sector of workers in Greece: they employ up to approximately 400,000 workers during the summer months, according to ELSTAT (2017-2018). Furthermore, they have a large enough demographic range and they present the largest number of social security and labour violations (SEPE, 2018; ILO, 2016). 2. Different approaches to non-compliance and theoretical framework W ithin a non-compliance approach, error, evasion and fraud can be tackled through prevention, detection and deterrence (Goveia & Sosa, 2017). In terms of contribution evasion, non-compliance normally refers to non-registration according to social security rules and the Social coheSion and development [107]
Coercive Geographies : Historicizing Mobility, Labor and Confinement, 2021
Bangladeshi migrants working in the Greek agricultural
sector are entrapped in a constant ‘state ... more Bangladeshi migrants working in the Greek agricultural
sector are entrapped in a constant ‘state of expectancy’ created by restrictive –
yet under special circumstances promising – residence permit policies, which
standardize their exploitation within diverse agricultural settings in Greece.
This comes as no surprize. The restructuring of European agricultural production
has been premized on maintaining “vulnerable legal status and social
condition(s) of migrants” (Corrado et al. 2017: 4) and Greece does not pose as
an exception in this regional map of coercive geographies.
In this chapter we begin by briefly outlining the legal framework that shapes
the agricultural labor market for migrants in Greece. We then introduce the
concepts that constitute our theoretical framework and the methodological
approach to our research. In the next part we present and analyse our empirical
findings, arguing on the existence of a ‘state of expectancy’ and a ‘mobility
in immobility’ pattern, before concluding by explaining the reasons for the
perpetuation of Manolada’s coercive geography.
ETUI, 2020
The two-year period 2015-2016 marked a radical change in the phenomenon of migration regarding Gr... more The two-year period 2015-2016 marked a radical change in the phenomenon of migration regarding Greece. The massive influx of people, mainly asylum seekers, into the Greek islands via Turkey from the middle east and the warring regions of Asia and Africa, particularly north Africa, has reached the upper limits of capacity for reception and hospitality in a country with a depressed economy and fragile political balances resulting from efforts to address its multiple internal and external problems.
The two-year period 2015-2016 marked a radical change in the phenomenon of migration regarding Gr... more The two-year period 2015-2016 marked a radical change in the phenomenon of migration regarding Greece. The massive influx of people, mainly asylum seekers, into the Greek islands via Turkey from the middle east and the warring regions of Asia and Africa, particularly north Africa, has reached the upper limits of capacity for reception and hospitality in a country with a depressed economy and fragile political balances resulting from efforts to address its multiple internal and external problems.
The two-year period 2015-2016 marked a radical change in the phenomenon of migration regarding Gr... more The two-year period 2015-2016 marked a radical change in the phenomenon of migration regarding Greece. The massive influx of people, mainly asylum seekers, into the Greek islands via Turkey from the middle east and the warring regions of Asia and Africa, particularly north Africa, has reached the upper limits of capacity for reception and hospitality in a country with a depressed economy and fragile political balances resulting from efforts to address its multiple internal and external problems.
Coercive Geographies, 2020
Introduction The strawberry producing village of Nea Manolada, whose name has become a synonym fo... more Introduction The strawberry producing village of Nea Manolada, whose name has become a synonym for undeclared migrant labor coupled with violence and compulsion on behalf of the employers’ side, is the popular archetype of a coercive geogra-phy in the Greek context. Institutionalized precarity, as we meet here, is situ-ated and shaped by particular political geographies which constitute different coercive geographies producing confined, restricted spaces which create un-freedom, stuckness and immobility (cf. introduction this volume). An outcome of enduring migration/labor policies on the national level combined with so-cial and labor market particularities on the local level, Manolada constitutes a divisive and exclusionary geography, which facilitates the emergence of severe forms of labor exploitation of both legally and “irregularly” residing migrants. In the past 25–30 years, migrants have been living there in slum settlements working under harsh and unhealthy conditions. They have been shot at while asking for their salaries in 2013, workers have been severely injured or died in accidents during their transportation to the fields and they have witnessed the conflagration of three of their settlements and the subsequent burning of large amounts of money, personal belongings and administrative paperwork. Still, as many as seven hundred Bangladeshi migrants stay there permanently throughout the year and up to nine thousand migrants (mainly of Bangladeshi origin) provide their labor during the peak of the harvesting season, which lasts from January to June.This chapter investigates the causes which enable a steady supply of mi-grant labor in Manolada and outlines migrants’ im/mobility (cf. Bélanger and Silvey 2019) patterns within the Greek territory. Our research is based on twenty-nine qualitative interviews with Bangladeshi migrants, through which we delve deeper into their aspirations and self-perception of their situation and agency. In order to analyse how such a geography has been stabilized for �1Migrants’ Entrapment in a ‘State of Expectancy’<UN>more than a decade we apply the aspiration-capability framework (Schewel 2019) into our empirical case. Moreover, we observe how legal frameworks cre-ate barriers to migrants regarding their integration in the labor market and impede their mobility. We especially focus on attempts to occupationally and geographically immobilize migrants within the Greek agricultural sector and institutionalize their precarious condition through recent policymaking (Flo-ros and Jørgensen 2020), which introduced the concept of ‘para-legality’ (Kap-salis 2018a) as a new category in stratified labor and residency statuses. Our aim is to justify the terming of Manolada as a coercive geography by providing a nuanced report on a) migrants’ labor and housing conditions, b) the role of restrictive migration/labor frameworks and c) migrants’ personal accounts about their situation and im/mobility.In the Greek political discourse Manolada figures as the par excellence ex-ample of a coercive geographical space, mainly because of migrant protest against the exploitative conditions and the violent incidents of 2013 (Papado-poulos et al. 2018). Nevertheless, through our research we became aware of several other coercive geographies within the Greek agricultural sector, as the same Bangladeshi migrants relocate by hundreds and by seasons across the country to work and lodge, in circular patterns more or less similar to each other and in equally degrading conditions. Their consecutive back and forth in the same exploitative routes coupled with their current or original aspirations to reach some other European country, lead us to term this pattern as ‘mobility in immobility’, as an ongoing mobility in the frame of an institutionalized im-mobility both in the country and in their occupational activity.We conclude that Bangladeshi migrants working in the Greek agricultural sector are entrapped in a constant ‘state of expectancy’ created by restrictive – yet under special circumstances promising – residence permit policies, which standardize their exploitation within diverse agricultural settings in Greece. This comes as no surprise. The restructuring of European agricultural produc-tion has been premised on maintaining “vulnerable legal status and social condition(s) of migrants” (Corrado et al. 2016: 4) and Greece does not pose as an exception in this regional map of coercive geographies.In our chapter we begin by briefly outlining the legal framework that shapes the agricultural labor market for migrants in Greece. We then introduce the concepts that constitute our theoretical framework and the methodological approach to our research. In the next part we present and analyse our empiri-cal findings, arguing on the existence of a ‘state of expectancy’ and a ‘mobility in immobility’ pattern, before concluding by explaining the reasons for the perpetuation of Manolada’s coercive…
The two-year period 2015-2016 marked a radical change in the phenomenon of migration regarding Gr... more The two-year period 2015-2016 marked a radical change in the phenomenon of migration regarding Greece. The massive influx of people, mainly asylum seekers, into the Greek islands via Turkey from the middle east and the warring regions of Asia and Africa, particularly north Africa, has reached the upper limits of capacity for reception and hospitality in a country with a depressed economy and fragile political balances resulting from efforts to address its multiple internal and external problems.
ΠΕΡIΛΗΨΗ Το άρθρο αυτό ερευνά τις επιπτώσεις της οικονομικής ύφεσης, της απορρύθμισης της αγοράς ... more ΠΕΡIΛΗΨΗ Το άρθρο αυτό ερευνά τις επιπτώσεις της οικονομικής ύφεσης, της απορρύθμισης της αγοράς εργασίας και των μεταρρυθμίσεων της κοινωνικής ασφάλισης στον βαθμό μη συμμόρφωσης στους κανόνες της κοινωνικής ασφάλισης στην Ελλάδα. Εξετάζει το θεωρητικό πλαίσιο της μη συμμόρφωσης στις μεταβιομηχανικές κοινωνίες και την πρόληψη της εισφοροδιαφυγής σε σχέση με το σχεδιασμό συστημάτων κοινωνικής ασφάλισης. Η εξέλιξη του φαινομένου της μη συμμόρφωσης σε περίοδο κρίσης αξιολογείται εξετάζοντας τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας του ΙΝΕ-ΓΣΕΕ στον κλάδο επισιτισμούτουρισμού. Σύμφωνα με τα ευρήματα της έρευνας, οι εργοδότες υιοθετούν πρακτικές μη συμμόρφωσης για να μεγιστοποιήσουν το κέρδος τους εκμεταλλευόμενοι την επισφάλεια των εργαζομένων, ενώ οι εργαζόμενοι αποδέχονται ή συναινούν σε αντίστοιχες πρακτικές ως στρατηγική επιβίωσης σε ένα ιδιαίτερα ανταγωνιστικό περιβάλλον. Το φαινόμενο της μη συμμόρφωσης στην ελληνική αγορά εργασίας εμφανίζεται ως ένα πολυπαραγοντικό φαινόμενο που δεν μπορεί να...
Main Findings and Recommendations
• Literally, every member of the community
needs to deal with ... more Main Findings and Recommendations
• Literally, every member of the community
needs to deal with a multitude of interconnected legal problems. Most of these problems are
intensive. They occur frequently and have high
impact – invariably negative – on people’s lives.
• The vast majority are undocumented. For many
the only valid document is a national passport.
• Almost half of the members of the community
have been detained by police at some point in
time.
• Most problems remain unresovled despite the
active stance of the individual workers and the
community as a whole.
• The legal probelms of the Bangladeshi migrant
workers are chronic. While symptoms are treated, the main causes continue to generate new
problems.
• Rarely if ever, the Bangladeshi migrant workers
engage or are engaged by local or central public
authorities in a search for improvements.
• However, there are positive findings as well.
The Bangladeshi migrant workers are active and
resilient group. Despite the difficult and precarious circumstances, they continuously look for
solutions.
• People are creative. Solutions are sought in the
community, in the interactions with masturas
and employers, and from civil society organizations.
• All members of the community, regardless of
educational, economic or social status, have
access to a phone - most often some form of a
smart phone. This is a platform for distributing
and using information.
Recommendations
Policy recommendations
• Address legal status and employment status together and its entirety. Special attention should be
given to the fact that many Bangladeshi migrant
workers in the strawberry farms are de facto
becoming skilled workers.
• Assess the peculiarity of the “e system” and its
fit into the current policy framework regulating
migrant workers and access to employment and
residence permits.
• Review, improve (if needed simplify) the residence permit renewal system.
• Review , improve (if needed simplify) the regulation of the supply of work in the agricultural
sector considering the nature of the specifics
of the industry and the atypical terms of the
employment therein.
• Review the regulation of the living conditions
and access to public services for regular and
irregular mirant workers.
• Explore the possibilities to extend the application of the ‘Ergosimo voucher” and 13A systems to irregular migrant workers in the agricultural sector.
Programmatic access to justice recommendations
• One size does not fit all. Identify vulnerability
from legal status, socio-economic, and educational factors and tailor interventions according
to vulnerability. The young, new commers are
particularly important group to work with.
• Design and deliver electronic awareness and information campaigns designed for the information needs and capabilities of the community.
• Leverage the relationship between employers/
masturas and the workers. In many cases this relationship is based on trust and mutual interest.
This relationships could be a useful platform
for access to health care, security, transportation, education and other public services.
• Organize dispute resolution mechanisms within
the community based on their internal structures and dynamics.
Διαδικτυακή Επιστημονική Ημερίδα
Τετάρτη 10 Νοεμβρίου 2021
15.30μμ-20.00μμ
Μετανάστες εργάτε... more Διαδικτυακή Επιστημονική Ημερίδα
Τετάρτη 10 Νοεμβρίου 2021
15.30μμ-20.00μμ
Μετανάστες εργάτες γης στον καιρό της πανδημίας
Διοργάνωση: Εργαστήριο Κοινωνικής Πολιτικής, Τμήμα Κοινωνικής Πολιτικής, Πάντειο Πανεπιστήμιο
Επιστημονικός Υπεύθυνος: Δρ. Καψάλης Απόστολος, μεταδιδακτορικός ερευνητής Τμήματος Κοινωνικής Πολιτικής
Σύντομη Περιγραφή: Από την έναρξη της πανδημικής κρίσης ο αγροτικός τομέας βρίσκεται στο επίκεντρο της δημόσιας συζήτησης, όχι τόσο για το ζήτημα της προστασίας της υγείας των αλλοδαπών εργατών γης, όσο κυρίως για τη δυνατότητα μετακίνησής τους με σκοπό την ικανοποίηση των καλλιεργητικών αναγκών. Μολονότι στο σύνολο των χωρών-μελών τα έκτακτα μέτρα για την υγεία και την απασχόληση των αλλοδαπών εργατών γης δεν είναι ενιαία, στην Ελλάδα επιλέγεται μια πολύ ιδιαίτερη στρατηγική. Στην αρχή η κρατική αντίδραση εμφανίζει χαρακτηριστικά αδράνειας και ανοχής, ωστόσο από τα μέσα του 2021 επανακτά ορισμένα από τα θεμελιώδη και διαχρονικά χαρακτηριστικά της ελληνικής πολιτικής για τις μεταναστεύσεις. Συγκεκριμένα, υιοθετούνται εκ νέου περιοριστικές λογικές, οι οποίες καταλήγουν να εδραιώνουν όρους καταναγκαστικής εργασίας για τους εργάτες γης, αλλά παραδόξως να προκαλούν σημαντικά προβλήματα και στις ίδιες τις αγροτικές επιχειρήσεις.
Στόχος της επιστημονικής ημερίδας είναι να παρουσιαστούν όλες οι πτυχές του φαινομένου της απασχόλησης αλλοδαπών εργατών γης στην ελληνική αγροτική οικονομία και να συζητηθούν οι (νέες) όψεις της παραβίασης των κοινωνικών τους δικαιωμάτων στο περιβάλλον της πανδημίας. Στην πρώτη ενότητα οι εισηγήσεις εστιάζουν στα ζητήματα αφενός των σύγχρονων εκδοχών κινητικότητας και όρων εργασίας στην ύπαιθρο και αφετέρου στις διαδικασίες επίλυσης της κάλυψης των αναγκών σε εργατικό δυναμικό. Στην δεύτερη ενότητα η έμφαση δίνεται στην εξέλιξη του φαινομένου της καταναγκαστικής εργασίας και ιδίως στις ρίζες και στις προκλήσεις που αυτό συνεπάγεται στη σημερινή συγκυρία σε ευρωπαϊκό και εθνικό επίπεδο.
Η Ημερίδα θα πραγματοποιηθεί διαδικτυακά, προσβάσιμη στη διεύθυνση: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83904897111?pwd=ZENiOGNDWWxpKzhQeGo5aVlRS1Z1QT09
Για περισσότερες πληροφορίες μπορείτε να απευθύνεστε στο apokapsalis@gmail.com.
Πρόγραμμα Ημερίδας
Προσέλευση/ Εναρκτήριες ομιλίες
15.30μμ
Χαιρετισμός της Προέδρου του Τμήματος Κοινωνικής Πολιτικής Καθηγήτριας, Παπαδοπούλου Δέσποινας
Χαιρετισμός της Διευθύντριας του Εργαστηρίου Κοινωνικής Πολιτικής, Καθηγήτριας Ανθοπούλου Θεοδοσίας
Εισαγωγική παρέμβαση του Επιστημονικού υπευθύνου της ημερίδας Καψάλη Απόστολου, Μεταδιδακτορικού Ερευνητή
Α ΕΝΟΤΗΤΑ
Κινητικότητα και εργασία στον αγροτικό τομέα
16.00μμ-17.45μμ
Πρόεδρος: Καθηγήτρια Ανθοπούλου Θεοδοσία, Πάντειο Πανεπιστήμιο
1. Παπαδόπουλος Απόστολος, Καθηγητής & Διευθυντής Ινστιτούτου Κοινωνικών Ερευνών, Εθνικό Κέντρο Κοινωνικών Ερευνών
Κοινωνική διάρθρωση και κινητικότητα στην ελληνική ύπαιθρο
2. Φρατσέα Λουκία-Μαρία, Ερευνήτρια, Τμήμα Γεωγραφίας, Χαροκόπειο Πανεπιστήμιο
Κοινωνικές και γεωγραφικές διαδρομές των μεταναστών στην ελληνική ύπαιθρο
3. Σταθοπούλου Δώρα, Κοινωνικός Επιστήμονας, Υπουργείο Εργασίας, Κοινωνικής Ασφάλισης & Κοινωνικής Αλληλεγγύης
Αποτιμώντας τη διαδικασία εκτίμησης αναγκών και το σύστημα της μετάκλησης για την απασχόληση υπηκόων τρίτων χωρών στην αγροτική οικονομία
4. Νικολαΐδης Κυριάκος, Γεωπόνος και Χατζηγεωργίου Κυριακή, Πληροφορικός.
Καινοτόμες τεχνολογικές λύσεις για την κάλυψη των αναγκών σε εργατικά χέρια
Β ΕΝΟΤΗΤΑ
Εξελίξεις στο φαινόμενο της καταναγκαστικής εργασίας
18.00μμ-19.45μμ
Πρόεδρος: Σωτηρία Χήρα, Νομικός, Υπεύθυνη συνηγορίας και νομικής συμβουλευτικής Generation 2.0 RED
1. Φωτιάδης Απόστολος, Ερευνητής
Ρυθμιστικά κενά στην εφοδιαστική αλυσίδα αγροτικών τροφίμων
2. Μοσκώφ Ηρακλής, Εθνικός Εισηγητής για την καταπολέμηση της εμπορίας ανθρώπων
Σύγχρονες πρωτοβουλίες του Συμβουλίου της Ευρώπης στο θέμα της εργασιακής εκμετάλλευσης
3. Κερασιώτης Βασίλης, Δικηγόρος, Διευθύνων στη HIAS Greece
Ελλείψεις του νομικού πλαισίου για την καταπολέμηση της καταναγκαστικής εργασίας: Η περίπτωση της Ελλάδας μετά την υπόθεση της Chowdary c./ Greece
4. Καψάλης Απόστολος, ΙΝΕ/ΓΣΕΕ, Μεταδιδακτορικός Ερευνητής Πάντειο Πανεπιστήμιο
Μετά τη Μανωλάδα τί… και πού? Α-κινητικότητα με όρους καταναγκαστικής εργασίας
Συμπεράσματα ημερίδας
19.45μμ
Δρ. Μιχάλης Πέτρου, Κοινωνικός ανθρωπολόγος
ερευνητής στο Εθνικό Κέντρο Κοινωνικών Ερευνών
Coercive Geographies Historicizing Mobility, Labor and Confinement, 2021
Introduction
The strawberry producing village of Nea Manolada, whose name has become a... more Introduction
The strawberry producing village of Nea Manolada, whose name has become a synonym for undeclared migrant labor coupled with violence and compulsion on behalf of the employers’ side, is the popular archetype of a coercive geogra-phy in the Greek context. Institutionalized precarity, as we meet here, is situ-ated and shaped by particular political geographies which constitute different coercive geographies producing confined, restricted spaces which create un-freedom, stuckness and immobility (cf. introduction this volume). An outcome of enduring migration/labor policies on the national level combined with so-cial and labor market particularities on the local level, Manolada constitutes a divisive and exclusionary geography, which facilitates the emergence of severe forms of labor exploitation of both legally and “irregularly” residing migrants. In the past 25–30 years, migrants have been living there in slum settlements working under harsh and unhealthy conditions. They have been shot at while asking for their salaries in 2013, workers have been severely injured or died in accidents during their transportation to the fields and they have witnessed the conflagration of three of their settlements and the subsequent burning of large amounts of money, personal belongings and administrative paperwork. Still, as many as seven hundred Bangladeshi migrants stay there permanently throughout the year and up to nine thousand migrants (mainly of Bangladeshi origin) provide their labor during the peak of the harvesting season, which lasts from January to June.This chapter investigates the causes which enable a steady supply of mi-grant labor in Manolada and outlines migrants’ im/mobility (cf. Bélanger and Silvey 2019) patterns within the Greek territory. Our research is based on twenty-nine qualitative interviews with Bangladeshi migrants, through which we delve deeper into their aspirations and self-perception of their situation and agency. In order to analyse how such a geography has been stabilized for
�1Migrants’ Entrapment in a ‘State of Expectancy’<UN>more than a decade we apply the aspiration-capability framework (Schewel 2019) into our empirical case. Moreover, we observe how legal frameworks cre-ate barriers to migrants regarding their integration in the labor market and impede their mobility. We especially focus on attempts to occupationally and geographically immobilize migrants within the Greek agricultural sector and institutionalize their precarious condition through recent policymaking (Flo-ros and Jørgensen 2020), which introduced the concept of ‘para-legality’ (Kap-salis 2018a) as a new category in stratified labor and residency statuses. Our aim is to justify the terming of Manolada as a coercive geography by providing a nuanced report on a) migrants’ labor and housing conditions, b) the role of restrictive migration/labor frameworks and c) migrants’ personal accounts about their situation and im/mobility.In the Greek political discourse Manolada figures as the par excellence ex-ample of a coercive geographical space, mainly because of migrant protest against the exploitative conditions and the violent incidents of 2013 (Papado-poulos et al. 2018). Nevertheless, through our research we became aware of several other coercive geographies within the Greek agricultural sector, as the same Bangladeshi migrants relocate by hundreds and by seasons across the country to work and lodge, in circular patterns more or less similar to each other and in equally degrading conditions. Their consecutive back and forth in the same exploitative routes coupled with their current or original aspirations to reach some other European country, lead us to term this pattern as ‘mobility in immobility’, as an ongoing mobility in the frame of an institutionalized im-mobility both in the country and in their occupational activity.We conclude that Bangladeshi migrants working in the Greek agricultural sector are entrapped in a constant ‘state of expectancy’ created by restrictive – yet under special circumstances promising – residence permit policies, which standardize their exploitation within diverse agricultural settings in Greece. This comes as no surprise. The restructuring of European agricultural produc-tion has been premised on maintaining “vulnerable legal status and social condition(s) of migrants” (Corrado et al. 2016: 4) and Greece does not pose as an exception in this regional map of coercive geographies.In our chapter we begin by briefly outlining the legal framework that shapes the agricultural labor market for migrants in Greece. We then introduce the concepts that constitute our theoretical framework and the methodological approach to our research. In the next part we present and analyse our empiri-cal findings, arguing on the existence of a ‘state of expectancy’ and a ‘mobility in immobility’ pattern, before concluding by explaining the reasons for the perpetuation of Manolada’s coercive geography.
This book aims to fill a gap in the social scientific literature on the current European economic... more This book aims to fill a gap in the social scientific literature on the current European economic and social ‘crisis’ by offering a pluridisciplinary critical perspective and an in-depth analysis (historical, sociological, political etc.) of the Greek depression and its implications for the rest of the European Union. The starting assumption which guides the various contributions by many young and innovative Greek scholars that were gathered for this volume is that Greece became the laboratory of a time compressed experiment in social change and state transformation that, to varying degrees, has been applied to all of the so called European periphery. Examining the transformation at transnational, international and national levels, it shows how the country’s specific historic trajectory, notably its late insertion in the capitalist economy, its shallow democratic roots and a history of authoritarian state formation made the country particularly vulnerable to asymmetric governance in...
Κοινωνική Πολιτική
Η διαχείριση της έξαρσης των μεταναστευτικών ροών από το 2015 και ειδικότερα της παράτυπης εισόδο... more Η διαχείριση της έξαρσης των μεταναστευτικών ροών από το 2015 και ειδικότερα της παράτυπης εισόδου και διαμονής χιλιάδων νέοεισερχομένων ατόμων στην Ελλάδα συνεπάγονται σημαντικές προκλήσεις για την εθνική μεταναστευτική πολιτική. Η μακρά πορεία νομοθετικών παρεμβάσεων για τη ρύθμιση της παράτυπης μετανάστευσης στη χώρα γνωρίζει πολύ πρόσφατα έναν νέο σταθμό, την επινόηση της παρα-νομιμότητας. Πρόκειται για τη νομοθετική αναγνώριση μιας νέας κατηγορίας μεταναστών στο ενδιάμεσο των έως σήμερα κατοχυρωμένων στη θεωρία τυποποιήσεων με κριτήριο την ειδική εκδοχή της νομιμότητας στη διαμονή. Οι διατυπώσεις των νέων ρυθμίσεων, αφενός εγγράφονται στο πλαίσιο της αναβίωσης μιας παραδοσιακά εργασι- οκεντρικής θεώρησης της μεταναστευτικής πολιτικής και αφετέρου, επικυρώνουν εκ νέου την κρατική επιλογή της διακριτικής μεταχείρισης στην αγορά εργασίας σε βάρος των μεταναστών εργαζομένων με άξονα υποκειμενικά χαρακτηριστικά.
Betwixt and between: Integrating refugees into the EU labour market, 2021
Betwixt and between: Integrating refugees into the EU labour market
This publication focuses on ... more Betwixt and between: Integrating refugees into the EU labour market
This publication focuses on practices in the labour market integration of asylum seekers and refugees in the main EU reception states in the post-2015 period. It takes a comparative approach highlighting areas of good practice across the countries while also examining integration barriers. A lack of co-ordinated action and solidarity at European level, more restrictive national policies due to political tailwinds and institutional barriers are key factors why member states have been unable to capitalise on the generally favourable labour market situation.
It is still remarkable that many of them have achieved faster labour market integration for refugees than in previous periods of immigration. At the same time, with hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers still
in limbo, with limited rights and in vulnerable situations (either waiting for a final decision or having been rejected), Europe faces a humanitarian crisis within its borders.
Review of the "ergosimo" service voucher system in Greece, 2018
The service voucher scheme (ergosimo) is a simplified method for employers to pay labor remunerat... more The service voucher scheme (ergosimo) is a simplified method for employers to pay labor remuneration and insurance contributions relating to labor contracts regarding specific professions and sectors of the Greek economy, initially in the sectors of domestic salaried work and in the agricultural economy. Over the years, though, the use of the ergosimo on the one hand expanded to other sectors of economic activity as well, while on the other hand it has been seen as a tool, which, under specific conditions, might contribute to the restriction of undeclared work as regards occasional employment. This study aims at providing a comprehensive assessment of the use of the ergosimo scheme, focusing on investigating its suitability and efficiency in the fight against undeclared work. As regards the methodology applied, the totality of relevant legislation and literature has been qualitatively assessed whereas targeted qualitative interviews have been held with representatives of all social partners and competent State authorities.
Drafts by Apostolos Kapsalis
The examination of the prospects and benefits or obstacles to the safe resettlement of refugees i... more The examination of the prospects and benefits or obstacles to the safe resettlement of refugees in the countryside in view of employment, and that in the mid-long term, is now of special interest. The waiving of doubt regarding stay and employment in small cities and villages and overcoming the factors that attract refugee populations away from large cities (such as the capital and Thessaloniki in the case of Greece) has been studied sufficiently at an international level, but relevant literature in the case of Greece remains limited.
Therefore, this research focuses on the refugees’ and asylum-seekers’ mobility possibilities in view of permanently resettling in regional areas of the country in the pursuit of sustainable and decent employment. However, taking into account viewpoints of companies, an attempt is made to assess the scope and quality features of previous and current employment of refugees in companies, to locate drawbacks that would cancel or inhibit such prospects in the national economic and social context and to seek ways to overcome the inhibitory factors.
Specifically in this regard, the feasibility and characteristics of the elaboration and implementation of comprehensive synergy instruments is examined at a local level, by all stakeholders that guarantee the enhancement of sustainability and boost of refugees’ employment in regional areas as an effective means of social inclusion.
Greece has been the subject of global interest for the last decade.
Reports on the country often ... more Greece has been the subject of global interest for the last decade.
Reports on the country often appear on the front pages of renowned
daily newspapers, both inside and outside Europe, or feature in
the news headlines on television and radio. These reports may
concern the economic and humanitarian crisis of the country as a
consequence of the global economic recession or the so-called
refugee crisis and the mass inflow of foreign citizens mainly to the
country’s islands.
A small country has become known around the world for its accumulated
problems as well as its defiance and contradictions. In
late 2018, googling the term “economic crisis Greece” would produce
more than 15 million hits within seconds while a search on
the “migration” or “refugee crisis” in the country sum yielded almost
four million results.
However, a basic triple question needs to be answered (Chapter
1): First, are the massive inflows that have taken place mainly
through the country’s sea borders in the last four years solely of a
refugee nature? Second, are the intensity and character of such
inflows capable of forming conditions of crisis at the social and
economic levels? And, third, what is the connection of such phenomena
to the general economic crisis that has been raging in
Greece for a decade?
At the same time, it is crucially important to investigate the mobility
trends and the forms they have acquired over time and space
in the Greek case. Avoiding the methodological error of a static or
photographic depiction of cross-border movements, an evolutionary
examination of migration flows in the long term is doubly
beneficial: On the one hand, it contradicts widespread myths regarding
the fate of migrating populations in periods of crisis and,
on the other, facilitates the preparation of the country in view of
future, if not imminent, international challenges (Chapter 2).
It is true that the defenders of migrant rights in Greece have always
linked their claims to statistical data and the qualitative characteristics
of the employment of the foreign labour force. The findings
of official and independent academic studies on the subject
refute almost all the arguments of so-called “economic racism”, on
which the attempts of xenophobic and nationalist political groups
to secure a social footing are based. The examination of both the
characteristics of employment and the impact of migrants’ work
before and during the economic crisis is vital in order to fully comprehend
the migration phenomenon in its totality (Chapter 3).
Finally, an in-depth examination is undertaken in Chapter 4 on
the essence of national policies for migration and migrant employment,
based on the conclusions drawn in the previous chapters.
As particular and rather unique the migration history in Greece
may be, the efforts of the competent authorities to regulate the
phenomenon may not be as genuine as they may seem as they do
not always reflect the particularities of the situation. Over the
years, rather, the Greek migration management model has complied
with the spirit of general social policy making and has, in fact,
been based on multiple forms of discriminatory treatment. Nevertheless,
it is for those reasons that the specific model remains vulnerable
to adverse or unexpected financial and political developments,
as happened precisely at the end of the 2000s with the
emergence and impact of the recession and crisis.
Uploads
Papers by Apostolos Kapsalis
sector are entrapped in a constant ‘state of expectancy’ created by restrictive –
yet under special circumstances promising – residence permit policies, which
standardize their exploitation within diverse agricultural settings in Greece.
This comes as no surprize. The restructuring of European agricultural production
has been premized on maintaining “vulnerable legal status and social
condition(s) of migrants” (Corrado et al. 2017: 4) and Greece does not pose as
an exception in this regional map of coercive geographies.
In this chapter we begin by briefly outlining the legal framework that shapes
the agricultural labor market for migrants in Greece. We then introduce the
concepts that constitute our theoretical framework and the methodological
approach to our research. In the next part we present and analyse our empirical
findings, arguing on the existence of a ‘state of expectancy’ and a ‘mobility
in immobility’ pattern, before concluding by explaining the reasons for the
perpetuation of Manolada’s coercive geography.
• Literally, every member of the community
needs to deal with a multitude of interconnected legal problems. Most of these problems are
intensive. They occur frequently and have high
impact – invariably negative – on people’s lives.
• The vast majority are undocumented. For many
the only valid document is a national passport.
• Almost half of the members of the community
have been detained by police at some point in
time.
• Most problems remain unresovled despite the
active stance of the individual workers and the
community as a whole.
• The legal probelms of the Bangladeshi migrant
workers are chronic. While symptoms are treated, the main causes continue to generate new
problems.
• Rarely if ever, the Bangladeshi migrant workers
engage or are engaged by local or central public
authorities in a search for improvements.
• However, there are positive findings as well.
The Bangladeshi migrant workers are active and
resilient group. Despite the difficult and precarious circumstances, they continuously look for
solutions.
• People are creative. Solutions are sought in the
community, in the interactions with masturas
and employers, and from civil society organizations.
• All members of the community, regardless of
educational, economic or social status, have
access to a phone - most often some form of a
smart phone. This is a platform for distributing
and using information.
Recommendations
Policy recommendations
• Address legal status and employment status together and its entirety. Special attention should be
given to the fact that many Bangladeshi migrant
workers in the strawberry farms are de facto
becoming skilled workers.
• Assess the peculiarity of the “e system” and its
fit into the current policy framework regulating
migrant workers and access to employment and
residence permits.
• Review, improve (if needed simplify) the residence permit renewal system.
• Review , improve (if needed simplify) the regulation of the supply of work in the agricultural
sector considering the nature of the specifics
of the industry and the atypical terms of the
employment therein.
• Review the regulation of the living conditions
and access to public services for regular and
irregular mirant workers.
• Explore the possibilities to extend the application of the ‘Ergosimo voucher” and 13A systems to irregular migrant workers in the agricultural sector.
Programmatic access to justice recommendations
• One size does not fit all. Identify vulnerability
from legal status, socio-economic, and educational factors and tailor interventions according
to vulnerability. The young, new commers are
particularly important group to work with.
• Design and deliver electronic awareness and information campaigns designed for the information needs and capabilities of the community.
• Leverage the relationship between employers/
masturas and the workers. In many cases this relationship is based on trust and mutual interest.
This relationships could be a useful platform
for access to health care, security, transportation, education and other public services.
• Organize dispute resolution mechanisms within
the community based on their internal structures and dynamics.
Τετάρτη 10 Νοεμβρίου 2021
15.30μμ-20.00μμ
Μετανάστες εργάτες γης στον καιρό της πανδημίας
Διοργάνωση: Εργαστήριο Κοινωνικής Πολιτικής, Τμήμα Κοινωνικής Πολιτικής, Πάντειο Πανεπιστήμιο
Επιστημονικός Υπεύθυνος: Δρ. Καψάλης Απόστολος, μεταδιδακτορικός ερευνητής Τμήματος Κοινωνικής Πολιτικής
Σύντομη Περιγραφή: Από την έναρξη της πανδημικής κρίσης ο αγροτικός τομέας βρίσκεται στο επίκεντρο της δημόσιας συζήτησης, όχι τόσο για το ζήτημα της προστασίας της υγείας των αλλοδαπών εργατών γης, όσο κυρίως για τη δυνατότητα μετακίνησής τους με σκοπό την ικανοποίηση των καλλιεργητικών αναγκών. Μολονότι στο σύνολο των χωρών-μελών τα έκτακτα μέτρα για την υγεία και την απασχόληση των αλλοδαπών εργατών γης δεν είναι ενιαία, στην Ελλάδα επιλέγεται μια πολύ ιδιαίτερη στρατηγική. Στην αρχή η κρατική αντίδραση εμφανίζει χαρακτηριστικά αδράνειας και ανοχής, ωστόσο από τα μέσα του 2021 επανακτά ορισμένα από τα θεμελιώδη και διαχρονικά χαρακτηριστικά της ελληνικής πολιτικής για τις μεταναστεύσεις. Συγκεκριμένα, υιοθετούνται εκ νέου περιοριστικές λογικές, οι οποίες καταλήγουν να εδραιώνουν όρους καταναγκαστικής εργασίας για τους εργάτες γης, αλλά παραδόξως να προκαλούν σημαντικά προβλήματα και στις ίδιες τις αγροτικές επιχειρήσεις.
Στόχος της επιστημονικής ημερίδας είναι να παρουσιαστούν όλες οι πτυχές του φαινομένου της απασχόλησης αλλοδαπών εργατών γης στην ελληνική αγροτική οικονομία και να συζητηθούν οι (νέες) όψεις της παραβίασης των κοινωνικών τους δικαιωμάτων στο περιβάλλον της πανδημίας. Στην πρώτη ενότητα οι εισηγήσεις εστιάζουν στα ζητήματα αφενός των σύγχρονων εκδοχών κινητικότητας και όρων εργασίας στην ύπαιθρο και αφετέρου στις διαδικασίες επίλυσης της κάλυψης των αναγκών σε εργατικό δυναμικό. Στην δεύτερη ενότητα η έμφαση δίνεται στην εξέλιξη του φαινομένου της καταναγκαστικής εργασίας και ιδίως στις ρίζες και στις προκλήσεις που αυτό συνεπάγεται στη σημερινή συγκυρία σε ευρωπαϊκό και εθνικό επίπεδο.
Η Ημερίδα θα πραγματοποιηθεί διαδικτυακά, προσβάσιμη στη διεύθυνση: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83904897111?pwd=ZENiOGNDWWxpKzhQeGo5aVlRS1Z1QT09
Για περισσότερες πληροφορίες μπορείτε να απευθύνεστε στο apokapsalis@gmail.com.
Πρόγραμμα Ημερίδας
Προσέλευση/ Εναρκτήριες ομιλίες
15.30μμ
Χαιρετισμός της Προέδρου του Τμήματος Κοινωνικής Πολιτικής Καθηγήτριας, Παπαδοπούλου Δέσποινας
Χαιρετισμός της Διευθύντριας του Εργαστηρίου Κοινωνικής Πολιτικής, Καθηγήτριας Ανθοπούλου Θεοδοσίας
Εισαγωγική παρέμβαση του Επιστημονικού υπευθύνου της ημερίδας Καψάλη Απόστολου, Μεταδιδακτορικού Ερευνητή
Α ΕΝΟΤΗΤΑ
Κινητικότητα και εργασία στον αγροτικό τομέα
16.00μμ-17.45μμ
Πρόεδρος: Καθηγήτρια Ανθοπούλου Θεοδοσία, Πάντειο Πανεπιστήμιο
1. Παπαδόπουλος Απόστολος, Καθηγητής & Διευθυντής Ινστιτούτου Κοινωνικών Ερευνών, Εθνικό Κέντρο Κοινωνικών Ερευνών
Κοινωνική διάρθρωση και κινητικότητα στην ελληνική ύπαιθρο
2. Φρατσέα Λουκία-Μαρία, Ερευνήτρια, Τμήμα Γεωγραφίας, Χαροκόπειο Πανεπιστήμιο
Κοινωνικές και γεωγραφικές διαδρομές των μεταναστών στην ελληνική ύπαιθρο
3. Σταθοπούλου Δώρα, Κοινωνικός Επιστήμονας, Υπουργείο Εργασίας, Κοινωνικής Ασφάλισης & Κοινωνικής Αλληλεγγύης
Αποτιμώντας τη διαδικασία εκτίμησης αναγκών και το σύστημα της μετάκλησης για την απασχόληση υπηκόων τρίτων χωρών στην αγροτική οικονομία
4. Νικολαΐδης Κυριάκος, Γεωπόνος και Χατζηγεωργίου Κυριακή, Πληροφορικός.
Καινοτόμες τεχνολογικές λύσεις για την κάλυψη των αναγκών σε εργατικά χέρια
Β ΕΝΟΤΗΤΑ
Εξελίξεις στο φαινόμενο της καταναγκαστικής εργασίας
18.00μμ-19.45μμ
Πρόεδρος: Σωτηρία Χήρα, Νομικός, Υπεύθυνη συνηγορίας και νομικής συμβουλευτικής Generation 2.0 RED
1. Φωτιάδης Απόστολος, Ερευνητής
Ρυθμιστικά κενά στην εφοδιαστική αλυσίδα αγροτικών τροφίμων
2. Μοσκώφ Ηρακλής, Εθνικός Εισηγητής για την καταπολέμηση της εμπορίας ανθρώπων
Σύγχρονες πρωτοβουλίες του Συμβουλίου της Ευρώπης στο θέμα της εργασιακής εκμετάλλευσης
3. Κερασιώτης Βασίλης, Δικηγόρος, Διευθύνων στη HIAS Greece
Ελλείψεις του νομικού πλαισίου για την καταπολέμηση της καταναγκαστικής εργασίας: Η περίπτωση της Ελλάδας μετά την υπόθεση της Chowdary c./ Greece
4. Καψάλης Απόστολος, ΙΝΕ/ΓΣΕΕ, Μεταδιδακτορικός Ερευνητής Πάντειο Πανεπιστήμιο
Μετά τη Μανωλάδα τί… και πού? Α-κινητικότητα με όρους καταναγκαστικής εργασίας
Συμπεράσματα ημερίδας
19.45μμ
Δρ. Μιχάλης Πέτρου, Κοινωνικός ανθρωπολόγος
ερευνητής στο Εθνικό Κέντρο Κοινωνικών Ερευνών
The strawberry producing village of Nea Manolada, whose name has become a synonym for undeclared migrant labor coupled with violence and compulsion on behalf of the employers’ side, is the popular archetype of a coercive geogra-phy in the Greek context. Institutionalized precarity, as we meet here, is situ-ated and shaped by particular political geographies which constitute different coercive geographies producing confined, restricted spaces which create un-freedom, stuckness and immobility (cf. introduction this volume). An outcome of enduring migration/labor policies on the national level combined with so-cial and labor market particularities on the local level, Manolada constitutes a divisive and exclusionary geography, which facilitates the emergence of severe forms of labor exploitation of both legally and “irregularly” residing migrants. In the past 25–30 years, migrants have been living there in slum settlements working under harsh and unhealthy conditions. They have been shot at while asking for their salaries in 2013, workers have been severely injured or died in accidents during their transportation to the fields and they have witnessed the conflagration of three of their settlements and the subsequent burning of large amounts of money, personal belongings and administrative paperwork. Still, as many as seven hundred Bangladeshi migrants stay there permanently throughout the year and up to nine thousand migrants (mainly of Bangladeshi origin) provide their labor during the peak of the harvesting season, which lasts from January to June.This chapter investigates the causes which enable a steady supply of mi-grant labor in Manolada and outlines migrants’ im/mobility (cf. Bélanger and Silvey 2019) patterns within the Greek territory. Our research is based on twenty-nine qualitative interviews with Bangladeshi migrants, through which we delve deeper into their aspirations and self-perception of their situation and agency. In order to analyse how such a geography has been stabilized for
�1Migrants’ Entrapment in a ‘State of Expectancy’<UN>more than a decade we apply the aspiration-capability framework (Schewel 2019) into our empirical case. Moreover, we observe how legal frameworks cre-ate barriers to migrants regarding their integration in the labor market and impede their mobility. We especially focus on attempts to occupationally and geographically immobilize migrants within the Greek agricultural sector and institutionalize their precarious condition through recent policymaking (Flo-ros and Jørgensen 2020), which introduced the concept of ‘para-legality’ (Kap-salis 2018a) as a new category in stratified labor and residency statuses. Our aim is to justify the terming of Manolada as a coercive geography by providing a nuanced report on a) migrants’ labor and housing conditions, b) the role of restrictive migration/labor frameworks and c) migrants’ personal accounts about their situation and im/mobility.In the Greek political discourse Manolada figures as the par excellence ex-ample of a coercive geographical space, mainly because of migrant protest against the exploitative conditions and the violent incidents of 2013 (Papado-poulos et al. 2018). Nevertheless, through our research we became aware of several other coercive geographies within the Greek agricultural sector, as the same Bangladeshi migrants relocate by hundreds and by seasons across the country to work and lodge, in circular patterns more or less similar to each other and in equally degrading conditions. Their consecutive back and forth in the same exploitative routes coupled with their current or original aspirations to reach some other European country, lead us to term this pattern as ‘mobility in immobility’, as an ongoing mobility in the frame of an institutionalized im-mobility both in the country and in their occupational activity.We conclude that Bangladeshi migrants working in the Greek agricultural sector are entrapped in a constant ‘state of expectancy’ created by restrictive – yet under special circumstances promising – residence permit policies, which standardize their exploitation within diverse agricultural settings in Greece. This comes as no surprise. The restructuring of European agricultural produc-tion has been premised on maintaining “vulnerable legal status and social condition(s) of migrants” (Corrado et al. 2016: 4) and Greece does not pose as an exception in this regional map of coercive geographies.In our chapter we begin by briefly outlining the legal framework that shapes the agricultural labor market for migrants in Greece. We then introduce the concepts that constitute our theoretical framework and the methodological approach to our research. In the next part we present and analyse our empiri-cal findings, arguing on the existence of a ‘state of expectancy’ and a ‘mobility in immobility’ pattern, before concluding by explaining the reasons for the perpetuation of Manolada’s coercive geography.
This publication focuses on practices in the labour market integration of asylum seekers and refugees in the main EU reception states in the post-2015 period. It takes a comparative approach highlighting areas of good practice across the countries while also examining integration barriers. A lack of co-ordinated action and solidarity at European level, more restrictive national policies due to political tailwinds and institutional barriers are key factors why member states have been unable to capitalise on the generally favourable labour market situation.
It is still remarkable that many of them have achieved faster labour market integration for refugees than in previous periods of immigration. At the same time, with hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers still
in limbo, with limited rights and in vulnerable situations (either waiting for a final decision or having been rejected), Europe faces a humanitarian crisis within its borders.
Drafts by Apostolos Kapsalis
Therefore, this research focuses on the refugees’ and asylum-seekers’ mobility possibilities in view of permanently resettling in regional areas of the country in the pursuit of sustainable and decent employment. However, taking into account viewpoints of companies, an attempt is made to assess the scope and quality features of previous and current employment of refugees in companies, to locate drawbacks that would cancel or inhibit such prospects in the national economic and social context and to seek ways to overcome the inhibitory factors.
Specifically in this regard, the feasibility and characteristics of the elaboration and implementation of comprehensive synergy instruments is examined at a local level, by all stakeholders that guarantee the enhancement of sustainability and boost of refugees’ employment in regional areas as an effective means of social inclusion.
Reports on the country often appear on the front pages of renowned
daily newspapers, both inside and outside Europe, or feature in
the news headlines on television and radio. These reports may
concern the economic and humanitarian crisis of the country as a
consequence of the global economic recession or the so-called
refugee crisis and the mass inflow of foreign citizens mainly to the
country’s islands.
A small country has become known around the world for its accumulated
problems as well as its defiance and contradictions. In
late 2018, googling the term “economic crisis Greece” would produce
more than 15 million hits within seconds while a search on
the “migration” or “refugee crisis” in the country sum yielded almost
four million results.
However, a basic triple question needs to be answered (Chapter
1): First, are the massive inflows that have taken place mainly
through the country’s sea borders in the last four years solely of a
refugee nature? Second, are the intensity and character of such
inflows capable of forming conditions of crisis at the social and
economic levels? And, third, what is the connection of such phenomena
to the general economic crisis that has been raging in
Greece for a decade?
At the same time, it is crucially important to investigate the mobility
trends and the forms they have acquired over time and space
in the Greek case. Avoiding the methodological error of a static or
photographic depiction of cross-border movements, an evolutionary
examination of migration flows in the long term is doubly
beneficial: On the one hand, it contradicts widespread myths regarding
the fate of migrating populations in periods of crisis and,
on the other, facilitates the preparation of the country in view of
future, if not imminent, international challenges (Chapter 2).
It is true that the defenders of migrant rights in Greece have always
linked their claims to statistical data and the qualitative characteristics
of the employment of the foreign labour force. The findings
of official and independent academic studies on the subject
refute almost all the arguments of so-called “economic racism”, on
which the attempts of xenophobic and nationalist political groups
to secure a social footing are based. The examination of both the
characteristics of employment and the impact of migrants’ work
before and during the economic crisis is vital in order to fully comprehend
the migration phenomenon in its totality (Chapter 3).
Finally, an in-depth examination is undertaken in Chapter 4 on
the essence of national policies for migration and migrant employment,
based on the conclusions drawn in the previous chapters.
As particular and rather unique the migration history in Greece
may be, the efforts of the competent authorities to regulate the
phenomenon may not be as genuine as they may seem as they do
not always reflect the particularities of the situation. Over the
years, rather, the Greek migration management model has complied
with the spirit of general social policy making and has, in fact,
been based on multiple forms of discriminatory treatment. Nevertheless,
it is for those reasons that the specific model remains vulnerable
to adverse or unexpected financial and political developments,
as happened precisely at the end of the 2000s with the
emergence and impact of the recession and crisis.
sector are entrapped in a constant ‘state of expectancy’ created by restrictive –
yet under special circumstances promising – residence permit policies, which
standardize their exploitation within diverse agricultural settings in Greece.
This comes as no surprize. The restructuring of European agricultural production
has been premized on maintaining “vulnerable legal status and social
condition(s) of migrants” (Corrado et al. 2017: 4) and Greece does not pose as
an exception in this regional map of coercive geographies.
In this chapter we begin by briefly outlining the legal framework that shapes
the agricultural labor market for migrants in Greece. We then introduce the
concepts that constitute our theoretical framework and the methodological
approach to our research. In the next part we present and analyse our empirical
findings, arguing on the existence of a ‘state of expectancy’ and a ‘mobility
in immobility’ pattern, before concluding by explaining the reasons for the
perpetuation of Manolada’s coercive geography.
• Literally, every member of the community
needs to deal with a multitude of interconnected legal problems. Most of these problems are
intensive. They occur frequently and have high
impact – invariably negative – on people’s lives.
• The vast majority are undocumented. For many
the only valid document is a national passport.
• Almost half of the members of the community
have been detained by police at some point in
time.
• Most problems remain unresovled despite the
active stance of the individual workers and the
community as a whole.
• The legal probelms of the Bangladeshi migrant
workers are chronic. While symptoms are treated, the main causes continue to generate new
problems.
• Rarely if ever, the Bangladeshi migrant workers
engage or are engaged by local or central public
authorities in a search for improvements.
• However, there are positive findings as well.
The Bangladeshi migrant workers are active and
resilient group. Despite the difficult and precarious circumstances, they continuously look for
solutions.
• People are creative. Solutions are sought in the
community, in the interactions with masturas
and employers, and from civil society organizations.
• All members of the community, regardless of
educational, economic or social status, have
access to a phone - most often some form of a
smart phone. This is a platform for distributing
and using information.
Recommendations
Policy recommendations
• Address legal status and employment status together and its entirety. Special attention should be
given to the fact that many Bangladeshi migrant
workers in the strawberry farms are de facto
becoming skilled workers.
• Assess the peculiarity of the “e system” and its
fit into the current policy framework regulating
migrant workers and access to employment and
residence permits.
• Review, improve (if needed simplify) the residence permit renewal system.
• Review , improve (if needed simplify) the regulation of the supply of work in the agricultural
sector considering the nature of the specifics
of the industry and the atypical terms of the
employment therein.
• Review the regulation of the living conditions
and access to public services for regular and
irregular mirant workers.
• Explore the possibilities to extend the application of the ‘Ergosimo voucher” and 13A systems to irregular migrant workers in the agricultural sector.
Programmatic access to justice recommendations
• One size does not fit all. Identify vulnerability
from legal status, socio-economic, and educational factors and tailor interventions according
to vulnerability. The young, new commers are
particularly important group to work with.
• Design and deliver electronic awareness and information campaigns designed for the information needs and capabilities of the community.
• Leverage the relationship between employers/
masturas and the workers. In many cases this relationship is based on trust and mutual interest.
This relationships could be a useful platform
for access to health care, security, transportation, education and other public services.
• Organize dispute resolution mechanisms within
the community based on their internal structures and dynamics.
Τετάρτη 10 Νοεμβρίου 2021
15.30μμ-20.00μμ
Μετανάστες εργάτες γης στον καιρό της πανδημίας
Διοργάνωση: Εργαστήριο Κοινωνικής Πολιτικής, Τμήμα Κοινωνικής Πολιτικής, Πάντειο Πανεπιστήμιο
Επιστημονικός Υπεύθυνος: Δρ. Καψάλης Απόστολος, μεταδιδακτορικός ερευνητής Τμήματος Κοινωνικής Πολιτικής
Σύντομη Περιγραφή: Από την έναρξη της πανδημικής κρίσης ο αγροτικός τομέας βρίσκεται στο επίκεντρο της δημόσιας συζήτησης, όχι τόσο για το ζήτημα της προστασίας της υγείας των αλλοδαπών εργατών γης, όσο κυρίως για τη δυνατότητα μετακίνησής τους με σκοπό την ικανοποίηση των καλλιεργητικών αναγκών. Μολονότι στο σύνολο των χωρών-μελών τα έκτακτα μέτρα για την υγεία και την απασχόληση των αλλοδαπών εργατών γης δεν είναι ενιαία, στην Ελλάδα επιλέγεται μια πολύ ιδιαίτερη στρατηγική. Στην αρχή η κρατική αντίδραση εμφανίζει χαρακτηριστικά αδράνειας και ανοχής, ωστόσο από τα μέσα του 2021 επανακτά ορισμένα από τα θεμελιώδη και διαχρονικά χαρακτηριστικά της ελληνικής πολιτικής για τις μεταναστεύσεις. Συγκεκριμένα, υιοθετούνται εκ νέου περιοριστικές λογικές, οι οποίες καταλήγουν να εδραιώνουν όρους καταναγκαστικής εργασίας για τους εργάτες γης, αλλά παραδόξως να προκαλούν σημαντικά προβλήματα και στις ίδιες τις αγροτικές επιχειρήσεις.
Στόχος της επιστημονικής ημερίδας είναι να παρουσιαστούν όλες οι πτυχές του φαινομένου της απασχόλησης αλλοδαπών εργατών γης στην ελληνική αγροτική οικονομία και να συζητηθούν οι (νέες) όψεις της παραβίασης των κοινωνικών τους δικαιωμάτων στο περιβάλλον της πανδημίας. Στην πρώτη ενότητα οι εισηγήσεις εστιάζουν στα ζητήματα αφενός των σύγχρονων εκδοχών κινητικότητας και όρων εργασίας στην ύπαιθρο και αφετέρου στις διαδικασίες επίλυσης της κάλυψης των αναγκών σε εργατικό δυναμικό. Στην δεύτερη ενότητα η έμφαση δίνεται στην εξέλιξη του φαινομένου της καταναγκαστικής εργασίας και ιδίως στις ρίζες και στις προκλήσεις που αυτό συνεπάγεται στη σημερινή συγκυρία σε ευρωπαϊκό και εθνικό επίπεδο.
Η Ημερίδα θα πραγματοποιηθεί διαδικτυακά, προσβάσιμη στη διεύθυνση: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83904897111?pwd=ZENiOGNDWWxpKzhQeGo5aVlRS1Z1QT09
Για περισσότερες πληροφορίες μπορείτε να απευθύνεστε στο apokapsalis@gmail.com.
Πρόγραμμα Ημερίδας
Προσέλευση/ Εναρκτήριες ομιλίες
15.30μμ
Χαιρετισμός της Προέδρου του Τμήματος Κοινωνικής Πολιτικής Καθηγήτριας, Παπαδοπούλου Δέσποινας
Χαιρετισμός της Διευθύντριας του Εργαστηρίου Κοινωνικής Πολιτικής, Καθηγήτριας Ανθοπούλου Θεοδοσίας
Εισαγωγική παρέμβαση του Επιστημονικού υπευθύνου της ημερίδας Καψάλη Απόστολου, Μεταδιδακτορικού Ερευνητή
Α ΕΝΟΤΗΤΑ
Κινητικότητα και εργασία στον αγροτικό τομέα
16.00μμ-17.45μμ
Πρόεδρος: Καθηγήτρια Ανθοπούλου Θεοδοσία, Πάντειο Πανεπιστήμιο
1. Παπαδόπουλος Απόστολος, Καθηγητής & Διευθυντής Ινστιτούτου Κοινωνικών Ερευνών, Εθνικό Κέντρο Κοινωνικών Ερευνών
Κοινωνική διάρθρωση και κινητικότητα στην ελληνική ύπαιθρο
2. Φρατσέα Λουκία-Μαρία, Ερευνήτρια, Τμήμα Γεωγραφίας, Χαροκόπειο Πανεπιστήμιο
Κοινωνικές και γεωγραφικές διαδρομές των μεταναστών στην ελληνική ύπαιθρο
3. Σταθοπούλου Δώρα, Κοινωνικός Επιστήμονας, Υπουργείο Εργασίας, Κοινωνικής Ασφάλισης & Κοινωνικής Αλληλεγγύης
Αποτιμώντας τη διαδικασία εκτίμησης αναγκών και το σύστημα της μετάκλησης για την απασχόληση υπηκόων τρίτων χωρών στην αγροτική οικονομία
4. Νικολαΐδης Κυριάκος, Γεωπόνος και Χατζηγεωργίου Κυριακή, Πληροφορικός.
Καινοτόμες τεχνολογικές λύσεις για την κάλυψη των αναγκών σε εργατικά χέρια
Β ΕΝΟΤΗΤΑ
Εξελίξεις στο φαινόμενο της καταναγκαστικής εργασίας
18.00μμ-19.45μμ
Πρόεδρος: Σωτηρία Χήρα, Νομικός, Υπεύθυνη συνηγορίας και νομικής συμβουλευτικής Generation 2.0 RED
1. Φωτιάδης Απόστολος, Ερευνητής
Ρυθμιστικά κενά στην εφοδιαστική αλυσίδα αγροτικών τροφίμων
2. Μοσκώφ Ηρακλής, Εθνικός Εισηγητής για την καταπολέμηση της εμπορίας ανθρώπων
Σύγχρονες πρωτοβουλίες του Συμβουλίου της Ευρώπης στο θέμα της εργασιακής εκμετάλλευσης
3. Κερασιώτης Βασίλης, Δικηγόρος, Διευθύνων στη HIAS Greece
Ελλείψεις του νομικού πλαισίου για την καταπολέμηση της καταναγκαστικής εργασίας: Η περίπτωση της Ελλάδας μετά την υπόθεση της Chowdary c./ Greece
4. Καψάλης Απόστολος, ΙΝΕ/ΓΣΕΕ, Μεταδιδακτορικός Ερευνητής Πάντειο Πανεπιστήμιο
Μετά τη Μανωλάδα τί… και πού? Α-κινητικότητα με όρους καταναγκαστικής εργασίας
Συμπεράσματα ημερίδας
19.45μμ
Δρ. Μιχάλης Πέτρου, Κοινωνικός ανθρωπολόγος
ερευνητής στο Εθνικό Κέντρο Κοινωνικών Ερευνών
The strawberry producing village of Nea Manolada, whose name has become a synonym for undeclared migrant labor coupled with violence and compulsion on behalf of the employers’ side, is the popular archetype of a coercive geogra-phy in the Greek context. Institutionalized precarity, as we meet here, is situ-ated and shaped by particular political geographies which constitute different coercive geographies producing confined, restricted spaces which create un-freedom, stuckness and immobility (cf. introduction this volume). An outcome of enduring migration/labor policies on the national level combined with so-cial and labor market particularities on the local level, Manolada constitutes a divisive and exclusionary geography, which facilitates the emergence of severe forms of labor exploitation of both legally and “irregularly” residing migrants. In the past 25–30 years, migrants have been living there in slum settlements working under harsh and unhealthy conditions. They have been shot at while asking for their salaries in 2013, workers have been severely injured or died in accidents during their transportation to the fields and they have witnessed the conflagration of three of their settlements and the subsequent burning of large amounts of money, personal belongings and administrative paperwork. Still, as many as seven hundred Bangladeshi migrants stay there permanently throughout the year and up to nine thousand migrants (mainly of Bangladeshi origin) provide their labor during the peak of the harvesting season, which lasts from January to June.This chapter investigates the causes which enable a steady supply of mi-grant labor in Manolada and outlines migrants’ im/mobility (cf. Bélanger and Silvey 2019) patterns within the Greek territory. Our research is based on twenty-nine qualitative interviews with Bangladeshi migrants, through which we delve deeper into their aspirations and self-perception of their situation and agency. In order to analyse how such a geography has been stabilized for
�1Migrants’ Entrapment in a ‘State of Expectancy’<UN>more than a decade we apply the aspiration-capability framework (Schewel 2019) into our empirical case. Moreover, we observe how legal frameworks cre-ate barriers to migrants regarding their integration in the labor market and impede their mobility. We especially focus on attempts to occupationally and geographically immobilize migrants within the Greek agricultural sector and institutionalize their precarious condition through recent policymaking (Flo-ros and Jørgensen 2020), which introduced the concept of ‘para-legality’ (Kap-salis 2018a) as a new category in stratified labor and residency statuses. Our aim is to justify the terming of Manolada as a coercive geography by providing a nuanced report on a) migrants’ labor and housing conditions, b) the role of restrictive migration/labor frameworks and c) migrants’ personal accounts about their situation and im/mobility.In the Greek political discourse Manolada figures as the par excellence ex-ample of a coercive geographical space, mainly because of migrant protest against the exploitative conditions and the violent incidents of 2013 (Papado-poulos et al. 2018). Nevertheless, through our research we became aware of several other coercive geographies within the Greek agricultural sector, as the same Bangladeshi migrants relocate by hundreds and by seasons across the country to work and lodge, in circular patterns more or less similar to each other and in equally degrading conditions. Their consecutive back and forth in the same exploitative routes coupled with their current or original aspirations to reach some other European country, lead us to term this pattern as ‘mobility in immobility’, as an ongoing mobility in the frame of an institutionalized im-mobility both in the country and in their occupational activity.We conclude that Bangladeshi migrants working in the Greek agricultural sector are entrapped in a constant ‘state of expectancy’ created by restrictive – yet under special circumstances promising – residence permit policies, which standardize their exploitation within diverse agricultural settings in Greece. This comes as no surprise. The restructuring of European agricultural produc-tion has been premised on maintaining “vulnerable legal status and social condition(s) of migrants” (Corrado et al. 2016: 4) and Greece does not pose as an exception in this regional map of coercive geographies.In our chapter we begin by briefly outlining the legal framework that shapes the agricultural labor market for migrants in Greece. We then introduce the concepts that constitute our theoretical framework and the methodological approach to our research. In the next part we present and analyse our empiri-cal findings, arguing on the existence of a ‘state of expectancy’ and a ‘mobility in immobility’ pattern, before concluding by explaining the reasons for the perpetuation of Manolada’s coercive geography.
This publication focuses on practices in the labour market integration of asylum seekers and refugees in the main EU reception states in the post-2015 period. It takes a comparative approach highlighting areas of good practice across the countries while also examining integration barriers. A lack of co-ordinated action and solidarity at European level, more restrictive national policies due to political tailwinds and institutional barriers are key factors why member states have been unable to capitalise on the generally favourable labour market situation.
It is still remarkable that many of them have achieved faster labour market integration for refugees than in previous periods of immigration. At the same time, with hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers still
in limbo, with limited rights and in vulnerable situations (either waiting for a final decision or having been rejected), Europe faces a humanitarian crisis within its borders.
Therefore, this research focuses on the refugees’ and asylum-seekers’ mobility possibilities in view of permanently resettling in regional areas of the country in the pursuit of sustainable and decent employment. However, taking into account viewpoints of companies, an attempt is made to assess the scope and quality features of previous and current employment of refugees in companies, to locate drawbacks that would cancel or inhibit such prospects in the national economic and social context and to seek ways to overcome the inhibitory factors.
Specifically in this regard, the feasibility and characteristics of the elaboration and implementation of comprehensive synergy instruments is examined at a local level, by all stakeholders that guarantee the enhancement of sustainability and boost of refugees’ employment in regional areas as an effective means of social inclusion.
Reports on the country often appear on the front pages of renowned
daily newspapers, both inside and outside Europe, or feature in
the news headlines on television and radio. These reports may
concern the economic and humanitarian crisis of the country as a
consequence of the global economic recession or the so-called
refugee crisis and the mass inflow of foreign citizens mainly to the
country’s islands.
A small country has become known around the world for its accumulated
problems as well as its defiance and contradictions. In
late 2018, googling the term “economic crisis Greece” would produce
more than 15 million hits within seconds while a search on
the “migration” or “refugee crisis” in the country sum yielded almost
four million results.
However, a basic triple question needs to be answered (Chapter
1): First, are the massive inflows that have taken place mainly
through the country’s sea borders in the last four years solely of a
refugee nature? Second, are the intensity and character of such
inflows capable of forming conditions of crisis at the social and
economic levels? And, third, what is the connection of such phenomena
to the general economic crisis that has been raging in
Greece for a decade?
At the same time, it is crucially important to investigate the mobility
trends and the forms they have acquired over time and space
in the Greek case. Avoiding the methodological error of a static or
photographic depiction of cross-border movements, an evolutionary
examination of migration flows in the long term is doubly
beneficial: On the one hand, it contradicts widespread myths regarding
the fate of migrating populations in periods of crisis and,
on the other, facilitates the preparation of the country in view of
future, if not imminent, international challenges (Chapter 2).
It is true that the defenders of migrant rights in Greece have always
linked their claims to statistical data and the qualitative characteristics
of the employment of the foreign labour force. The findings
of official and independent academic studies on the subject
refute almost all the arguments of so-called “economic racism”, on
which the attempts of xenophobic and nationalist political groups
to secure a social footing are based. The examination of both the
characteristics of employment and the impact of migrants’ work
before and during the economic crisis is vital in order to fully comprehend
the migration phenomenon in its totality (Chapter 3).
Finally, an in-depth examination is undertaken in Chapter 4 on
the essence of national policies for migration and migrant employment,
based on the conclusions drawn in the previous chapters.
As particular and rather unique the migration history in Greece
may be, the efforts of the competent authorities to regulate the
phenomenon may not be as genuine as they may seem as they do
not always reflect the particularities of the situation. Over the
years, rather, the Greek migration management model has complied
with the spirit of general social policy making and has, in fact,
been based on multiple forms of discriminatory treatment. Nevertheless,
it is for those reasons that the specific model remains vulnerable
to adverse or unexpected financial and political developments,
as happened precisely at the end of the 2000s with the
emergence and impact of the recession and crisis.