Is unfree labour only an historical phenomenon, or does this concept accurately capture the conditions and experiences of many migrant and immigrant workers in Canada today? This unique collection foregrounds contemporary organizing strategies and models for labour and migration justice, alongside an in-depth examination of racialized neoliberal migration. This volume also discusses the wide range of initiatives undertaken by migrant and immigrant workers organizing for justice and dignity in Canada and finds that these struggles have not only had significant political, social and economic impacts but also offer important insights for the rethinking and rebuilding of a working-class movement in the twenty-first century.
Contents
• Introduction: Struggling Against Unfree Labour (Aziz Choudry & Adrian A. Smith)
• “Systemic Discrimination” in Canadian Context: Employment Equity, Live-in Domestic Care and the Challenge of Unfree Labour Markets (Abigail B. Bakan)
• Producing and Contesting ‘Unfree Labour’ Through the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (Mark Thomas)
• Globalizing “Immobile” Worksites: Fast Food under Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (Geraldina Polanco)
• Struggling against History: Migrant Farm Worker Organizing in British Columbia (Adriana Paz Ramirez & Jennifer Jihye Chun)
• The Case for Unemployment Insurance Benefits for Migrant Agricultural Workers in Canada (Chris Ramsaroop)
• Migrant Live-In Caregivers: Control, Consensus and Resistance in the Workplace and the Community (Jah-Hon Koo & Jill Hanley)
• Critical Questions: Building Worker Power and a Vision of Organizing in Ontario (Deena Ladd & Sonia Singh)
• A Jeepney Ride to Tunisia — From There to Here, Organizing TFW Workers (Joey Calugay, Loïc Malhaire & Eric Shragge)
• Organizers in Dialogue (Joey Calugay, Jill Hanley, Mostafa Henaway, Deena Ladd, Marco Luciano, Adriana Paz Ramirez, Chris Ramsaroop, Eric Shragge, Sonia Singh, Christopher Sorio)
• Unfree Labour, Social Reproduction and Political Community in Contemporary Capitalism (Sedef Arat-Koç)
About the Authors
Aziz Choudry is assistant professor in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University, Montreal. With lengthy experience as a social and political activist, educator and researcher, he currently serves on the boards of the Immigrant Workers Centre (Montreal) and the Global Justice Ecology Project.Adrian A. Smith is an assistant professor in the Department of Law and Legal Studies at Carleton University.
