Determinantes de la precariedad del trabajo jornalero agrícola en México: un análisis histórico-institucional

Abstract

Objective: to examine the structural causes of the labor precariousness conditions of agricultural day-laborers in Mexico. Methodology: qualitative, historic, and sociological research to identify historical, institutional, and social inertias that turn into determining conditions of the structure which produces laborers’ precariousness despite of labor laws and standards that should protect them. Results: it is affirmed that the agrarian dispossession derived from colonization processes, the economic culture of exploitation of workers persistence, historic political marginalization, and the low rates of unionization of agricultural day-laborers during the post-revolutionary period in Mexico are the causes for the precarious conditions of the occupation. Value: emphasizing the importance of historical inheritances discovery as determinants of the current institutional structures that affect the quality of life of precarious workers. Conclusion: the historical review sustains the argument that in order to improve the working conditions of agricultural day-laborers, some political institutions must be changed to obtain day-laborers representation and to draft specific labor legislation to modify the conception of manual agricultural work, in such a way that it is not considered a way to reduce production costs through the precariousness of workers.

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