Work in the fields, living in the city

Conformation of peri-urban territories in Misiones

Abstract

The growing urban residence of agricultural workers has become a constant during the last decades, associated with the search for job opportunities, and the access to social services and to public policies usually limited in rural areas. The decline and growing seasonality of labor demand in the local herbs or yerba mate plantations in Misiones (Argentina) led to the relocation of temporary rural workers in nearby cities. This article seeks to understand the neighborhood as a territory that organizes labor relations and social reproduction, for which are considered the conditions and practices of access to work, the social and economic networks, its meaning as a new socialization milieu and the key public policies.