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For a capatalist economy to function, its labor force must be maintained; that is, workers must receive a historically determined minimal day-to-day subsistence. It must also be renewed; that is, vacancies must be filled. A system of migrant labor is characterized by the institutional differentiation and physical separation of the processes of renewal and maintenance. Accordingly, migrant labor entails a dual dependence upon employment in one place and an alternate economy and/or state in another. In addition, the separation of migrant workers from their families is implied. It is enforced through specific legal and political mechanisms which regulate geographical mobility and impose restrictions on the occupational mobility of migrants. These mechanisms in turn are made possible by the migrant workers'powerlessness in the place of employment, in the labor market, and under the legal and political systems where they are employed. One consequence of a system of migrant labor is the externalization, to an alternate economy and/or state, of certain costs of labor-force renewal-costs normally borne by the employer and/or state of employment. This framework is developed and applied to migrant farm workers in California and migrant mine workers in South Africa. The differences between the two systems are highlighted and analyzed in terms of the broader features of the respective social structures. Finally, the implications of the theoretical scheme are discussed and extended to an interpretation of race relations.
Michael Burawoy (Mon,) studied this question.