Migration of Farm Workers to Rural Scotland: Equality, Cultural Capital and the Process of Social and Cultural Transitions

By Dr. Iqbal Md Mostafa

The migration of farm workers to rural Scotland is an important issue that relates to the existing theories and research in contemporary equality and cultural capital studies, particularly in regard to the exploration of how and in what ways cultural capital theory can be addressed to study migrants equality claims, the examination of how complex equality models can be used for inquiry into the reinforcement of inequalities in cultural capital and the accumulative effects of such inequality. In particular, the experiences of East European migrant farm workers challenge theoretical perspectives that apply a) an approach of equality claim from cultural capital, which emphasize b) equal right to recognition, and therefore, c) focus on entitlement to equal protection against any discrimination.

This book, therefore, offers us a way to explore these experiences with a call for attention to be paid to a large number of East European migrant farm workers who have migrated to rural Scotland to work in low paid jobs marked with low skills. Unlike majority members of a population, migrant farm workers often give up their cultural capital and take up low skilled jobs in order to gain opportunities for success in other spheres in their lives. Critiquing such a trade-off approach, if the sphere of migrants cultural capital is invaded and the cultural capital of local workers (native) is acknowledged, migrants are in a vulnerable position. I also argue although migrants achievements are devalued, and their substantive equality remains unprotected, their claim from cultural capital is relatively strong and valid to manage. The more vulnerable a migrants cultural capital is in terms of recognition and protection, the stronger his or her claim from cultural capital will be. Under the theoretical framework, I argue that if equal recognitions of cultural capital are not actively ensured, this is highly likely to produce increased claims to equality.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Aug 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9781546297307

Dr. Iqbal Md Mostafa

Dr Iqbal Md Mostafa, a Commonwealth Scholar who has spent his working life in academia is based in School of Education and Social Work at the University of Dundee. Prior to his move to Dundee, he was Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the University of Chittagong and lectured at Glasgow Caledonian University. His distinguished career has included teaching, research and consultancy to national and international organisations. His main research interests are in migration, public policy, management and administration, community learning and development, race and ethnic relations, ethnicity and identity politics. His knowledge of race and immigration and expertise and interest in the political and social organisations and applied sociology from cultural capital, integration and equality perspectives are considerable, and covers a plurality of viewpoints and experiences. Dr Iqbal has constantly and convincingly conveyed a spirit of exciting research experiences and shared with the academia his insights and expertise to analytically analyse exactly what is going on with ethnic minorities world. His unparalleled drive and enthusiasm over the past years have generated some research activities which have made not only a valuable contribution to public management by developing its central concepts and applying them to developing countries but also a unique identification of the building blocks necessary to expand our understanding of the issues faced by our communities embarking on the path of community learning and development He has published widely in the field of Public Administration, Sociology and Community Learning and Development. A forthcoming commitment is to publish a book on immigration, cultural capital, equality, and the knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and social identities of migrant farm workers in Scotland. In this book, his knowledge, understanding and skills drawn from the breadth of social sciences contributes to a detailed analysis of Scotland’s ethnic minorities’ experiences not only in employment but also around their social and cultural capital, noting the urgent need for major reforms in CLD practice. Dr Iqbal is the founder of the Centre for Study and Research (CFSR) and the Editor of CFSR Journal.

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© 2018 Dr Iqbal MD Mostafa. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 08/29/2018

ISBN: 978-1-5462-9722-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-9730-7 (e)

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Contents

List Of Illustrations

Acknowledgfments

Preface

Chapter 1   Introduction

Context and setting

Research Questions

Chapter 2   Literature Review

Equality, cultural capital and migrant workers in the UK/Scotland

Cultural capital and migrant workers in Scotland

Services and allocation of accommodation

Participation, citizenship and equality claim from cultural capital

Inclusion and exclusion

Inclusion and interaction with local communities

Social and cultural transitions and social capital

Migrant farm workers in Scotland

Equality of cultural capital – The framework

Recognition and protection principle

Cultural capital theory and theory of equality

Equal valuations of cultural capital

Key concepts

Conclusion

Chapter 3   Research Methodology

Introduction

Methodological Challenges

Policy Interviews

Design and execution, clarity on methods to be used and data, and ethical issues

Data Analysis

Chapter 4   Data Presentation

Introduction

Migrants’ Profile

The Qualitative Findings: Identification of the themes and presentation of data

Conclusion

Chapter 5   Analysis of Data, Results and Discussion

Introduction

Challenges to equality of cultural capital: Employment perspective

Application of existing accommodations (mechanisms)

Alternative ways of claiming equality from cultural capital

Accommodation (mechanisms) perspective on equality claim

Discussion

Chapter 6   Restraint Mechanisms and Enforcements

Introduction

Enforcing equality and employment rights in the UK

Regulative mechanisms and enforcements

Conclusion

Chapter 7   Conclusion and Recommendations

Limitations

Policy Recommendations

Future Research

References

Appendices

About The Author

List Of Illustrations

Tables

Table 2.1: Qualifications of A8 Migrant Workers (Survey)

Table 2.2: Analysis of census data 2001 and 2011, Migration Observatory 2013

Table 3.1 citizenship and sex categories of respondents interviewed, 2013

Table 3.2 showing Net Migration by Region

Table 3.3 showing Key Steps in devising sample

Table 3.4: Profile information of respondents / interviewees

Figures

Figure 2.1: Health and Social Problems are worse in More Unequal Countries

Figure 3.1 showing Net Migration to the UK 1975 –YE June 2014, thousands, ONS

Figure 3.2: The process of analytic induction

Figure 4.1: How satisfied are migrants with employment contracts and conditions?

Figure 4.2: Abuse and contentment in employer-employee relations

Figure 4.3: Understanding of equality and cultural capital

Figure 4.4: Recognition of cultural capital

Figure 4.5: Do you believe that equality of cultural capital exists?

Figure 4.6: Inequality

Figure 4.7: How happy are migrants with accommodation provided by farmers?

Figure 4.8: Accommodations (practice / instrument)

Figure 4.9: Accommodations (practice/instrument) to achieve equality of cultural capital

Boxes

THEME 1: The workplace

THEME 2: Cultural capital

THEME 3: Social and cultural transition and social capital

THEME 4: Discrimination beyond the work environment

THEME 5: Accommodation (Practice / Instrument/ Mechanism)

Chart

Chart 3.1: UK net migration (by intended length of stay), showing more migrant have leaving the UK than arriving

Acknowledgments

It is with immense gratitude that I acknowledge the guidance, support and help of Dr Murray Simpson and Dr Fernando Fernandes of Dundee University, who were a key influence on my decision to carry out this research. I cannot find words to express my gratitude to them for their guidance and persistent help with this study.

It was Professor Susan Rodrigues of the Liverpool Hope University who first encouraged me to apply for RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) that has been awarded. I can’t thank her enough.

I would like to express the deepest appreciation to Dr Sharon Jackson for assessing my research process and for the insightful comments she made on different elements of my work. I would also like to thank Dr Alison Hudson for her close reading and generous feedback on my RPL. It gives me great pleasure in acknowledging the support and help of Professor Timothy Kelly, Professor Divya Jindal-Snape, Professor David Miller and Professor John Baldacchino. I would like to thank all of them for their endless patience and support throughout the research process.

I have also had the support of my Publishing Services Associate Ms May Arado, thank you for your helpful advice and support. You have never lost your patience with my endless queries.

I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to Mrs Amber Imran - a Research Fellow of the University of Dundee who provided much valuable comment and helped me in various ways during the production of this research.

I would like to take this opportunity to show my gratitude to Romans Prosins, a Research Fellow who spent his precious time with me in planning and conducting my interviews with the migrant farm workers.

Finally, I would like to thank my mother Syeda Rowshan Ishaque to whom I owe a great deal. To my late father Professor Dr M Ishaque, MSc, PhD, DIC (London) thank you for leaving behind an inspiring academic legacy that my family can follow, giving me the greatest gift: your trust, understanding and unconditional love, and showing me that the key to life is blessedness.

Preface

Drawing on a qualitative approach, this research investigates Scotland’s migrant farm workers’ experiences not only in employment but also around their social and cultural transitions. The study shows how those experiences resonate with keys themes and concepts in contemporary migration literature that greatly contribute to the equality claims from cultural capital. I address claims of resources and possessions such as language, knowledge, experiences, skills, understanding, abilities, values, customs, talents, attributes, practices, taste, and background or skin colour, which individuals attach to their cultural capital. I refer to these as claims from cultural capital. I use Walzer’s complex equality model (principle of distributive justice) and a Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital in order to regulate such claims and understand how cultural capital affects equality. I develop a conception of equality introduced as `equality of cultural capital’ which is conveyed through the principle of substantive equality.

Equality of cultural capital is important not only for the on-going interaction between members of different cultural groups but also for the distribution of other spheres of migrants’ lives on their sphere of cultural capital in order to achieve distributive social justice. It is, however, in the sphere of cultural capital that all groups in the population may achieve an overarching equality provided people are given equal opportunity to fulfil the need for recognition of their knowledge, understanding, attributes, practices, taste, and background that are considered to be forms of cultural capital.

Whilst it is important to acknowledge that the very presence of migrant farm workers’ in rural Scotland is due to their willingness, there is a tendency to present migrant workers as actors who voluntarily trade hardships and cultural capital for economic prosperity. The presence of these workers particularly in rural areas seems to have become a significantly important feature in contemporary agriculture in rural Scotland. Their expectations around employment, equality and relationship can be a challenge. Such a challenge asks whether the relationships between different actors such as migrant farm workers, local communities, service providers and farmers/employers are positive and supportive. It also asks whether farm migrants are exploited as `there is a tendency to present migrant workers as homogenous, lacking in agency and invariably as victims of the system’ (de Lima and Wright, 2009:394). I argue that this tendency gives rise to a number of challenges for the field of equality and cultural capital.

The theoretical framework that I propose responds to this argument by offering a regulative principle so that migrants’ substantive equality cannot be harmed and the dominance of economic or any other sphere over the sphere of cultural capital can be as minimal and negligible as possible. Under the framework, I argue that if equal recognitions of cultural capital are not actively ensured, this is highly likely to produce increased claims to equality.

The framework is also used to examine to what extent citizenship status of members of the majority is applied to migrant farm workers, to what degree social capital has contributed to equality of cultural capital for them and to what extent appropriate practice or instruments apply to the design of resource distribution to accommodate their cultural capital.

I

would like to dedicate this book to the bond of my life

Ismat Ara Chowdhury

Adeeb Al Mostafa

Isam Al Mostafa

Umayr Al Mostafa

Zayyan Al Mostafa

who have always stood by me and dealt with many difficult situations with a smile. I couldn’t have done it without your love and support!

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Contemporary patterns of migration indicate that international migrants move from their country of origin to the more affluent Western states (Desiderio, 2012). Although 17.3 million people were recorded as migrants officially within the EU in 2013, there have been many `unknown number of unregistered’ (Rye, 2014: 328) and undocumented migrants who have travelled across the border and are now in jobs (Schuck, 2008; Christiano, 2008; Blake, 2008). Migrants are not only confined to urban areas but also located to rural and small town areas of the UK and other European states (Jentsch, 2007; Stenning and Dawley, 2009; Andrzejewska and Rye, 2012; McAreavey, 2012). Whilst the movement might appear to be highly significant for the economy of a country struggling with stagnation and decline, large scale migration to rural West Europe has provided a major challenge for equality, integration and community cohesion that has been witnessed in recent years (Rye, 2014; de Lima and Wright, 2009, CAB, 2005; CRC, 2007; de Lima et al., 2005).

Although people from Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and the new Commonwealth, have been settling in to the United Kingdom for a very long time, a large number of migrant workers from Central and Eastern-Europe have only just recently migrated to the UK in the wake of the expansion of the European Union in 2004. This movement of people has made not only the UK government dependent on them for the achievement of its budgetary targets¹ but also many public and private businesses - from the NHS to city jobs, from industrial sectors to agriculture, food processing and tourism sectors – for the survival of their business² (Bell et al., 2004; de Lima et al., 2005, 2007; de Lima and Wright, 2009).

Although A8 migrants³ settled in the UK at an unprecedented scale it is a fact that Scotland relies on attracting migrant workers to a far greater extent than any other parts of the UK (de Lima and Wright, 2009:391). This fact is evidenced by settlement beyond urban areas to remote rural and small town areas including the Highlands of Scotland (Rye, 2014, de Lima et al. 2005) which have been populated by migrant farm workers from times of the EU enlargement in 2004.

It is argued that ageing and declining rural population and economic stagnation for remote and rural areas always provide fertile ground for the reliance of migrant workers to fulfil growth and development objectives (Kandel and Cromartie 2004; de Lima et al., 2005; Commission for Rural Communities (CRC), 2007; Pollard et 3al., 2008; Jeng and Yang 2009; Lichter and brown 2011). Although Scotland’s population lives in urban and rural areas, it has remote coastal and mountain areas of sparse population which can affect the way we live and work, which can obstruct the economic potential and the creation of high quality employment opportunities. Inevitably the labour market in rural Scotland is governed by agricultural and service industry jobs which are marked by low wages and have limited prospects for advancement (de Lima, 2008). This is particularly the case for the agricultural sector where the work of migrant workers such as planting and gathering crops, on-farm processing and packing of crops and handling of livestock is often marked as relatively low-skilled (Migration Advisory Committee, 2013).

The structure of Scotland’s populations (de Lima and Wright, 2009) and out-migration and low levels of unemployment (Jamison and Groves, 2008; Hall, 2007) have made Scotland dependent on the supply of migrant workers from the A8 countries (Bell et al., 2004, de Lima and Wright, 2009). Besides, the interaction between Scotland’s economy and its physical geography is also responsible for creating demand for migrant farm workers.

The substantial demand for migrant farm workers that takes place for several reasons such as labour shortages, skills gaps, physical geography, rural depopulation, presents challenges not only for employers, but also for service providers and local communities in responding to migrants’ needs. It also presents challenges for migrant farm workers whose experiences of employment and socio-cultural transitions play a hugely important role in their relationship with other actors, and needless to say, necessarily shape their relationship with the country of migration.

Migration research on recent arrivals to a new destination, whilst acknowledging that new arrivals may have disparate reasons for migrating, have not tended to pay attention on how employers’ and service providers’ handling migrant farm workers’ affairs including their rights may continue to challenge existing theories of equality and cultural capital. Such theories of equality and cultural capital are examined in Chapter 2 in order to provide further understanding of the theme of my research. Adequate attention has also not been paid on how equality may have an impact on migrant farm workers experiences not in employment but also around their social and cultural transitions.

There have been relatively few studies of Eastern European migrant farm workers in rural Scotland that have discussed such experiences. Most of the research has unceasingly emphasised the impact of immigration on the labour market. The non-economic considerations are relatively neglected aspects of research on EU labour immigration to Scotland, particularly in regard to non-recognition of cultural capital that affects equality.

Little attention has also been given to establishing whether migration heightens inequality and, if so, whether it heightens migrants suffering and in what respects. What is also less well known is what it is like to work in an agricultural setting- an increasingly segmented section of the economy- where little information is available on migrant farm workers experiences in employment and how they experience the process of social and cultural transition. Research on this relationship remains underdeveloped. The fact that there has been no empirical research that has analysed the impact of the non-economic considerations has encouraged me to undertake this study.

This research thus not only interrogates the forms of treatment and challenges migrant farm workers experience in employment but also considers wider issues around their social and cultural transition to address impacts of immigration on `equality of cultural capital’. By `equality of cultural capital’, I substantiate a claim from resources and possessions such as language, knowledge, skills, practice, values, customs, talents, accent or skin colour, which individuals attach to their cultural capital. These will be referred to as claims from cultural capital. In order to regulate such claims and understand how cultural capital affects equality I develop a conception of equality by using theory of distributive justice and cultural capital theory. I introduce it as `equality of cultural capital’ which is conveyed through the principle of substantive equality. In doing so, this study strives to explore the meanings attached to the terms `equality’ and `cultural capital’ and presents a conceptual framework for understanding the experiences of (a) East European migrant workers in the UK/Scotland and (b) migrant farm workers in Scotland more generally, and (c) seasonal farm workers more generally.

The study considers the findings of an empirical study of such experiences of migrant farm workers in Scotland in order to gain insight into the meaning and significance of equality of cultural capital for them and the relationship between farm migrants and different actors such as farmers/employers, service providers and local communities. It demonstrates how my conception of equality of cultural capital that refers to a claim for substantive equality between majority and minority members contributes to the theoretical framework for a regulatory principle to emerge that deals with migrant farm workers’ claims from cultural capital.

Considering the framework, I propose the recognition and protection principle, according to which the more unrecognised a person’s cultural capital in terms of equality, the stronger his or her claim from cultural capital. In other words, the more the cultural capital of a person is unprotected, the stronger is his or her equality claim. In this book, I demonstrate the strong relationship between equality claim and claims from cultural capital and argue that they seem inseparable. In effect, claims from cultural capital not only refer to the rights they are based on, but also direct someone’s attention towards the difference between the level of recognition and protection members of the majority receive from the state for their cultural capital, and the level of recognition and protection members of the minority receive. In this regard, claims from cultural capital should be viewed as equality claims.

This framework demonstrates how a more nuanced understanding of complex and dynamic relationships between migrant farm workers and different actors is appropriate for the study of equality of cultural capital. It also draws attention to be paid to the regulative mechanisms and enforcements which are potentially unstable now and may continue to challenge different actors’ handling of diversity and equality.

In this book, I argue that Michael Walzar’s general theory of distributive justice and Bourdieusian theory of cultural capital have emerged as a powerful model/framework for the study of equality and have the relevance for the study of migrant farm workers to examine their equality claim from cultural capital. The book contributes to our knowledge by examining how devaluation or non-recognition of cultural capital affects equality claims via the existing principles of distribution of symbolic goods and material in society. In other words, how are farm migrants disadvantaged or advantaged by their cultural capital, and how they experience the process of social and cultural transitions and how does it affect equality claim via interaction with local communities and other actors?

By conducting this research, I seek to gain insight into these processes in migrant farm workers context that has a profound influence on the working environment and the lives of millions, while also contributing to our wide-ranging understanding of how cultural capital is involved in the increase in equality claims. The book concludes with a discussion of this study’s sociological and cultural contributions and the implications for future research.

Context and setting

In recent years, migration has been addressed in a manner that raises weighty questions as to how to be tough on migration and whether migration causes problems like workplace discrimination, cheap housing, hate-speech, blasphemy, etc. The September 11 attack in 2001 and the subsequent events have pushed America, Britain and many other European countries to implement tougher laws and restrictions on foreign immigration.⁴ Arguably, the way public policy is made with regard to immigration, immigrants have been portrayed as a threat. This image has, however, problematized immigration and has created a sense of crisis within the policy field and the wider society. This assumed crisis provokes hostility within the general population. Consequently, hostile political environments contribute to the significant barriers for all migrant groups to be fully embraced by the wider society (Mulvey, 2010).

There are reasons to believe that government policy is made to prevent illegal immigration and investigate thoroughly and more closely the bona fide claims of those seeking asylum. The recently launched immigration crackdown and the stance of the former British Prime Minister David Cameron – who has said, We will find you, we will send you home(BBC, 28 July 2014) and urged the local public to report alleged illegal immigrants (The Guardian, 10 October 2011)– are examples of how migrants entering Britain face increasingly tighter controls. The UK Immigration Act 2014 is an example of how immigration system is going to be tougher on illegal immigrants as the changes to immigration rules tend to narrow down chances for those who do not meet the criteria and making it easier to remove people with apparently ‘no right to be here’.⁵ In a similar vein, there are also reasons to believe modern societies encounter many problems with immigrants demanding the recognition of their labour, identity, and accommodation of their cultural differences and resources. As it is noted: ‘Many migrants, some after decades of settlement, suffer economic and social disadvantages, are excluded from civic and political participation and face discrimination, racism and xenophobia’ (Rudiger and Spencer, 2003:3).

The movement of human beings, however, from place to place, from job to job, or from one social class or level to another - which Walzer describes as `perfect labour mobility’ from unfavoured to favoured environments - has never functioned smoothly without resistance. The movement of non-native people into a country has always been subject to the public concern (Huber et. al. 2010) and ‘is almost certain to be resisted at local level’ (Walzer, 1983:38). This concern is now one of the new challenges of 21st century life being faced by Western liberal democracies.

The concern arises in various legal, economic, social and political contexts and always most probably causes debate and controversy as to whether `wide-spread migration has reduced the power of organised labour by dividing the working class…’ (Freeman; 1986:61) and whether immigrants are seen as parasites and a threat to national unity and security or are imposing a financial burden on the country’s welfare system⁶ or productive contributors to economy and societal needs (Cheng, 2003; Raijman et al., 2003; Bose, 2006; The Vancouver Sun, 2006; USA Today, 2006; Hopkins, 2010; Politics.co.uk, 2010; The Telegraph, 2011). To this extent, whilst immigration is the focus of attention, there is still no conclusive evidence to suggest the refutation or confirmation of this concern.⁷ Through their cultural capital immigrants aim to contribute to our economy despite the fact that they suffer from exploitation. In contrast to current immigration concerns and controversies, many may even align with the fact Vickers (2012) presents that workers are already divided into national immigrant camps through exploitation on a national basis. Yet, it has been found that the value of migrants’ contributions is more than the subsequent reduction to their state benefits. For instance, an academic study⁸ carried out by Christian Dustmann and Tommaso Frattini has recently indicated:

We investigate the fiscal impact of immigration on the UK economy, with a focus on the period since 1995. Our findings indicate that, when considering the resident immigrant population in each year from 1995 to 2011, immigrants from the European Economic Area (EEA) have made a positive fiscal contribution, even during periods when the UK was running budget deficits, while Non-EEA immigrants, not dissimilar to natives, have made a negative contribution. For immigrants that arrived since 2000, contributions have been positive throughout, and particularly so for immigrants from EEA countries. Notable is the strong positive contribution made by immigrants from countries that joined the EU in 2004. (Dustmann and Frattini, 2014:1)

Nevertheless, there are concerns for people who have come from very different environments as they encounter problems at a time when they are placed into strange surroundings and have to cope at once with the beginning of a new life and work, and furthermore have to settle into a new environment completely. Walzer has written:

`Human beings move about a great deal, but not because they love to move. They are, most of them, inclined to stay where they are unless their life is very difficult there. They experience a tension between love of place and the discomforts of a particular place. While some of them leave their homes and become foreigners in new lands, others stay where they are and resent the foreigners in their own land’. (Walzer, 1983: 38)

Migrants as new arrivals to new destinations leave their country of origin in search and hope of better opportunities. They travel to a country of migration and try to invest their assets such as knowledge, experiences, skills, understanding, abilities, attributes, practices, taste, and background in employment settings. In country of migration, such resources and possessions that we call cultural capital may be acknowledged or migrants may be vulnerable to non-recognition of their cultural capital. In reality, it is a slightly more complex stage due to the fact that there are different degrees of recognition. In some cases, cultural capital of some people may be recognised while in other cases other people’s cultural capital may not be acknowledged. If cultural capital is acknowledged, migrants make no claims. There is no reason to deny the fact that there may be many immigrants who attain jobs for which they were qualified although the percentage may be low.

However, migrant workers usually raise the claim from cultural capital due to their vulnerable situation. It is equally important to note that white indigenous population may also be in a vulnerable position with their cultural capital who can’t find jobs for which they were qualified. Migrants may, however, raise claims by pointing out the difference between the level of recognition and protection members of the majority and the minority receive from the state for their cultural capital. The situation is positive and ideal when such difference is not found. If there is any difference found it draws attention to the conception of `equality of cultural capital’ which I have developed by pointing out clearly that both members of the minority and the majority have the same right to substantive equality i.e., everybody has the right to recognition and protection of their cultural capital and has the same right over a claim for substantive equality.

I argue equality of cultural capital is raised and articulated in conflicts usually between migrants and employers and often between migrants and other actors such as service providers and local communities. Such conflicts arise in various contexts such as discrimination at the workplace, undermining one’s potentials or case for one’s rights, exclusion from services, hate-speech, language barriers, cultural differences, and lack of support of local and migrant community. These conflicts between members of different cultural groups and communities and often between the majority and the minority groups have increasingly become common in Western European countries. It is not surprising that equality claims raised in such conflicts have had profound implications for different actors.

Under such circumstance, I argue although migrants’ achievements are devalued and their substantive equality remains unprotected their claim from cultural capital is relatively strong and valid to manage. The more migrants are discriminated in the labour market because of their cultural identification, and the more they have low achievements in education or low social status, the more their cultural capital is vulnerable. The more the people are vulnerable to non-recognition of their cultural capital, the more the claims to equality are likely to rise. It is indeed from this debate my conceptual framework initially has begun to unfold.

Research Questions

This study, while dealing with a wide-ranging sociological discussion, attempts to answer two sets of research questions. It asks important questions about how migrant farm workers are evaluated according to their cultural capital acquired from the country of origin and or the country of migration. The first question is:

What forms of treatments and challenges do migrant farm workers experience with regard to work and employment in Scotland?

This question details the employment experiences of migrant farm workers in Scotland, documents their resources and possessions such as language, knowledge, skills, practice, values, customs, talents, accent or skin colour, and illustrates how employees who possess this type of cultural capital are treated and evaluated. In the process, the study frames the case for why Walzer’s complex equality model together with cultural capital is an appropriate framework to the study of employment discrimination and racial inequality in the workplace, despite it having been rarely applied in migrant farm workers’ context. The second question is:

What impact does immigration have on equality and cultural capital for migrant farm workers?

This question illustrates how immigration shapes migrant farm workers’ equality and cultural capital and whether farm migrants have as equal right to shape their cultural capital as majority members in their society. The question considers wider issues for them around their social and cultural transitions. It demonstrates how such issues have an impact upon their possession and activation and equal valuation of cultural capital in the workplace as well as in the society, and how some employees are advantaged or disadvantaged in this respect. Along the way, the reader will find arguments I have put forward regarding my use of complex equality model and cultural capital in this study.

CHAPTER 2

Literature Review

Since the expansion of the European Union in 2004 and 2007, the movement from East to West has given individuals and families from Eastern European the social and cultural capital to navigate their migration pathways through a new social and physical setting in which they are to cope with new culture and interact with different actors. A range of destinations within Europe including remote geographical areas in Scotland (de Lima et al. 2005), Northern Ireland (Jarman, 2005; Martynowicz and Jarman, 2009), and Northern Greece (Kasimis et al. 2003; Kasimis, 2009) and sectors including Norwegian agriculture (Rye and Andrzejewska, 2010); Scottish agriculture (de Lima and Wright, 2009), Irish meat processing (Martynowicz and Jarman, 2009), and small business’s in Germany (Miera, 2008) have attracted migrants in order to get better life and greater employment opportunities.

Not much is known about such migration pathways and how employment experiences of migrant workers resonate with key themes in contemporary equality literature or how migrant workers can interact and cope with different actors such as employers, service providers and local communities. Indeed, little is known about the extent to which these recent arrivals to new destinations experience the process of social and cultural transitions.

While migration may be a positive factor to the economy of a country and may bring positive outcomes,⁹ the issue of non-economic impacts of immigration on equality, cultural capital and community cohesion and integration is a relatively neglected aspect. The principle of immigration may be a good thing for economic considerations but downward assimilation (a group of immigrants assimilate into the host culture and take up negative things due to race, absence of mobility ladders, experiences of low pay etc, and also when second generation (i.e., young people) confront racial discrimination or bifurcate labour market which have an effect on the relationship between immigrant children, their parents and wider ethnic community), regional depopulation, and the creation of transnational aspirations and communities (which often do not have a clear organisational structure and oftentimes goals and policy making process are vague and opaque) are some of the damaging allegations of migration (Portes and Zohu, 2005; Portes, 2010). Increased social isolation within the receiving communities is added to the list of damaging aspects arising from migration (Putnam, 2007). Research conducted in a North American context has consistently highlighted that tension can be created particularly in rural communities that are historically marked by ethnical homogeneity (where people have remained ethnically homogenous and claimed that their ancestors decided to settle in over a thousand years ago or a long time ago) because of unexpected demographic change. Such tensions or conflicts arise in various contexts such as lowered social interaction and increased social disorder (Ream, 2003; Broadway, 2007; Gimpel and Lay, 2008; McConnell and Miraftab, 2009, McConnell, 2010).

While the research literature has unceasingly emphasised the economic impacts of immigration on the labour market, migrants who give their labour to help build a nation are not necessarily warmly embraced by the host community (McAreavey, 2012). Research has consistently identified that these migrant workers encounter a general feeling of resistance from the host community and the government through negative attitudes or measures, for instance, the creation of anti-immigration ordinances (Chavez, 2005; Pruitt, 2009; O’Neil, 2010).

Within Western Europe, especially if we look at the Norwegian case, we find evidence of such lowered social interaction and social relationships that highlight complex, cross-cutting and often challenging views and experiences on social and cultural transitions within and between various migrant groups. Research conducted in a Norwegian context has shown that migrant farm workers in rural Norway are often sadly neglected by the local community and maintain `very little contact with and knowledge about their Norwegian neighbours’ (Rye, 2014:334). Rye (2014) points out very few of those interviewed reported social relationships with locals. The dynamics of cultural and social transitions can become quite complex when migrant workers feel neglected by the local community and are not able to use their social and cultural capital in order to find employment opportunities and be treated with equality.

Equality, cultural capital and migrant workers in the UK/Scotland

Research conducted in the UK / Scotland context has shown that migrants’