La información de los medios de comunicación sobre la escasez de mano de obra en la horticultura del Reino Unido durante la pandemia de COVID-19: el uso de metáforas bélicas en la revelación selectiva de la precariedad laboral/de los trabajadores

Sam  Scott; Karen  O’Reilly

doi:10.3989/estgeogr.2022115.115

Autores/as

Sam Scott University of Gloucestershire https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5951-4749
Karen O’Reilly Loughborough University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5887-9279

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3989/estgeogr.2022115.115

Palabras clave:

Agricultura, COVID-19, Alimentación, Horticultura, Trabajo, Medios de comunicación, Migración, Escasez

Resumen

A lo largo del siglo XXI, casi toda la mano de obra de las cosechas del Reino Unido ha sido de origen extranjero. La crisis de la COVID-19 (a partir de marzo de 2020) amenazó la seguridad alimentaria del Reino Unido al limitar este suministro de mano de obra extranjera con bajos salarios en el Reino Unido. En respuesta, se lanzó una campaña nacional para conseguir un “ejército de tierra” nacional que “alimentara a la nación” y “recogiera para Gran Bretaña” (los tres principales epítetos utilizados). El artículo describe esta campaña. Se muestra que la crisis del COVID-19 puso en el punto de mira la mano de obra de las cosechas con bajos salarios, cuando esta mano de obra suele estar oculta a la vista del público. Potencialmente, esta revelación podría haber cuestionado la economía del sistema de producción de alimentos. Sin embargo, sostenemos que la ruptura se escenificó invocando una retórica bélica y tres papeles clave concomitantes: el agricultor víctima-héroe, el buen emigrante y el suplente reacio de origen británico. Esto enfatiza la naturaleza valiente del trabajo de la cosecha y enmarca a los trabajadores inmigrantes como héroes (temporales) que ayudan a salvar la nación. Por el contrario, la reticencia de los trabajadores británicos a aceptar el trabajo precario se presentaba como una deficiencia personal y no como un fracaso estructural en la creación de empleos decentes. En definitiva, la crisis de la COVID-19 puso el foco de atención en la economía rural de bajos salarios y fue cuidadosamente dirigida y gestionada, sin cuestionar la persistencia del trabajo hortícola precario.

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