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Papers by Christian Zlolniski

Research paper thumbnail of Editor’s Comment 38, no. 1

Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos

Research paper thumbnail of Neoliberal Agrarian Policies and Its Effects: Labour Flexibility and Regimentation in Mexico’s Export Agricultural Industry

This chapter examines the production of fresh produce in northern Mexico for consumer markets in ... more This chapter examines the production of fresh produce in northern Mexico for consumer markets in the United States and its impact on farmworkers in Baja California. While labour flexibility is at the heart of the global fresh-produce industry, work has become increasingly standardized and regimented to enhance workers’ productivity. The result is a labour regime characterized by heightening discipline and labor control. Five elements of this production regime, namely indoor agriculture, piece-rate system, the merging of harvest and packing, the use of good agricultural practices (GAP), and time as a mechanism for labor control are described. Together, the author contends, these components have led to the quantitative and qualitative intensification of the work process for farm laborers, which he terms regimented flexibility.

Research paper thumbnail of Transnational Communities and Migration in the Age of Globalization

Labor: Public Policy & Regulation eJournal, 2011

Currently, international migration entails a complex web of exchanges an movements of people, mon... more Currently, international migration entails a complex web of exchanges an movements of people, money, goods and information. A number of scholars have proposed the notion of transnational communities to help in arriving at new ways of understanding the migratory process within the current context of globalization. This article presents a critical evaluation of the transnational community model and identifies the principal theoretical and methodological challenges posed by this model. Particular attention is devoted to the way in which the relationship between globalization and the formation of transnational communities is conceptualized in this model, as well as these communities' potential for dealing with the economic, social, and political implications of globalization. The article closes with a discussion of the demands that this critical review of the transnational community model places upon public policy-making in the communities of origin and destination of transnational ...

Research paper thumbnail of 2. Transnational Agribusiness, Local Growers, and Discontents

Research paper thumbnail of Epilogue: After the Dot-Com Demise

Research paper thumbnail of 6. Colonizing and Establishing Roots in Arid Lands

Research paper thumbnail of 2. The Subcontracting of Mexican Janitors in the High-Tech Industry

Research paper thumbnail of 1. The Birth and Development of Export Agriculture in the San Quintín Valley

Research paper thumbnail of Editor’s Comment 37, no. 1

Research paper thumbnail of 4. “They Want First-Class Workers with Third World Wages”: The Workplace Regime of Transnational Agriculture

Research paper thumbnail of RESTRUCTURACIÓN INDUSTRIAL Y MANO DE OBRA INMIGRANTE.: El caso de los trabajadores mexicanos en la industria de la limpieza de edificios en el Silicon Valley, California

Research paper thumbnail of Economic globalization and changing capital-labor relations in baja California's fresh-produce industry

Research paper thumbnail of 1. Mexican Immigrants in Silicon Valley

Research paper thumbnail of Janitors, Street Vendors, and Activists

Research paper thumbnail of Editor’s Comment 37, no. 3

Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos

Research paper thumbnail of Editor’s Comment 36, nos. 1–2 – Nota del Editor 36, nos. 1–2

Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos

I am honored to serve as the new editor of Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos and to assume the r... more I am honored to serve as the new editor of Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos and to assume the responsibility of forwarding the work of this important journal. First, I want to thank Ruth Hellier-Tinoco for her leadership in sustaining and promoting the publication of substantive and foundational scholarship on Mexico during her editorship between 2015-19. I also thank UC Mexus, as well as David Famiano (journals publisher), and the production team of the journals division at UC Press, for their guidance during the editorial transition. My gratitude also extends to Beatríz Urías at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, who serves as associate editor at the journal, editorial assistant Ana Dekeyser, book reviews editor Ignacio Ruiz-Pérez, and the board members in Mexico and the United States who shared their input about the next chapter of the journal's history. As new editor, I am committed to continuing the strong tradition of the journal in fostering original interdisciplinary scholarship in both English and Spanish on history, cultural studies, and the humanities. In addition, I seek to expand and strengthen publications in the social sciences to address contemporary themes. At a critical juncture when key issues regarding Mexico and its people living in the country and abroad have come to occupy a central place in public and political debates, the journal can serve as a vital outlet to publish robust research that can inform public and policy discussions. I particularly encourage contributions from anthropology, political science, sociology, and related disciplines that address current economic, social, and cultural issues pertaining to Mexico, its relationship to the United States, and other countries in Latin America. The multidisciplinary and bilingual nature of Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos offers a unique space for analysis of contemporary issues such as violence; economic, social, and gender inequality; environmental degradation and sustainability; immigrants and refugees; indigenous communities; new social movements; and other areas of current academic and political salience in Mexico. Because many of these

Research paper thumbnail of Conclusion: Subproletarians in a Postindustrial Economy

Janitors, Street Vendors, and Activists

Research paper thumbnail of Growers, Unions, and Farm Laborers in Mexico’s Baja California

Uncertain Times: Anthropological Approaches to Labor in a Neoliberal World, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of At the crossroads: challenges and opportunities of union organizing in the Mexico-US border

Dialectical Anthropology

This essay examines recent labor and political struggles by maquila and agricultural workers in n... more This essay examines recent labor and political struggles by maquila and agricultural workers in northern Mexico to establish independent unions. For several decades, assembly plants and agro-export enclaves have been at the center of economic and regional development along the Mexico-US border. Capitalizing on geographical proximity, and economic and commercial ties, multinational companies have created flexible production and labor regimes with the support of the Mexican government and official unions. From a critical political economy perspective, we contend that the production regimes of these twin export industries along with the weakening of the state and traditional patronage-based business unions have created the conditions for the re-emergence of independent labor unions as arenas in which workers mobilize not only for labor demands but also for human and citizenship rights. Focusing on labor strikes by maquila workers in Tamaulipas and farmworkers in Baja California, we analyze the goals, organizational strategies, and political discourse of these recent union campaigns and the structural barriers they confront. The Mexico-US border, we contend, is a fruitful terrain to analyze the challenges and opportunities that independent unions confront in an era where traditional forms of labor organizing are in decline while alternative forms for labor mobilization are still in flux.

Research paper thumbnail of Sistemas de intermediación laboral en una región agroexportadora del noroeste mexicano

Eutopía - Revista de Desarrollo Económico Territorial

Desde la década de 1990 se observa un resurgimiento de contratistas y otras formas de intermediac... more Desde la década de 1990 se observa un resurgimiento de contratistas y otras formas de intermediación laboral en el sector agroexportador de América Latina. Esquemas de intermediación facilitan la flexibilidad laboral, reducen costos de mano de obra y contribuyen a aumentar la productividad mediante el uso de diversas prácticas de control laboral. Este artículo analiza el crecimiento de distintos tipos de contratistas en el Valle de San Quintín, uno de los principales enclaves hortícolas en el norte de México. Se describe un sistema multidimensional de intermediación con diversidad de contratistas locales, empresas de trabajo temporal, y contratación de trabajadores temporales para Estados Unidos. Mientras el sector agroexportador implementa sofisticadas tecnologías de producción y control para certificar la seguridad y calidad de sus productos, asistimos a la informalización de formas de intermediación laboral que ocultan las formas de empleo de los trabajadores que las producen.

Research paper thumbnail of Editor’s Comment 38, no. 1

Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos

Research paper thumbnail of Neoliberal Agrarian Policies and Its Effects: Labour Flexibility and Regimentation in Mexico’s Export Agricultural Industry

This chapter examines the production of fresh produce in northern Mexico for consumer markets in ... more This chapter examines the production of fresh produce in northern Mexico for consumer markets in the United States and its impact on farmworkers in Baja California. While labour flexibility is at the heart of the global fresh-produce industry, work has become increasingly standardized and regimented to enhance workers’ productivity. The result is a labour regime characterized by heightening discipline and labor control. Five elements of this production regime, namely indoor agriculture, piece-rate system, the merging of harvest and packing, the use of good agricultural practices (GAP), and time as a mechanism for labor control are described. Together, the author contends, these components have led to the quantitative and qualitative intensification of the work process for farm laborers, which he terms regimented flexibility.

Research paper thumbnail of Transnational Communities and Migration in the Age of Globalization

Labor: Public Policy & Regulation eJournal, 2011

Currently, international migration entails a complex web of exchanges an movements of people, mon... more Currently, international migration entails a complex web of exchanges an movements of people, money, goods and information. A number of scholars have proposed the notion of transnational communities to help in arriving at new ways of understanding the migratory process within the current context of globalization. This article presents a critical evaluation of the transnational community model and identifies the principal theoretical and methodological challenges posed by this model. Particular attention is devoted to the way in which the relationship between globalization and the formation of transnational communities is conceptualized in this model, as well as these communities' potential for dealing with the economic, social, and political implications of globalization. The article closes with a discussion of the demands that this critical review of the transnational community model places upon public policy-making in the communities of origin and destination of transnational ...

Research paper thumbnail of 2. Transnational Agribusiness, Local Growers, and Discontents

Research paper thumbnail of Epilogue: After the Dot-Com Demise

Research paper thumbnail of 6. Colonizing and Establishing Roots in Arid Lands

Research paper thumbnail of 2. The Subcontracting of Mexican Janitors in the High-Tech Industry

Research paper thumbnail of 1. The Birth and Development of Export Agriculture in the San Quintín Valley

Research paper thumbnail of Editor’s Comment 37, no. 1

Research paper thumbnail of 4. “They Want First-Class Workers with Third World Wages”: The Workplace Regime of Transnational Agriculture

Research paper thumbnail of RESTRUCTURACIÓN INDUSTRIAL Y MANO DE OBRA INMIGRANTE.: El caso de los trabajadores mexicanos en la industria de la limpieza de edificios en el Silicon Valley, California

Research paper thumbnail of Economic globalization and changing capital-labor relations in baja California's fresh-produce industry

Research paper thumbnail of 1. Mexican Immigrants in Silicon Valley

Research paper thumbnail of Janitors, Street Vendors, and Activists

Research paper thumbnail of Editor’s Comment 37, no. 3

Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos

Research paper thumbnail of Editor’s Comment 36, nos. 1–2 – Nota del Editor 36, nos. 1–2

Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos

I am honored to serve as the new editor of Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos and to assume the r... more I am honored to serve as the new editor of Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos and to assume the responsibility of forwarding the work of this important journal. First, I want to thank Ruth Hellier-Tinoco for her leadership in sustaining and promoting the publication of substantive and foundational scholarship on Mexico during her editorship between 2015-19. I also thank UC Mexus, as well as David Famiano (journals publisher), and the production team of the journals division at UC Press, for their guidance during the editorial transition. My gratitude also extends to Beatríz Urías at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, who serves as associate editor at the journal, editorial assistant Ana Dekeyser, book reviews editor Ignacio Ruiz-Pérez, and the board members in Mexico and the United States who shared their input about the next chapter of the journal's history. As new editor, I am committed to continuing the strong tradition of the journal in fostering original interdisciplinary scholarship in both English and Spanish on history, cultural studies, and the humanities. In addition, I seek to expand and strengthen publications in the social sciences to address contemporary themes. At a critical juncture when key issues regarding Mexico and its people living in the country and abroad have come to occupy a central place in public and political debates, the journal can serve as a vital outlet to publish robust research that can inform public and policy discussions. I particularly encourage contributions from anthropology, political science, sociology, and related disciplines that address current economic, social, and cultural issues pertaining to Mexico, its relationship to the United States, and other countries in Latin America. The multidisciplinary and bilingual nature of Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos offers a unique space for analysis of contemporary issues such as violence; economic, social, and gender inequality; environmental degradation and sustainability; immigrants and refugees; indigenous communities; new social movements; and other areas of current academic and political salience in Mexico. Because many of these

Research paper thumbnail of Conclusion: Subproletarians in a Postindustrial Economy

Janitors, Street Vendors, and Activists

Research paper thumbnail of Growers, Unions, and Farm Laborers in Mexico’s Baja California

Uncertain Times: Anthropological Approaches to Labor in a Neoliberal World, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of At the crossroads: challenges and opportunities of union organizing in the Mexico-US border

Dialectical Anthropology

This essay examines recent labor and political struggles by maquila and agricultural workers in n... more This essay examines recent labor and political struggles by maquila and agricultural workers in northern Mexico to establish independent unions. For several decades, assembly plants and agro-export enclaves have been at the center of economic and regional development along the Mexico-US border. Capitalizing on geographical proximity, and economic and commercial ties, multinational companies have created flexible production and labor regimes with the support of the Mexican government and official unions. From a critical political economy perspective, we contend that the production regimes of these twin export industries along with the weakening of the state and traditional patronage-based business unions have created the conditions for the re-emergence of independent labor unions as arenas in which workers mobilize not only for labor demands but also for human and citizenship rights. Focusing on labor strikes by maquila workers in Tamaulipas and farmworkers in Baja California, we analyze the goals, organizational strategies, and political discourse of these recent union campaigns and the structural barriers they confront. The Mexico-US border, we contend, is a fruitful terrain to analyze the challenges and opportunities that independent unions confront in an era where traditional forms of labor organizing are in decline while alternative forms for labor mobilization are still in flux.

Research paper thumbnail of Sistemas de intermediación laboral en una región agroexportadora del noroeste mexicano

Eutopía - Revista de Desarrollo Económico Territorial

Desde la década de 1990 se observa un resurgimiento de contratistas y otras formas de intermediac... more Desde la década de 1990 se observa un resurgimiento de contratistas y otras formas de intermediación laboral en el sector agroexportador de América Latina. Esquemas de intermediación facilitan la flexibilidad laboral, reducen costos de mano de obra y contribuyen a aumentar la productividad mediante el uso de diversas prácticas de control laboral. Este artículo analiza el crecimiento de distintos tipos de contratistas en el Valle de San Quintín, uno de los principales enclaves hortícolas en el norte de México. Se describe un sistema multidimensional de intermediación con diversidad de contratistas locales, empresas de trabajo temporal, y contratación de trabajadores temporales para Estados Unidos. Mientras el sector agroexportador implementa sofisticadas tecnologías de producción y control para certificar la seguridad y calidad de sus productos, asistimos a la informalización de formas de intermediación laboral que ocultan las formas de empleo de los trabajadores que las producen.