ABSTRACT
When examining the labor and employment dynamics in the asparagus industry, perhaps one of the main characteristics attributed to this industry is its temporary nature. This chapter explores the implications of seasonal and gendered production in the organization of agricultural labor and working conditions of asparagus wage workers in Peru, a top world exporter of this crop. Through an extended case study approach in one the largest producing regions of asparagus in Peru, qualitative interviews were carried out with female and male asparagus wage laborers in 2015 and in 2016. Interview findings suggest that despite the seasonal production and labor flexibility that characterize the asparagus industry, workers in this study appear to work continuously in asparagus fields although they do not necessarily hold formal and stable jobs in a farm. Gender differences in the type of employment and employment status, appeared to shape the timing, number of transitions from one farm to the next and the conditions of their labor. Therefore, in this chapter I argue that the characterization of the asparagus industry and their laborers as temporary need to be revisited and challenged to a broader conceptual framework that can fully incorporate the continuous nature of their work.
