Fabbriche di piante e segregazione razziale. Le stratificazioni socio-etniche del distretto florovivaistico messinese

This article analyzes the formation and evolution of migratory stratifications from the 1980s to the present in an area comprising ten municipalities on the tyrrhenian coast of the province of Messina. This region, specialized in horticultural production for global export, has developed a distinct color line over time that structures the hierarchy of migrant labor. The lowest segment of this stratification is represented by young sub-saharan and Bangladeshi workers, who are assigned the most demanding tasks and the most unfavorable wages and contractual conditions. Adopting a renewed ecological approach, the article shows how current migration management regimes – based on deterrence and the multiplication of external and internal borders – produce groups of expendable workers exposed to extreme conditions of unhealthiness and physical exhaustion, contributing to the strengthening of racial capitalism.