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DTSTART:20150128T200000Z
DTEND:20150128T213000Z
SUMMARY:DGES Founders Seminar Presents Dr. Michael Ekers
DESCRIPTION:The Department of Geography and Environmental Studies presents:



Dr. Michael Ekers, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto, Scarborough



On



Producing Farms, Producing Farmers; Interns and Agro-Ecological Questions



Abstract:
This talk examines the explosion of unpaid and unregulated internships on agro-ecological farms in Ontario.  Drawing on primary analysis of farm internships, and referencing classical and contemporary debates in agrarian political economy, I argue that intern labour renders farm production sustainable by replacing off-farm inputs.  Farm internships are a form of quasi-commodified labour that allow unprofitable farms to reproduce themselves despite the competitive pressures of industrialized agriculture.  Similarly, internships are a form of non-monetized and non–institutionalized education through which ecological knowledge is acquired by aspiring farmers, yet is restricted to privileged subjects who can afford to work without a wage.  I highlight some pressing challenges relating to the conjoined social and ecological sustainability of the agro-ecological farm movement and leverage the discussion to offer a novel intervention in classic accounts of the agrarian question.
LOCATION:A410 Loeb Building, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Dr, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6
URL:
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