The Use of Language as an Element of Inclusion / Exclusion in Labor Migration in Canada

When and Where

Friday, January 31, 2025 2:00 pm to 3:15 pm
Victoria College 101
91 Charles St. West, first floor

Speakers

Aaraón Díaz Mendiburo

Description

The Department of Spanish & Portuguese and the Centre for Caribbean Studies are pleased to invite you to a talk by Prof. Aaraón Díaz Mendiburo on the recent history of labor migration linked to Canada's agricultural sector.

About the Presentation

This presentation explores the recent history of labor migration linked to Canada’s agricultural sector. Starting in 1966 with Caribbean countries within the British Commonwealth and later including Mexico in 1974, this talk examines how the system of migrant labor has shaped Canada’s agriculture, the evolving role of workers, and the factors that allowed some to shift from temporary migrants to permanent residents.

About the Presenter

Aaraón Díaz Mendiburo earned his Ph.D. in Anthropology, completed a Master’s degree in Social Work and a B.A. in Communication Sciences from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM-MX). In 2018, he was a post-doctoral visiting scholar at the Wilfrid Laurier University International Migration Research Centre in Canada.

His research deals with health, education, employment, social representation, and intercultural relations issues of agricultural migrants to Canada, their families, and both their communities of origin and destination. As an independent documentary filmmaker, he has directed and produced Migranta con M de Mamá / Migrant Mother (2020), Matices: Migración “Temporal” en Canadá / Matices “Temporary” Migration in Canada (2011) and Migrantes: los que venimos de adentro / Migrants: Those Who Come From Within (2007). He is currently working on his fourth documentary about the activism against the cannabis stigma in North America.

Díaz Mendiburo has collaborated in different national and international multidisciplinary projects. Currently, his research focuses on the U.S. and Canadian cannabis industry, analyzed from the perspective of the narratives of different interest groups and their impact on public policies. Along with Marty Otañez (University of Colorado Denver), Mendiburo coordinates the project entitled Cannabis Counter-Narratives: The Role of Arts-Based and Visual Research in Addressing Stigma.

Díaz Mendiburo is an Associate Professor at UNAM, affiliated to the Regional and Interregional Area Studies, Centre for Research on North America, and the Department of Anthropology. He has also been affiliated to the Master in Migration Studies at the Universidad Iberoamericana. He is a level-I member of Mexico’s National System of Researchers.

 

Contact Information

Sponsors

Department of Spanish & Portuguese, Centre for Caribbean Studies

Map

91 Charles St. West, first floor