„Leutenot“ im Erdbeerfeld – Saisonarbeit und Veredelungswirtschaft in gegenseitiger Abhängigkeit. Das Beispiel Oldenburger Münsterland

Since the fall of the so called “iron curtain” several thousand seasonal workers migrate from Eastern European countries to German locations of agricultural production every year, guaranteeing the functioning of a labour-intensive processing industry, respectively the cultivation of special crops like fruits and vegetables. The growth of these economic sectors directly depend on the availability of labour force. In turn, the workers, among them many women, depend on the seasonal income generated in a foreign country for the support of their families in their home countries. Accommodated in container villages, largely without any direct contact to the local population, they live in a special situation for about three months every summer. Using the Oldenburger Münsterland, Germany’s largest region of strawberry production, as example, life and work of seasonal migrants will be explored on the basis of interviews and observations.