The solidarity-superexploitation nexus: the experiences of Haitian workers in Brazil.

This paper explores the experiences of Haitian workers during Brazil's so-called “neo-development model”. It contributes to the literature on labour migration by exploring the relationship between local patterns of labour exploitation and the living conditions of migrant workers. Most of conventional literature research on migration has developed analytical frameworks with a focus on developed countries. These are insufficient to address the challenges migrants face in peripheral nations, where patterns of citizenship, labour exploitation and structural dependency manifest themselves in different ways. This study uses Marini’s concept of superexploitation to show how migrant labour offers specific conditions to the realisation of local forms of labour exploitation. Forty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with Haitians about th eir experience in Brazil. The findings have indicated that despite the rhetoric of solidarity of the Brazilian state towards Haitians, the same is jeopardised by the conditions of citizenship in Brazil and dissonant state policies at different levels. In addition, the strategies of development intersect with old structures of exploitation in Brazil, which allow for the practice of race and class discrimination. Haitians, on the other hand, have used remittances and social networks to negotiate ways of being into this reality. Finally, the narratives of Haitians offer valuable insights into the contradictions of Brazil’s neo-development state model and its strategy to regulate class struggle.