Idéal champêtre ou enfer ouvrier? Démystifier la terre pour renforcer les droits des travailleurs agricoles

Abstract

This article aims to showcase the persistence of romantic discourse associated with agriculture and the impact of the idealized image of the land on the protection of agricultural workers. The romantic portrayal of agriculture presents this economic sector as fragile, capricious, essential to human survival, and intimately linked to both family life and national sovereignty. We will see that the agricultural myth is favoured by the repetition of a certain discourse of exceptionalism adopted throughout Western history in legal and economic theory and practice as well as in popular culture and that it emphasizes the primacy of private property and the need to protect agriculture from interference. This myth, however, hides the reality of agricultural workers while justifying derogatory treatment of labour laws. The analysis of the contemporary Canadian legislative context in terms of the protection of agricultural workers will demonstrate the persistence of the romantic discourse in agriculture, conveyed by powerful agricultural lobbies and taken up by political authorities, and its negative impact on fundamental rights of workers of the land.