Seasons of Change: Ni-Vanuatu and the Recognised Seasonal Employer’s (RSE) Scheme

Abstract

The Recognised Seasonal Employer's (RSE) scheme is analysed using a governmentality framework to examine the contradictions in the subjectivities that are constructed for Ni-Vanuatu working in the RSE. This analysis calls attention to the fluid social relations of RSE participants whose subjectivities are predominantly constituted by "migration narratives" derived from the social context in New Zealand and Vanuatu. The analysis is based on qualitative interviews with RSE participants and stakeholders in charge of managing this migration scheme in a multi-sited three-phase research design spanning two agricultural seasons; and a review of documents behind the emergence of the RSE scheme. The findings reflect the tensions among the subjectivities that individuals move between and the gains and losses that contribute to their continued engagement in the RSE. By investigating the rationalities upon which the RSE has emerged, I have been able to show how migration and development narratives at international and national levels contribute to its maintenance. I draw attention to particular types of rationalities behind the policies and practices of the RSE scheme. I identify and analyse two political rationalities: a neoliberal rationality focused in productivity, and a customary rationality grounded in a sense of community. These rationalities are in constant interaction; sometimes interwoven and sometimes at odds. In doing so, I draw attention to the governmental techniques of self-care and discipline that are transforming the subjectivities of Ni-Vanuatu RSE, to provide a nuanced argument highlighting the contradictory consequences of the development that the scheme brings for Ni-Vanuatu - at individual and community levels. This research contributes a new perspective of the transformations in social relations brought about by the RSE, in care giving and dealing with communal responsibilities. This perspective can be extended to the analysis of other migration management programmes.