Farm work: a survey of work processes, segmentation patterns and sustainability visions in Swedish farm-based production

This study seeks to fill a gap in research on farm labor in Sweden in the age of sustainability transitions.

The focus is on farm work processes -- who does them, with what machines, under what social conditions, and with what consequences for sustainability. The target group are farmers, their spouses and families, and workers, permanent and temporary. The latter, importantly, include migrant, seasonal laborers, about which there is little research in Sweden today.

We will also map out visions on how environmental sustainability can be achieved while maintaining decent work conditions.

The project aims are realised through a series of transdisciplinary outreach and co-learning activities, involving potential beneficiaries of our research. We will also seek cross-disciplinary co-learning opportunities with scholars and practitioners from diverse fields.

We will track trends in manual work, such as picking or planting, and also take into account automation in the form of smart farming and digital agriculture, studying its impact on farm work processes, segmentation of labor.

A key question is how production and employment goals are balanced with goals for decent and inclusive work opportunities, gender equality, environmentally sustainable production and carbon capture and storage in on-farm forests and agricultural land.

An important deliverable is an in depth and applied qualitative survey of farm work in Sweden today, as it is experienced by farmers and workers, which will help map out labor segmentation in farming.

The survey in turn will serve as the basis of an analysis on the constraints and possibilities from the perspective of farm work for achieving environmental sustainability.

We will produce 3 scientific articles, 6 short films that exemplify current considerations around farm work and environmental sustainability, and a popularized book that summarizes our findings and explains their relevance for achieving sustainability transitions.