Exploitation, vulnerability, and resistance: The case of Indian farm workers in the Agro Pontino

Numerous commonplace notions regarding labor exploitation in Italy, some of them misleading, continue to prevail in the literature, undermining the capacity to understand properly the problem and act on its true causes. This study presents a particularly instructive case: that of the Sikh community of Punjabi Indians working in the Agro Pontino in the Italian region of Latium. While it finds exploitative conditions prevailing at a systemic level although concealed behind legalistic appearances, it shows clearly that even vulnerable people have the power to resist exploitation and move actively to claim their rights.