Giuseppe Grimaldi, a research assistant in Cultural Anthropology at the Department of Humanities of the University of Trieste, has been awarded the 2024 prize of the Italian Society of Applied Anthropology (SIAA) for the best collaborative and applied research with the project O.S.A.RE. - Osservatorio Sfruttamento Agricolo e Resistenze (Observatory on Agricultural Exploitation and Resistance).

The objectives achieved by O.S.A.RE. contribute to combating the exploitation and illegal brokerage of workers, providing data on the spread of the phenomenon and best practices for systemic projects that support the fight against these social scourges. According to the SIAA judging committee, the project, which focused on sensitive areas in Campania, stood out for ‘its significant social impact and multi-level interaction, as well as the high degree of visibility and recognition of the anthropological contribution.’

The project presented by the UniTS research assistant demonstrates, according to the SIAA, ‘how the production of ethnographic knowledge can contribute to generating concrete impacts on public and institutional culture, fostering virtuous local policies that are more respectful of fundamental human rights.’

This motivation aligns with the core mission of the Italian Society of Applied Anthropology, active since 2013 with the aim of promoting the social use of anthropological knowledge and practices in the public sphere, the world of work, decision-making processes, and participatory democracy in Italy and abroad.

‘O.S.A.RE – explains Dr Giuseppe Grimaldi – was made possible thanks to the support and synergy between public institutions, such as the Campania Region and the University of Salerno, activist groups in Campania – particularly the Ex Canapificio social centre, which was the lead organisation of the project – and a diverse group of residents from the area where the intervention took place, who contributed decisively to its realisation.’

O.S.A.RE involved territories such as the Piana del Sele and the Volturno Castle area, which face challenges related to the fragility of their economic fabric, exacerbated by the presence of criminal organisations that cause poverty and social distress.

The project sought to shed light – through a combination of quantitative analysis and ethnography – on the systemic nature of exploitation in the agricultural sector. Throughout its implementation, it was grounded in co-research (a collaborative method where creating knowledge also builds organisation and autonomy), demonstrating how the experience of those subjected to exploitation is crucial for defining effective countermeasures, both in specific territories and in interactions with institutions.

Over the course of the project, more than 500 people were interviewed. Of these, based on the exploitation indicators outlined in the law against the illegal brokerage of workers, nearly 70% were found to be in conditions of ‘severe worker exploitation.’ The data was presented to institutional forums addressing the illegal brokerage of workers, and the methodology underlying O.S.A.RE was recognised as a best practice used in systemic initiatives to tackle worker exploitation.

‘O.S.A.RE – concludes Grimaldi – highlighted, in particular, how ineffective any approach to combating worker exploitation is if it does not address the legal, economic, and social systems upon which it is founded. A phenomenon that, albeit in different forms depending on the degree of vulnerability, affects all agricultural labourers, regardless of nationality.’