Dr Francis Vinicius Portes Virginio

Research Associate

Work, Employment and Organisation

Personal statement

Dr. Francis Portes Virginio is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow working on his project ‘the Securitisation of Nature, Displacement and Unfree Labour in Brazil`s Amazon’ (2021-2024).

Francis' research is broadly concerned with the types of labour/migration regimes and infrastructures that build ‘sustainable development projects’ in extractive corridors.

His work critically interrogates the ways global chains of value production and distribution sustain a series of unfree labour relations, and how contemporary regimes of migration governance fit in this process. He is interested in feminist, anti-racist and postcolonial materialist approaches to political economy, supply chain management and employment regulation.

His research interests lie primarily in the fields of global commodity chains, labour migration, forced displacement, social reproduction (SRT), slave labour and other forms of unfree labour relations.

He also values public engagement and community participation in research and decision-making process. He has worked closely with migrants, refugees and indigenous communities in Brazil, supporting them to influence policy and practice via engagement with governmental institutions.

Expertise

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Prize And Awards

Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship: Recipient; 23/5/2021
Santander Mobility Fund: Recipient; 2016
Research Excellence Award - PhD Studentship: Recipient; 30/7/2014
ERASMUS MUNDUS -European Commission Research Award: Recipient; 28/5/2012

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Qualifications

Francis holds a Ph.D. in Work, Employment and Organisation from the University of Strathclyde, a Double Master’s degree in Migration Studies and Conflict Mediation from KU Leuven (Belgium), and the University of Lille (France), and a BA in Psychology from the State University of São Paulo (Brazil).

Regional Expertise: Latin America

Country Expertise: Brazil

Languages: Portuguese (Native Speaker), English, French and Spanish.

Publications

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Publications

Logistics of unfreedom : the labour trafficking of Venezuelan truck drivers in Brazil: Portes Virginio Francis, dos Santos Ferreira Livia; Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, pp. 1-18 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1177/23996544231213196
Contemporary slave labour on the Amazonian frontier : the problems and politics of post rescue solidarity: Portes Virginio Francis, Garvey Brian, Leão Luís Henrique da Costa, Pistorio Bianca Vasquez; Globalizations Vol 19, pp. 937-954 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2022.2035946
Unpacking super-exploitation in the 21st century : the struggles of Haitian workers in Brazil: Virginio Francis, Stewart Paul, Garvey Brian; Work, Employment and Society Vol 37, pp. 897-915 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170211060748
Informalidade e Proteção dos Trabalhadores Imigrantes : Navegando pelo Humanitarismo, Securitização e Dignidade: Virginio Francis, I-miGRa; (2022)
Caminhantes da Terra: Rojas Pinango Rosbelli Margarita, Stefano Daniela, Portes Virginio Francis; (2022)
Amazonia em fluxo : território, tensões e trabalho: Stefano Daniela, Garvey Brian, Virginio Francis, Lepri Larissa, Virginio Francis, Garvey Brian; (2021)

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Research

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Professional Activities

Unfreedom in labour-value chains: Invited speaker; 22/6/2023
Logistics of social reproduction: Invited speaker; 28/4/2023
International Labour Process Conference 2023: Speaker; 12/4/2023
The (in)securitization of migration in the Amazon frontier: Logistics, deregulation and the degradation of Work: Speaker; 26/10/2022
So who is building sustainable development?: Invited speaker; 12/10/2022
Latin American Geographies away weekend: Participant; 2/9/2022

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Projects

Securitisation of Nature, Displacement and Unfree labour in Brazil's Amazon: Portes Virginio, Francis Vinicius (Principal Investigator); Leverhulme Early Career fellowship (ECF); 01-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2024
UKRI CoA Covid Extension: Garvey, Brian (Principal Investigator) Portes Virginio, Francis Vinicius (Researcher) Cardesa-Salzmann, Antonio (Researcher); UKRI sponsored extension of projects affected by Covid-19; 01-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2021
UKRI CoA Covid extension: Garvey, Brian (Principal Investigator) Portes Virginio, Francis Vinicius (Researcher); UKRI sponsored extension of projects affected by Covid-19; 01-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2021
Agrochemical use in new agricultural commodity and bioenergy production,: Garvey, Brian (Principal Investigator) Portes Virginio, Francis Vinicius (Principal Investigator); Engagement in Scotland and Berlin regarding hazardous toxin use and trade between EU and Brazil towards reduction in health implications. With UNESP-Presidente Prudente; Angeliki Lysimachou, Director of Pesticide Action Network EuropePAN-Europe; Angelika Hilbeck Department of Environmental Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ) Chair of European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility; Brian Wynne, Professor Lancaster Environment Centre; 01-Jan-2018 - 31-Jan-2019
So who is building sustainable development? Transforming exploitative labour along southern corridors of migration (ESRC Global Challenges): Portes Virginio, Francis Vinicius (Researcher) Garvey, Brian (Principal Investigator) Stewart, Paul (Co-investigator) Alves, José (Co-investigator); The participatory research aims to investigate and transform the increasingly widespread link between the concentration of migrants in need of humanitarian protection along migration corridors in the Brazilian Amazonia region; the requirement of large and flexible workforces for large infrastructure projects including construction and agribusiness; exploitative labour conditions in these industries that that are part of ‘sustainable development’ agendas. The project engages workers from Brazil, Haiti, Colombia, Venezuela, Senegal and various other African states in order to:
document the influence of formal and informal agents on the migrant workers' journey and employment
identify deficits in dignified work and social protection
Collectively propose transformative solutions via a range of media;
facilitate direct social dialogue between migrant workers, project partners and government, industrial, labour and non-profit agencies,at state, regional and national level; 03-Jan-2018 - 26-Jan-2021