Essential Workers, BorderCrossing and Exceptionality During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The piece examines the figure of the ‘essential worker’ and the special arrangements it implied
to introduce and discuss the concept of exceptionality. The theory developed by Agamben and
Neocleous on the state of exception suggests the need to move away from classic discourse
analysis and put the focus on silence and absences in discourse. The need to go beyond general
theories on exceptionality is suggested, leading to a methodological proposal that can account
for the invisible everyday resistances of the subaltern. This is done by looking at a specific
case study deemed useful to grasp the affective dimension of exceptionality, while mobilizing
ethnographic methods. Using fieldwork materials collected in Swiss vineyards between 2020
and 2022, some telling examples of abuses are described and analysed. To analyse these
experiences, a conceptualization of the wine-production sector in Switzerland is provided and
then complemented with examples of exceptionality in Swiss vineyards. The results suggest
the need for further research on what exceptionality does to the bodies which are affected by
it, and how it separates them from the remaining.