"Finding agency, negotiating resistance, and bridging cultures"--Cover. Includes bibliographical references (p. 281-299) and index.
Contents:
We can't go back: immigrant women, intersections, and agency -- Who They Are. Your story drops on you: who are these women? -- How They Come. I had to start over: entering through the front door ; I had to leave my country one day: entering through the back door -- What They Do. I am not only a domestic worker, I am a woman: immigrant women and domestic service ; Mighty oaks: the entrepreneurs ; There is still work to do: immigrant women in gender-atypical occupations ; Always in life, we are ripping: culture work -- Where They are Going. Misbehaving women: the agency of activism ; Making history: drawing conclusions, looking forward -- List of Interviewed Women -- Timeline: U.S. Immigration Policy and Women, 1875-2009.
Summary:
This book is a national portrait of immigrant women who live in the United States today, featuring the voices of these women as they describe their contributions to work, culture, and activism. Highlighting the gendered quality of the immigration process, it interrogates how human agency and societal structures interact within the intersecting social locations of gender and migration. The popular debate around contemporary U.S. immigration tends to conjure images of men waiting on the side of the road for construction jobs, working in kitchens or delis, driving taxis, and sending money to their wives and families in their home countries, while women are often left out of these pictures. Through an examination of U.S. Census data and interviews with women across nationalities, we hear the poignant, humorous, hopeful, and defiant words of these women as they describe the often confusing terrain where they are starting new lives, creating architecture firms, building urban high-rises, caring for children, cleaning offices, producing creative works, and organizing for social change. The authors recommend changes for public policy to address the constraints these women face, insisting that new policy must be attentive to the diverse profile of today's immigrating woman: she is both potentially vulnerable to exploitative conditions and forging new avenues of societal leadership.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.