Thousands of African Americans poured into northwest Indiana in the 1920s dreaming of decent-paying jobs and a life without Klansmen, chain gangs, and cotton. Black Freedom Fighters in Steel: The Stru
Fink explores some of the profound changes brought about by Latino migration to the U.S. south by following a community of Guatemalan immigrants to Morganton, N.C., as they work to adapt a home-tradit
"In this masterpiece of field research into the social processes that structure America's economy, Waldinger and Lichter unveil the most original and powerful theory ever advanced to explain how 'unsk
Labor unions in France and the U.S. opposed certain restrictionist immigration policy measures in the late twentieth century, whereas they had pressured for restrictionism in the early twentieth cent
Among the major professions, certified public accountancy has the most severe underrepresentation of African Americans: less than 1 percent of CPAs are black. Theresa Hammond explores the history behi
Experiencing both the enormous benefits and the serious detriments of globalization and economic restructuring, Southern California serves as a magnet for immigrants from many parts of the world. This
One of the most infamous villains in North America during the Progressive Era was the padrone, a mafia-like immigrant boss who allegedly enslaved his compatriots and kept them uncivilized, unmanly, and unfree. In this history of the padrone, first published in 2000, Gunther Peck analyzes the figure's deep cultural resonance by examining the lives of three padrones and the workers they imported to North America. He argues that the padrones were not primitive men but rather thoroughly modern entrepreneurs who used corporations, the labour contract, and the right to quit to create far-flung coercive networks. Drawing on Greek, Spanish, and Italian language sources, Peck analyzes how immigrant workers emancipated themselves using the tools of padrone power to their own advantage.
Recruiting the growing numbers of immigrants into union ranks is imperative for the besieged U.S. labor movement. Nowhere is this task more pressing than in California, where immigrants make up a quar
Celebrates the resilience of people too often ignored by history texts, revealing the challenges faced by a group of migrant workers who formed the multiracial town of Randolph, Arizona. Recaptures th
The years 1880 to 1930 mark the period in time in Texas' coal mining history known as the handloading era, during which the system of mining for coal by hand was both established and eliminated, givin
Takes a broad view of networks to include families with a history of migrating between Mexico and the US, strangers from the same region, daughter communities in the US, and coyotes or polleros who sm
In the 1960s and 1970s, the textile industry's workforce underwent a dramatic transformation, as African Americans entered the South's largest industry in growing numbers. Only 3.3 percent of textile
An expose+a7 of the underground trade in illegal Chinese laborers illuminates the horrible conditions suffered by this immigrant class in America, and the underworld that exploits them for billions in
"Here is a piece of history not found in conventional textbooks. If ever there were a book our young needed, it is Meatpackers-it reveals an epoch in which trade unions fought and won whatever rights
Analyzes the economic impact on African Americans of foreigners coming into the country, who are increasingly non-European and non-white. Finds that while it does not seem to have affected the employm
The history of Mexican and Mexican-American working classes has been segregated by the political boundary that separates the United States of America from the United States of Mexico. As a result, sch
A "gripping expose" (Publishers Weekly) of the conditions faced by Chinese illegal aliens in the United States. Hailed by the Philadelphia Inquirer as "a must-read," Forbidden Workers tells for the f
The first major study of the Soninke labor migration within Africa and to France, Willing Migrants is based upon a critical analysis of French precolonial and colonial records and interviews with Soni
