Jornalero
Subtitle: being a day laborer in the USA
By: Juan Thomas Ordóñez
Series: California Series in Public Anthropology -- 34; California series in public anthropology -- 34.
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 254
ISBN-13: 9780520277861; 9780520277854
Copyright date: 2015
Subjects: Illegal aliens; Day laborers; Latin American Foreign workers; Employment
Description: "The United States has seen a dramatic rise in the number of informal day labor sites in the last two decades. These sites, typically frequented by immigrant Latin American men--mostly taken to be 'undocumented' immigrants--constitute an important source of unskilled manual labor that sustains building, landscaping, and moving activities in the country. Despite their ubiquitous presence in urban areas, however, much of the research on immigration overlooks day laborers' very existence. While standing in plain view, these men live and work in a precarious environment: As they try to make enough money to send home, they are at the mercy of unscrupulous employers, doing dangerous and underpaid work, and, ultimately, experiencing great threats to their identities and social roles as men. Born and raised in Colombia by an American mother and Colombian father, Juan Thomas Ordóñez spent two years on an informal labor site in the Bay Area, documenting the harsh lives led by some of these men during the worst economic crisis the country has seen in decades. Another Latin American among mainly Mexican and Central American day laborers, he gained a vantage on the immigrant experience based on close relationships with a cohort of men whose lives unravel in a setting of competition, stress, loneliness, and resilience. Both eye-opening and heart-breaking, this account offers a unique perspective on how the informal economy of undocumented labor truly functions in American society"--Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-247) and index.
Table of contents: title: La parada de Berkeley; title: Friendship and the inner workings of day labor; title: Abuse and the absurd bureaucracy of small things; title: The "other" among others; title: Bittersweet nostalgia, sexuality, and the body at risk; title: Belonging; title: Terror and the May migra panic.