To date, most research on immigrant women and labor forces has focused on the participation of immigrant women in formal labor markets. This book focuses on informal economies such as health care, domestic work, street vending, and the garment industry, where displaced and undocumented women are more likely to work. Because such informal labor markets are unregulated, many of these workers face abusive working conditions that are not reported for fear of job loss or deportation.The book explores the labor experiences of primarily Asian and Latina immigrant women, engaged in low-wage work. It assesses the impact of neoliberal globalization on the economic, political, and social lives of immigrant women both at home and abroad, as well as the strategies used by these women to deal with labor disruptions—interruptions in immigrant women's labor patterns due to the social and political processes resulting from neoliberal globalization. Labor disruptions encompass both “for-pay” labor and gendered labor within the family and occur in ethnic enclaves and within the informal economy. The book seeks to elucidate how Asian and Latina immigrant women, with the assistance of community-based organizations, organize and mobilize against disruptions caused by neoliberal globalization and the neoliberal state. In examining the complex dynamics of how immigrant women navigate political and economic uncertainties, the book highlights the important role of citizenship status in defining immigrant women's opportunities, wages, and labor conditions.
