·
Started with the objective of updating Lieberson’s
work: interested in how unskilled migrants have found jobs that “should not”
exist, maintaining high levels of employment despite being less educated, less
fluent speakers of English, etc. than the lower-classes of native Americans
(ie, black people)
·
Uses dual labor market theory to explain how the
need for immigrant labor began; observes that many employers won’t hire people
they consider “overqualified” and that native-born workers have a bad attitude
that stops them from being desirable workers
o
Argues that immigrant workers will tolerate
longer hours, lower wages, and poorer working conditions because it compares
favorably to what is available “back home” in the Third World; native-born
workers don’t make that comparison and demand more from their employers
o
“Thus the rebelliousness experienced by all
native-born bottom-level workers, fueled by the mismatch between expectations
and the very different reality of their work, will be sharpened by the greater
alienation that native-born members of any racialized minority are likely to
undergo.” (p. 153)
o
“All that we need for now is to assert that
employers have an everyday theory of immigrant labor, perceiving immigrants as
the class of worker that evaluates conditions ‘here’ in light of how bad they
are ‘there,’ and, given the right conditions, is to be preferred for precisely
this reason.” (p. 154)
·
The “skill” required to perform these jobs can
typically be learned in a relatively short time; however, the biggest “skill”
seems to be a good attitude, which immigrants have in greater quantity than
natives
o
Criticism: does not go into discussion about the
power dynamic between immigrants and their employers, who may possess the
ability to have them deported, revoke their work permits, etc – thus giving an
added incentive for migrant labor to have a particularly “good” attitude
·
The growth of certain ethnic groups in various
sectors is due to the use of social networks in hiring decisions; workers know
about the job openings even before they are made public, and then invite their
friends/relatives to apply; managers appreciate the recommendations from other
good workers and use these shortcuts to fill positions
o
“Since informal networks channel job seekers
into industries or occupations where other like persons are already
concentrated, categorically different groups of workers end up sorted into
distinctive places in the labor market.” (p. 209)
·
This results in social closure; networks are
actively inclusive but passively exclusive; however workers may also be
actively exclusive and sabotage new hires from outside the ethnic group;
suggests that diversity may be the source of the most tension between groups
·
Diversity may be encouraged to represent the
ethnic composition of the client-base, or when imposed from above (ex: public
hospitals with federal funding cannot discriminate on an ethnic basis), but in
sectors where the workers rarely interact with the public this will not be as
valued
o
Criticism: this book addresses low-skill labor,
which is often a euphemism for “undocumented.”
Yet the authors do not mention the ease of hiring undocumented workers
in certain sectors versus others (ie, perhaps there are fewer undocumented
workers at the VA hospital than at a furniture factory or restaurant?) and how
this might influence ethnic composition of “undesirable” jobs
·
Posits that as migrant groups become assimilated/incorporated,
they will join the ranks of native workers who find these jobs distasteful
o
“Americanization renders immigrants less
desirable; it also makes their US-raised children unlikely candidates for labor
at the very bottom. In the short run,
immigration solves the problem it was designed to handle – the procurement of
workers willing to fill the jobs no one else wants. But in the long run, it reproduces the
original dilemma in intensified form – as the second generation may have to
start where the first generation began, but will surely aspire to much more.” (pp. 227-228)
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