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The book that “has helped to make transnational analyses of reproductive labor central to our understanding of race and gender in the twenty-first century” (Angela Y. Davis, author of Freedom Is a Constant Struggle). Illegal. Unamerican. Disposable. In a nation with an unprecedented history of immigration, the prevailing image of those who cross our borders in search of equal opportunity is that of a drain. Grace Chang's vital account of immigrant women—who work as nannies, domestic workers, janitors, nursing aides, and homecare workers—proves just the opposite: the women who perform our least desirable jobs are the most crucial to our economy and society. Disposable Domestics highlights the unrewarded work immigrant women perform as caregivers, cleaners, and servers and shows how these women are actively resisting the exploitation they face.“As timely and relevant now as it was when it was first written... reveals a long history of collusion between the U.S. government, the IMF and World Bank, corporations, and private employers to create and maintain a super-exploited, low-wage, female labor force of caregivers and cleaners.” —Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Hammer and Hoe“Grace Chang's nuanced analysis of our immigration policy and the devastating consequences of global capitalism captures the experiences of poor immigrant women of color. Disposable Domestics reveals how these women, servicing the economy as domestics, nannies, maids, and janitors, are vilified by politicians and the media.” —Mary Romero, author of The Maid's Daughter“Refusing to segregate people, places, or processes, Disposable Domestics reorganizes our capacity to think powerfully about the world in which the struggle for social justice is too often imperiled by certain kinds of partiality.” —Ruth Wilson Gilmore, author of Change Everything

Data from the Current Population Survey were used in a unique analysis of migration and economic adaptation in a nationally representative sample of Asian and Hispanic immigrant women. The study describes migration patterns and compares the labor market adaptation experiences of women who migrated with their families and women who migrated independently. The book also examines the systematic differences in migration patterns by country of origin and how these differences relate to labor market performance The findings highlight the considerable impact of immigration policy on the economic adaptation of immigration women. Wives who migrated before their husbands were more likely to be in the labor force, especially when compared to wives migrating after their husbands. In contrast, wives who migrated with their husbands were not likely to participate in the labor force. Interestingly, Asian immigrant wives, were more likely to migrate while married than were Hispanic immigrant wives. Asian wives who migrated after their husbands, earned substantially lower wages than their respective ethnic counterparts (Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell University, 1995; revised with new preface and index)