Suburban Sweatshops: The Fight for Immigrant Rights by Jennifer Gordon

Suburban Sweatshops: The Fight for Immigrant Rightsby Anonymous

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September 19, 2005: This book is many things ? a history of immigration, a story of politics, and a study of law, public policy and activism. Above all, it is a call to action ? an inspirational, educational guide to effecting social change. Suburban Sweatshops illustrates the enormous impact of one person?s efforts to aid a disadvantaged and largely unnoticed segment of American society ? immigrant workers - not by fighting for them, but by organizing and empowering them to fight for themselves. As Gordon recounts the events preceding the Workplace Project, and leading to its inception, she acknowledges the horror of the relatively few well-publicized atrocities against immigrant workers. Yet such incidents of ?super-exploitation,? Gordon submits, are only the most graphic illustrations of an infinitely more obscure problem ? a web of appalling injustices so frequent as to seem an almost inevitable aspect of immigrant workers? lives. Gordon reveals these injustices in a variety of ways, supplementing examples of particular immigrants? living and working conditions with statistics that emphasize the pervasiveness of such situations. Most compelling, however, are Gordon?s gripping portrayals of immigrants? personal stories. In her direct and elegant style, Gordon introduces the reader to a series of individuals whose experiences, though poignant, are studies in strength, courage and ambition. Many of these anecdotes are the result of Gordon?s personal involvement in, and exposure to, the lives of her subjects. Her sympathy and respect for the people whose lives she documents are evident, as are her high expectations of them. Gordon describes the development of the Workplace Project in equally balanced terms. Her pride in the enormous success of the project is apparent, and well-deserved. Throughout the book, however, she offers a candid assessment of its challenges and limitations. This book is truly essential reading for students and professionals in the fields of law, sociology, government and history. It will serve as an indispensable reference to anyone seeking to enact social and political change. It will serve as an inspiration to anyone who reads it.