Janitors, Street Vendors, and Activists

Name: Janitors, Street Vendors, and Activists
Author: Christian Zlolniski
ISBN: 1282772007

by Christian Zlolniski

I can’t speak for politicians. This is something, of course, that we have an ongoing discussion about in anthropology – the degree to which these policies that produce these massive labour forces, these really vulnerable and flexible labour forces, are intentional. It’s not clear to me. I don’t know. But I do think that Zlolniski and Saskia Sassen are on to something when they talk about the ways in which this move away from a productive workforce and toward a service-oriented workforce changes, to some degree, not only the way that people work but also the potential for organisation. There’s been this broader shift toward a workforce that’s characterised by flexibility, that can be outsourced, that can be temporary, that does not get and can’t demand health insurance and maternity leave and a 401(k) [retirement plan]. Zlolniski’s work does a really good job showing the everyday processes that make that happen, that produce those kinds of lives for workers. One of the great myths about undocumented workers is that they’re not organisable. A lot of anti-immigrant rhetoric, or restrictionist rhetoric, invokes the vulnerability of immigrant workers to make the argument that, because they’re unorganisable, they permanently suppress wages. What Zlolniski’s work shows, and other works have shown as well, is that it’s just not true. In fact the history of immigrant labour in the United States is a history of worker struggle. That is something that was not apparent in my work – and that has a lot to do with the place where I did my fieldwork. I do think it’s really important to show how immigrant workers are also involved in struggles. Even undocumented workers are involved in labour struggles and not only can be organised but often emerge as leaders in these labour struggles. There are probably differences, but what’s most striking is that there are a lot of similarities. There’s broad agreement that the work that immigrants do is socially degraded, it’s difficult, it’s dangerous. Everybody pretty much agrees on that, including, and especially, immigrant workers. But there is also broad agreement that people will do, they’re willing to do, whatever it takes to get by – and that includes native workers. I was listening to a radio interview with a politician who was in favour of some restrictionist immigration policy, and he said, “I don’t buy this argument that citizens won’t do the jobs that immigrants do. Citizens work in coal mines. Could there be any worse job?” That really affected the way that I was thinking about this debate, because it’s true. Citizens work in all kinds of socially degraded and dangerous jobs. The difference can be exaggerated. It isn’t necessarily true that there’s work that immigrants do and work that citizens do, and that they don’t overlap in significant ways. I think that they do overlap. October 23, 2011. Updated: May 2, 2018 Five Books aims to keep its book recommendations and interviews up to date. If you are the interviewee and would like to update your choice of books (or even just what you say about them) please email us at [email protected] Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you've enjoyed this interview, please support us by donating a small amount .

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Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz

"I can’t speak for politicians. This is something, of course, that we have an ongoing discussion about in anthropology – the degree to which these policies that produce these massive labour forces, these really vulnerable and flexible labour forces, are intentional. It’s not clear to me. I don’t know. But I do think that Zlolniski and Saskia Sassen are on to something when they talk about the ways in which this move away from a productive workforce and toward a service-oriented workforce changes, to some degree, not only the way that people work but also the potential for organisation. There’s been this broader shift toward a workforce that’s characterised by flexibility, that can be outsourced, that can be temporary, that does not get and can’t demand health insurance and maternity leave and a 401(k) [retirement plan]. Zlolniski’s work does a really good job showing the everyday processes that make that happen, that produce those kinds of lives for workers. One of the great myths about undocumented workers is that they’re not organisable. A lot of anti-immigrant rhetoric, or restrictionist rhetoric, invokes the vulnerability of immigrant workers to make the argument that, because they’re unorganisable, they permanently suppress wages. What Zlolniski’s work shows, and other works have shown as well, is that it’s just not true. In fact the history of immigrant labour in the United States is a history of worker struggle. That is something that was not apparent in my work – and that has a lot to do with the place where I did my fieldwork. I do think it’s really important to show how immigrant workers are also involved in struggles. Even undocumented workers are involved in labour struggles and not only can be organised but often emerge as leaders in these labour struggles. There are probably differences, but what’s most striking is that there are a lot of similarities. There’s broad agreement that the work that immigrants do is socially degraded, it’s difficult, it’s dangerous. Everybody pretty much agrees on that, including, and especially, immigrant workers. But there is also broad agreement that people will do, they’re willing to do, whatever it takes to get by – and that includes native workers. I was listening to a radio interview with a politician who was in favour of some restrictionist immigration policy, and he said, “I don’t buy this argument that citizens won’t do the jobs that immigrants do. Citizens work in coal mines. Could there be any worse job?” That really affected the way that I was thinking about this debate, because it’s true. Citizens work in all kinds of socially degraded and dangerous jobs. The difference can be exaggerated. It isn’t necessarily true that there’s work that immigrants do and work that citizens do, and that they don’t overlap in significant ways. I think that they do overlap. October 23, 2011. Updated: May 2, 2018 Five Books aims to keep its book recommendations and interviews up to date. If you are the interviewee and would like to update your choice of books (or even just what you say about them) please email us at [email protected] Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you've enjoyed this interview, please support us by donating a small amount ."

America’s Undocumented Workers · fivebooks.com