Gendered Projects of Solidarity: Workplace Organizing among Immigrant Women and Men

TitleGendered Projects of Solidarity: Workplace Organizing among Immigrant Women and Men
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2012
AuthorsCranford, C. J.
JournalGender, Work & Organization
Volume19
Issue2
Pagination142 - 164
Keywordsgender, immigrants, labor organizing, solidarity, union organizing
Abstract

Drawing on an ethnography of organizing among Latina/o immigrant janitors in Los Angeles, I argue that constructing workplace solidarity between women and men is a dynamic, gendered project. I demonstrate both how this project unfolds and how it can be halted, with varying implications for gender and class inequality at work. Organizational restructuring upsets gender-segregated divisions of labour making solidarity between women and men possible but restructuring also allows workers to reinforce gendered divisions and cultural distinctions. The mechanism pushing workers one way or the other is the degree to which the process of organizing recognizes gender inequalities.