Shared Social Space and Strategies To Find Work: An Exploratory Study of Mexican Day Laborers in Freehold, N.J

The article focuses on strategies by foreign Mexican laborers to find work as day laborers through congregating in shared social spaces and to avoid provoking the dominant whites in a U.S. town. The authors present findings from a study in Freehold, New Jersey, where citizens formed an organization...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Cleaveland, Carol (Author)
Contributors: Kelly, Laura
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2008
In: Social justice
Year: 2008, Volume: 35, Issue: 4, Pages: 51-65
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
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Keywords:
Social History
Assimilation (Sociology)
Social marginality > United States
Stereotypes > Social aspects
Immigration opponents
Dominant culture
Job hunting > Social aspects
Public spaces > Social aspects
social space
Day laborers
Mexican foreign workers
Culture conflict
Description
Summary:The article focuses on strategies by foreign Mexican laborers to find work as day laborers through congregating in shared social spaces and to avoid provoking the dominant whites in a U.S. town. The authors present findings from a study in Freehold, New Jersey, where citizens formed an organization in opposition to the presence of the Mexican migrant workers. The social space is viewed in the context of the social, political and economic strata of the larger society. The efforts of the marginalized Mexicans to defuse opposition to their presence included addressing stereotypes against dirt, disease, noise and crowding.
ISSN:2327-641X