“How does one put into words the rage that workers feel when supervisors threaten to replace them with workers who will not go to the bathroom in the course of a fourteen-hour day of hard labor; even if it means wetting themselves on the line?â€Â—From the Preface In this gutsy; eye-opening examination of the lives of workers in the New South; Vanesa Ribas; working alongside mostly Latino/a and native-born African American laborers for sixteen months; takes us inside the contemporary American slaughterhouse. Ribas; a native Spanish speaker; occupies an insider/outsider status there; enabling her to capture vividly the oppressive exploitation experienced by her fellow workers. She showcases the particular vulnerabilities faced by immigrant workers—a constant looming threat of deportation; reluctance to seek medical attention; and family separation—as she also illuminates how workers find connection and moments of pleasure during their grueling shifts. Bringing to the fore the words; ideas; and struggles of the workers themselves; On The Line underlines how deep racial tensions permeate the factory; as an overwhelmingly minority workforce is subject to white dominance. Compulsively readable; this extraordinary ethnography makes a powerful case for greater labor protection; especially for our nation’s most vulnerable workers.
#366710 in Books University of California Press 2011-10-03Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x 1.59 x 6.00l; 1.80 #File Name: 0520271440672 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Richer than Chocolate CheesecakeBy Alan D.This is a BIG book about a BIG subject. It is more rich; dense and multi-layered than chocolate cheesecake. It is taking me a long time to get through it (I am in the Cenozoic now) but taken in small bites; it is very rewarding. To me; the logic of looking at history this way - ie through the lenses of cosmology/geology/genetics/technology/anthropology etc.; etc. is compelling and revelatory. I can see why it may become the basis for a tectonic shift in the way history is taught in future...0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. and I would recommend reading both booksBy P. FrielThis is an audacious and compelling effort in Big History. It includes a broader timeline than Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari; and I would recommend reading both books. One of the take-home messages from both books seems to be that there has been a big price to pay for "civilization"; and the benefits for most of us only came very recently with the use of fossil fuels as energy sources.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Understand the forces that shaped usBy Bob D.Heard his lecture series on the same topic; loved it so much I wanted to read it as well. Brilliant writer; brilliant thinker; it will definitely change the way you think about the world around you—and the forces that shaped us. At the end you'll wonder why Big History isn't a requirement in our schools.
