We Are Left without a Father Here is a transnational history of working people's struggles and a gendered analysis of populism and colonialism in mid-twentieth-century Puerto Rico. At its core are the thousands of agricultural workers who; at the behest of the Puerto Rican government; migrated to Michigan in 1950 to work in the state's sugar beet fields. The men expected to earn enough income to finally become successful breadwinners and fathers. To their dismay; the men encountered abysmal working conditions and pay. The migrant workers in Michigan and their wives in Puerto Rico soon exploded in protest. Chronicling the protests; the surprising alliances that they created; and the Puerto Rican government's response; Eileen J. Suárez Findlay explains that notions of fatherhood and domesticity were central to Puerto Rican populist politics. Patriarchal ideals shaped citizens' understandings of themselves; their relationship to Puerto Rican leaders and the state; as well as the meanings they ascribed to U.S. colonialism. Findlay argues that the motivations and strategies for transnational labor migrations; colonial policies; and worker solidarities are all deeply gendered.
#2171572 in Books Duke University Press Books 1998-08-31 1998-08-31Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .82 x 6.00l; 1.15 #File Name: 0822321998328 pages
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