Announcements

Announcements

Fri - Tadiar and Sulit readingsMon – guest speaker & reflection paper #2 dueFinal projects:

How are interviews going?Final paper:

How do the stories told in their interviews show you the impact of the larger social forces of racism, (hetero)patriarchy, colonialism, globalization, neoliberalism, etc on these individual subjects’ lives?

Simultaneously, how do these interviews show you the ways in which these women cannot simply be reduced to these larger social forces (i.e. how do they express their own agency and resistance)?

H1B VISAS AND THE POLITICS OF LOCATION

Weak Winners of Globalization

(il)legal workers

1965 Immigration Act: explosion of Asian immigration + shutting down of Mexican immigration

Context of Cold War US economy: legal Asian workers come in

as skilled/professional labor to develop industries

Illegal Mexican aliens power agricultural and service industries, continue legacy of marginalized, racialized, low-wage labor

H-1B Visa

Nonimmigrant visa program H1 created in 1950s – had to prove

intent to return home 1970 – could result in permanent

positions 1980s – H1-B introduced to cap

increasing #s to placate labor organizations

Foreign workers with “specialized knowledge & skills” in “specialty occupation”

DoL attempts to protect both foreign and native worker (64)

“technocoolies”

1992-2003: over one million H-1Bs

2001 – 49% from IndiaFailures of H-1B

No required prior notice of termination

Cannot remain in country for more than 10 days if job is lost

Less wages, more hours, few benefits

Blaming H-1B worker naturalizes systemic exploitation (60)

The Game of Globalization

Powerful losers in the North Displaced American white-collar

workersWeak winners of the South

(non)immigrant H-1B holdersPowerful winners of

transnational corporations Sponsoring companies that

profit from flexible laborNecessity of a politics of

location