Narratives Of Immigrant Women Research Articles

Migration and Labour Mobility: The Narratives of Immigrant Women in Toronto, 1970s–1990s

Migration and Labour Mobility: The Narratives of Immigrant Women in Toronto, 1970s–1990s

Migration and Labour Mobility: The Narratives of Immigrant Women in Toronto, 1970s–1990s

Oral histories can amplify the voices of marginalized, racialized women who have been otherwise excluded from history. The stories of six Caribbean women of colour who migrated to Canada between the 1970s and the 1990s lay bare the opportunities and the challenges of international labour mobility and migration. Shaped by the intersectionality of race, class, gender, and citizenship, the women were able to adjust to the demographic, social, political, and economic changes of the late twentieth century’s global economy by harnessing labour mobility. These women—and their life stories—form a salient part of the social history of immigration, domestic service, and health care in late twentieth century Toronto.

Language problem or language conflict? Narratives of immigrant women’s experiences in the US

This article investigates how Latin American women who migrate to the US frame their language experiences through narratives told in sociolinguistic interviews. As narratives reflect and shape social realities and relationships, narrative analysis can illuminate how individuals position themselves relative to language obstacles and ideologies, thus providing insights into processes that are central to the migration experiences of millions of individuals. We found that women related two types of stories: language conflict narratives, in which language was presented as part of a broader ethnic or social conflict, and language difficulty narratives, which focused on individual, personal problems with language experienced by protagonists. Our analysis illustrates how interviewers’ questions, and the interviewees’ language conflict narratives in particular, confirm, reproduce, but also contest central language ideologies and dominant discourses about migration in the US.

Unidos Por La Justicia and Mujeres Fuertes: Grassroots groups shaping Mexican immigrant women's activism in San José, California

This article analyzes how two grassroots groups in San Jose, California – Unidos Por La Justicia and Mujeres Fuertes – shape women's politicization and consequent activism. Using Mexican immigrant women's narratives and ethnographic fieldwork, I argue that women's activism and emerging political consciousness arises from their grounded experience as Mexican immigrants struggling to understand their new place of residence as it relates to their immigration status and rights. This article contributes to the growing literature on Latina community politics.

Social geography and continuity effects in immigrant women's narratives of negative interactions

Objectives The purpose of this study was to examine the role of social geography and continuity in ethnic identity in shaping immigrant women's exposure and reactions to interpersonal problems in old age. Methods More than 100 hours of semistructured, in-person interviews were conducted with 19 immigrant Japanese women about their views of interpersonal relationships including problems they experienced living in the Midwestern region of the United States. Results Interpersonal problems reported focused on exposure to a specific type of issue among a specific group: gossip within the immigrant community. Spatial distance from country of origin, desire for continuity to ethnic identity, and intragroup variation among Japanese residents in the Midwest were factors that resulted in an inability to terminate interpersonally troubled ties. Discussion Immigrants' interpersonal problems are deeply connected to spaces and places lived and the human need for continuity. Contextual approaches are needed in gerontology to further understanding about negative interactions in late life across the population of older adults.

Re-Creation of Self: Narratives of Immigrant Women from Ex-Yugoslavia Living in Western Canada

Re-Creation of Self: Narratives of Immigrant Women from Ex-Yugoslavia Living in Western Canada

Immigrant Women and Community Development in the Canadian Maritimes: Outsiders within?

Although immigrant women are often outsiders within Canadian communities and peripheral, at best, in the literature on community development, this paper argues that they make important contributions to community development thereby improving their own individual lives and those of others in Canadian society. Following a qualitative analysis of forty semi-structured interviews conducted in two major Maritime cities, we derive what community means for immigrant women from the organizations in which they participate and the issues that they embrace, as we analyze their contributions to community development in the Maritime region of Canada. Based upon abroad definition of community development to encompass not only community-development motivated actions but also other-motivated, non-paid organizational participation, our findings reveal that even if the immigrant women's motives for organizing may be individualistic, driven by narrow, practical needs, their involvement with others in groups and organizations has broader social consequences. Furthermore, some Maritime immigrant women's narratives indicate that indi-

Transnational health resources, practices, and perspectives: Brazilian immigrant women's narratives.

This paper examines the representations of transnational health resources, practices, and perspectives in the narratives of Brazilian immigrant women. The results of this qualitative narrative research indicated that in taking care of their health, these Brazilian immigrants often relied on a combination of personal and collective transnational resources. They engaged in a variety of pre-migration and transnational health practices and demonstrated a high degree of personal responsibility for their health, although they frequently delayed or postponed seeking formal health care. In responding to health and illness concerns, these immigrant women moved back and forth across informal and formal health care systems, crossing multiple national, cultural, and health care system borders. Their stories illustrated the transnational nature of personal, cultural, and political perspectives on health and health care and highlighted the layered complexities of immigrant women's health practices and resources.

`Race', Racism, and Sexuality in the Life Narratives of Immigrant Women

Life narratives were collected from immigrant women through five individual interviews and three focus groups as part of an on-going study of sexuality and gender-related issues among immigrant/refugee women in North America. The research explores how questions of national identity and sexual identity are determined and negotiated for immigrant and refugee women and the role of `geography' and language in understanding women's boundary and border crossings. Four life stories are discussed in detail, as illustrative of disparate adaptations to migration, and suggestions are made for the future development of research in this area.