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Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy
 
 
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Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy [Hardcover]

Barbara Ehrenreich (Editor), Arlie Russell Hochschild (Editor)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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The single most important and astonishing statistic in Global Woman is that half the world's 120 million legal and illegal migrants are now believed to be women. Globalisation has its female underside and it involves a process whereby women in rich countries, often those who have succeeded in a tough "male world", find career success only by turning over the care of their children, elderly parents and homes to women from the developing world. The flipside of this is that millions of poor women leave their own children and families and migrate north to serve as nannies, maids and sometimes sex workers. In short there has been a global transfer of the services associated with a wife's traditional role--child care, homemaking and sex--from poor countries to rich ones. The authors think of this transfer in terms of a "care deficit"

The 15 detailed and well-researched essays collected here range from personal recollections to broad economic analysis spanning the globe from Taiwan to Mexico and from Thailand to the Dominican Republic. They cover such topics as the transfer of emotional resources, the pressures global capitalism puts on women and their families and the ways that women's migration has modified relationships between men and women--both through marriage and through the global sex trade. Most importantly, the contributors have brought the personal stories of those the authors call "the world's most invisible women" into the light. This is essential and disturbing reading for all those interested in the effects of global capitalism, along with Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed--Undercover in Low-wage America. --Larry Brown --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

The current discourse on globalization, according to the authors, has little to say about the "migration of maids, nannies, nurses, sex workers, and contract brides," since, to most economists, these women "are just individuals making a go of it." The positive effects of their labor are sometimes noted: the money they remit to home countries is a major source of foreign exchange, and the work they do in the host country enables a large pool of upwardly mobile First World women to pursue productive careers. The negative consequences, which can include emotional hardships caused by leaving children behind as well as physical strains, are rarely acknowledged. Social critics Ehrenreich (Nickel and Dimed) and Hochschild (The Time Bind) point out that in previous centuries the developed world imported natural resources, and now the import du jour is women, ideally, "happy peasant" women who can care for the elderly and disabled, lovingly raise children and provide sexual services for men. The editors have gathered some 15 essays on aspects of "the female underside of globalization"-e.g., Filipina housekeepers in Hong Kong, Latina domestic workers in Los Angeles, sexual slaves in Thailand, Vietnamese contract brides-mostly written by academics working in the field, but largely jargon-free. While one small book can't say everything about a major global phenomenon, Ehrenreich and Hochschild have at least brought attention to these women's plight. Maps not seen by PW.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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"Whether they know it or not, Clinton and Princela Bautista, two children growing up in a small town in the Philippines apart from their two migrant parents, are the recipients of an international pledge." Read the first page
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5.0 out of 5 stars Fact-filled, careful study, May 8 2004
By 
This review is from: Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy (Hardcover)
In brief essays, the authors present generally unbiased academic discussions of the globalization of female workers. Though hardly a new phenomenon, it has dramatically increased in the last 50 years and is a topic that is deserving of this type of examination. The topics are clearly delineated between domestic workers, cheap labor and the sex trade - however, there are unfortunates whose experiences range from one to the other out of necessity, desperation or coercion. This harsh reality of the vulnerability of these women is discussed with jargon-free, scholarly precision. Excellent for libraries, research and the well-read individual.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Good Overview of Female Migrant Workers, April 11 2003
By 
Jadwiga (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy (Hardcover)
...Nevertheless, this book gives the reader valuable insight into the impact and opinions of women migrant workers in the service trades. All of the anthologized authors write in an accessible style free of academic jargon. I was particularly interested in the articles which did not have an American viewpoint and which presented the views of the women (and occasionally men) involved. For example, in various essays we get to meet Dominican women in the sex trade hoping to form relationships with European men; a college-educated Vietnamese women entering into an arranged marriage with an immigrant man holding an unskilled job in the U.S.; Filipina household workers laughing about the rules proposed by prospective Hong Kong employers; and a Sri Lankan man taking over the traditional woman's role to assist migrant relatives working in Saudi Arabia.

There are some gaps here, such as the lack of first-person narratives and the views of Eastern European women working in Western Europe, but no anthology can be all-inclusive. This book is a good start and will be an intersting learning experience for most readers.

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0 of 7 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars nannies and sex workers in same title is offensive, Mar 5 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy (Hardcover)
As the mother of five that relied on childcare during the many years of single parenting I think we tend to concentrate too much on the elite and their need for childcare. The notion that this childcare contributes to the foreign exchange is a little off base when in reality it contributes to an underground economy because the salaries are mostly off the books and taxes are not paid in any form. Safety issues also arise when you consider that most of the illegeal aliens caring for our children have never had childhood immunizations, and refuse the TB test. This may sound unimportant and nit picking but the reality is diseases we thought were erradicated like whooping cough can be traced to the unimmunized worker. Leaving your children behind to take care of mine is something we as a nation should give more thought about.
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