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Sweatshop Warriors | Praise
“A
beautifully written review of [sweatshop women workers'] lives, struggles, lessons
learned, and lessons for all of us.…An in-depth study, packed with information,
rich in social, political, and economic analysis.…Totally alive.”
—Elizabeth Martínez, The Nation
“A
powerful account of contemporary immigrant women workers' struggles in the United
States.…What distinguishes Sweatshop Warriors from other books that
highlight the lives of low-wage workers is its illustration of the women's 'painful
yet liberating' transformation from worker to warriors.…Their stories of
strength and empowerment are an inspiration to labor activists around the world.”
—Molly McGrath and Erin McGrath, The Progressive
“I
teach a course on Women and Work and Miriam Ching Louie's Sweatshop Warriors
is the first book I have found that really describes sweatshops from the
workers' perspectives, as agents rather than victims. The students really got
it. I plan to use the book in this course from now on.”
—Laura Tabili, History Department, University of Arizona
“An
important and insightful look at sweatshops in the United States.…Sweatshop
Warriors has an additional value in that it puts the immigrant question
squarely on the table.…Louie is to be applauded for this book. Activists
should make it a point to study it.”
—Bill Fletcher, Jr., National co-chair of the
Black Radical Congress
“Miriam Ching Louie's Sweatshop Warriors introduces us to
women who refuse to accept their assigned place at the bottom of the sweatshop
pyramid. The Chinese, Korean and Mexican immigrant women, whose testimonies
are included in this work, have courageously challenged restaurant owners, contractors,
corporations, governments and transnational anti-labor treaties. Here is inspiration
and leadership for the labor movement and for all of us who seek creative ways
of mounting resistance to global capitalism.”
—Angela Y. Davis, University of California, Santa Cruz
“Details
the horrors of sweatshop labour and exposes the suffering of women workers there.
But it goes beyond that. . . . It shows how immigrant women workers in sweatshops
are becoming 'Sweatshop Warriors' by organising and fighting back.”
—Despina Mavrou, Bookmarks Review of Books
“An
up-close and personal look at these extraordinary women worker-activists.…Sweatshop
Warriors offers key lessons for all those who want dignity and independence
for all workers.”
—National Women's Review
“A
must read for every Asian American Studies 101 Class.…Who better
to share the stories of her fellow women warriors?…Sweatshop Warriors
shows us how ordinary women workers became extraordinary warriors and better
human beings. We learn from the examples of these women.”
—Merilynne Hamano Quon, Asian American Revolutionary
Movement
“According
to a popular political saying, ‘wherever there is oppression, there is resistance.’ In today's corporate-driven global
economy where sweatshops have become the norm rather than the exception, it
is easy to focus only on the oppression. Long-time activist Miriam Ching Louie's important book tells the stories
of the front-line warriors of resistance in the U.S.—the immigrant women
sweatshop laborers who are tenaciously and creatively battling for justice and
dignity. Through the organizing
vehicles of community-based workers’ centers, these Chinese, Korean and Latina
immigrants are challenging not only the lynchpins of the corporate economy but
also the traditional model of union organizing—as well as gender relations
in their families and class dynamics in their ethnic communities. This book
is essential reading for community organizers, for labor activists, and for
others involved in grassroots campaigns taking on
corporate globalization.”
—Glenn Omatsu, editor of AmerAsia Journal
“Miriam
Louie does a marvelous job of giving voice to Chinese, Mexican, Korean and Thai
immigrant women workers as agents of social change in their battle against corporate
greed and labor exploitation. Inspiring, insightful, and informative, Sweatshop
Warriors, is a must read for anyone interested in gender, work, migration,
and grassroots organizing within the context of global capitalism.”
—Judy Yung, University of California, Santa Cruz and author of Unbound
Feet: A Social History of Chinese Women in San Francisco
“All
the
good-hearted liberals who see themselves as saviors of downtrodden sweatshop
workers must read this book. As Miriam Louie powerfully demonstrates, immigrant women themselves
have been organizing and fighting back on the front lines of the class war against
global capital, making political connections that many of today’s traveling demonstrators are just starting
to think about. We need to listen
to these women. This is such a
beautiful, moving book; the guiding light for the new labor movement.”
—Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Yo' Mama's DisFunktional!: Fighting
the Culture
Wars in Urban America
“A
key weapon of the oppressor is to control the message — cover up the abuses,
silence the sorrows and struggles of the oppressed. Luckily we have Miriam Ching Yoon Louie to listen and share the incredible
stories of these sweatshop warriors — a women’s movement the mainstream media has too
long ignored. In the process, Miriam
magnifies the women’s voices and shines a bright light
on the exploitation they challenge and the lessons they have to teach us all.”
—Ellen
Bravo, Co-director of 9-to-5, National Association of Working Women
“There's
no one blueprint for organization women workers in today's garment industry,
but this book puts polyvocal voices and plans on the table. Organizers and academics
interested in the power of labor organizing across relations of race, class,
nation, and generation will find inspiration and keen insights in this book.
Miriam Ching Yoon Louie connects the threads and weaves brilliant pathways to
social justice.”
—Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, author of Domestica: Immigrant Workers
Cleaning and Caring in the Shadows of Affluence
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