Migrant Women’s Voices: Talking About Life and Work in the UK Since 1945

Description

Between 1945 and the new century millions of women, including mothers and migrants, joined the labour force. These changes are brought to life through the stories of migrant women, working in factories and hospitals, banks, care homes, shops and universities over a period of 60 years. Migrant Women’s Voices is an autobiography of the post-war period as Britain became a multi-cultural society and waged work the norm for most women. McDowell illustrates the shift in migration patterns as post-imperial migrants to the UK replaced the immediate post-war pattern of migrants from war-torn Europe and who were then themselves joined by migrants from an increasingly diverse range of countries as the 20th century drew to a close. Cover page Halftitle page Title page Copyright page Dedication CONTENTS FIGURES PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 The Working Lives of Migrant Women Finding employment in a changing labour market Women talking about employment, work and life Migrant origins Reading the text: stories of change and continuity Individual stories and world events: talk, memories and recollections The organization of the book 2 Moving Stories: Journeys to the UK Leaving Latvia ‘Nursing’s what in those days a lot of ladies did’ Twice migrants: India, East Africa and the UK Temporary migration ‘A little bit of dirty business’: moving within Europe Seeking asylum 3 Making Things: Textiles, Toys, Shirts, Seat Covers and Engines Spinning and weaving in the 1940s ‘That solder stinks’: on the line in the late 1940s Manufacturing work at home Sewing seat covers: working for Ford ‘Hard to touch meat’: providing airline meals ‘The smell there, the plastic’: on the line On the blue shift: working for BMW 4 Waged Domestic Work: Cleaning, Catering and Childcare ‘Now nobody wants to do the cheap work’: forms of domestic service Scrub the dishes and polish the floors: hospital domestic labour ‘I didn’t come to England to be a slave’: working as an au pair ‘The guests, they don’t see us’: agency work in hotels 5 Body Work: Nursing, Occupational Therapy and Caring for the British ‘We did clean then’: nursing as the NHS was established ‘We thought we were doing the SRN’: nurses from the Caribbean ‘It was discrimination in a very subtle way’: Indian nurses ‘It’s a good thing to be kept on your toes’ ‘I’ve never thought to call myself as an immigrant’: the NHS and travel opportunities ‘Go for nursing and get a job’: nursing in three countries ‘I knew it would be very different here’: working as an occupational therapist ‘Embarrassed to tell people I work in a nursing home’: institutional care work 6 Brain Work: Banking, Medicine, Scientific Research and Teaching ‘The brokers are the beasts’: working in the financial sector ‘It’s another country’: Europe an women in finance ‘Work is where you are not yourself’: an Indian in UK financial services ‘England seemed like really old-fashioned’: web and software development ‘There’s a lot of pressure in academia’: university research and teaching ‘All I am good for is academic stuff’: challenging traditional stereotypes 7 Serving the Public: Offices, Hotels, Shops, Salons and Buses ‘I was another pen pusher’: office work after the war ‘We opened a shop’: self-employment in the grocery trade ‘She’d pile me up with plates’: working as a waitress On the till: working for Tesco ‘Just laughing at us’: working in a family business ‘Tiring of the public’: working as a hotel receptionist ‘It’s difficult to find a job, especially if you are good looking’: model, secretary, receptionist ‘Customers, they can be aggressive’: driving buses Promoting Chinese culture: teaching the public in a museum 8 Home Life: Housework, Family, Community and Retirement Establishing a home and a family Questions of language Finding childcare Housework ‘I don’t need him to live’: difficulties in marriage ‘The circle has come round’: community groups, hometown associations and volunteering Retirement and going ‘home’ 9 Afterword: British Identity and ‘the Other’ Invented traditions and national identity: no place like home Hybridity or not? Public attitudes to the Other Last words Appendix 1 Half a Century of Change: UK 1951–2001 Migration Social class Unemployment Employment among non-British born populations Strikes Leisure and sport Housing, domestic appliances and consumer durables Appendix 2 Interviewees in Alphabetical Order Appendix 3 Post-War Immigration Legislation Appendix 4 Questions Raised by the Narratives Some questions to think about while reading NOTES SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY Index