How the Other Half Works

December 1, 2002
This meticulously researched survey explores the paradox of how large numbers of low-skilled immigrants were absorbed into the complex American economy of the 1990s, which required a more highly skilled and educated workforce than ever before. Waldinger (sociology, UCLA), the prize-winning author of Still the Promised City? African-Americans and New Immigrants in Postindustrial New York, and Lichter (sociology, SUNY at Buffalo) conducted their study in California, America's new immigrant capital. They used a comparative case-study approach and performed open-ended interviews with managers/owners in six industries in 1992-94. Their analysis yields a "story" divided into three sections focusing on the nature of low-skilled work, the means whereby social networks and formal hiring practices affect who gets jobs, and the way ethnic preferences and conflict are revealed in the workplace. A key conclusion is that immigrants obtain jobs at the bottom of America's economy because employers perceive them as "different" and more suited to demeaning work than others. Discussions are rigorous and grounded in sociological theories of labor, migration, and ethnicity, which the authors successfully critique and expand. This notable contribution is highly recommended for academic collections.-Antoinette Brinkman, M.L.S., Evansville, IN

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.