Language, Immigration and Labor: Negotiating Work in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands

196 Pages·2014·0.904 MB·

by  Elise M. DuBord (auth.)

Language, Immigration and Labor
Language and Globalization
Series Editors: Sue Wright, University of Portsmouth, UK and Helen
Kelly-Holmes, University of Limerick, Ireland.
In the context of current political and social developments, where the national group
is not so clearly defined and delineated, the state language not so clearly dominant
in every domain, and cross-border flows and transfers affect more than a small elite,
new patterns of language use will develop. The series aims to provide a framework for
reporting on and analysing the linguistic outcomes of globalization and localization.
Titles include:
David Block
MULTILINGUAL IDENTITIES IN A GLOBAL CITY
London Stories
Jan Blommaert, Sirpa Leppänen, Päivi Pahta and Tiina Räisänen (editors)
DANGEROUS MULTILINGUALISM
Northern Perspectives on Order, Purity and Normality
Jenny Carl and Patrick Stevenson (editors)
LANGUAGE, DISCOURSE AND IDENTITY IN CENTRAL EUROPE
The German Language in a Multilingual Space
Diarmait Mac Giolla Chrióst
LANGUAGE AND THE CITY
Julian Edge (editor)
(RE)LOCATING TESOL IN AN AGE OF EMPIRE
John Edwards
CHALLENGES IN THE SOCIAL LIFE OF LANGUAGE
∙
Aleksandra Galasin´ska and Michał Krzyzanowski (editors)
DISCOURSE AND TRANSFORMATION IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
Roxy Harris
NEW ETHNICITIES AND LANGUAGE USE
Jane Jackson
INTERCULTURAL JOURNEYS
From Study to Residence Abroad
Helen Kelly-Holmes and Gerlinde Mautner (editors)
LANGUAGE AND THE MARKET
Grit Liebscher and Jennifer Dailey-O’Cain
LANGUAGE, SPACE AND IDENTITY IN MIGRATION
Clare Mar-Molinero and Patrick Stevenson (editors)
LANGUAGE IDEOLOGIES, POLICIES AND PRACTICES
Language and the Future of Europe
Clare Mar-Molinero and Miranda Stewart (editors)
GLOBALIZATION AND LANGUAGE IN THE SPANISH-SPEAKING WORLD
Macro and Micro Perspectives
Ulrike Hanna Meinhof and Dariusz Galasinski
THE LANGUAGE OF BELONGING
Richard C. M. Mole (editor)
DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS OF IDENTITY IN EUROPEAN POLITICS
Leigh Oakes and Jane Warren
LANGUAGE, CITIZENSHIP AND IDENTITY IN QUEBEC
Mario Saraceni
THE RELOCATION OF ENGLISH
Christina Slade and Martina Mollering (editors)
FROM MIGRANT TO CITIZEN: TESTING LANGUAGE, TESTING CULTURE
Colin Williams
LINGUISTIC MINORITIES IN DEMOCRATIC CONTEXT
Colin Williams
MINORITY LANGUAGE PROMOTION, PROTECTION AND REGULATION
Forthcoming title:
Robert Blackwood and Stefani Tufi
THE LINGUISTICS LANDSCAPE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN
A Study of French and Italian Coastal Cities
Language and Globalization
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978-1-4039-9732-6 Paperback
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Language, Immigration
and Labor
Negotiating Work in the U.S.-Mexico
Borderlands
Elise M. DuBord
University of Northern Iowa, USA
© Elise M. DuBord 2014
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-30101-7
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with
written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by
the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
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this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2014 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-45336-8 ISBN 978-1-137-30102-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137301024
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sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to
conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
DuBord, Elise M., 1975–
Language, Immigration and Labor : Negotiating Work in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands /
Elise M. DuBord.
pages cm — (Language and Globalization)
Summary: “Language, Immigration, and Labor explores dominant ideologies about citi-
zenship, nation, and language that frame the everyday lives of Spanish-speaking immi-
grants in the U.S.-Mexico border region. Focussing its ethnographic research on Arizona,
a state that intensely regulates transnational migrants and Spanish speakers through
its immigration and language policies, this book examines the realities of intercultural
communication in fast-paced job negotiations between undocumented workers and their
employers. The research reveals the ways that dominant discourses reverberate down
to localized social and language practices and how day laborers respond by legitimating
their participation in society—a kind of cultural citizenship—and constructing identities as
language learners and productive workers.”— Provided by publisher.
1. Linguistic minorities—United States. 2. Language policies—United States.
3. Intercultural communication—United States. 4. Emigration and immigration—
Social aspects. 5. Mexican American students—Language. 6. Mexico—Languages.
7. United States—Ethnic relations. I. Title.
P119.32.U6D83 2014
306.44'973—dc23
2014025893
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
1 The Social Context of Language Contact in the
Informal Economy 1
2 The Regulation of Immigration and Language 26
3 “If I knew the language, don’t think I would be here”:
Shifting Understandings of the Linguistic Capital
of English 61
4 Solidarity, Rapport, and Co-membership: Employers’
Hiring Practices 88
5 Performing the Good Worker 119
6 Conceptualizing Intercultural Communication 156
Notes 166
References 172
Index 183
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List of Figures
6.1 Model of interpersonal contact from the perspective of A 163