Work and Social Activism in the Life Stories of US Latina Immigrants

Since the 1980s, social science research has documented the way in which immigration is changing the social tissue of US society and the place of women and men in society. Scholars have focused their work mainly on Latinas in their host communities, as workers, family members and community organizers. Transnationalism theories have contributed to understanding how Latinas organize their lives across borders; however, much work is still needed to understand how the perspective of the immigrant life cycle inform migration outcomes for immigrant Latina women. Further research is necessary to develop a more grounded analysis of immigrants’ experiences to understand how their transnational cultural frames shape the way they perceive and experience the community of residence. In order to contribute to this understanding, this study looks at the life stories of five low income Latina immigrant domestic workers activists in Montgomery County, MD, to document their experience and understand the factors that influence their civic mobilization for their collective rights.