The Kitchen Spoon's Handle: Transnationalism and Sri Lanka's Migrant Housemaids - Couverture souple

Gamburd, Michele Ruth

 
9780801486449: The Kitchen Spoon's Handle: Transnationalism and Sri Lanka's Migrant Housemaids
Couverture souple
ISBN 10 : 0801486440 ISBN 13 : 9780801486449
Editeur : Cornell University Press, 2000

Synopsis

A common Sinhala proverb states, "A woman's understanding reaches only the length of the kitchen spoon's handle." In this beautifully written book on the effects of female migration from Sri Lanka, Michele Ruth Gamburd shows that the length of that handle now spans several thousand miles, rather than a mere twelve inches.During the past twenty years, a great many Sri Lankan women have left their homes and families to work as housemaids in the wealthy oil-producing states of the Middle East. Gamburd explores global and local, as well as personal, reasons why so many women leave to work so far away. Focusing primarily on the home community, rather than on the experiences of the workers abroad, she vividly illustrates the impact of the migration on those left behind and on the migrants who return.As migrant women take on the formerly masculine role of breadwinner, Gamburd explains, traditional concepts of the value of "women's work" are significantly altered. She examines the effects of female migration on caste hierarchies, class relations, gender roles, and family interactions.The Kitchen Spoon's Handle skillfully blends the stories and memories of returned migrants and their families and neighbors with interviews with government officials, recruiting agents, and moneylenders. The book provides a rich and sensitive portrait of the confluence of global and local processes in the lives of the villagers. Gamburd presents a sophisticated, yet very readable, discussion of current theories of power, agency, and identity.

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

À propos de l'auteur

Michele Ruth Gamburd is Professor of Anthropology at Portland State University.

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
Cornell University Press
Date d'édition
2000
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
0801486440
ISBN 13 
9780801486449
Reliure
Broché
Nombre de pages
288
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
non disponible

Autres éditions populaires du même titre

9780801437380: The Kitchen Spoon's Handle: Transnationalism and Sri Lanka's Migrant Housemaids

Edition présentée

ISBN 10 :  0801437385 ISBN 13 :  9780801437380
Editeur : Cornell University Press, 2000
Couverture rigide