âDisposable Bodiesâ Units 4 & 5
Throughout units 4 and 5 of GWS 302, our class analyzed the interconnections between the development of capitalism, imperialism, and the ways in which migrant bodies and lower-class identities are able to move throughout the world. To begin, we collectively analyzed the work of Millian Kang, âThe Managed Hand: The Commercialization of Bodies and Emotions in Korean-Immigrant Owned Nail Salonsâ. As highlighted in Kangâs text, nail salon workers suffer from numerous health issues, including asthma-like respiratory problems, painful skin lesions, miscarriages, birth defects, and cancer. Ki Ok Chung, a woman whoâd worked as a manicurist for nearly twenty years, suffered from the wearing away of her fingerprints from constant work with toxin-filled salon products (Nir, 2015). The fading of fingerprints isnât rare among individuals working in nail salons, many of whom are often of Asian demographic. Taking identity into account, Asian nail salon workers facing racism in the workplace are subject to several anxieties; In certain places of work where employee surveillance is more extensive, fingerprint scanning is a method of clocking in. âAs critical data scholars have revealed, biometric fingerprint scanners are also prone to âdemographic failures,â regularly failing to scan prints of elderly people, Asian women, people who work in manual or clerical industries, or people whose fingers are too large [too be detected] (Browne, 2015; Magnet, 2011). Scanners are thus neither ârock solidâ nor objective.â (Van Oort, 2018). For people who have been born into the nail salon industry, having worked with so many chemicals over so many years, raises the concern of the fingerprint scanner potentially failing to detect oneâs prints. Other anxieties Asian bodies are subject to stem from racism, often an issue for Asians and non-white individuals in the workplace setting (from customers, bosses, coworkers, etc.), who want to avoid falling under stereotypes and prejudices. This racism is tied to the extensive surveillance among bodies (often marginalized) working in job positions that are societally considered âlower classâ. The âless worthyâ, âless humanâ (aka âless whiteâ, âless ableâ, etc.) bodies are intentionally managed and taken advantage of in a way that subjects them to harm. As expressed by a nail salon worker in Millian Kangâs study, âThree years ago we didnât give a lot of massages but now customers ask more and more. It makes me weak and really tired...I guess because I donât have the right training to do it in a way that doesnât tire my body. Some manicurists give massages all the time to get tips, but sometimes I donât even ask them if Iâm tired. Owners keep asking you to ask them, but on days Iâm not feeling well, I donât ask...One of my biggest fears working in the salon is, what if I donât understand what the customer is saying? They donât really talk in detail, just say, âhow is the weatherâ. But in order to have a deeper relationship, I need to get past that and to improve my English. It makes it very stressful.â (Kang, 2003). Whether it be the subjection to stress from societal expectations or the life-threatening side effects of working in such conditions, marginalized bodies are at risk in the workplace. Â
And it isnât specific to nail salons. Â
We also see this issue in factory farms, such as Case Farms in Canton, Ohio, not too far from here. âAs the company fights the fines, it finds new ways to keep labor costs down. For a time, after the Guatemalan workers began to organize, Case Farms recruited Burmese refugees. Then it turned to ethnic Nepalis expelled from Bhutan, who today make up nearly 35 percent of the companyâs employees in Ohio. âItâs an industry that targets the most vulnerable group of workers and brings them in,â Debbie Berkowitz, OSHAâs former senior policy adviser, told me. âAnd when one group gets too powerful and stands up for their rights they figure out whoâs even more vulnerable and move them in.ââ (Grabell, 2017). Factory farm workers are at risk for some of the most harmful mental and physical health issues in the realm of careers, ranging from loss of limbs, bone fractures, death, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Unsurprisingly, considering the nature of the job market, âOSHA later found that Case Farms often made workers wait months to see a doctor, flouted restrictions and fired injured workers who couldnât do their job.â (Grabell, 2017). Â
We see similar outcomes for temp workers. âFrom mega-retailers to mom-and-pop shops, temps are hired to do some of the hardest and most dangerous jobs. While more and more of the American workforce is comprised of temporary workers, they're largely hidden from public view.â (VICE News, 2014). In the VICE video, "Permanently Temporary: The Truth About Temp Laborâ, viewers share a heartbreaking moment with Isaura Martinez, a woman who left her family in Mexico to come to America, as she reflects on her experiences since immigrating. With tearful eyes and a chilling sense of sorrow in her voice, Martinez tells Vice interviewers that she came to the states with a lot of hope, but often experiences regret as she has âreceived a lot of abuse here [America]â. She opened up about her sexual assault, which occurred as she was being driven to work by a raitero. She explained how the issue of sexual violence is common for temp workers commuting to factories through the service of raiteros---often the only feasible option of getting to work for these people given the circumstances. This disturbing reality has historical baggage; From the trafficking and enslavement of African natives to the indentured labor from India and other Asian countries into Europe, capitalist, white supremacist, patriarchal values have fueled âthe European colonization of much of the planetâ (Lewis, 2014), which is directly related to the threatened position migrant workers are currently in. Itâs also evident that the demand for cheap migrant labor is ever-growing; âMigrants, especially new arrivals, are seen as being harder workers, more loyal and reliable, and prepared to work longer hours due to their lack of choice and the large volume of available labour at the low end of the labour market (MacKenzie and Forde, 2009). This therefore intensifies competition and offers employers the pick of the âbestâ migrant workers.â (Lewis, 2014). Â
Itâs also key to recognize the treacherous journey immigrants must endure to get to America; Considering the implications of climate change, this already dangerous journey becomes even more deathly. From scorching heat that burns your skin to an unforgiving geography of jagged vegetation, the U.S. Mexico border in Southern Arizona is an atmospheric war zone. âTo stand in the summer sun on Organ Pipe and contemplate the long walk north invites some startling realizations. One: Despite the heat and the militarization, generations of people have somehow survived this seemingly impossible journey. Two: No one is going to undertake such a journey without a deep motivating desire to move. And three: All of these factors â human migration, the desertâs capacity to kill, and the hardening of the American border security apparatus â are on a path to historic intensification in the coming years.â (Devereaux, 2019). âRight now there are construction crews at work on Organ Pipe, pumping water from a rare desert aquifer to mix concrete for Donald Trumpâs long-promised border wall. The survival of a fragile and unique desert ecosystem hangs in the balance.â (Devereaux, 2019). Laiken Jordahl, former employee of the U.S. National Park Service at Organ Pipe and current borderlands campaigner for the Center for Biological Diversity, described the situation as an âall-out attackâ ... âItâs unbelievable. This would never be conceivable if normal environmental laws were in place.â says Jordahl (Devereaux, 2019). Â
While it is unfortunately not surprising the effects Trumpâs presidency has had on immigration and our countryâs attitude towards it, we mustn't be oblivious to the history of said attitudes. We mustnât forget the agony that has been put onto native bodies and native land for centuries, we mustnât shy away from our own role in that. We mustnât ignore the current traumas imposed onto marginalized bodies in all too familiar ways, parallels from early white colonization oozing into modern day situations. Certain bodies have been historically valued, while others have been deemed disposable. It is the responsibility of those who are privileged to recognize this, accept this, and use their voices to fight this. Â
As a white person, this responsibility falls on me, as well as many of you reading this. Use your voice in any way you can. Dismantle the system, burn it to the fucking ground. Â
Madison Van Oort. 2018. âThe Emotional Labor of Surveillance: Digital Control in Fast Fashion Retail.â Critical Sociology 00 (0): 1-13
"Permanently Temporary: The Truth About Temp Labor,â VICE.
Miliann Kang. 2003. âThe Managed Hand: The Commercialization of Bodies and Emotions in Korean-Immigrant Owned Nail Salons.â Gender and Society 17 (6): 820-839.
Sarah Maslin Nir, âPerfect Nails, Poisoned Workers,â The New York Times
Michael Grabell, ProPublica, âSold for Partsâ.
Hannah Lewis, et al. 2014. âHyper-precarious Lives: Migrants, Work, and Forced Labor in the Global North.â Progress in Human Geography. 1-21.
Ryan Devereaux, "Mining the Future: Climate Change, Migration, and Militarization in Arizona's Borderlands".