Abstract
In her book, Mexican Women in American Factories, Carolyn Tuttle explores the lives of the Mexican women who supply much of the cheap labor in the maquiladoras along the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border. She does so using a mixture of direct observations and in-depth interviews with over 600 women in the border town of Sonora, Mexico. Like other studies on this topic, much of her focus is on the history of the maquiladoras in Mexico and the working conditions the women experience in these factories. However, to her credit her research interests also extend to the home lives of the women she studies, and leaves open the possibility that women find work, even work that can be degrading and menial, as potentially liberating.
The book begins with a fairly standard overview of the history of the maquila industry in Mexico, both in Chapter One and Chapter Four. While this summary is certainly useful for someone not familiar with this iteration of free-market capitalism, it is probably not necessary for most readers who have some background of the topic. The real contribution of the book begins in Chapter Two when she describes the town that she has selected for analysis, Nogales, Mexico. Her account of this border town is quite powerful; it offers a stark description of life in Mexico and the challenges faced by the inhabitants. Although a more in-depth account of the negative impact of the maquiladoras comes later, it is already clear that the prosperity promised by free trade has not been realized here.
Following this, Tuttle turns her attention to the women and their lived experiences in these factories. Beginning with the factory, she poses the question, “Are the Maquilas Sweatshops?” Of course, many sociologists of work would be quick to answer, “Yes!” And while she does eventually draw that same conclusion, I do appreciate her careful investigation of life as a worker in these factories. She does grant that many of the factories she visited were clean, bright, and well-ventilated (she also cautions that she was not granted access to all factories). At the same time work is incredibly labor intensive, loud, and difficult. Not surprisingly, independent unionization efforts were also often thwarted through illegal actions. As she documents later in the book, sexual harassment and discrimination is commonplace in many factories. The most egregious example of this is the way in which pregnant women are treated: they are typically denied employment and if they become pregnant while at work they are at significant risk of being fired.
It is in Chapter Six that her book begins to really use the considerable qualitative interview data collected from the women in her study. She poses the question of whether the women find the work empowering or are simply exploited for cheap labor by the maquila system. The answer, not surprisingly, is complicated. Of course factory owners find female workers easier to exploit—they typically work for lower wages and are often easier to intimidate at work (through the aforementioned sexual harassment and strict no-pregnancy policy). Many women interviewed complained about the wages and working conditions. As one would expect, the need to earn extra income was the primary reason cited why they continued to seek employment in these factories. At the same time, a not insignificant number of women also enjoyed the work, especially the camaraderie and relationships they were able to forge with other female workers.
Finally, the author takes a critical look at the broader impact of the maquilas in the lives of these women and the communities within which they live. The book describes how despite the promises of a thriving economy along the edge of the U.S. border made by proponents of NAFTA, the actual results look starkly different. Poverty in these areas is widespread, and, due to the absence of a stable tax base, the local infrastructure cannot handle the growing population of workers who come to these towns seeking employment. These women also go back to homes that are flimsy, dirty, and haphazard, with little investment in residential housing. Clearly the overall story here is that maquiladoras have failed to deliver on their promise of a better, more prosperous Mexico.
While this book provided a concise overview of the lives of women who toil in the maquilas of Northern Mexico, I felt that at times it was unclear what the overarching contribution was, both in terms of the claims made by Tuttle and the new insights offered by the interviews with women and observations of their home and workplaces. While there is certainly significant detail regarding work in these factories, much of the information provided would not be that particularly surprising to anyone with a cursory knowledge of this field. Indeed, despite the considerable number of interviews carried out, these data were, in my opinion, underutilized, again exploring topics examined by prior work.
It was only toward the end of the book that the author began exploring new lines of inquiry that provide original insights into this topic, such as how women view their work and the broader impact these factories have on the lives of those in the community. Even here, however, these important issues were not explored in as much depth as one would hope. For example, women mentioned that a perk of working in the factory was the camaraderie that they shared with other women. What would be the implications of this solidarity on areas outside of the workplace, such as women’s involvement in politics and civil society? Given the massive impact NAFTA has had on Mexico, Tuttle’s book could have provided insight into what role, if any, the growing female workforce has on political and economic outcomes more broadly, from efforts to pass stricter anti-discrimination laws to efforts to organize women in this industry. Nevertheless, this book provides new and updated information on the women of the maquiladoras and begins to explore important new topics that are sure to remain particularly relevant in the coming years.