The Immigrant War: A Global Movement Against Discrimination and Exploitation

by Vittorio Longhi

The abuse of Asian workers in the oil-rich Gulf countries, the trafficking of undocumented latinos at the US border, the exploitation of African sans papiers in France and the attacks on Sub-Saharan farmhands by the mob in Italy. All these events show how migrants, especially those without legal documents, can be an easy target for violence and discrimination, often with impunity. At least, until they decide to fight back. In this original, accessible book, Vittorio Longhi, a journalist who specialises in international labour matters, describes an emerging phenomenon of social conflict, in which migrants are not conceived as passive victims of exploitation. Instead they are portrayed as conscious, vital social actors who are determined to organise and claim better rights. With a global perspective, The immigrant war highlights the 'struggle for human rights, citizenship and equality', in the context of a policy vacuum within the international community towards migration. He demonstrates how these emerging conflicts can break the chain of exploitation and contribute to rethinking failing migration policies and the role of migrants in contemporary societies. The book will be of interest to labour and migration specialists, students of social sciences, trade unionists and human rights activists, as well as a general readership interested in migration.

Genres: Nonfiction

152 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Giulia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lavoro ben fatto, scrupoloso, ricco nei dettagli. Offre moltissimi spunti di riflessione: il legame tra i movimenti per i diritti dei migranti in tutto il mondo, la forza e l'efficacia delle loro proteste nell'influenzare le politiche nazionali, la correlazione tra lotta per la democrazia/diritti umani/sviluppo con il lavoro dei sindacati, come oggi i sindacati nel mondo debbano rinnovarsi per comprendere la grande componente migratoria del mercato del lavoro, quanto l'Italia come stato e come comunità sia cambiata nei decenni nel guardare e reagire allo sfruttamento degli immigrati, come sia inutile, dispendioso e deleterio rispondere ai flussi migratori (ovunque essi abbiano luogo) con chiusure e repressioni che andranno solo a peggiorare la situazione e di certo non bloccheranno i nuovi e futuri arrivi, e molto altro ancora.. Il tutto corredato da ottime e precise panoramiche della situazione delle migrazioni nel Golfo Persico (dal Sud Est asiatico), negli Stati Uniti (dall'America Latina), in Francia e in Italia.

[Darius Daruvalla-riccio · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was boring as hell. You learn a couple of things about immigration and policy but because of the structure you can't absorb much of it. (It is organised by country and each chapter is just a splattering of immigrant related events/facts from each place).

The sentences, are too long. Just an overall tiresome writing style and finishing it honestly felt like a chore. There was new information in this but I would have much preferred if it read like some overarching thesis that argued some main points and tied everything together. It took the central point that immigrants will no longer just passively suffer which is interesting but should have spent more time relating everything to this central point

I would rank this lower, but because of its shortness, the book is tolerable and does manage to teach you some things as you read it.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review is in this blog:

http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/blog...