Rethinking Citizenship and Belonging Through the Experiences of Migrant Day Laborers: Labor, Limites, Y Libertad

Rethinking Citizenship and Belonging through the Experiences of Migrant Day Laborers: Labor, Límites, y Libertad explores how migrant day laborers navigate precarious work and forge meaningful forms of community and belonging.

This book draws on nearly two years of immersive ethnographic fieldwork at a grassroots day labor center in Southern California, capturing the lived experiences of primarily undocumented workers. Through their own voices, it reveals how laborers resist exploitation, support one another, and cultivate kin-like networks that challenge exclusionary norms. The study highlights how such centers foster local, dynamic forms of citizenship that transcend legal status, offering a powerful reimagining of belonging, solidarity, and resilience in the face of structural marginalization.

This book is ideal for students and researchers in anthropology, migration studies, labor studies, and political science, particularly those interested in citizenship, globalization, and grassroots organizing.

Julie Goodman-Bowling is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Chair, Division of Family & Culture in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at California Baptist University, USA.