The H2 Visa process in the catfish industry
- Autores: Kirsten Dellinger
- Localización: Géneros, ISSN-e 2014-3613, Vol. 4, Nº. 3, 2015 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Multidisciplinary Journal of Gender Studies. October), págs. 806-831
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
This article builds on global ethnography, transnational feminist sociology, and gendered organizations to examine the processes and practices required to obtain H2 visas, temporary work permits for non-U.S. citizens seeking employment in agriculture and non-agricultural sectors. The article is based on ethnographic observation at a U.S. Consulate in Mexico with a focus on observing the process experienced by a group of Mexican workers seeking H2-A Visas to work on a catfish farm in Mississippi. I argue that by more carefully examining the roles and perspectives of the catfish farm manager and a U.S. Consulate Director in the process of obtaining the H2-A visas, we can move beyond “globalization from above” or “globalization from below” perspectives to a more nuanced understanding of what transnationalism looks like from the middle. In addition, by applying a gendered organizations framework to understanding the H2 visa process at an interactional level, I demonstrate how the definition of the “good worker” is gendered.
