Title

“Better than White Trash”: Work Ethic, Latinidad and Whiteness in rural Arkansas

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-2012

Publication Source

Latino Studies

Abstract

Diverse sites in the US South are being transformed by “new Latino immigration.” Rather than being a homogeneous process, experiences of migrant settlement are shaped by the racialized social worlds of particular historical social communities – and may in turn transform local racial formations (Winders, 2005). In one small town in rural Arkansas, Latina and Latino migrants perform boundary work (Lamont, 2000; Hartigan, 2010), constructing their identities as “good” workers and neighbors. Although migrants assert belonging and dignity by framing themselves as “better than White trash,” nonetheless this belonging is predicated on the reproduction of racial and class hierarchy as well as conformity to the structural demands of neoliberal capitalism.

Inclusive pages

81-106

ISBN/ISSN

1476-3435

Publisher

Palgrave Macmillan

Volume

10

Issue

1-2

Peer Reviewed

yes

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS