Voices of the Silent - An Oral History of Chinese Migrant Workers

Author: Pan Yi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: The experience of Oxfam in China's development aid projects lies in strengthening partnerships with governments at all levels, universities, research institutions, civil organizations, and impoverished and groups. Under the premise of collaboration across society, the goals of poverty alleviation and rights protection are achieved, jointly addressing the issues faced by migrant workers, laid-off workers, informal workers, especially women and people with disabilities. Whether such efforts can succeed depends on whether, during brainstorming sessions, we reflect the voices of millions of working people and ensure that their voices are heard. The Voices of the Voiceless—China's Migrant Women's Narratives is a good attempt by "Women's Care," recording the voices of grassroots migrant women in a direct and comprehensive way, making them truly the main subjects of development and practicing the right to express opinions. The book records the stories of 16 migrant women in oral narratives. When migrant women arrive in the city with high hopes, they often face: daily overtime work, threats of occupational diseases and industrial accidents, unpaid wages and personal humiliation, and the indifference and discrimination of the city. However, they don't know how to protect their legitimate rights and interests, and even when they resist, it is often difficult to achieve a comprehensive victory. But why do they still keep pouring into the city? Why do they go to the city, then return to their hometowns, and then go back to the city again? Is migrant labor in the city merely to earn a little more income or to broaden their horizons? There is one thing we can be sure of: the prosperity of the city depends on the hard work of migrant women, and therefore, they should not be made to shed tears of sorrow!