Keywords
Citation
Harris, P. (2000), "From Textile Mills to Taxi Ranks: Experiences of Migration, Labour and Social Change", Work Study, Vol. 49 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/ws.2000.07949gae.003
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2000, MCB UP Limited
From Textile Mills to Taxi Ranks: Experiences of Migration, Labour and Social Change
From Textile Mills to Taxi Ranks: Experiences of Migration, Labour and Social Change
Virinder S. KalraAshgateISBN 1 84014 865 9£39.95
Keywords: Multicultural society, Textile industry, Ethnic groups, Immigrants
Contemporary academic studies on economic activity and South Asians in Britain have concentrated on self-employment and entrepreneurial business success, and it is possible to forget that many South Asians came to work in Britain to work in declining manufacturing industries. This is not only a metonym for the movement to a service sector economy, but literally presents a shift in place of work for many (Azad) Kashmiris/Pakistani men. Dr Kalra explores the way in which the issues of employment, work, income generation and economic status affect, and are affected by, a section of the Mirpuri/Pakistani "community" based in Oldham. The men discussed have strong emotional, spiritual and material ties to the geographical district of Mirpur, and stories of workers and industry, home and abroad, dreams and realities merge and entwine in the practices of everyday life. The author presents both an in-depth study of a specific, racialised group in the North West of England, and a history of the demise of the textile industry and structural changes in the economy of the region and of Britain as a whole.
Phil Harris