Crafting Dignity - by Alisa Garni (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Based on years of ethnographic research in rural Kansas, Crafting Dignity is an eye-opening look at why Latin American immigrants came to work on dairy farms in the Heartland and how their presence is transforming both the industry and their local communities.

Immigrants in the United States are overrepresented among essential workers in agro-food production. In the dairy industry alone, immigrants constitute 51 percent of the labor force and produce 80 percent of the country's milk. Whereas most food production in the United States today is controlled by large corporations, at least 97 percent of US dairy farms are family owned and operated. Based on five years of ethnographic research in "Dairy City," Kansas, Alisa Garni tells the story of people who traded suits and office jobs abroad for dangerous work on US dairy farms, the white dairy farmers who rely on them to keep their family-owned operations afloat, and the rural communities that were dying before recent immigrants arrived.

Crafting Dignity follows immigrant employees from three competing family dairy farms in rural Kansas and examines how labor relations on each farm affect people's settlement experiences in Dairy City, as well as their impact on the local community. In detailing how people's work lives are woven into the broader social fabric of rural America, Crafting Dignity sheds fresh light on how managers' labor practices interact with social, political, and historical forces to impact the viability of farms and communities.

In an era of increased political anxiety about immigration and migrant labor, Crafting Dignity shows what life is really like for these workers and how more just labor practices foster a better life—not only for the laborers but for the community as a whole.

Review Quotes

"This compelling and beautifully written ethnography challenges prevailing understandings of immigrant labor and exploitative managerial practices. Based on five years of ethnographic fieldwork, Crafting Dignity reveals how immigrant workers can be treated ethically, with dignity and respect at work, which in turn ripples outward to the broader community. It offers a powerful vision of what a just world for immigrant workers might look like while making essential contributions to labor and immigration studies, rural sociology, and the art and value of ethnographic research. It is timely and necessary for today's times and will be read widely."--Cecilia Menjívar, coauthor of Immigrant Families

"In this meticulous and moving ethnography, Alisa Garni expertly weaves the experiences of vulnerable workers together with powerful insights about contemporary capitalism, labor, and culture. Topics I had never thought much about before, such as precolonial migrations across North America and the myriad factors that can lead to undrinkable milk, stayed on my mind long after I set the book down. Most importantly, Crafting Dignity delivers an eloquent argument for putting people above profits, showing how managers' decisions can make all the difference for families and communities."--Erynn Masi de Casanova, author of Dust and Dignity: Domestic Employment in Contemporary Ecuador

"Crafting Dignity is an insightful ethnography that reveals how dairy farms' success can be premised on collaborative, respect-based workplaces. In the face of increasing challenges for US dairy producers and new immigrant workers alike, Garni's timely analysis shows how farms, livelihoods, and communities can thrive when dignity is on offer for newcomers."--Margaret Gray, author of Labor and the Locavore: The Making of a Comprehensive Food Ethic

"Garni's fascinating . . . case study illustrates the structural challenges faced both by dairy producers and the predominantly Latinx immigrant workers, many of whom have fled their home countries due to unemployment and pervasive violence. She profiles three dairies with contrasting ownership and labor management practices to show that the dairy producers who incorporate more support for workers, such as housing, language training, and opportunities to increase their skills and responsibilities, create a more sustainable and resilient community. By using more craft-style management practices and creating a more dignified workplace where problem-solving skills are valued, these dairies are economically revitalizing one rural community and repairing frayed social fabric in these communities."--Theresa Selfa, professor and chair of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Department of Environmental Studies