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Between “the front” and “the back” ?: Chinese women's work in family businesses

Song, Miri (1995) Between “the front” and “the back” ?: Chinese women's work in family businesses. Womens Studies International Forum, 18 (3). pp. 285-298. ISSN 0277-5395. (doi:10.1016/0277-5395(95)80073-X) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:37833)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0277-5395(95)80073-X

Abstract

This article explores the family and work lives of Chinese ethnic migrant women, both mothers and daughters, in families who run Chinese take-away businesses in Britain. In reviewing the literature on the lives of “Black” women and “women of color” in both the United Kingdom and the United States, the author argues that the specific intersections of family and work found in Chinese take-aways is distinct from those of other “Black” women who are not engaged in family businesses. The family and work lives of these women, which are very intertwined, are both more varied and ambivalently experienced than has been suggested thus far in writings about women in ethnic businesses. The meanings associated with “helping out” for the younger generation provide a new and different perspective on the gendered and generationally disparate ways in which families organize their labors. By focusing upon the experiences of both mothers and daughters (and children more broadly), there is evidence of both continuing forms of women's subordination, as well as empowerment and change, in Chinese women's lives.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1016/0277-5395(95)80073-X
Subjects: H Social Sciences
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Depositing User: Mita Mondal
Date Deposited: 22 Jan 2014 12:46 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:14 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/37833 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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