“Call Me Mamaâ€

Esther Chihye Kim

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2012, vol. 642, issue 1, 170-185

Abstract: Based on three years of participant observation, this article provides insight into the working relationship between a small business owner and undocumented immigrant workers at a Korean-Japanese restaurant. The case study focuses on a Korean American businesswoman who depends on the unpaid labor of family members and the cheap labor of undocumented immigrants. Using naturalistic ethnography, which consists of casual interactions and conversations with informants, the author relates the life history of the owner, Mrs. Kwon, who asks her employees to call her “Mama,†and analyzes her preference for undocumented immigrant workers. The article elucidates the ways she asserts power and control in the workplace.

Keywords: undocumented immigrants; restaurant work; power and control; maternalism; Korean American entrepreneur; ethnography (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:642:y:2012:i:1:p:170-185

DOI: 10.1177/0002716212438206

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