3 Review(s)

This work provides an account of working-class life in the developing world today. It raises questions about the ability of the poor in Mexico, and many other cities of the developing world, to continue to survive in an increasingly desperate economic climate. The resources they have developed are considerable, but so too are the larger forces weighed against them. Bringing women and children to the centre of her analysis, the author explores the effects of an uneven labour market on the structure and organization of households - revealing a highly homogenous working class, united in its survival skills and in its dependence upon the women of the family in the defence of its standards of living.