Abstract

This thesis is an ethnographic study of migrant women working in factories in the Brazilian Northeast. It explores the local ramifications of globalization in the everyday lives of migrant women. It is based on six months of fieldwork conducted in the industrializing town of Cascavel, a town reflecting regional and state patterns of rapid industrialization and intrastate migration led primarily by women. This thesis departs from the dominant view of women-as-victims that prevails in most of the scholarly literature on women in the global labour force, in order to present a deeper understanding of migrant women's experience. Thus, in this thesis, I emphasize women's narratives because I consider they provide the ground to reflect on the significance migration and work carry from their standpoint, avoiding any simplistic explanation of their lives. Overall, women's narratives reveal the improvements they have experienced in their lives in the transition from agriculture to factory work, as women have achieved a level of economic independence and decision-making that has no precedent in the history of the region. Yet their narratives also capture their everyday struggle (luta): migrant women make use of different defensive tactics and manoeuvrs to make a living, enhance their social position and achieve personal goals. In spite of their creative attempts, however, their situation remains precarious and they still face class and gender inequality. Thus, I argue that women's struggle ( luta) has paradoxical implications, improving their lives yet positioning them in a persistent state of battle.