Sociology

Colonialism refers to a policy and practice of a strong power extending its control territorially over a weaker nation or people. Originally, the Latin Colonia simply meant a country estate. But already in classical Latin it acquired the meaning of such an estate deliberately settled among foreigners, implying that internal colonialism may refer to political and economic inequalities between regions within a single society. The term could be used to describe the uneven effects of state development on a regional basis and to describe the exploitation of minority groups within the wider society. The relationship between colonizer and colony is similarly unequal and exploitative in colonialism and internal colonialism. An internal colony typically produces wealth for the benefit of those areas most closely associated with the state, usually the capital area. The main difference between imported and internal colonialism is the source of exploitation. Ngai M. Mae (2004) offers an important contribution to the US history of race, citizenship, and immigration. This stunning history of the US immigration policy dispels the liberal rhetoric that underlies popular notions of immigrant America, as it establishes the designation of Asians and Mexicans as perpetual racial others. Moving beyond the telos of immigrant settlement, assimilation, citizenship and the myth of immigrant America, Mae Ngais Impossible Subjects conceptualizes immigration not as a site for assessing the acceptability of the immigrants, but as a site for understanding the racialized economic, cultural, and political foundations of the United States. Ngais undeniable premise  as pertinent today as ever  is that the lawfully regulated part of our immigration system is only the tip of the iceberg. Even as we have allowed legal immigrants, mostly from Europe, through the front door, we have always permitted others, generally people of color, to slip in the back gate to do essential jobs. In the imported colonialism, the illegal alien acquires decisive importance not only in the economies of both the United States and the aliens own country of origin, but also in Americas political discourse (Ngai, 2004). While more than 9 million immigrants were legally admitted to the United States between 1991 and 2000 (surpassing the totals of 1901 to 1910, which loom so large in national imagery and in historical writing), government agents expelled more than 14,500,000 aliens during the same decade. Ngai (2004) of the University of Chicagos history department has explored the economic roles of immigrants during the twentieth century, the changing ways immigrants have been framed in political and academic discourse and the legislation and administrative agencies which have attempted to regulate their entry and participation in national life.

In the same way, Ngai traces the origins of the illegal alien in American law and society, explaining why and how illegal migration became the central problem in the US immigration policy - a process that profoundly shaped ideas and practices about citizenship, race, and state authority in the twentieth century. Chang Grace (2000) in Disposable Domestics Immigrant Women Workers In The Global Economy, persuasively counters arguments in favor of curbing immigration and eliminating access to education, health care, and welfare as she exposes the racism and misogyny directed against female immigrant workers in American society. Chang also highlights the unrewarded work immigrant women perform as caregivers, cleaners, and servers, showing how these women are actively resisting the exploitation they face.

Throughout the US history, immigration has been viewed and intentionally constructed as plague, infection or infestation and immigrants as disease (social and physical), varmints or invaders. If we look at contemporary popular films, few themes seem to tap the fears or thrill in the American imagination more than that of the timeless space alien invading the United States. People have snatched up this popular image to rouse public support for e.g. the movie Made in L.A. exposes how three women, along with other immigrant workers, came together in 2001 at L.A.s Garment Worker Center, an advocacy group run, in many instances, by children of Asian immigrants, to take a stand for their rights. Against all odds, these seemingly defenseless workers launched a very public challenge to one of the citys flagship clothiers, calling attention to the dark side of low-wage labor north of the border. The worker-led boycott of fashionable Forever 21 not only hearkened to an earlier era of struggle for immigrant rights, but also revealed the social fault lines of the new globalization. As seen through the eyes of Mara, Maura, and Lupe, the workers struggle for basic economic justice and personal dignity yields hope and growth, but it is also fraught with disappointments and dangers. As the campaign drags on through three long years, meetings at the Garment Worker Center become more contentious and the women undergo dramatic moments of conflict and discouragement. But then the story takes a surprising turn, and the three women find the strength and resources to continue their struggle. For the three (Lupe, Maura and Mara), the long campaign to get the company to pay fair wages and accept responsibility for working conditions in the companys own backyard became a turning point in each of the womens move from victimization to empowerment. The unprecedented action undertaken by these women brought to light their unrelenting fight against feminism and feminization.