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Migrant women, Wedding paradoxes

Laurie Taylor explores a 60-year history in which women from generations of immigration have forged lives in British society, sometimes against great odds.

Migrant women in Britain: Laurie Taylor talks to Linda McDowell, Professor of Human Geography at the University of Oxford and author of a sweeping study of generations of immigrant working women in Britain. From textile mill workers in the 1940s to shopkeepers in the 50s, nannies of the 90s and software developers of today, these first and second generation migrants have been in the vanguard of a social revolution in women's contribution to the economy in the second half of the 20th century. In factories and hospitals, care homes and universities they've played a lasting role in British society, in spite of recurrent discrimination. But what do they have to say about their work and experience?

Also, Julia Carter, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the Canterbury Christ Church University, considers the reasons why, in an era when weddings have never been more liberated from cultural norms and official control, couples still choose to follow the same assumed traditions.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

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28 minutes

Last on

Mon 9 May 2016 00:15

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READING LISTΜύ

Linda McDowell, Migrant Women's Voices: Talking about Life and Work in the UK since 1945, (Bloomsbury,2016)

Broadcasts

  • Wed 4 May 2016 16:00
  • Mon 9 May 2016 00:15

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