Prieto, Norman Iglesias : Centro de Estudios Fronterizos del Norte de México
Norma Iglesias Prieto teaches at the Centro de Estudios Fronterizos del Norte de México in Tijuana.
Stone, Michael (Translator) : Hartwick College
Translator Michael Stone is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Hartwick College in New York.
Winkler, Gabrielle :
Gabrielle Winkler holds an M.A. from the Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
Summary
Published originally as La flor mas bella de la maquiladora, this beautifully written book is based on
interviews the author conducted with more than fifty Mexican women who work in the assembly plants along the U.S.-Mexico
border. A descriptive analytic study conducted in the late 1970s, the book uses compelling testimonials to detail
the struggles these women face.
The experiences of women in maquiladoras are attracting increasing attention from scholars, especially in the context
of ongoing Mexican migration to the country's northern frontier and in light of the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA). This book is among the earliest accounts of the physical and psychological toll exacted from the women
who labor in these plants. Iglesias Prieto captures the idioms of these working women so that they emerge as dynamic
individuals, young and articulate personalities, inexorably engaged in the daily struggle to change the fundamental
conditions of their exploitation.
"Poignant and powerful, this work is a tribute to the dignity of the human spirit. It should be required reading
for policymakers on both sides of the political border separating Mexico and the United States."
--Vicki L. Ruiz, Professor of History and Women's Studies, Arizona State University