Contested Voices

Marianne Githens, Professor of Political Science and founder and previous director of Goucher College's Women's Studies Program, has written extensively on the topic of women and politics. An early work, A Portrait of Marginality, is widely regarded as a classic in the field. Her other publications include Different Roles, Different Voices, Abortion Politics, Public Policy in Cross Cultural Perspective, and numerous articles, including the well-known and frequently cited, 'Getting Appointed to the Court: The Gender Dimension." She has served as a major research consultant to the European Women Project sponsored by the European Union and to the television series Shoulder to Shoulder which dealt with the British suffrage movement. Professor Githens has received a number of awards including a NEH grant for research on American and European women's peace movements. Recently her research has focused on women immigrants and the various forces which affect their status and political role.

• Introduction 1. Structure and Agency: The Discourse on Immigration PART I: DEFINING WOMEN IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES: THE OFFICIAL VOICE - PROTOCOLS, LAWS, AND POLICIES 2. From Laissez Faire to Regulation: The Emergence of Immigration Policy 3. Government Policies and Women Immigrants: Establishing Conditions And Constructing Identities 4. Fleeing Calamity, Seeking Asylum: Women and Refugee Policy PART II: MANAGING SOCIAL PRESSURES IN THE WORK PLACE AND THEIR COMMUNITY 5. Ethnic Communities and the Construction of Identity 6. Between Dependence and Independence: Immigrant Women in the Work Force PART III: IMMIGRANT WOMEN SPEAKING FOR THEMSELVES 7. Listening to Women Creating Their Own Social Identity

"Contested Voices is a compelling and up-to-date book about women and immigration. Marianne Githens' gripping accounts reveal the global immigration dilemmas facing us today and the pressures and policies that got us here. By highlighting the intersecting impacts of gender, race, ethnicity, and religion, Contested Voices provides an important guide to understanding contemporary immigration issues and points to solutions for how we might best resolve the problems." - Shira Tarrant, Associate Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, California State University, USA"Contested Voices is a must read for all interested in understanding the complex and gendered nature of immigration. Marianne Githens explores the numerous challenges confronting immigrant women and analyzes how these agents (re)construct their identities in the face of these constraints. Githens's tour de force is her examination of an impressive range of immigration experiences from a comparative and intersectional perspective." - Aleksandra Sznajder Lee, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Richmond, USA