This book won considerable acclaim when it was first published (by Virago) in 1978 for its exposure of the terrible condition of Asian Women workers in Britain. This book is more a political document than a sociological monograph—while it is based on a series of interviews with Asian Women it is not so much a survey of conditions as demonstration of their nascent political unity. The strike at the Grunwick photo processing plant in 1976 was the catalyst. It showed for the first time that Asian women could come together and fight their oppressive working conditions. That they could step out of their traditional roles of passive submission as defined by the feudal and patriarchal society of their origin. The women were thus taking a stand not only against their white employers but also against their subordination by Indian men.
Sept-Oct 1980, volume 5, No 9/10