Bunche Hall, Rm 6275
The Silver Women is the first and only sustained account of West Indian women in Panama during the time of canal construction. Drawing on rigorous and deep multi-national archival research in Panama, Barbados, the UK, and U.S., Joan’s book makes signal contributions to Black diasporic and feminist histories, as well as to the histories of Panama and the Panama Canal, of Latin America and the Caribbean, and of the US and British empires. By probing the distinctive features of West Indian women’s migratory, community, family, and working lives, Joan fundamentally changes how we understand the canal project itself. Instead of reifying its construction, the book frames this event around intersecting forms of global empire, capitalism, racialized sexual regimes, and social reproductive labor that the lives of West Indian women bring to light. It has won awards from the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association.
Speaker: Joan Flores-Villalobos
Download file: Joan-Flores-Villolobs-SILVER-WOMEN-Poster-uw-1bv.pdf
Sponsor(s): Latin American Institute, UCLA International Institute, Department of History, UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, UCLA Center for the Study of Women