Partial profile · Book Profile — full narrative profile planned
Janitors Street Vendors
An ethnographic study of Mexican immigrants in Silicon Valley reveals how the precarious lives of janitors, street vendors, and their families are shaped by the high-tech economy, and how they respond with resilience, complex survival strategies, and powerful forms of collective political action.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
Beneath the gleaming facade of Silicon Valley's technological utopia lies a hidden world of struggle and resilience. 'Janitors, Street Vendors, and Activists' takes you into Santech, a low-income barrio inhabited by the Mexican immigrants who clean the offices, landscape the campuses, and provide the essential services that keep the high-tech dream running. Through intimate ethnographic portraits, Christian Zlolniski reveals the stark paradox of poverty in the midst of plenty, tracing how corporate strategies like subcontracting create a class of 'subproletarians' facing insecure work and difficult living conditions. But this is not just a story of victimization. The book uncovers the vibrant and creative ways immigrants fight back—organizing complex households, building an informal economy for survival, and, most powerfully, mobilizing for change. From the dramatic 'Justice for Janitors' union campaign to the grassroots political battles led by working mothers, this book provides a crucial, on-the-ground look at immigrant agency and the human consequences of the new economy.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- Scholars, students, activists, and policymakers who want to understand the human reality behind the glossy narratives of the globalized 'new economy' and are looking for grounded stories of resilience and resistance.
- The problem
- Mainstream accounts of regions like Silicon Valley either ignore low-wage immigrant workers or portray them as passive victims, making it difficult to grasp their true role and agency. Feeling frustrated with abstract, macro-level analyses of globalization and inequality, leading to a sense of disconnect from the human consequences and a lack of tangible models for action.
- The plan
- Uncover the structural link between the high-tech economy and the demand for low-wage immigrant labor.
- Witness the daily lives of janitors, street vendors, and families through compelling ethnographic stories.
- Analyze their collective responses, from the 'Justice for Janitors' union drive to grassroots community organizing led by women.
- The payoff
- Gain a profound, evidence-based understanding of the contradictions of modern capitalism. · Acquire rich case studies and theoretical tools to analyze inequality and recognize the agency of marginalized communities. · Feel inspired by the resilience and political creativity of immigrant workers and their families.
See our guide
Related profiles we’ve built
- Measure What Matters →
- OKRs - From Mission to Metrics - How Objectives and Key Results Can Help Your Company Achieve Great Things →
- Goal Setting & Team Management with OKR - Objectives and Key Results_ Skills for Effective Office Leadership, Smart Business Focus, & Growth. How to Manage Projects, People & Employees. 2nd Edition →
- High Output Management →
- Great by Choice (Good to Great) →
- Book Summary_ The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt →
- Effective Executive Drucker Full →
- Atomic Habits →
Additional reading
- Gendered Transitions: Mexican Experiences of Immigration · Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo
The author frequently cites this foundational work to analyze how gender shapes the migration process, family dynamics, and the different ways men and women participate in work and community politics, which are central themes of this book.
- The Devil in Silicon Valley: Northern California, Race, and Mexican Americans · Stephen J. Pitti
This book provides the essential historical background of the Mexican and Mexican American presence in the Santa Clara Valley, contextualizing Zlolniski's contemporary ethnography within a longer history of labor, community formation, and racial politics in the region.
- Organizing Immigrants: The Challenge for Unions in Contemporary California · Ruth Milkman (ed.)
This collection provides a broader context for the unionization efforts described in the book, situating the 'Justice for Janitors' campaign within a wider trend of labor organizing among immigrant workers in California in the 1990s.
- Strawberry Fields: Politics, Class, and Work in California Agriculture · Miriam J. Wells
This study of labor control and unionization among Mexican farmworkers offers a valuable comparative case from a different sector (agriculture), allowing for a richer understanding of the common challenges and strategies of immigrant labor organizing in California.