For immediate release
November 15, 2012
Vancouver, BC—This past Friday November 9th, the Kalayaan Centre and its member organizations organized a successful and intimate launching of Dr. Habiba Zaman’s latest book: Asian Immigrants in Two Canadas: Racialization, Marginalization and Deregulated Work, held at the Rhizome Cafe in Vancouver B.C. Dr. Zaman is a professor in the Gender, Sexuality and Women Studies Department at Simon Fraser University and has worked many years with the Philippine Women Centre (PWC) and the Kalayaan Centre. During the book launch, she was able to expand on the critical analysis of labour and workplace hazards in Canada as provided extensively in her book. Specifically, she places focus on the experiences of Asian Canadians, including Pakistani Canadians, Bangladeshi Canadians and Filipino Canadians. The latter experiences, Zaman acknowledges were shared by the Philippine Women Centre and the Kalayaan Centre along with the analysis and research done by PWC-B.C. with the Filipino Canadian community. The book launch was attended by many academic colleagues and community organizers from across Canada.
During her presentation, Dr. Zaman placed her focus on the working conditions of Asian Canadians who worked in the various areas of domestic work to other service sector jobs that provide little security for workers. Her emphasis on workplace hazard addresses a point that has often been overlooked when government discuss labour policy reforms. These include issues such as the privilege employers hold in many of these work environments that put workers at a disadvantage and in danger, as well as the increasing trend of deregulating workplaces that lead to the enforcement of flexible and part-time work.These trends, among with others, bring out the increasing precariousness of workplaces for workers of colour and other marginalized communities in Canada most affected by these labour implementations.
Dr. Zaman’s presentation was followed by a discussion period where she was able to highlight the integral role that the Philippine Women Centre played in the research and analysis necessary in writing the book. As Canada continues to implement neoliberal policies that hurt and divide the working class communities across the country, Zaman’s book comes in a timely moment reminding us to take our discussions of workplace hazardous environments beyond band-aid precautions and look at the structural factors of Canada’s labour programs that allow for the precarious working conditions faced by our communities.
Dr. Habiba Zaman was also one of the panel speakers for the Kalayaan Centre’s conference, Workers’ Struggles Amidst Neoliberal Globalization which took place on Saturday November 10th.
For more information, contact:
Philippine Women Centre of Ontario
(416) 519-2553
pwc-on@magkaisacentre.org
www.magkaisacentre.org