Constructions of whiteness: latvian women workers in post-war britain

This article examines the ways in which Latvian women recruited by Britain as ‘volunteer’ workers in 1946 were constructed by the state as superior to other female economic migrants entering the United Kingdom at the same time. It draws on the notion of the ‘wages of whiteness’ to show how the British state defined Latvians as superior to Caribbean women but also argues that whiteness itself is a multiple construct as Irish and Latvian women–both white–found themselves differentially positioned in the gender and ethnic division of labor developing in post-war Britain. Based on interviews with 25 now elderly Latvian women, the article adds personal testimonies to Paul's (Paul, K. (1997 Paul, K. 1997. Whitewashing Britain: Race and Citizenship in the Postwar Era, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. Crossref] , Google Scholar]) Whitewashing Britain: Race and Citizenship in the Postwar Era (Ithaca, New York, Cornell University Press)) arguments about the significance of skin color vis-à-vis citizenship in post-war British immigration policy.