ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of kinship in the process of migration and the adjustment of immigrant workers to industrial conditions. It focuses on three interrelated areas of kin activities. Firstly, the recruitment of immigrant workers to the textile industry under the auspices of kin—a process that joins migratory origin and destination into one social system. Secondly, the role of kin within the factory, particularly in hiring, job placement, and the control of work processes. Thirdly, overlapping both processes, the general function of kin assistance in critical life situations, most notably during periods of unemployment and insecurity. The chapter examines these patterns in the larger context of the significance of kin assistance and of historical changes in the functions of kin. It explores these areas empirically in a case study of French-Canadian immigrants in an American industrial community, Manchester, New Hampshire, from 1880 to 1930, a period encompassing both the peak of Manchester's industrial development and its subsequent decline.
