EMMA 
AMADOR

The Politics of Care Work: Puerto Rican Women Organizing for Social Justice

Published by Duke University Press, May 2025

This book tells a story about care work as a space of politics—a story that maps an intergenerational legacy of Puerto Rican political activism demanding dignity for Puerto Ricans on the archipelago and in the diaspora. The book is organized chronologically and thematically, focusing on the care work and political activism of Puerto Rican social workers and working-class women between 1917 and the 1970s. Each of the chapters considers Puerto Rican histories on the archipelago and the United States, following protagonists on the move, and emphasizing the impact of displacement and migration on Puerto Rican communities.

Current Research Projects

Bright Futures: How Antonia Pantoja’s Vision of Community Organizing Sparked Movements for Latina and Puerto Rican Rights

This book tells the story of trailblazing Afro-Puerto Rican civil rights activist Dr. Antonia Pantoja (1922-2002), one of the most important and understudied Latina political leaders of the twentieth century. It offers the first book-length biography of Pantoja, highlighting the enduring relevance of her groundbreaking work as a community organizer to contemporary struggles for equality.

Community Work: Puerto Rican Women and Feminist Politics in the United States

This long-term book project explores the history of Puerto Rican women as community organizers, welfare rights activists, and feminists in the United States from 1950 to 2000.