Meatpacking America

Kristy Nabhan-Warren is the V. O. and Elizabeth Kahl Figge Chair of Catholic Studies and a professor in the Departments of Religious Studies and Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Iowa. She is the author, most recently, of The Cursillo Movement in America: Catholics, Protestants, and Fourth-Day Spirituality.
For more information about Kristy Nabhan-Warren, visit the Author Page.

"Nabhan-Warren's prose is clear and often absorbing. Unclogged with needless jargon and centered firmly on the fascinating lives of her subjects, it is easily readable for a general audience. Anyone interested in the intersection of migration, labor and animal agriculture—situating the American Midwest, one of the world's major food providers, in the global context to which it properly belongs—will benefit from Meatpacking America."—Little Village Magazine

"In her thoughtful and moving Meatpacking America, Kristy Nabhan-Warren scratches beneath the surface of Red State, small-own America to tell a story that is both sobering and encouraging. . . . [Her] discussion of the plant's blood, guts, and stench are stomach-turning, but her assessment of its workers—white, Latino, Congolese, Vietnamese—are inspiring."—Patheos

"As Kristy Nabhan-Warren shows in her fascinating new book, Meatpacking America, churches are once again the institutions on which many of the industry's workers most rely. . . . Nabhan-Warren argues that faith enables Midwestern meatpacking workers of diverse backgrounds to survive the day-to-day horrors of their jobs and seek better lives for their children."—Commonweal Magazine

"Anyone interested in faith and work, immigration, American history, or even just a good story will find this to be a fascinating, emotional, and vitally important book. In its pages, abstract political debates break away in the face of the messier reality of migration as a new 'religion of real life' is uncovered."—Christian Century

"Based on interviews with more than 100 native Iowans and immigrants from nations including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Honduras, Nabhan-Warren presents a nuanced view of citizen–immigrant relations that challenges the common narrative and prompts readers to consider a more complex narrative."—Civil Eats

"Vivid portrayal of the dailiness of people doing hard jobs that are largely hidden from public view is a supremely valuable enterprise, and Nabhan-Warren does it with insight and compassion. Furthermore, she raises interesting questions about the role of religion in the local absorption of international migrants."—Daily Yonder