From the Centre to the City: modernity, mobility and mixed‐descent Aboriginal domestic workers from central Australia

2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Haskins
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Central Australia ◽  
The City

scholarly journals Perverse Economies of Intimate and Personal Labour

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-46
Author(s):  
Pooja Satyogi
Keyword(s):  
Return To Work ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Social Phenomenon ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
The City

In India, the ‘unlock’ period has allowed some domestic workers to return to work; this comes amidst government advisories of greater risk of contagion generally. Drawing on ethnographic work with women domestic workers in the city of Delhi, the article delineates how formalities of social distancing and mask-wearing have begun to inflect personalised labour relationships in ways that entrench existing hierarchies enabled by caste practices. This can be evidenced from a doubling of the idea of contagion – a culturally polluted person rendered even more pestilential because of contagion, but whose service/s are, nonetheless, needed to disinfect the space of the employer’s home. With no data set available for assessing whether caste has been a variable in the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, anthropology will have to take up the responsibility of demonstrating that the latter is indeed a social phenomenon.

Determinants of Empowerment: An Insight from the Study of the Female Domestic Workers

Paradigm ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-238
Author(s):  
Sanghita Bhattacharjee ◽  
Bhaskar Goswami
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Physical Assault ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Household Decision ◽  
Poor Women ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
Bangladeshi Migrants ◽  
The City

Female domestic workers (FDW) are one of the most vulnerable segments of a society facing adverse social domination and economic discrimination. The present article aims at investigating to what extent the participation of poor women in economic activities empowers them. The study amalgamates data collected from 334 female domestic workers living in different areas of South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal through a semi-structured questionnaire during a period of 6 months from January 2016 to June 2016. This district was chosen on the basis of existing inter-linkage between the growth and expansion of the city of Kolkata in her southern part, existence of a large number of Bangladeshi migrants in South 24 Parganas ( Kumar, 2010 ), evidences of large scale commuting of unorganized workers ( Roy, 2003 ) and the expanding informal market where the supply of manual labour comes from the fringes of the district. The article tries to explore the different dimensions of empowerment from the study of female domestic workers. This includes workers’ involvement in taking household decision, free movement, possession of assets and restricting domestic violence. By adding the obtained scores and weights of the indicators, a cumulative empowerment index is constructed. Restrictions in mobility and lack of ownership of permanent assets amongst workers indicate their subordination in the household hierarchy and highlight that women are excluded from asserting influence over household properties. Severe domestic violence against women is common and visible even when husbands are unemployed. About 69 per cent of female domestic workers report incidences of physical assault at home. The index, thus, establishes that the majority of the domestic workers level of empowerment is between low to moderate.

Filipina domestic workers in Hong Kong: Between permanence and temporariness in everyday life

2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maren Boersma
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Circular Migration ◽  
Temporal Dimension ◽  
Everyday Lives ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
The City ◽  
Lived Time

Hong Kong is residence to around 200,000 Filipina domestic workers who have migrated to the city in order to earn money for their families and futures. The employment of these migrants is organized through temporary two-year contracts. However, since many women stay for ‘multiple contracts’ in Hong Kong, their situation may be better characterized as permanently temporary. In this respect, scholars have coined the term ‘permanent temporariness’, signifying both a specific experience of temporal or circular migration, as well as a sort of disciplinary mechanism that informs people’s everyday lives. Lacking in these understandings, however, is a solid theoretical exploration of the temporal dimension. Based on ethnographic work, individual and group interviews, this article attempts to further the theoretical discussion on permanence and temporariness by focusing on the ‘lived time’ of Filipina domestic workers in Hong Kong. The article discusses how temporariness and permanence are enacted and experienced in the everyday lives of Filipina workers, how these women reflect on and cope with this, and, how this informs everyday life decisions and negotiations with employers. The study indicates that engaging permanently in temporary labour involves many uncertainties that are reflected in the domestic workers’ experiences and decisions with respect to their migration trajectories.

scholarly journals “Powerless power”: The status of female domestic workers in Russia in the second half of the 19th - early 20th century

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 320-354
Author(s):  
Valentina A Veremenko
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Professional Skills ◽  
Domestic Servants ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Reform Period ◽  
The Status ◽  
Education And Employment ◽  
The City

The proposed article investigates the specifics of social status of urban female domestic servants in post-reform Russia. On the basis of a wide range of sources, including statistical materials, printed press, household manuals and ego-documents, the author distinguishes between two groups in this category of population that were fundamentally different in their status in the master’s family. In the post-reform period in Russia, the work of maidservants was not standardized, there were no guarantees from hirers regarding both working conditions and cases of dismissal and disability. Widespread sexual harassment and abuse seriously worsened the position of maidservants. A significant influx of peasant girls, who considered themselves fully prepared for the work of domestic servants, into the city, created a gigantic supply At the same time, the overwhelming majority of the job seekers did not have any idea about the activities that they were to carry out. Making endless blunders, the clumsy peasant girl acquired professional skills and learned to live in the master’s family, suffering insults and harassment and working hard only to avoid being kicked out. As a result, those girls who had been able to endure several years of torment, acquired not only professional skills, but were trained to live in the city, to use their position to earn money, to protect themselves from encroachment, or to use their attractiveness as a weapon. With the growth of education of female peasant youth, their increasing familiarity with judicial institutions, and the intensification of the activities of various organizations involved in helping those women with education and employment, female domestic servants felt more secure and ready to defend their rights. As a result, despite the seemingly gigantic supply, it was, in fact, extremely difficult to find a suitable maidservant for the household. The choice available to the owners was limited to two options - a docile slouch, or a maid knowing her worth and requiring consideration of her interests.

scholarly journals Interfaces entre práticas de coleta seletiva do lixo e conceitos lefebvrianos: um estudo sobre a Pituba, Salvador – BA

GeoTextos ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise Maria De Jesus Santos
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Geographic Area ◽  
Scientific Investigation ◽  
The Other ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Waste Separation ◽  
The City

Neste artigo busca-se analisar as diferentes formas de apropriação social que decorrem das práticas de separação do lixo doméstico para a coleta seletiva formal que ocorre na cidade de Salvador. Pautando-se em comprovações empíricas e numa argumentação dialética entre os conceitos lefebvrianos (concebido, percebido e vivido), o estudo, realizado com moradores e trabalhadores domésticos da área da Pituba (que acumula experiências de intervenções oficiais que culminaram com a implantação do Programa Recicla Salvador), revelou que os critérios utilizados para definir a área geográfica de atuação deste Programa, principalmente os níveis de escolaridade e renda/consumo elevados, não apresentam uma consistência técnica. Por meio da investigação científica sobre como o processo de separação do lixo ocorre no ambiente doméstico, constatou-se que, de forma geral, as classes de renda alta/média e com maiores níveis de escolaridade estabelecem uma “apropriação limitada” das ações do Programa que, embora reconhecida pelo concebido, não se efetiva como uma vivência, mas como uma percepção. Em contrapartida, aqueles com menores níveis de escolaridade e renda/consumo estabelecem uma apropriação que, embora não reconhecida pelo concebido, revela na prática cotidiana a incorporação da separação do lixo como algo vivido/experimentado e não somente percebido. Abstract INTERFACES BETWEEN PRATICES OF WASTE SEPARATION AND CONCEPTS OF LEFEBVRE: A CASE STUDY OF PITUBA/SALVADOR-BAHIA This essay intends to analyse the different forms of social appropriation that derives from practices of home waste separation that occurs in the city of Salvador. Based on empirical evidences and on a dialectic argumentation between a conceptual triad (conceived, perceived and experienced spaces), the study conducted among residents and domestic workers in the area of Pituba (that accumulates experiences of official interventions that culminated with the implementation of Salvador Recicla Programme), unveils that the criterion utilized to define the geographic area where the programme took place, specially the levels of education, and high incomes/consumptions, does not present any technical consistence. The scientific investigation of how home waste is separated demonstrates that, in general terms, the high/medium classes with the highest levels of education developed a “limited appropriation” of the actions of the Program that, even though recognized by the conceived, does not become effective as an experience, but only as a perception. On the other hand, those with lower levels of education and income/consumption establishes an appropriation that even though it is not recognized by the conceived, assures on daily practices the incorporation of home waste separation as something experienced and not only perceived.

scholarly journals Refugees or Victims of Human Trafficking? The case of migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jade Anderson ◽  
Annie Li
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Victim Identification ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
Return Home ◽  
The City ◽  
Migrant Domestic Workers

China is party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 2000 UN Trafficking Protocol, but has not extended coverage of either of the treaties to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China (Hong Kong). Hong Kong does however offer non-refoulement protection on the basis of risks of torture or persecution. Further, Hong Kong legislation defines human trafficking, albeit only in terms of cross-border sex work. Victim identification also remains inadequate. The limited extant protection systems for refugees and victims of human trafficking operate separately and assume that such people are distinct with respect to their experiences and needs. These practices are often mirrored in the approaches of NGOs working in the city. Based on research undertaken by Justice Centre Hong Kong, this paper argues instead that boundaries between the two categories are blurry. The paper focuses on migrant domestic workers who may have claims to asylum and may be at the same time victims of human trafficking. It explores some of the implications for NGOs trying to secure better protections for such groups in Hong Kong. The paper concludes that siloing the refugee and the human trafficking frameworks creates a protection gap, particularly for people who enter Hong Kong as migrant domestic workers and cannot return home because they face a risk of persecution or torture.

Domestic Workers and Foreign Occupation: Haitian Servants, US Marines, and Conflicts over Labor and Empire in Haiti, 1915–1934

2019 ◽  
Vol 96 ◽  
pp. 145-167
Author(s):  
Matthew Casey
Keyword(s):  
Child Labor ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Us Military ◽  
The Us ◽  
Foreign Occupation ◽  
Urban Protest ◽  
The City ◽  
Urban Working

AbstractDuring the US military occupation of Haiti, domestic workers performed the crucial labor that allowed Marine households, the city of Port-au-Prince, and the entire country to function. In this sense, they represented a human infrastructure for the entire occupation. Their experiences show that the debates over labor, race, and sovereignty that defined the high politics of the occupation actually reached into private spaces where face-to-face interactions between occupier and occupied occurred. Domestic work, like other types of labor in the occupation, ran the gamut from highly coerced forms of unpaid child labor and convict work to various configurations of wage labor. Domestic sites influenced mutual processes of race-making, including the US exoticist obsession with Haitian Vodou. Servants’ conflicts with their Marine employers included—but ultimately went beyond—daily struggles over labor. Their proximity to marines influenced domestics’ participation in acts of anti-imperial activism, such as the Caco rebellion, and explains why servants were invoked by radical journalists and cultural nationalist writers who opposed US rule. Domestics’ activities also highlight under-explored areas of Haitian activism, such as their use of formal state institutions to seek redress and their participation in emerging forms of urban protest that included other members of the urban working class. Although novel and relatively small during the occupation, such urban protests have become a staple of Haitian politics in the present day.

scholarly journals El diseño flexible en la investigación militante

2020 ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Verónica Jaramillo Fonnegra
Keyword(s):  
Buenos Aires ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Information Collection ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Flexible Design ◽  
The City ◽  
Migrant Domestic Workers

El presente escrito se propone recuperar la importancia del diseño flexible de la investigación dentro de la trayectoria de una investigación militante. La intención es demostrar como las distintas técnicas variaron según las necesidades que se fueron presentando en el campo. También pretende recuperar y comprender el lugar en la investigación de quien pretende intervenir por medio de la investigación militante. El objetivo principal del estudio era analizar el acceso a la justicia de las trabajadoras domésticas migrantes en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires entre 2000-2015 y es desde este lugar donde se proponen analizar las técnicas de recolección de información. This paper aims to recover the importance of the flexible design of research within the trajectory of a militant investigation. The intention is to demonstrate how the different techniques varied according to the needs that were presented in the field. It also seeks to recover and understand the place in the investigation of who intends to intervene through militant research. The main objective of the study was to analyze the access to justice of migrant domestic workers in the City of Buenos Aires between 2000-2015 and it is from this place where they intend to analyze the information collection techniques.

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