1. Migrant Domestic Workers and Globalization: Bridging Gender, Class, and Critical IPE.
- Author
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Solomon, M. Scott
- Subjects
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MIGRANT labor , *WOMEN household employees , *GLOBALIZATION , *GENDER , *FEMINISM , *WOMEN'S employment - Abstract
Feminist studies of Filipina domestic workers in various contexts has resulted in an extensive literature that has advanced considerably our understanding of this phenomenon. The great majority of this work has, rightly, focused on the gender effects of this sort of work. Regrettably, scholars of International Political Economy (IPE) have largely ignored these contributions. IPE has much to learn from this literature, and concomitantly, I argue that feminist studies of migrant domestic workers have too often overlooked aspects that are traditionally the domain of IPE. My paper attempts to bridge these differences in two ways. First, I demonstrate that the familiar understanding of this forced migration must be understood in terms of the explicit strategy of exporting governments adapting to changes in the global political economy. From a critical IPE perspective I argue that the focus on gender too often elides questions of class which can more fully inform our study of domestic workers. The second argument I present is based on a more pronounced focus on class. Utilizing Marx’s dual freedom thesis I demonstrate that while the conditions of employment for these women are indeed exploitative the dual movement from non-wage to wage labor and from domestic to overseas work produces surprising effects. Among these effects are a more pronounced sense of consciousness as women, workers, and agents of social change. My paper is based on research conducted in Hong Kong, including interviews with domestic workers, union activists, and NGOs involved in furthering the interests of domestic workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2004