Collectivity as a coping strategy: A study of Latin American domestic workers in the commodified care system of Barcelona | Amsterdam University Press Journals Online
2004
Volume 24, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 1388-3186
  • E-ISSN: 2352-2437

Abstract

Abstract

This ethnographic study draws from my research on the three main care practices Latin American domestic workers experience in Barcelona: caring as part of their jobs, caring for their families from afar, and caring for each other. Stemming from grounded theory, I will argue that one of the main pressures they suffer daily is social isolation and loneliness. Starting from a brief analysis of how migrant domestic workers bear the burden of care individually – firstly, as part of their jobs and, secondly, as part of their gender duty when being mothers from afar – this paper will trace a third dimension of care seen in collective practices to cope with social isolation. The last section of the empirical overview will focus on the daily navigation of the concepts of self-care, activism, and feminism by Latin American domestic workers. These concepts were encountered in fieldwork by my research participants and given a new meaning when developing their own versions of them based on collective values more present in their home cultures.

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2021-04-01
2024-03-29
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): activism; Care; collectivity; feminism; Latin American migration; self-care
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