The risk of sliding down

Domestic work and the legacies of slavery in the highlands of Madagascar

Bibliographic Data

ID2261370
AuthorsM Gardini (0000-0003-4608-1507, University of Milano-Bicocca, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume47
Issue3
Pages264-275
Publication date2020-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Ethnologist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0094-0496 • E-ISSN: 1548-1425
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/amet.12909
OpenAlexW3052339814
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited45

Working relationships are one of the most privileged arenas for renegotiating class and status distinctions, and the notion of "sliding down" is a common worry in many societies. In Madagascar the legacies of slavery powerfully haunt contemporary life, shaping the economic conditions and everyday power relations between employers and domestic workers. Socially isolated domestic workers often run the risk of "sliding down" the local ranked system of essentialized, endogamous status groups, a system that still divides families into three categories of origin: noble, common, and slave. While many employers try to reinforce their social prestige by "pushing others down," domestic workers struggle to avoid being labeled and treated as a "slave." Meanwhile, a global "neoabolitionist" movement may label these harsh forms of labor exploitation as a "new form of slavery," but such labels might erode domestic workers' efforts to de-essentialize their stigmatized social position. [domestic work, status, class, slavery, Madagascar

Economics · Endogamy · Everyday life · Political economy · Political science · Position (finance · Power (physics · Prestige · Social science · Social status · Sociology · Anthropology · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Gender Studies · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy