Bina Fernandez
Biographic Data
| ID | 642250 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Bina Fernandez |
| GIVEN NAMES | Bina |
| FAMILY NAME | Fernandez |
| SIGNATURE | FERNANDEZ B |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Melbourne |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1611-7217 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 132 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
At Risk of Statelessness: Children Born in Lebanon to Migrant Domestic Workers
Lebanon has many migrant domestic workers, most of whom are women. While migrant domestic workers’ contracts prohibit pregnancy and childbearing, a substantial number of women give birth in Lebanon, and their children are at risk of statelessness. Through our examination of nationality laws and birth registration regulations, and their implementation in both Lebanon and migrants’ origin countries, this article offers an intersectional, gender ana…
Diaspora Humanitarianism: Centring Transnational Relational Care Practices in Crisis Response
This paper investigates diasporas’ mobilization in response to humanitarian crises, in comparison to the ‘traditional’ humanitarian sector. We develop a conceptual framework through which we analyze eight Australia‐based diasporas’ responses to humanitarian crises. We find that diaspora humanitarian interventions are premised on transnational reciprocal relationships and care practices that bind people together. Diaspora crisis responses signific…
Diaspora Humanitarians: How Diaspora Communities Respond to Humanitarian Crises
During humanitarian crises, diasporas often contribute vital support to the survival and reconstruction of their communities of origin. This ‘diaspora humanitarianism’ reshapes the international humanitarian system, but its scope, modality and impact remain understudied, partly due to the ‘invisible’ nature of diaspora interventions. This paper expands the understanding on the how and why diasporas engage in humanitarian responses, by examining s…
Engendering migrant counterpublics: Fun, care, solidarity, and resistance among Ethiopian domestic workers in Lebanon
Immobilisation of migrant domestic worker women and their children born in Lebanon
While scholars of migration have drawn our attention to the plight of children 'left behind' when their mothers migrate, children born to migrant women in destination countries have received far less consideration. In destinations such as Lebanon, migrant domestic worker employment - and right to residency - is governed by the kafala, or sponsorship, system which prohibits pregnancy and childbirth. Despite this prohibition, considerable numbers o…
Dispossession, social reproduction and the feminization of refugee survival: Ethiopian refugees in Nairobi, Kenya
This paper theorizes the gendered consequences of refugee dispossession for social reproduction, focusing on Ethiopian refugees in Nairobi, Kenya.We analyze the Kenyan refugee regime as structured by colonial legacies of racialization and by neo-colonial global political economy strategies of managing 'surplus' populations.We demonstrate that refugees' ongoing experiences of interpersonal and structural violence constitutes an attack on their cap…
Care Support Experiences of Older Ethiopian Refugees Resettled in Australia
Drawing on qualitative research, the authors analysed the care support experiences of older Ethiopian refugees resettled in Australia. In-depth interviews conducted with 12 Ethiopians revealed that older Ethiopians experienced language and cultural barriers in accessing formal care services, and that they often did not view these services as entitlements they were due as citizens. Findings demonstrated a significant familial orientation to expect…
Racialised institutional humiliation through the Kafala
The kafala system of migrant sponsorship prevalent in the Middle East has long been the subject of scholarly and public scrutiny, due to the high level of reported abuse of migrant workers. Prevalent analyses of the kafalaview it as a rentier system that offers economic opportunities for both non-national migrant workers and citizen sponsor-employers, despite the inherent structural asymmetries that bias the overall economic benefits towards the …
Silence as a Form of Agency? Exploring the Limits of an Idea
Health inequities faced by Ethiopian migrant domestic workers in Lebanon
Dispossession and the Depletion of Social Reproduction
Gender is largely under‐theorized in the now well‐developed literature on dispossession; this paper contributes to the analysis of the gender dimensions of dispossession by bringing the literature on dispossession into conversation with the feminist literature on social reproduction, specifically, depletion of social reproduction. Drawing on qualitative field research, the paper provides a gendered analysis of the multiple vectors of dispossessio…
Reconfiguring Care Relationships: Ethiopian Migrants in Australia and Lebanon
Migration reconfigures care relationships as people adapt to employment, entitlements and care practices in a new context. While a rich genre of analysis of “global care chains” draws attention to how disadvantaged female migrant care workers from the global South fill the “care deficit” in high-income countries, these analyses tend to privilege care services and arrangements in the global North and the migrant as the provider of care. In contras…
Migrant Domestic Workers in the Middle East: The Home and the World
For over half a century, the Middle East has been major migration corridor for domestic workers from Asia and Africa. This book Illuminates the multidimensionality of these workers' lives as they enga
Traffickers, Brokers, Employment Agents, and Social Networks: The Regulation of Intermediaries in the Migration of Ethiopian Domestic Workers to the Middle East
This paper examines the regulatory regimes surrounding the operations of intermediaries who facilitate Ethiopian women's employment as contract domestic workers in the Middle East. Drawing on empirical research in Ethiopia, Lebanon, and Kuwait, the paper focuses on the commonly observed problem of “regulatory failure,” as states and international agencies frequently fail to achieve their objectives in the regulation of intermediaries of migration…
In the Scales: Approaches to Justice
Household Help? Ethiopian Women Domestic Workers' Labor Migration to the Gulf Countries
Since the late 1990s, there has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of Ethiopian women working on short-term contracts as domestic workers in Gulf countries. Drawing on primary research conducted in Ethiopia and in Kuwait, this paper analyzes the gendered production of the migration trajectory of Ethiopian women domestic workers to the Gulf countries. The paper maps the linkages between the gendered political economies and the policy choices …
Exploring the Relevance of Fraser’s Ethical-Political Framework of Justice to the Analysis of Inequalities Faced by Migrant Workers
International migration in the contemporary era of globalization generates complex inequalities that require a non-statist approach to justice. This paper considers how the analysis of these inequalities may be fruitfully undertaken using Nancy Fraser’s framework of redistribution, recognition, and representation. The discussion uses empirical material from a case study of Ethiopian women who migrate as domestic workers to countries in the Middle…
Cheap and disposable? The impact of the global economic crisis on the migration of Ethiopian women domestic workers to the Gulf
This paper investigates the impact of the global economic crisis on the migration of Ethiopian women domestic workers to the Gulf. It argues that migration as a strategy to cope with existing crises in Ethiopia will be severely constrained by post-downturn policy shifts, which have already produced a significant decline in numbers of recorded migrants and remittances. Evidence suggests the consequence will be an increase in the flows of unrecorde…
Poor Practices: Contestations around ‘Below Poverty Line’ status in India
This article has two objectives. First, it interrogates the normative understanding of the identification of poor people as a technical process confined to the domain of experts. The paper analyses the construction of Below Poverty Line (bpl) status in India, and provides evidence for how this is contested at multiple levels of the policy process, through both formal and informal policy practices. Second, the paper uses a case study of a major an…
Traffickers, Brokers, Employment Agents, and Social Networks: The Regulation of Intermediaries in the Migration of Ethiopian Domestic Workers to the Middle East
This paper examines the regulatory regimes surrounding the operations of intermediaries who facilitate Ethiopian women's employment as contract domestic workers in the Middle East. Drawing on empirical research in Ethiopia, Lebanon, and Kuwait, the paper focuses on the commonly observed problem of “regulatory failure,” as states and international agencies frequently fail to achieve their objectives in the regulation of intermediaries of migration…
Dispossession and the Depletion of Social Reproduction
Gender is largely under‐theorized in the now well‐developed literature on dispossession; this paper contributes to the analysis of the gender dimensions of dispossession by bringing the literature on dispossession into conversation with the feminist literature on social reproduction, specifically, depletion of social reproduction. Drawing on qualitative field research, the paper provides a gendered analysis of the multiple vectors of dispossessio…
Cheap and disposable? The impact of the global economic crisis on the migration of Ethiopian women domestic workers to the Gulf
This paper investigates the impact of the global economic crisis on the migration of Ethiopian women domestic workers to the Gulf. It argues that migration as a strategy to cope with existing crises in Ethiopia will be severely constrained by post-downturn policy shifts, which have already produced a significant decline in numbers of recorded migrants and remittances. Evidence suggests the consequence will be an increase in the flows of unrecorde…
Racialised institutional humiliation through the Kafala
The kafala system of migrant sponsorship prevalent in the Middle East has long been the subject of scholarly and public scrutiny, due to the high level of reported abuse of migrant workers. Prevalent analyses of the kafalaview it as a rentier system that offers economic opportunities for both non-national migrant workers and citizen sponsor-employers, despite the inherent structural asymmetries that bias the overall economic benefits towards the …
Household Help? Ethiopian Women Domestic Workers' Labor Migration to the Gulf Countries
Since the late 1990s, there has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of Ethiopian women working on short-term contracts as domestic workers in Gulf countries. Drawing on primary research conducted in Ethiopia and in Kuwait, this paper analyzes the gendered production of the migration trajectory of Ethiopian women domestic workers to the Gulf countries. The paper maps the linkages between the gendered political economies and the policy choices …
Immobilisation of migrant domestic worker women and their children born in Lebanon
While scholars of migration have drawn our attention to the plight of children 'left behind' when their mothers migrate, children born to migrant women in destination countries have received far less consideration. In destinations such as Lebanon, migrant domestic worker employment - and right to residency - is governed by the kafala, or sponsorship, system which prohibits pregnancy and childbirth. Despite this prohibition, considerable numbers o…
Health inequities faced by Ethiopian migrant domestic workers in Lebanon
Dispossession, social reproduction and the feminization of refugee survival: Ethiopian refugees in Nairobi, Kenya
This paper theorizes the gendered consequences of refugee dispossession for social reproduction, focusing on Ethiopian refugees in Nairobi, Kenya.We analyze the Kenyan refugee regime as structured by colonial legacies of racialization and by neo-colonial global political economy strategies of managing 'surplus' populations.We demonstrate that refugees' ongoing experiences of interpersonal and structural violence constitutes an attack on their cap…
At Risk of Statelessness: Children Born in Lebanon to Migrant Domestic Workers
Lebanon has many migrant domestic workers, most of whom are women. While migrant domestic workers’ contracts prohibit pregnancy and childbearing, a substantial number of women give birth in Lebanon, and their children are at risk of statelessness. Through our examination of nationality laws and birth registration regulations, and their implementation in both Lebanon and migrants’ origin countries, this article offers an intersectional, gender ana…
Diaspora Humanitarians: How Diaspora Communities Respond to Humanitarian Crises
During humanitarian crises, diasporas often contribute vital support to the survival and reconstruction of their communities of origin. This ‘diaspora humanitarianism’ reshapes the international humanitarian system, but its scope, modality and impact remain understudied, partly due to the ‘invisible’ nature of diaspora interventions. This paper expands the understanding on the how and why diasporas engage in humanitarian responses, by examining s…
Engendering migrant counterpublics: Fun, care, solidarity, and resistance among Ethiopian domestic workers in Lebanon
Care Support Experiences of Older Ethiopian Refugees Resettled in Australia
Drawing on qualitative research, the authors analysed the care support experiences of older Ethiopian refugees resettled in Australia. In-depth interviews conducted with 12 Ethiopians revealed that older Ethiopians experienced language and cultural barriers in accessing formal care services, and that they often did not view these services as entitlements they were due as citizens. Findings demonstrated a significant familial orientation to expect…
Exploring the Relevance of Fraser’s Ethical-Political Framework of Justice to the Analysis of Inequalities Faced by Migrant Workers
International migration in the contemporary era of globalization generates complex inequalities that require a non-statist approach to justice. This paper considers how the analysis of these inequalities may be fruitfully undertaken using Nancy Fraser’s framework of redistribution, recognition, and representation. The discussion uses empirical material from a case study of Ethiopian women who migrate as domestic workers to countries in the Middle…
Poor Practices: Contestations around ‘Below Poverty Line’ status in India
This article has two objectives. First, it interrogates the normative understanding of the identification of poor people as a technical process confined to the domain of experts. The paper analyses the construction of Below Poverty Line (bpl) status in India, and provides evidence for how this is contested at multiple levels of the policy process, through both formal and informal policy practices. Second, the paper uses a case study of a major an…
Cheap and disposable? The impact of the global economic crisis on the migration of Ethiopian women domestic workers to the Gulf
This paper investigates the impact of the global economic crisis on the migration of Ethiopian women domestic workers to the Gulf. It argues that migration as a strategy to cope with existing crises in Ethiopia will be severely constrained by post-downturn policy shifts, which have already produced a significant decline in numbers of recorded migrants and remittances. Evidence suggests the consequence will be an increase in the flows of unrecorde…
Poor Practices: Contestations around ‘Below Poverty Line’ status in India
This article has two objectives. First, it interrogates the normative understanding of the identification of poor people as a technical process confined to the domain of experts. The paper analyses the construction of Below Poverty Line (bpl) status in India, and provides evidence for how this is contested at multiple levels of the policy process, through both formal and informal policy practices. Second, the paper uses a case study of a major an…
In the Scales: Approaches to Justice
Household Help? Ethiopian Women Domestic Workers' Labor Migration to the Gulf Countries
Since the late 1990s, there has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of Ethiopian women working on short-term contracts as domestic workers in Gulf countries. Drawing on primary research conducted in Ethiopia and in Kuwait, this paper analyzes the gendered production of the migration trajectory of Ethiopian women domestic workers to the Gulf countries. The paper maps the linkages between the gendered political economies and the policy choices …
Exploring the Relevance of Fraser’s Ethical-Political Framework of Justice to the Analysis of Inequalities Faced by Migrant Workers
International migration in the contemporary era of globalization generates complex inequalities that require a non-statist approach to justice. This paper considers how the analysis of these inequalities may be fruitfully undertaken using Nancy Fraser’s framework of redistribution, recognition, and representation. The discussion uses empirical material from a case study of Ethiopian women who migrate as domestic workers to countries in the Middle…
Traffickers, Brokers, Employment Agents, and Social Networks: The Regulation of Intermediaries in the Migration of Ethiopian Domestic Workers to the Middle East
This paper examines the regulatory regimes surrounding the operations of intermediaries who facilitate Ethiopian women's employment as contract domestic workers in the Middle East. Drawing on empirical research in Ethiopia, Lebanon, and Kuwait, the paper focuses on the commonly observed problem of “regulatory failure,” as states and international agencies frequently fail to achieve their objectives in the regulation of intermediaries of migration…
Migrant Domestic Workers in the Middle East: The Home and the World
For over half a century, the Middle East has been major migration corridor for domestic workers from Asia and Africa. This book Illuminates the multidimensionality of these workers' lives as they enga
Reconfiguring Care Relationships: Ethiopian Migrants in Australia and Lebanon
Migration reconfigures care relationships as people adapt to employment, entitlements and care practices in a new context. While a rich genre of analysis of “global care chains” draws attention to how disadvantaged female migrant care workers from the global South fill the “care deficit” in high-income countries, these analyses tend to privilege care services and arrangements in the global North and the migrant as the provider of care. In contras…
Silence as a Form of Agency? Exploring the Limits of an Idea
Health inequities faced by Ethiopian migrant domestic workers in Lebanon
Dispossession and the Depletion of Social Reproduction
Gender is largely under‐theorized in the now well‐developed literature on dispossession; this paper contributes to the analysis of the gender dimensions of dispossession by bringing the literature on dispossession into conversation with the feminist literature on social reproduction, specifically, depletion of social reproduction. Drawing on qualitative field research, the paper provides a gendered analysis of the multiple vectors of dispossessio…
Racialised institutional humiliation through the Kafala
The kafala system of migrant sponsorship prevalent in the Middle East has long been the subject of scholarly and public scrutiny, due to the high level of reported abuse of migrant workers. Prevalent analyses of the kafalaview it as a rentier system that offers economic opportunities for both non-national migrant workers and citizen sponsor-employers, despite the inherent structural asymmetries that bias the overall economic benefits towards the …
Care Support Experiences of Older Ethiopian Refugees Resettled in Australia
Drawing on qualitative research, the authors analysed the care support experiences of older Ethiopian refugees resettled in Australia. In-depth interviews conducted with 12 Ethiopians revealed that older Ethiopians experienced language and cultural barriers in accessing formal care services, and that they often did not view these services as entitlements they were due as citizens. Findings demonstrated a significant familial orientation to expect…
Dispossession, social reproduction and the feminization of refugee survival: Ethiopian refugees in Nairobi, Kenya
This paper theorizes the gendered consequences of refugee dispossession for social reproduction, focusing on Ethiopian refugees in Nairobi, Kenya.We analyze the Kenyan refugee regime as structured by colonial legacies of racialization and by neo-colonial global political economy strategies of managing 'surplus' populations.We demonstrate that refugees' ongoing experiences of interpersonal and structural violence constitutes an attack on their cap…
Engendering migrant counterpublics: Fun, care, solidarity, and resistance among Ethiopian domestic workers in Lebanon
Immobilisation of migrant domestic worker women and their children born in Lebanon
While scholars of migration have drawn our attention to the plight of children 'left behind' when their mothers migrate, children born to migrant women in destination countries have received far less consideration. In destinations such as Lebanon, migrant domestic worker employment - and right to residency - is governed by the kafala, or sponsorship, system which prohibits pregnancy and childbirth. Despite this prohibition, considerable numbers o…
At Risk of Statelessness: Children Born in Lebanon to Migrant Domestic Workers
Lebanon has many migrant domestic workers, most of whom are women. While migrant domestic workers’ contracts prohibit pregnancy and childbearing, a substantial number of women give birth in Lebanon, and their children are at risk of statelessness. Through our examination of nationality laws and birth registration regulations, and their implementation in both Lebanon and migrants’ origin countries, this article offers an intersectional, gender ana…
Diaspora Humanitarianism: Centring Transnational Relational Care Practices in Crisis Response
This paper investigates diasporas’ mobilization in response to humanitarian crises, in comparison to the ‘traditional’ humanitarian sector. We develop a conceptual framework through which we analyze eight Australia‐based diasporas’ responses to humanitarian crises. We find that diaspora humanitarian interventions are premised on transnational reciprocal relationships and care practices that bind people together. Diaspora crisis responses signific…
Diaspora Humanitarians: How Diaspora Communities Respond to Humanitarian Crises
During humanitarian crises, diasporas often contribute vital support to the survival and reconstruction of their communities of origin. This ‘diaspora humanitarianism’ reshapes the international humanitarian system, but its scope, modality and impact remain understudied, partly due to the ‘invisible’ nature of diaspora interventions. This paper expands the understanding on the how and why diasporas engage in humanitarian responses, by examining s…
Political science (17 works) · Migration and Labor Dynamics (12 works) · Economics (11 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Economic growth (9 works) · Law (8 works) · Migration, Refugees, and Integration (8 works) · Law (7 works) · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity (6 works) · Development economics (5 works)