Struggle, Exit, “Resilience”—or How Precarious Workers Cope with Late Neoliberalism. Individual and Collective Agency of Female Migrant Domestic Workers in Spain
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12901776 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Zenia Hellgren (0000-0003-1557-3779, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2024-06-19 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Political Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1749-5679 • E-ISSN: 1749-5687 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/ips/olae029 |
| OpenAlex | W4401976646 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 48 |
This article inquires the individual and collective agency of female migrant domestic workers in Spain. I use fieldwork conducted between 2013 and 2023 to examine the interplay between the migrant workers’ individual coping strategies, the claims-making strategies of the domestic workers’ trade union Sindihogar, and the structures they operate within and attempt to challenge. Drawing on contemporary research about precarious workers’ movements, I aim to explore to what extent this social movement union has the potential to reduce the power of structural constraints and increase the power of agency. Implicit is a broader, more provocative question: To what extent is substantial change possible within the current political-economic order, here defined as late neoliberalism? I found that while the movement’s community-building approach may empower activists at an individual level, there are significant structural barriers to its potential to accomplish change in terms of better job conditions for this highly precarious workforce. In addition, I suggest that an increasing focus on precarious workers’ “resilience” risks undermining narratives of structural transformation
Agency (philosophy · Criminology · Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Migrant workers · Neoliberalism (international relations · Political economy · Political science · Psychological resilience · Resilience (materials science · Social science · Sociology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Labor Movements and Unions · Psychology · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Gender Studies · Social Psychology
The Precariat
Neoliberalism as a Class Ideology; Or, the Political Causes of the Growth of Inequalities
Resilience as embedded neoliberalism
Late Neoliberalism and its Discontents in the Economic Crisis
Late Neoliberalism and Its Indignados
Care regimes and national employment models
The Spanish long-term care system in transition
In the Ruins of Neoliberalism
Practicing Intersectionality
An iron fist in a velvet glove
The Economic Impact of the Sars-COV-2 (Covid-19) Pandemic in Spain
Struggles for recognition and redistribution
Inclusive advocacy? Trade-union activity in support of the rights of domestic workers in Continental Europe
Social Movements of Irregular Migrants, Recognition, and Citizenship
The Invisible Carers
Family Supports and Insecure Work
Markets, Regimes, and the Role of Stakeholders
Migrants, markets and domestic work
Financial Crisis and Migrant Domestic Workers in Spain
The precarisation of daily life in Spain
The art of labour organizing
When the ‘unorganizable’ organize
Where Free Markets Reign
American Nightmare
Transnationalism and Financial Crisis
Rethinking Racism
Late Neoliberalism
Globalization and Precarious Work
Racial Capitalism
The labour trajectories of immigrant women in Spain
Undoing the Demos
Indie Unions, Organizing and Labour Renewal
Supermaids
Mobilizing migrants, making citizens
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |