Negotiated Precarity in the Global South

A Case Study of Migration and Domestic Work in South Africa

Bibliographic Data

ID12967313
AuthorsZaheera Jinnah (0000-0002-9311-823X, University of Victoria, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume2020
Issue14
Pages210-227
Publication date2020-03-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueStudies in Social Justice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1911-4788 • E-ISSN: 1911-4788
PublisherBrock University Library (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.26522/ssj.v2020i14.1971
OpenAlexW3013226225
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited32

This article explores precarity as a conceptual framework to understand the intersection of migration and low-waged work in the global south. Using a case study of cross-border migrant domestic workers in South Africa, I discuss current debates on framing and understanding precarity, especially in the global south, and test its use as a conceptual framework to understand the everyday lived experiences and strategies of a group that face multiple forms of exclusion and vulnerability. I argue that a form of negotiated precarity, defined as transactions which provide opportunities for survival but also render people vulnerable, can be a useful way to make sense of questions around (il)legality and (in)formality in the context of poorly protected work, insecure citizenship and social exclusion. Precarity as a negotiated strategy shows the ways in which people interact with systems and institutions and foregrounds their agency. But it also illustrates that the negative outcomes inherent in more traditional notions of precarity, expressed in physical and economic vulnerability, and discrimination in employment relations, mostly hurt the poor. This suggests the importance of an intersectional approach to understanding precarity in labour migration studies

Citizenship · Context (archaeology · Formality · Framing (construction · Geography · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Precarious work · Precarity · Sociology · Vulnerability (computing · Work (physics · Employment and Welfare Studies · Gender Studies · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics

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Open DOIOpen Access