There was much that went unspoken

Maintaining racial hierarchies in South African paid domestic labour through the unsaid

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2147948
AutoresAmy Jo Murray (0000-0002-2438-3507, Discipline of Psychology, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, autor correspondente), K Durrheim (0000-0003-2926-5953, Discipline of Psychology, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa)
Ano2019
Volume42
Fascículo15
Páginas2623-2640
Data de publicação2019-11-18
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoEthnic and Racial Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0141-9870 • E-ISSN: 1466-4356
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01419870.2018.1532096
OpenAlexW2901183539
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas7
Referências citadas29

Domestic labour in South Africa has historically been a site of racial inequality which has continued into the post-apartheid era despite extensive transformation efforts. This article argues that silence presents an avenue for understanding how such racial hierarchy has persisted. We present a qualitative case study of a domestic labour dyad utilising the diary-interview method to analyse the presentation of labour troubles and the perceptions, interpretations, and implications of the unsaid regarding such troubles. Drawing from the data, we demonstrate how intimacy is foregrounded in talk, while domestic labour activities and domestic labour itself go unsaid. We conclude that the intimate nature of domestic labour allows participants to speak about their relationship in ways that make the labour relationship and its racial inequalities become invisible in talk, making it a difficult institution to challenge and change

Aesthetics · Hierarchy · Inequality · Institution · Political economy · Political science · Silence · Social science · Sociology · Unsaid · Emotional Labor in Professions · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Gender Studies · Labor Movements and Unions · Law