Gender and Domestic Workers

Bibliographic Data

ID22367201
AuthorsClaire Lowrie (0000-0002-4946-6616, University of Wollongong, corresponding author)
Year2021
Pages1-5
Publication date2021-01-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeOTHER
VenueThe International Encyclopedia of Anthropology (JOURNAL)
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/9781118924396.wbiea2416
OpenAlexW3125277135
ISBN9781118924396
LanguageEN
References cited16

The term “domestic servant” is often perceived to be synonymous with “woman.” However, in particular cultural contexts and time periods, paid domestic labor performed in private homes was a role associated with men. The “houseboy,” for example, was an integral part of colonial households in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. In the contemporary era, domestic service as an occupation is undergoing a resurgence and is overwhelmingly a feminized sector of work that includes a high proportion of migrant workers. The revival of the occupation has been attributed to the persistence of inequalities, particularly those stemming from the legacy of colonialism and those related to the economic forces of globalization. As their labor is performed behind closed doors, domestic workers are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. In recent years, domestic workers have engaged in transnational labor activism with the goal of regulating wages and conditions across the sector

Colonialism · Demographic economics · Development economics · Domestic work · Economic growth · Economics · Economy · Globalization · Inequality · Labour economics · Migrant workers · Political science · Servant · Tertiary sector of the economy · Labor Movements and Unions · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy

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