The risk of sliding down

Domestic work and the legacies of slavery in the highlands of Madagascar

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2261370
AutoresM Gardini (0000-0003-4608-1507, University of Milano-Bicocca, autor de correspondencia)
Año2020
Volumen47
Número3
Páginas264-275
Fecha de publicación2020-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAmerican Ethnologist (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0094-0496 • E-ISSN: 1548-1425
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/amet.12909
OpenAlexW3052339814
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas4
Referencias citadas45

Working relationships are one of the most privileged arenas for renegotiating class and status distinctions, and the notion of "sliding down" is a common worry in many societies. In Madagascar the legacies of slavery powerfully haunt contemporary life, shaping the economic conditions and everyday power relations between employers and domestic workers. Socially isolated domestic workers often run the risk of "sliding down" the local ranked system of essentialized, endogamous status groups, a system that still divides families into three categories of origin: noble, common, and slave. While many employers try to reinforce their social prestige by "pushing others down," domestic workers struggle to avoid being labeled and treated as a "slave." Meanwhile, a global "neoabolitionist" movement may label these harsh forms of labor exploitation as a "new form of slavery," but such labels might erode domestic workers' efforts to de-essentialize their stigmatized social position. [domestic work, status, class, slavery, Madagascar

Economics · Endogamy · Everyday life · Political economy · Political science · Position (finance · Power (physics · Prestige · Social science · Social status · Sociology · Anthropology · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Gender Studies · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy