Gendered labour, everyday security and migration : an examination of domestic work and domestic workers' experiences in Singapore and Hong Kong / Shih Joo Tan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tan, Shih Joo, author.

Series:

Routledge Studies in Criminal Justice, Borders and Citizenship

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women household employees--China--Hong Kong.

Women household employees.

Women foreign workers--China--Hong Kong.

Women foreign workers.

Women household employees--Singapore.

Women foreign workers--Singapore.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (229 pages)

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon, England ; New York, New York : Routledge, [2023]

Summary:

"Drawing on original empirical research from Singapore and Hong Kong, Gendered Labour, Everyday Security and Migration interrogates women migrant domestic workers' experiences of work and workplace exploitation. It examines the ways in which these women negotiate everyday security and safe work against the backdrop of affective employment relations and institutional structures of labour and migration law. It challenges the current emphasis on the language of exploitation and legal approaches to identifying, understanding and rectifying poor employment conditions for women migrant domestic workers. This book addresses the limited research literature that examines the extent to which regulatory or criminal justice responses are relevant to, and utilised by, women migrant domestic workers in their everyday negotiation of safe work and offers a unique contribution to the field. An accessible and compelling read, it will be of interest to researchers from across the fields of criminology, sociology, labour migration studies and women's studies"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Intro

Endorsements

Half Title

Series Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Contents

Figures

Tables

Series Editor Introduction

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Chapter 1: Introduction: Women Migrant Domestic Workers in Singapore and Hong Kong

Research Process: Designing the Study

Access and Recruitment

Negotiating Researcher Reflexivity and Power Dynamics

Translating, Interpreting and Presenting the Participants' Voices

Migration and Domestic Labour in Singapore and Hong Kong: Past and Present

Emigration of Women into Domestic Labour: Role of the State and the Private Sector

Notes

References

Chapter 2: Women Migrant Domestic Workers in the Home: Tensions Surrounding Intimacy and Labour

Unwaged and Waged Domestic and Care Labour in the Home

Domestic and Care Labour as 'Love' Work: Implications for Waged Domestic Workers

Homes as Public Workplaces

Employer-Domestic Worker Relationship

Gender, Domestic Work and Migration: Regulatory Intersections

Singapore

Hong Kong

Conclusion

Chapter 3: Gender, Exploitation and Everyday Security

Defining and Responding to Exploitation

ILO Domestic Worker Convention: Recognising Domestic and Care Work as 'Real' Work

Public Laws to Address 'Private' Violence against Women

The Intersection of Law, Gender and Women Migrants' Security

Gendering Human Security

Human Security 'from Below': Drawing on Everyday Experience

Chapter 4: Women Migrant Domestic Workers and the Everyday Home Workplace

Introducing the Woman Migrant Domestic Worker

The Work Destination

Introducing the (Female) Employer

Employing a 'Stranger' in the Home: Trust, Surveillance, Control and Respect.

'You Need to Be Able to Trust Her': Building Trust through Surveillance and Control

Implications of Labour Migration Policies: Passports, Curfews and Pregnancies

Chapter 5: Negotiating Everyday Work and Help-Seeking

Resolving Work-Related Problems: External Institutions

Placement Agencies as Negotiators and Mediators

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs): NGOs and Labour Unions as Secondary Sources of Support

Exiting Employment: Contract Movement and 'Transfers'

Negotiating Protection and Security through Formal Mechanisms

Seeking Help from Authorities: Workers' Reflections

The Consequences of Seeking Justice: Implications for Employment and Financial Security

Motivation to Report

Chapter 6: Rethinking Gendered Labour Exploitation and Safe Work

'Exploitation' as Identified by Industry Stakeholders

'Exploitation' as Identified by Women Migrant Domestic Workers

Restricted Freedom to Socialise: Social Isolation and Limitations on Communication Devices

Overworking and Excessive Working Hours

Working on Rest Days

Verbal Abuse and Lack of Respect

Fictive Kinship and Relations of Reciprocity, Respect, Trust and Empathy

Strategic Deployment of Fictive Kinship

Fictive Kinship, Affective Relations and Sustainable Work

Unlawful or Substandard Employment Conditions When the 'Employer Is Family'

Chapter 7: Conclusion

Rethinking the Parameters of 'Exploitation'

Alternative Understandings of the Employer-Worker Relationship in Domestic Labour

Everyday Security: Making a Case for Sustainable Labour and Livelihoods

Note

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781003250364

100325036X

9781000772647

1000772640

9781000772609

1000772608

OCLC:

1344537127