The Indigenous Face of Domesticity
Durin, Séverine
The Indigenous Face of Domesticity - 2014.
42
In this article I analyze the importance of ethnicity in domestic service, an employment sector where indigenous people are overrepresented, and how socio-cultural differences between ethnic groups organize the labor market and relationships between employers and employees. Taking the city of Monterrey – the third largest city in Mexico – as an ethnographic setting and based on interviews conducted with employers and employment agencies, I analyze the importance that employers attribute to regional and ethnic origin to assess a priori the capacity of domestic staff for work. The study shows that the representations inherent in this classificatory exercise contribute to the ethnicization of socio-cultural networks and to the reaffirmation of the boundaries between domestic workers and those they serve, between indigenous people and Creoles, the founding couple of Mexican national identity.
The Indigenous Face of Domesticity - 2014.
42
In this article I analyze the importance of ethnicity in domestic service, an employment sector where indigenous people are overrepresented, and how socio-cultural differences between ethnic groups organize the labor market and relationships between employers and employees. Taking the city of Monterrey – the third largest city in Mexico – as an ethnographic setting and based on interviews conducted with employers and employment agencies, I analyze the importance that employers attribute to regional and ethnic origin to assess a priori the capacity of domestic staff for work. The study shows that the representations inherent in this classificatory exercise contribute to the ethnicization of socio-cultural networks and to the reaffirmation of the boundaries between domestic workers and those they serve, between indigenous people and Creoles, the founding couple of Mexican national identity.
Réseaux sociaux