Representing a Diverse Movement: Domestic Work Activism in the US With a Case Study of Massachusetts

• In Event: 4124 - Section on Race, Gender, and Class Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (100 min): Table 9. Activism/Social Justice

Abstract

Household based care work remains a vital part of social reproduction and it is a very peculiar work sector that presents considerate challenges to workers' organizing (isolation, vulnerability and intimate relationships between workers and employers).
At the same time, domestic workers in the US have also proved to be resilient and innovative organizers. The household workforce is very diverse, with immigrants and people of color being overrepresented yet white citizens being strongly represented. As a movement, domestic workers’ organizations, which are now composed mainly of immigrants, and perceived in public discourse as a domain of immigrants of color, have collective identity decisions to make in terms of strategizing their struggle. There is a considerable gap between public image, scholarship, and activism, on the one hand, and the composition of the household workforce, on the other.
This paper examines levels of intersectionality (the collective identity of the organizations, the claims, activities, and frames that they mobilize, and the alliances they establish) in domestic work activism at the national and state level (Massachusetts), using census data, website content analysis, and expert interviews.

Author

• Anna Rosinska, Ca' Foscari University of Venice (Italy)