Crossing Borders, Re-signifying Roles: Peruvian Women Workers in Chile

• In Event: Between a Rock and a Hard Place: (Im)migration and its Transformational Impact on Gender, Class and Ethnic Identities

Abstract

As part of the Southern Cone, Chile has been undergoing a relatively new flow of immigration over the past twenty years, composed predominantly of Peruvian women (60% of Peruvian immigrants in Chile are women). This paper aims to focus on the study of gender roles among Peruvian immigrants in Chile, in particular how the process of labor incorporation affects family structure and gender roles. Considering that around 70% of Peruvian women are domestic workers in Chile, domestic labor emerges as a relevant topic of inquiry. Since domestic work may be understood as the result of a social system that reproduces itself through gender, class, and ethnic inequalities, this work presents a theoretical approach to the analysis of the incorporation of Peruvian immigrant women to this occupation, and what transformations generates in: a) the set of social representations about women’s role in society and in the family sphere; and b) the relationships they establish with their employers, families, and other immigrants, as part of this process of subordinated social integration.

Author

• Leila Juzam Pucheu, University of California/Berkeley