Multiple invisibility: An intersectional perspective on the invisible work of Palestinian-Arab women in Israel

• In Event: Race, Gender, Class in the Arab World

Abstract

This study examines invisible work—unpaid practices primarily carried out by women within households, such as housework and care—and its connection to paid employment. While there is extensive research on invisible work and its relation to labor market performance, understanding this phenomenon from the perspective of women in multiple hierarchical positions in the Middle East remains limited. In particular, insufficient attention has been paid to how women’s experiences of invisible work and employment are shaped by the intersection of social identities, power relations, and spatial contexts, constraining broader comparative insights. Addressing this gap, the present study adopts an intersectional lens to examine the mechanisms of invisible work by exploring how Palestinian-Arab women in Israel, across diverse social locations, perceive, experience, and manage invisible work within their households, and how these dynamics shape their participation in paid employment. Our qualitative analysis of three group interviews with Palestinian-Arab women from diverse classes and geographic spaces in Israel reveals overlooked types of invisible work shaped by gender, class, and space, intensified by large families and extended kin roles in a patrilocal context. The women were found to adopt self-sacrifice ideologies while seeking to balance paid and unpaid work; however, their perceptions of self-sacrifice varied according to class and space, particularly where these intersect with structural constraints. The study also explores the role of outsourcing and how social and structural inequalities shape access to this strategy. We conclude by introducing the concept of situated invisible work, which captures how multiple, intersecting layers of inequality shape women’s experiences of invisible and paid work differently across social positions.

Authors

• Maha Sabbah-Karkabi, Ben Gurion University

• Amit Kaplan, The Academic College of Tel Aviv-Jaffa