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Places of sociability among female Malagasy migrant domestic workers in Beirut, Lebanon

Places of sociability among female Malagasy migrant domestic workers in Beirut, Lebanon

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by IDWFED published Jul 16, 2015 12:00 AM
Contributors: Mariela Acuña
This paper, based on extensive fieldwork, will examine the ways in which female migrant domestic workers from Madagascar living in Beirut establish relationships with their own nationals and others, all within the limits of a particular system that controls their everyday lives in the country.

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Research reports, working paper

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The present paper was based on extensive fieldwork among women from Madagascar working as domestic help in Lebanese households. We have analysed the ways these women develop personal relationships between them and with others while adopting distinctive places of sociability allowed by the context in which they live in, that is, under the restrictive background of the kafala system, which severely limit their freedom of movement.

Migrant domestic workers use social gatherings everywhere they can, mainly to share common experiences and to provide each other with advise and support. Malagasy women are no exception to this, as they tend to establish a wide network of relationships within their community. Many of them, when aware of some national in distress, try to seek for help to the extent of their possibilities. In the cases we have seen, places like churches, certain neighbourhoods and political assemblies function as prominent spaces where foreign housemaids build sociability and establish connections.

To many migrant domestic workers, these places of sociability have made an absolute difference in their lives, providing them with a net of support that somehow help to overcome the handicaps they face as the weakest links in a particular employment system that puts them in a very vulnerable position.

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