Negotiated Precarity in the Global South: A Case Study of Migration and Domestic Work in South Africa
Date
2020
Authors
Jinnah, Zaheera
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Studies in Social Justice
Abstract
This article explores precarity as a conceptual framework to understand
the intersection of migration and low-waged work in the global south. Using a case
study of cross-border migrant domestic workers in South Africa, I discuss current
debates on framing and understanding precarity, especially in the global south, and
test its use as a conceptual framework to understand the everyday lived experiences
and strategies of a group that face multiple forms of exclusion and vulnerability. I
argue that a form of negotiated precarity, defined as transactions which provide
opportunities for survival but also render people vulnerable, can be a useful way to
make sense of questions around (il)legality and (in)formality in the context of poorly
protected work, insecure citizenship and social exclusion. Precarity as a negotiated
strategy shows the ways in which people interact with systems and institutions and
foregrounds their agency. But it also illustrates that the negative outcomes inherent in
more traditional notions of precarity, expressed in physical and economic
vulnerability, and discrimination in employment relations, mostly hurt the poor. This
suggests the importance of an intersectional approach to understanding precarity in
labour migration studies.
Description
Keywords
domestic work, gender, migrant labour, precarity, race, South Africa
Citation
Jinnah, Z. (2020). Negotiated Precarity in the Global South: A Case Study of Migration and Domestic Work in South Africa. Studies in Social Justice, 14(1), 210- 227. https://doi.org/10.26522/ssj.v2020i14.1971.