Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
Living a bare life: assembling the everyday of migrant domestic work in Cairo
This ethnographic study of work in Cairo argues that the laboring lives of migrant domestic workers in this locality are both similar and different to that of other spatial locations. Con- trary to the re-hashed representation in media, this text shows that migrant domestic workers in the Arabic spe...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Thesis |
| Published: |
AUC Knowledge Fountain
2016
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1867613407660736512 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Lilleby, Sabrina |
| author_browse | Lilleby, Sabrina |
| author_facet | Lilleby, Sabrina |
| author_sort | Lilleby, Sabrina |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy. |
| description | This ethnographic study of work in Cairo argues that the laboring lives of migrant domestic workers in this locality are both similar and different to that of other spatial locations. Con- trary to the re-hashed representation in media, this text shows that migrant domestic workers in the Arabic speaking world are not what is often referred to as modern day slaves. Instead, I show how these workers shape and are shaped in accordance with a neoliberal govermentali- ty, through their techniques of managing their affects, bodies and actions. However, regard- less of the increasing focus on training subjects before entering the workplace, the market for domestic work in Cairo is not organized according to skill or merit, but rather according to nationality and gender. The pricing in this market is a reflection of a local and global hierar- chy where certain nationalities are marketed as skilled, docile and modern, while others are seen as human waste. Despite the constrictions this market creates and although they work without papers, workers’ rapid change of employment shows how these workers are not simply victims, but rather active subjects who practice unconventional forms of labor politics in navigating the micro politics of the everyday. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-1106 |
| institution | American University in Cairo (Egypt) |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:35:39.635Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publishDateRange | 2016 |
| publishDateSort | 2016 |
| publisher | AUC Knowledge Fountain |
| publisherStr | AUC Knowledge Fountain |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress |
| spelling | oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-1106 Living a bare life: assembling the everyday of migrant domestic work in Cairo Lilleby, Sabrina This ethnographic study of work in Cairo argues that the laboring lives of migrant domestic workers in this locality are both similar and different to that of other spatial locations. Con- trary to the re-hashed representation in media, this text shows that migrant domestic workers in the Arabic speaking world are not what is often referred to as modern day slaves. Instead, I show how these workers shape and are shaped in accordance with a neoliberal govermentali- ty, through their techniques of managing their affects, bodies and actions. However, regard- less of the increasing focus on training subjects before entering the workplace, the market for domestic work in Cairo is not organized according to skill or merit, but rather according to nationality and gender. The pricing in this market is a reflection of a local and global hierar- chy where certain nationalities are marketed as skilled, docile and modern, while others are seen as human waste. Despite the constrictions this market creates and although they work without papers, workers’ rapid change of employment shows how these workers are not simply victims, but rather active subjects who practice unconventional forms of labor politics in navigating the micro politics of the everyday. 2016-02-01T08:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/107 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/1106/viewcontent/Final_Sabrina_Thesis.pdf The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy. Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain Migrant domestic workers Cairo |
| spellingShingle | Migrant domestic workers Cairo Lilleby, Sabrina Living a bare life: assembling the everyday of migrant domestic work in Cairo |
| title | Living a bare life: assembling the everyday of migrant domestic work in Cairo |
| title_full | Living a bare life: assembling the everyday of migrant domestic work in Cairo |
| title_fullStr | Living a bare life: assembling the everyday of migrant domestic work in Cairo |
| title_full_unstemmed | Living a bare life: assembling the everyday of migrant domestic work in Cairo |
| title_short | Living a bare life: assembling the everyday of migrant domestic work in Cairo |
| title_sort | living a bare life assembling the everyday of migrant domestic work in cairo |
| topic | Migrant domestic workers Cairo |
| url | https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/107 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/1106/viewcontent/Final_Sabrina_Thesis.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lillebysabrina livingabarelifeassemblingtheeverydayofmigrantdomesticworkincairo |