Paid Migrant Domestic Labour, Gender Equality, and Citizenship in a Changing Europe: An Introduction

Abstract

How is migrant domestic labour impacting on the changing face of gender equality and citizenship in Europe? This chapter introduces in-depth research conducted in nine different European countries to explore paid domestic labour through the lens of two concepts central to European policy and identity making: gender equality and citizenship. It approaches gender equality and citizenship as fluid, complex, and interrelated phenomena, which are taking on a variety of forms in localised contexts across Europe. By focusing on discourses, social relations, and political processes relating to domestic labour, this chapter shows how the volume contributes to a rethinking of the vital relation between this form of employment, the formal and informal citizenship of migrant workers, and the cultural and political value of gender equality.