Role-Identity Dynamics in Care and Household Work: Strategies of Polish Workers in Naples, Italy

Anna Kordasiewicz

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.10.4.05

Authors

Anna Kordasiewicz University of Warsaw, Poland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.10.4.05

Keywords:

Household Work, Poland, Italy, Women Migrants, Work Relations, Symbolic Interactionism, Role-Identity

Abstract

Migrant household work is a global phenomenon present across geographical contexts. Employing a household worker, especially a worker coming from another country, is a symbolically complex situation that requires interpretive work and negotiations of role-identities from interactional partners. There has been much debate about how to define the relationship between a domestic and/or care worker and her/his employer. It has been argued that the preferred definition by workers themselves is one that centers on work (Anderson 2000). In contrast, “fictive kinship” appears to be the employers’ almost universal strategy, which is usually portrayed in the literature as an exploitative practice (Romero 1992; Anderson 2000; Parreñas 2001; Constable 2003; Lan 2006; McDowell 2006).

In this paper, I offer a conceptual grid that consists of hierarchy/equality and distance/intimacy dimensions to examine complex relationships between domestic workers and employers, elaborated during the case study of Polish migrant domestic workers in Naples in 2004. Within the investigated site some elements of the traditional model of service culture have persisted. Migrant workers who come from a post-communist country, and who have rather egalitarian attitudes, have been confronted with these elements. The result has been a clash of definitions over the household worker’s role. Polish women developed two contrasting ways of experiencing and coping with it.

The strategies identified in the workers’ narratives are professionalization and personalization, and they refer respectively to emphasizing the professional and the personal dimensions in relations with the employer. They manifest themselves on the levels of action (as narrated by the workers) and narrative construction. The strategies on the level of action aim to shift the situation in a desired direction; the narrative strategies aim at framing the situation in a desired way within a narrative. The text underlines the diversity of migrant response and tentatively assesses the output of different strategies.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Anna Kordasiewicz, University of Warsaw, Poland

Anna Kordasiewicz is an Assistant Professor at the Center for Migration Research, University of Warsaw, working in the NSC funded project “Unfinished Migration Transition and Ageing Population in Poland. Asynchronous Population Changes and the Transformation of Formal and Informal Care Institutions.” She collaborates with the Institute of Sociology at the University of Lodz within the framework of the NSC funded project “Poles in the World of Late Capitalism: Changes of Biographical Processes in Terms of Professional Careers, Social Relations, and Identity at the Time of System Transformation in Poland,” as well as with the Institute of Sociology, University of Warsaw, where she did her Ph.D., and the Field of Dialogue Foundation, which she co-established. Her research interests pertain to migratory processes, civic participation, paid domestic work, and the transformations of social relationships in contemporary capitalist societies. She specializes in and teaches qualitative research and analysis, including computer assisted qualitative data analysis. She is preparing a book based on her Ph.D. thesis on paid care and domestic work in postwar Poland. She recently co-edited and co-authored a book on youth participation bringing together Polish, British, and German experts on the topic (Edukacja obywatelska w działaniu [Civic Education in Action]).

References

Andall, Jacqueline. 2000. “Organizing Domestic Workers in Italy: The Challenge of Gender, Class, and Ethnicity.” Pp. 145-171 in Gender and Migration in Southern Europe. Women on the Move, edited by F. Anthias, G. Lazardis. Oxford, New York: Berg-Oxford International Publishers. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003085447-7

Anderson, Bridget. 2000. Doing the Dirty Work? The Global Politics of Domestic Labor. London, New York: Zed Books.

Anthias, Floya and Gabriella Lazardis, (eds.). 2000. Gender and Migration in Southern Europe. Women on the Move. Oxford, New York: Berg-Oxford International Publishers.

Aubert, Vilhelm. 1956. “The Housemaid – An Occupational Role in Crisis.” Acta Sociologica 1:149-158. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/000169935600100113

Bobek, Alicja and Justyna Salamońska. 2010. “’Wykształciuchy’ i ‘Mariany.’ Polscy migranci w Irlandii ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem Dublina.” In II Kongres Polskich Towarzystw Naukowych na Obczyźnie: 4–7 września 2008, edited by L. Nowak. Krakow: PAU.

Boffo, Stefano. 2003. “Il modello mediterraneo nel quadro delle nuove migrazioni internazionali.” Critica Sociologica 143(44):88-104.

Cohen, Shellee and Roger Sanjek, (eds.). 1990. At Work in Homes: Household Workers in World Perspective. Washington, DC: American Anthropological Association.

Constable, Nicole. 2003. “Filipina Workers in Hong Kong Homes: Household Rules and Relations.” Pp. 115-141 in Global Woman. Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy, edited by A. Hochschild, B. Ehrenreich. New York: Owl Book.

Elias, Norbert. 1983. The Court Society. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Geertz, Clifford. 2001. Available Light: Anthropological Reflections on Philosophical Topics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Ghera, Edoardo. 2003. Diritto del lavoro. Il raporto di lavoro. Bari: Cacucci Editore.

Glaser, Barney and Anselm L. Strauss. 1967. The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Strategies for Qualitative Research. New York: Aldine Publishing Company.

Glenn, Evelyn N. 1986. Issei, Nisei, War Bride. Three Generations of Japanese American Women in Domestic Service. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Goffman, Erving. 1961. Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company.

Goffman, Erving. 1969. Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. London: The Penguin Press.

Groves, Julian and Kimberly Chang. 1999. “Romancing Resistance and Resisting Romance: Ethnography and the Construction of Power in the Filipina Domestic Worker Community in Hong Kong.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 28:235-265. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/089124199129023433

GUS. 2013. “Informacja o rozmiarach i kierunkach emigracji z Polski w latach 2004–2012.” Retrieved September 20, 2014 http://stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/L_Szacunek_emigracji_z_Polski_lata_2004-2012_XI_2012.pdf

Hammersley, Martyn and Paul Atkinson. 1995. Ethnography: Principles in Practice. London, New York: Routledge.

Hochschild, Arlie R. and Barbara Ehrenreich, (eds.). 2004. Global Woman. Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy. New York: Owl Book.

Hondagneu-Sotelo, Pierrette. 2007. Domestica. Immigrant Cleaning and Caring in the Shadows of Affluence. Berkeley: University of California Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520933866

Iglicka, Krystyna. 2001. Poland’s Post-War Dynamic of Migration. Aldershot: Ashgate.

Iglicka, Krystyna, Odo Barsotti, and Laura Lecchini. 1999. “Recent Development of Migrations From Poland to Europe With a Special Emphasis on Italy.” Pubblicazioni del Dipartimento di Statistica e Matematica Applicata all’Economia dell’Università di Pisa. Retrieved July 27, 2009 http://www.dipstat.ec.unipi.it/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=178&Itemid=110

ISTAT. 2008. “Cittadini Stranieri. Popolazione residente per sesso e cittadinanza al 31 Dicembre 2007. Italia – Tutti i paesi.” Retrieved July 27, 2009 http://www.demo.istat.it/str2007/index.html

ISTAT. 2014. “Profilo per cittadinanza: Polonia.” Retrieved September 20, 2014 http://www.istat.it/it/immigrati/indicatori-sintetici/profilo-per-cittadinanza

Kaczmarczyk, Paweł, (ed.). 2008. Współczesne migracje zagraniczne Polaków – aspekty lokalne i regionalne. Warsaw: CMR University of Warsaw.

Kaczmarczyk, Paweł and Marek Okólski. 2008. “Demographic and Labor Market Impacts of Migration on Poland.” Oxford Review of Economic Policy 3(24):600-626. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxrep/grn029

Kępińska, Ewa. 2007. “Recent Trends in International Migration. The 2007 SOPEMI Report for Poland.” CMR Working Paper. Retrieved September 24, 2014 http://www.migracje.uw.edu.pl/publ/558/

Kindler, Marta. 2008. “Risks and Risk Strategies in Migration – Ukrainian Domestic Workers in Poland.” Pp. 145-160 in Migration and Domestic Work: A European Perspective on a Global Theme, edited by H. Lutz. Aldershot: Ashgate.

King, Russel. 1993. “Recent Immigration to Italy: Character, Causes and Consequences.” GeoJournal 30:283-292. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00806719

Konecki, Krzysztof. 2000. Studia z metodologii badań jakościowych. Teoria ugruntowana. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.

Kordasiewicz, Anna. 2005. “Praca pomocy domowej. Doświadczenie polskich migrantek w Neapolu.” CMR Working Paper. Retrieved July 27, 2009 http://www.migracje.uw.edu.pl/publ/588/

Kordasiewicz, Anna. 2008. “Służąca, pracownik, domownik. Polki jako pomoce domowe w Neapolu w kontekście retradycjonalizacji instytucji.” Kultura i Społeczeństwo 2(52):80-109. DOI: https://doi.org/10.35757/KiS.2008.52.2.4

Kordasiewicz, Anna. 2009. “La relation à l’employé vue du côté employeur: le travail domestique des migrantes ukrainiennes en Pologne.” Cahiers de l’Urmis 12. Retrieved July 27, 2009 http://urmis.revues.org/index863.html DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/urmis.863

Kordasiewicz, Anna. forthcoming. “Class Guilt? Employers and Their Relationships With Domestic Workers in Poland.” In Paying for Care: The Employers’ Perspective on Migrant Domestic Work, edited by A. Triandafylidou, S. Marchetti. Farnham: Ashgate.

Lan, Pei-Chia. 2006. Global Cinderellas. Migrant Domestics and Newly Rich Employers in Taiwan. Durham: Duke University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822387787

Marchetti, Sabrina. 2001. “Donne in migrazione: un ipotesi culturalista.” MA thesis, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Facoltà di Scienze Politiche.

Mariti, Crisitna. 2003. Donna migrante, il tempo della solitudine e dell’attesa. Milan: Franco Angeli.

McCall, George and Jerry Simmons. 1966. Identities and Interactions. New York: The Free Press.

McDowell, Linda. 2006. “Reconfigurations of Gender and Class Relations: Class Differences, Class Condescension and the Changing Place of Class Relations.” Antipode 38:825-850. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2006.00478.x

Miranda, Adelina. 2002. “Domestiche straniere e datrici di lavoro autoctone. Un incontro culturale assimetrico.” Studi Emigrazione/ Migration Studies 39:859-879.

Momsen, Janet, (ed.). 1999. Gender, Migration, and Domestic Service. London, New York: Routledge.

Motsei, Mmatshilo. 1990. “The Best Kept Secret: Violence Against Domestic Workers.” Retrieved July 27, 2009 http:// www.csvr.org.za/wits/papers/papmmots.htm

Nanni, Walter and S. Salvatori. 2004. “I lavoratori immigrati nelle famiglie italiane.” Pp. 286-294 in Dossier statistico immigrazione 2004: XIV rapporto sullimmigrazione. Roma: Nuova Anterem.

Näre, Lena. 2012. “Empowerment, Survival, and Everyday Life Struggles – Ukrainian and Polish Care Workers in Naples.” Pp. 53-65 in Builders of a New Europe. Women Migrants From Eastern Trans-Regions, edited by A. Saarinen, M. Calloni. Helsinki: Kikimora Publications.

Okólski, Marek. 2001. “Incomplete Migration: A New Form of Mobility in Central and Eastern Europe. The Case of Polish and Ukrainian Migrants.” Pp. 105-128 in Patterns of Migration in Central Europe, edited by C. Wallace, D. Stola. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780333985519_5

Parreñas, Rhacel S. 2001. Servants of Globalization. Women, Migration, and Domestic Work. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Piotrowski, Andrzej. 1998. “Ład perspektyw analitycznych w twórczości Ervinga Goffmana.” Pp. 86-107 in Ład interakcji. Szkice z socjologii interpretatywnej. Lodz: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego.

Pugliese, Enrico. 2002a. “La svolta degli anni settanta: ‘la fine dell’emigrazione’ e gli arrivi dei primi imigrati.” Pp. 55-71 in L’Italia tra migrazioni internazionali e migrazioni interne, edited by E. Pugliese. Bologna: Il Mulino.

Pugliese, Enrico. 2002b. “L’Italia paese d’immigrazione.” Pp. 87-115 in L’Italia tra migrazioni internazionali e migrazioni interne, edited by E. Pugliese. Bologna: Il Mulino.

Putnam, Robert, Robert Leonardi, and Raffaela Nannetti. 1993. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400820740

Reyneri, Emilio. 2004. “Immigrazione ed economia sommersa nell’ Europa meridionale.” Studi Emigrazione/Migration Studies 153:91-114.

Rollins, Judith. 1985. Between Women. Domestic and Their Employers. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Romero, Mary. 1992. Maid in the U.S.A. New York: Routledge.

Scevi, Paola. 2003. “L’immigrazione femminile in Italia: strumenti normativi di tutela.” Studi Emigrazione/Migration Studies 150:409-417.

Schütze, Fritz. 2008. “Biography Analysis on the Empirical Base of Autobiographical Narratives: How to Analyze Autobiographical Narrative Interviews.” European Studies on Inequalities and Social Cohesion 1(2):153-242.

Sciortino, Giuseppe. 2004. “When Domestic Labor Is Not Native Labor: The Interaction of Immigration Policy and the Welfare Regime in Italy.” Pp. 168-188 in Migration in the New Europe. East-West Revisited, edited by A. Górny, P. Ruspini. Hampshire, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Sharpe, Pamela, (ed.). 2001. Woman, Gender, and Labor Migration. Historical and Global Perspective. London, New York: Routledge.

Silverman, David. 2004. Doing Qualitative Research. A Practical Handbook. London: Sage.

Solari, Cinzia. 2006. “Professionals and Saints. How Immigrant Careworkers Negotiate Gender Identities at Work.” Gender and Society 20:301-331. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243205285633

Stola, Dariusz. 2010. Kraj bez wyjścia? Migracje z Polski 1949–1989. Warsaw: IPN.

Strauss, Anselm L. 1987. Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511557842

UIL website. 2014. Italian National Trade Unions Official Site. INPS, Istituto Nazionale di Previdenza Sociale, Italian Institute of Social Security. Osservatorio sui lavoratori domestici. Dati Annuali. Retrieved S eptember 28, 2014 http://www.inps.it/webidentity/banchedatistatistiche/domestici/index01.jsp

Vianello, Francesca Alice. 2014. “Ukrainian Migrant Workers in Italy: Coping With and Reacting to Downward Mobility.” Central and Eastern European Migration Review 3(1). Retrieved September 28, 2014 http://www.ceemr.uw.edu.pl/vol-3-no-1-june-2014/articles/ukrainian-migrant-workers-italy-coping-and-reacting-downward-mobility

Willis, Katy and Brenda Yeoh, (eds.). 2000. Gender and Migration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Yeoh, Brenda and Shirlena Huang. 1999. “Spaces at the Margin: Migrant Domestic Workers and the Development of Civil Society in Singapore.” Environment and Planning A 31(7):1149-1167. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1068/a311149

Zanfrini, Laura. 2004. Sociologia delle migrazioni. Roma, Bari: Editori Laterza.