INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP Employment relationships in migrant domestic work: a transnational perspective

Domestic work provided by migrants in private households, both formally and informally, has been on the agenda of researchers and policymakers since the early 2000s. Employment relationships between migrant workers and employers in this sector remain however underexplored, in particular in European contexts. Three aspects deserve further examination: the comparison between formal and informal settings, differences between childcare, elderly care and housework provision, as well as the links between inter-individual relations and policies. The main objective of this International Workshop is to open new perspectives in the study of employment relationships in domestic work, and to promote transnational and cross-disciplinary exchange between scholars studying the topic.
This International Workshop featured keynote lectures by confirmed academics with expertise in migrant domestic work, followed by workshops open to early career researchers (PhD student-level and up). Theses workshops allowed selected participants to discuss papers submitted in advance with senior academics investigating domestic work, care and migration.
The Workshop aimed to make the most of new methodological perspectives in the sociology of migration, promoting a transnational approach in the study of domestic work. The objective was also to bring employment relationships in migrant domestic work out of the shadow of the private sphere and allow discussion between academics specializing in this area of investigation. We welcomed researchers investigating both micro and macro aspects of migrant domestic work. Questions of interest included the personalization of the employment relationship between migrant domestic workers and private employers; differences between employment relations in housework, elderly care and childcare; as well as the influence on employment relationships of ‘otherness’ in the private space, of the formalization of employment and/or regularization of migratory status, and of different migratory and care regimes. Transnational perspectives are particularly welcome.
This International Workshop was organized in the framework of the Social Sciences Thematic Doctoral School of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation – Program “Migrations and Interculturality” (École doctorale thématique en sciences sociales de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles – Programme «Migrations et Interculturalité»), coordinated by Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) and Université de Liège (ULg).