Συγγραφέας
Kramer Nicole
Τίτλος
Did the Maids Return? The Long History of Devaluing Care Work and the Mixed Economy of Welfare
Περιοδικό
Historein: A review of the past and other stories
Τεύχος
21(2)
Έτος
2024
Σύνδεσμος
https://doi.org/10.12681/historein.34593
Περίληψη (Συγγραφέα)
For several years now, sociologists studying paid domestic care work have been arguing that the servant culture of the nineteenth century has returned. They focus on specific forms of care work: that done as informal or illegal employment, mostly carried out by migrants. To an historian, such a reference to the past is most intriguing. This article looks at the servant of the past to shed new light on the emergence of an informal labour market for care work. After outlining the arguments of sociologists about “the return of the maids”, it looks back at the history of servants. What was their role regarding long-term care for older disabled people? Furthermore, it sketches the changes regarding professional care at home and, finally, sheds some light on the emergence of a shadow market where migrants offer their services. In doing so, families should be brought into focus as agents of care within the mixed economy of welfare.
Λέξεις-Κλειδιά (Συγγραφέα)
Long-term care, old age, servants, migration, welfare state, care labour, family
Ετικέτες
Κοινωνική καταπίεση – περιορισμοί, Ανισότητες και διακρίσεις στην εργασία
Επιστημονικό Πεδίο
Ιστορία
Παρατηρήσεις
Ειδικό Τεύχος “Gendering the Mixed Economies of Welfare: Ruptures and Trajectories in Postwar Europe”. Επιμέλεια: Έφη Αβδελά, Δήμητρα Λαμπροπούλου.
Βιβλιογραφική Αναφορά
Kramer, N. (2024). Did the Maids Return? The Long History of Devaluing Care Work and the Mixed Economy of Welfare. Historein: A review of the past and other stories, 21(2); https://doi.org/10.12681/historein.34593