‘A Tactful Union’

J. Devika, P.R. Nisha and A.K. Rajasree
Additional contact information
J. Devika: J. Devika is Associate Professor at the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 695 011, India. E-mail: devika@cds.ac.in
P.R. Nisha: P.R. Nisha is Research Scholar at the Department of History, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007, India. E-mail: nichukomal@gmail.com
A.K. Rajasree: A.K. Rajasree is Independent Researcher at the Human Rights Law Network, Room No. 10, Kalarikkal Sankaran Memorial Building, Alappuzha District, Kerala 688 013, India. E-mail: akrajasree@gmail.com

Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 2011, vol. 18, issue 2, 185-215

Abstract: Recently, researchers and activists in India have been calling for attention towards the rising numbers of women entering the labour force as domestic workers, who have remained at the rock-bottom of the working-class hierarchy here. SEWA Kerala’s union displays marked differences from mainstream unions. This article reflects upon the agency of the SEWA domestic worker in contemporary Kerala through the analysis of workers’ narratives, and the specific strategies they deploy through SEWA’s unionisation in the changing context of the demand for domestic labour here. Second, we highlight SEWA Kerala’s strategies to transform domestic workers, generally positioned at the very margins of politics and the public in Kerala, into citizens. Third, we reflect on SEWA workers’ perception of full citizenship, and on their self-chosen distance from mainstream, formal politics.

Keywords: Domestic workers; women workers’ unions; domestic workers’ union-isation; citizenship and women (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:indgen:v:18:y:2011:i:2:p:185-215

DOI: 10.1177/097152151101800203

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