The Maids Who did Not Want to Be Maids

Jan Ch. Karlsson

Chapter 13 in Organizational Misbehaviour in the Workplace, 2012, pp 48-49 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Almost everywhere, maids, domestics and other occupational groups working in private homes come from low positions in class and ethnic hierarchies. This story is about Afro-American women working in the homes of white people in Kentucky. These women are very experienced at their jobs, as they have worked this way for many years. That is also one reason why they have been able to develop strategies to establish a certain autonomy and dignity at work in spite of their socially subordinate positions. Something that has contributed towards making it easier for them is the fact that they have benefited from a rather good labour market while there have also been other jobs available to them as black working-class women. Furthermore, they have often had to do two or three jobs at the same time. Thus, if they were to quit one of these in protest, it would not mean economic disaster.

Keywords: Black Woman; Human Resource Management; Occupational Group; Domestic Work; White People (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-35463-0_13

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DOI: 10.1057/9780230354630_13

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