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Freelancing in the kingdom: Filipino migrant domestic workers crafting agency in Saudi Arabia

Johnson, Mark

Authors

Mark Johnson



Abstract

This paper examines how Muslim Filipino domestic workers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia creatively assert agency and solicit recognition despite their precarious position in that country. One way that they do so is by leaving their legal employers to go 'freelance', selling their labor to the highest bidder and living as best they can as irregular migrants in that country. The capacity to act in that way is enabled by the high demand for domestic labor and the wider network of relations among compatriot and kin who provide them with assistance. While effectively drawing on those social networks, migrant domestic workers, nonetheless, continue to bear the cost of a stigmatized social position among their co-nationals.

Citation

Johnson, M. (2011). Freelancing in the kingdom: Filipino migrant domestic workers crafting agency in Saudi Arabia. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 20(3-4), 459-478. https://doi.org/10.1177/011719681102000310

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date 2011-09
Deposit Date Nov 13, 2014
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Asian And Pacific Migration Journal
Print ISSN 0117-1968
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 20
Issue 3-4
Pages 459-478
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/011719681102000310
Keywords Geography, Planning and Development; Demography
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/471255
Publisher URL http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/011719681102000310
Additional Information Not listed on Sherpa. Nothing on journal's webpage, or Scalabrini Migration Center's website, or Sage's website (Sage are journal's current publishers) to suggest that articles can be placed on repositories.

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