This thesis points to an oversight in the literature about foreign domestic workers. Foreign
domestic workers have, too often, been portrayed as one-dimensional victims — a group of
powerless women vainly struggling for a respectable place in Canadian society. This portrayal,
however, while it can explain their disadvantage along class and gender analyses, assumes a
concept of power which dismisses their ability to resist.
This thesis argues that foreign domestic workers, although occupying a highly disadvantaged
position relative to others in society, are not only victims but actors. This argument
acknowledges that their lives in Canada are only part of their grander life histories. When
foreign domestic workers are placed at the centre of analysis, as subjects rather than objects, I
was able to investigate a multifaceted notion of power.
Fifteen foreign domestic workers from the Philippines were interviewed and specific questions
were asked about their day to day lives, their background, and their ambitions. Their answers
reveal a profound understanding of who they are as women, and as domestic workers. Some
clearly understand the connections between the economic crisis in the Philippines and their role
in that crisis. The interviews also show that domestic workers contemplated their situations
beyond the present, and that they recount their lives in episodes of opportunities as well as
constraints. Finally, what is most revealing is the strategies they employ to get through their
days. Overall, the interviews with foreign domestic workers illustrate that when they are viewed
as active social agents, they articulate power at various levels corresponding with their
overlapping social roles and multiple levels of struggle.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/3729 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Sanchez, Grace B. |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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