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Feudal Enclaves and Political Reforms: Domestic Workers in Latin America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Merike Blofield
Merike Blofield*
Affiliation:
University of Miami
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Abstract

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I examine how domestic workers have fared legally and politically in post-transition democracies in Latin America. Paid domestic work employs more than 15 percent of the economically active female population in Latin America, yet national labor codes tend to mandate lower salaries and benefits and longer working hours to those working in this sector. They also suffer from race, gender, and class discrimination. Although organizations advocating for domestic workers have demanded equal rights, political actors in the region have been extremely reticent to respond to these demands. By analyzing domestic workers' legal rights across the region and process-tracing political reforms in Chile and Bolivia, I find that although elite resistance to change is a constant, under the right circumstances, domestic workers can gain legal reforms. Domestic workers' social allies are labor, feminist, and indigenous organizations; however, to get the attention of these allies, and consequently to pressure politicians, they must first organize autonomously and publicize their cause. Although leftist parties are more likely to be receptive to their cause, they need pressure to act on behalf of the needs of such a marginalized group. Once they do, however, they need not be majority parties to get the issue on the agenda. The key political battle is getting and keeping the issue of domestic workers' rights on the political agenda; once it goes to a vote, it is unlikely to be rejected.

Resumo

Resumo

Examino los avances políticos y legales de las trabajadoras domésticas en las democracias post-transicionales en América Latina. El trabajo doméstico remunerado emplea alrededor del 15 por ciento de la población femenina económicamente activa en América Latina. No obstante, los códigos laborales nacionales tienden a establecer salarios y beneficios bajos, a la vez que incrementan las horas de trabajo para las personas empleadas en este sector. Además hay situaciones de discriminación a partir de la raza, el género y la clase social. Al analizar los derechos legales de las trabajadoras domésticas en el continente, junto con los procesos de reformas políticas en Chile y Bolivia, encuentro como constante la resistencia de las elites al cambio. Sin embargo, bajo circunstancias adecuadas, las trabajadoras domésticas pueden obtener victorias en términos de reformas legales. Los aliados sociales de las trabajadoras domésticas son las organizaciones laborales, feministas e indígenas. El primer paso, para obtener su atención, es organizarse de forma autónoma y darle publicidad a su causa. Los partidos de la izquierda, aunque tienden a ser más receptivos a sus demandas, deben ser presionados para actuar a favor de las necesidades de este grupo marginalizado. De esta forma, sin ser partidos mayoritarios, pueden incorporar el tema en la agenda. La batalla política clave es mantener el tema de los derechos de las trabajadoras domésticas en la agenda política; una vez se somete a votación, es poco probable que sea rechazado.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 44 , Issue 1 , 2009 , pp. 158 - 190
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 by the Latin American Studies Association

Footnotes

*

I would like to thank the three anonymous LARR reviewers as well as Felipe Agüero, Bruce Bagley, Louise Davidson-Schmich, Kristen Hill Maher, Jennifer Pribble, Bill Smith, and the participants of the Political Science Research Colloquium at the University of Miami for their feedback on earlier drafts.

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