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Paper short abstract:

Drawing on narratives of both female domestic workers in Ethiopia and returnees from Arab Countries, I explore how the daily interactions between domestic workers and their employers (and other family members) may lead to new forms of relatedness and constructed kinship

Paper long abstract:

Drawing upon qualitative research conducted with both female live-in domestic workers within Ethiopia (Addis Abeba) and returnees from Arab Countries, I shall explore the way domestic workers' experiences may lead to a redefinition of family relations and a creation of new forms of relatedness.

The relationship with women's mobility is not fixed and there is a large diversity among domestic workers. Migration can be a response to acute family needs, as well as a response to unmet aspirations, or a strategy to escape particular family demands.

Instead of only pointing to oppression and abuse, recent studies have highlighted that female domestic workers may employ various strategies to deal with the challenges inherent to their life. A more inclusive approach is required that leaves space for domestic worker agency in relationship with employers and their families.

The daily interactions between employees and their employers (and other family members) is the location of tensions which concern wider transformations of domestic and family relations. In some cases, thanks to the rhetoric of being 'part of the family', domestic workers practise a form of constructed kinship to carve out personal spaces away from their rural home. Such process entails significant personal investment on the part of women, helping them construct new identities and opening up possibilities for challenging the power hierarchy in their home. In this regard, narratives of women who work within Ethiopia and those who go abroad relate to each other.