Abstract
Domestic migrant labor is entangled in a complicated system of power relationships that create a multiplicity of social and economic inequalities. Unfree by Rhacel Salazar Parreñas is a riveting account of how Filipina domestic laborers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) confront the boundaries between their employer’s authority and their own decision-making ability. Framing the book around the effects of the kafala system, a migrant sponsorship program in the UAE, Parreñas contextualizes how women domestic workers are bound to the legal mandates of the system that require them to uphold exclusive, live-in employment with their sponsor for the duration of their contract. Parreñas ethnographically analyzes the subjugated experiences of domestic workers using in-depth interviews and participant observation in the Philippines and the UAE. Parreñas insightfully uses the term “unfree” to refer to domestic labor subjected to the employer’s arbitrary power exerted over their employee through the kafala program.
Parreñas explains with careful detail that kafala domestic workers are the legal responsibility of their employer and need the permission of their employer to transfer or terminate their job. There is significant variation in the treatment of domestic workers because employers have arbitrary power over their employees. There are what Parreñas calls “good” and “bad” employers who vary in the ways they interact with their employees. Unlike the dominant discourse about kafala, Parreñas takes a different vantage point by moving away from the framework of human trafficking, forced labor, or slavery to examine the movement of domestic workers across borders. Instead, the focus of the book addresses how the variation in employee treatment stems from the lack of labor regulations and inconsistent employment expectations. Parreñas points out that although Human Rights Watch and the International Labour Organization advocate for laws regulating labor standards, abiding by these guidelines is optional in the UAE.
One powerful example of Parreñas’ argument is how kafala results in the legal infantilization of domestic workers in the UAE and other Arab states because they are considered “household dependents of the employer rather than as dependent workers” (p. 129). While legal infantilization is present in other countries throughout the world, in the UAE, the employers are responsible for the actions of their employees. Unlawful sexual acts between unmarried individuals are a main justification for the restrictions placed on domestic workers’ ability to leave their home without a chaperone. The rich, in-depth interview narratives show that some employers have complete trust in their employees and allow them to have days off without a chaperone or knowing their agenda, while others either require supervised days off or are not offered days off at all. The subsequent chapters build on how the infantilization of employees is shaped by policies and encouraged across transnational spaces.
Another illuminating example can be found in chapter three, where Parreñas discusses why domestic workers value their employer’s moral character over extrinsic conditions such as wages or vacation days, when considering their job satisfaction. Food access and consumption was surprisingly the moment where domestic workers showed a great sense of both vulnerability and gratitude to their employers. While some employees were given food allowances and encouraged to purchase their own food, mostly from Filipino markets nearby, others were subjected to eating the food cooked or provided to them by their employers. However, the employer’s generosity might be limited or they might complain about the purchases that the employee makes. Again, cogently bringing out the arbitrary power that employers have over the employee’s actions and decision-making ability, Parreñas shows how domestic laborers are unfree.
While most of the book focuses on employer and employee interactions under kafala legislation, Junna’s captivating account provides a nuanced perspective about the treatment of domestic laborers. Junna’s employer of Indian origin restricts the type and amount of food she can consume. In turn, she often relies on the kindness of neighbors and the employers of other domestic workers for food. This example could have led to a deeper discussion about what motivates employers to help domestic laborers who are not their employees. Providing a bit more context about the ethnic, national origin and racial composition of households in the UAE could help those who are unfamiliar with the region to understand the demographic variation. Parreñas’ thought-provoking analysis of the employers’ moral character and demographic variation is groundbreaking and has surely advanced the discourse on migrant domestic labor through these nuances.
Overall, Parreñas provides a focused and well-written account of Filipina domestic labor experiences under kafala in the UAE. This book could be used in advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate-level courses on gender, immigration, or research methods. Migration and human rights organizations would benefit from using this book to reconsider labor migration policies. Scholars could use this book to advance their research on domestic labor migration and the infantilization of women’s work.
