Borders and migrant domestic workers

Abstract

Border control is not simply about keeping people out; it is also concerned with producing, sorting and admitting migrants based on particular forms of differential inclusion. Significantly, borders and bordering practices lay bare the structural inequalities inherent in the global labour economy and forms of subordination that prevent migrant workers from participating as full members of society. This chapter builds on these critical insights to provide an overview of the role of borders in shaping the living and working conditions for migrant workers across various border domains, with a particular focus on migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong. Immigration regulations, visa requirements, labour market restrictions combined with the social devaluation of domestic work have placed migrant women in Hong Kong in a particularly precarious position. In response, migrant domestic workers turn to localized individual challenges and collective activism as part of their ongoing struggle for social justice.