Publics, Politics and Participation

(Wang) #1

154 Between Private and Public


n spite of the great differences in wealth, often exacerbated by neo-I
liberal policies of economic restructuring, labor migration from Asia to
the Middle East has not come about as an unmediated, natural process.
Often women have been actively induced to work abroad as domestics. In
some settings, such as the Philippines, state policies have actively encour-
aged international labor migration, and these workers’ remittances have
become a crucial source of income for the state as well as for individual
households. Indeed, the Philippine government has granted so-called
“Overseas Filippino Workers” (OFW) with the honorary status of “the new
heroes.” Recruitment agents—some licensed, many not—have also been
instrumental in inducing women to work abroad,^7 sometimes deceiving
them with respect to wage levels, conditions of employment and even
location of employment. Such deception is considered to fall within the
framework of human trafficking. In this sense, migrant domestic labor
ought also to be seen as forced migration, especially in the case of refugees.
ore generally, studies focusing on the motivations of women to M
migrate abroad indicate that it is often hard to distinguish between fam-
ily and individual strategies. Whereas many women argue that they leave
for the sake of their families (in order to provide a better future for their
children), some also leave in order to get away from abusive relationships
or to escape particular family demands.^8 Others continue to stay away as
they find it problematic to “fit in” again in their families of origin and see
advantages in remaining abroad.^9
f this is the wider context of migrant domestic labor in the Middle I
East, our research sites have their own specificities with respect to the
proportion of migrants to the national population and the patterns and
directions of migration. In the United Arab Emirates, a major oil exporter,
there are tremendous differences in terms of wealth and benefits between
the very small national population and the large majority of non-national
residents. By the mid 1990s 75% of the population and 90% of the labor
force was expatriate; estimates for Dubai are even higher.^10 This for-
eign labor force is employed in a wide range of fields and on many lev-
els of employment. In addition to manual labor, a considerable number
of migrants work in (semi-) professional jobs. As a result, a substantial
nonnational middle class has emerged. These Asian, Arab and Euro-
American expatriates also employ a large number of foreign domestic

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