Unfree: Migrant Domestic Work in Arab States

by Rhacel Salazar Parreñas

A stirring account of the experiences of migrant domestic workers, and what freedom, abuse, and power mean within a vast contract labor system.

In the United Arab Emirates, there is an employment sponsorship system known as the kafala. Migrant domestic workers within it must solely work for their employer, secure their approval to leave the country, and obtain their consent to terminate a job. In Unfree, Rhacel Salazar Parreñas examines the labor of women from the Philippines, who represent the largest domestic workforce in the country. She challenges presiding ideas about the kafala, arguing that its reduction to human trafficking is, at best, unproductive, and at worst damaging to genuine efforts to regulate this system that impacts tens of millions of domestic workers across the globe.

The kafala system technically renders migrant workers unfree as they are made subject to the arbitrary authority of their employer. Not surprisingly, it has been the focus of intense scrutiny and criticism from human rights advocates and scholars. Yet, contrary to their claims, Parreñas argues that most employers do not abuse domestic workers or maximize the extraction of their labor. Still, the outrage elicited by this possibility dominates much of public discourse and overshadows the more mundane reality of domestic work in the region. Drawing on unparalleled data collected over 4 years,this book diverges from previous studies as it establishes that the kafala system does not necessarily result in abuse, but instead leads to the absence of labor standards. This absence is reflected in the diversity of work conditions across households, ranging from dehumanizing treatment, infantilization, to respect and recognition of domestic workers.

Unfree shows how various stakeholders, including sending and receiving states, NGOs, inter-governmental organizations, employers and domestic workers, project moral standards to guide the unregulated labor of domestic work. They can mitigate or aggravate the arbitrary authority of employers. Parreñas offers a deft and rich portrait of how morals mediate work on the ground, warning against the dangers of reducing unfreedom to structural violence.

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction

221 pages, Paperback

First published October 12, 2021

Reviews

[Noora Al-Saai · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5. I will do a detailed review of this book very soon.

[Steven DelCuore · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a topic I'm interested in and enjoyed some of the information. However, much of this analysis felt incomplete. Mostly, there were brief segments of extreme employment abuse for Filipino migrant workers in the UAW. However, the author admitted going against Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, etc by disagreeing that this is slavery. Her counter arguement was that the notion was anti-arab, while other places do the same?!

At worst this book dives into human slavery and trafficking. Women are told they are "bought and owned"( and people even bought these workers on an app called 4SALE.) By definition, trafficking is coercive labor often from economic hardship and natural disasters with manipulation and false promises of well-paying jobs. This book vividly describes exactly this. Out of desperation from their home country, all are placed into a random home, sometimes not allowed to leave or eat adequately, lied about their pay, not given time off work. If they "abscond" from work (quit their jobs without filing the correct procedures) they can be fined several years of their salary, imprisoned, and banned from work they need to survive. Their employers still often hold onto their passports despite it technically being illegal. These are noncitizens and the laws and judiciary system is not intended to support their rights. The human rights violations are vast, and every page feels morally repugnant.

Then, part of the narrative seems entirely missed out. There needs to be some historical analysis on how this system has been put into place. (It seems to be excluded because the more explicit slavery didn't fit the narrative). How and why have laws been implemented and changed? Obviously, race, gender, socioeconomic, and lack of being enabled to UAE labor laws make these women an underclass of this society: that needed to be discussed too. A south east asian woman living in a random house and there's no discussion of sexual abuse - meanwhile, unmarried women who get pregnant is considered haram and SHE would be blamed. Why is post-colonial Philippines so vulnerable to this and what does this exploitation look like? None of this is explored deeply.

Some of the evidence was not properly cited and seemed genuinely incorrect. "In the UAE... employers must be cleared of past or pending cases of labor abuse." She says, obviously if this wasn't the case, then that would be human trafficking. Well, the note above this was garbage, I think it's safe to say this isn't the case. In the notes it says, "employers for instance cannot have a criminal record or past cases of abuse." Circular logic. I struggled to find ANY UAE legislation that concurs this. So yes, it is trafficking. She does her own survey on if women who returned to the Philippines would go back to another UAE job and finds most would. She uses this as evidence that these jobs can help Filipino women. But... obviously, there's a sampling issue. These women chose to do it the first time, and made it back safely. For example: "I asked 5 people who ate a the spiciest pepper in the world for 50 bucks if they would eat another, and I found they all would!!! Therefore, this is ethical for all people." lollll.

This was a book written by a sociologist that seemed to abandon core principles of the study. She placed an emphasis on the quality of the employer and whether they were a good or bad actor. As sociologists, we focus less on the individual but rather the social systems, laws, culture, enforcement, etc that perpetrate a PATTERN of abuse. How is this entire book not a pattern of abuse??? All she does is give examples, and then blames individuals...

Even more, her policy solution was genuinely idiotic. The people IN power need to implement "antipower" against themselves... Yea, wow, good one.

[harvey ☆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the research Parreñas represents is clear, sound, and thorough, it was the conclusions and organization of this book that frustrated me. First, I don't think simply reducing slavery criticisms of domestic work in the UAE as "Orientalist" is productive. While I'm sure perceptions of the Arab world as "primitive" play a role in some people's views, the humans rights groups that organize around domestic work are full of much more formally informed and knowledgable people who are using "slavery" as a rhetoric device to attempt to change laws. Additionally, she claims it's the ideas that has to be changed since the kafala relies on informal culture. Rather, it is the system of informality that enables vulnerability of domestic workers in the first place (and she confirms as much in her own analysis). I also thought the evidence she provided in general didn't lend itself to her conclusion. Each chapter has an emphasis on the variety of experience of migrant domestic workers, which isn't really proof that kafala isn't "structural violence" like she argues. As someone who grew up learning of American chattel slavery and learning of slaves who did have relatively "kind" owners, it doesn't mitigate the fact that the system they existed in was still slavery.
That said, what I did like about this book was the detailed descriptions of the lives and experiences of domestic workers. Her evidence was well thought out and described, I just didn't think it lended itself to the conclusions she drew.

[Emma Kerr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough research and analysis, and an interesting framework that rejects the most common narrative about domestic workers under the kafala system. I think the framework of Unfreedom as opposed to a binary freedom vs slavery makes sense as a valuable tool to highlight the systemic pressures that encourage moral ambivalence in employers, as well as the push and pull factors for voluntary worker migration.

[Natalie Ramos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prior to this book, I had no idea the extent of the use of migrant domestic workers. The system in countries such as the UAE allow for the exploitation of migrant domestic workers and the only is regulated by the morality of the employers. If you have heard of this issue I recommend reading this book and if you haven't you really should read it.

[Odi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate it not taking an orientalist approach, but it still feels wayy too apologetic