Abstract

This article investigates the construction of the bodies of live-in Indonesian domestic workers in their employers’ homes in Malaysia. Through an analysis of everyday practices at the micro level, this study suggests that the spatiality of domestic work is central to the bodily construction of migrant workers. Surveillance and mobility restrictions in the employer’s home condition the worker’s body to be constantly productive. The body, at the same time, is inscribed with gender, racial and class differences. It is marked as deferential as a result of its proximity to the employer’s body in the enclosed space of the home. These practices take place at home, but they draw on practices by the host state and recruitment agencies. This suggests that bodily construction at the household level is inherently linked to national and global processes. Migrant domestic workers nevertheless may find themselves either adopting these constructions through self-discipline or resisting them to a limited extent. In doing so, the workers’ bodily performances bring the home into being as a performative space of power.

摘要

本文调查了在马来西亚雇主家中居住的印度尼西亚家庭佣工尸体的建造。本研究通过对微观层面日常实践的分析表明，家政工作的空间性是农民工身体建设的核心。雇主家中的监视和行动限制使工人的身体始终保持生产力。同时，身体也铭刻着性别、种族和阶级的差异。由于它在家庭的封闭空间中靠近雇主的身体，因此被标记为恭顺。这些做法在家里进行，但它们借鉴了东道国和招聘机构的做法。这表明家庭层面的身体建设与国家和全球进程有着内在的联系。然而，移民家庭工人可能会发现自己要么通过自律来接受这些结构，要么在有限程度上抵制它们。在这样做的过程中，工人的身体表演使家庭成为权力的表演空间。