Publication details
Au pair
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2013 |
| Type | Monograph |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | he book is based on ethnography of Slovak au pairs living in the London area and captures both experiences of au pairs and host families. 1st chapter focuses on motivations of migration.2nd chapter is discussion based on material culture. Chapter 3 describes the work of an au pair 4th chapter tackles racism. 5th chapter examines leisure activities of the au pairs. Chapter 6 looks at men. Chapter 7 moves to analysis of the time spent in London using the model of a rite de passage. This leads to the conclusion, where we examine consequences of temporality and informality of relationship between au pair and their hosts for the au pair institution. Finally the appendix provides a brief immersion of our study within the larger comparative study of domestic labour. We argue that exploitation and inequality follow from legal definition of au pairing and asymmetry of power in the relationship between au pairs and their hosts. We also show that asymmetry of power does is not only outcome of gender, class, ethnicity and immigration status, but age, language and power over materiality of home. |