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Rethinking differences and inequality at the age of globalization

A case study of white immigrant domestic workers in the global city of Chicago
Shu-Ju Ada Cheng
Department of Sociology, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to use the case of white immigrant women domestics experiences in migration to demonstrate that their work experiences are different due to their whiteness. While their racial identity provides them with white privileges, they still face discrimination based on their occupational and immigrant statuses. The case study adds to existing literature on domestic service. Design/methodology/approach The case study is based on several years of ethnographic work. The author conducted in-depth interviews with Polish immigrant women and white female employers. The author also held focus groups with Polish women. Findings White immigrant women from Poland do not automatically assume the white racial identity in the USA. Their whiteness is constructed and reinforced through their interactions with their white female employers. Their whiteness renders their experiences different from racial minority women and immigrant women of color. However, Polish domestics construct their positive work identity to counteract the negative images about them and domestic service as an occupation. Research limitations/implications The main limitation the author sees is that the author could have conducted interviews with Mexican immigrant women to compare the differences in terms of their working conditions. Practical implications While Polish domestics seem to have better experiences than other groups of immigrant women, domestic workers are excluded from the labor law. They are thus without the protection of labor law. It is important for us to work for the right of immigrant workers to eradicate the inequality in society. Social implications This case shows that the transnational labor migration contributes to further inequality in society since it is usually the migrant workers who take up the low skilled or unskilled work that has few possibilities for promotion and has few benefits. The government needs to address the transnational migration process and the exploitation of migrant workers ensuing from the process. Originality/value Polish immigrant women are a unique group of women mainly because they are among the few white women who perform domestic service. Their experiences are different from racial minority women and immigrant women of color. Merging the whiteness approach and domestic service is an innovative approach. Keywords Gender, Immigrants, Qualitative research, Women workers Paper type Research paper

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Received 15 July 2012 Revised 28 October 2012 20 December 2012 21 January 2013 Accepted 22 January 2013

Introduction: the globalization of domestic service and the case of polish immigrant domestics During the second wave womens movement in the 1960s and 1970s in the USA, racial minority feminists critique mainstream white middle class feminists main political agenda on gender inequality. They argue that the system of gender inequality alone does not account for racial minority womens experiences. Black feminist scholar Kimberly Williams Crenshaw (1989) conjures the term intersectionality to denote black womens triple oppressions of gender, race, and class. Bell Hooks (1999), a black feminist

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intellectual, also stresses the inter-linkage of gender, race, and class identities. Patricia Hill Collins (1992) uses the term matrix of domination to describe the interlocking systems of oppression. Black feminists contributions lie in their questioning of universalizing and essentializing the category of woman. Feminists of colors arguments about womens different positions along social hierarchies continue to reflect the reality of contemporary US society. The inequality between women has worsened in the past few decades under neo-liberal global capitalism. Labor migration is a good example. The rapid process of globalization has contributed to the feminization of labor migration, through which women from developing countries and regions travel to newly developed and developed countries and regions to work as live-in or live-out domestic workers. The increasing movement of people from developing countries in search of work in developed countries is partially due to structural adjustment programs, unemployment, underemployment, poverty, and state-driven labor export policy, such as the case of the Philippines (Rodriguez, 2010). According to International Organization of Migration, 49 percent of current migrants are women. The demand for domestic service by middle class women in developed countries and the provision of domestic labor by migrant women in developing countries result from a historical unequal development between nations and regions. The globalization of domestic service highlights gender, race, class, national, and global inequalities. In this paper, I focus on the case of Polish immigrant domestics in the USA. I examine inequality between white women, more specifically, white female employers and white Polish immigrant domestic workers in Chicago, a global city emerging in the 1990s. I study relationships between white women and focus on the city of Chicago for a couple of reasons. Classical scholarship on domestic service in the USA (Rollins, 1987; Romero, 1992) and contemporary scholarships on global domestic service generally focus on power dynamics between women of different racial identities (Chin, 1998; Hondagneu-Sotelo, 2003; Lan, 2006; Parrenas, 2001). Few scholars examine experiences of white immigrant domestics. Helma Lutzs (2011), most recent work on experiences of Polish domestics in Germany is an example. White women constitute part of the migration flow, e.g. women from Eastern Europe. With the dismantling of socialist states and the unstable transition to capitalist economies, many eastern Europeans move to Western Europe or the USA for work. Benefits for their migration are mostly financial. Statistics suggest that remission from temporary migrants amounts to 6.4 billion euros in 2005 for Poland, or 2.5 percent of Polish GDP. In terms of domestic workers, according to WIEGO, an organization representing women in the informal economy, there are more than 1.2 million domestic workers in Italy (Andall, 2000; Cole and Booth, 2007). More than 50 percent of migrants are domestic workers. The dynamics between white employers and white domestics are qualitatively different from those between white women and women of color. Examining inequality between them is thus important and adds to existing scholarship on domestic service. According to the US Census Bureaus 2008 American Community Survey, there were around 478,569 Polish born Poles, mostly half of them entering the USA before 1990s. The majority of them were concentrated in Illinois. As for their educational level, they were about the same as native born Americans. They were mostly concentrated in manufacturing, educational service, health care, service industry, and construction. While Poles may not be the top immigrant groups in the USA, they are the fourth largest group in Chicago, which has the largest Polish population outside Warsaw. Polish diaspora, Polonia, has existed in the USA for over 100 years. Even though Polish immigrants, along with German and Irish immigrants, were not seen as white, they

have gradually assimilated into American society and become one of the major white ethnic groups (Roediger, 2006). With the assimilation of American born Poles, there has been tension between native born Polish Americans and new Polish immigrants (Erdmans, 1998). The tension often lies in what it means to be Polish and their different agendas. While immigrant women of color from Latin America, Asia, and Africa dominate domestic service in other global cities, such as New York and Los Angeles, Polish women constitute a majority along with Mexican women in this occupation in Chicago. It is, therefore, essential to examine their experiences as white women. With the well-established presence of Polish community and the dominance of Polish women in domestic service in Chicago, the city would be a good case study. I examine narratives of both white female employers and white Polish domestics in the following. With white female employers, I focus on whiteness since race is central to their material practices and to the larger society as a whole. With Polish domestics, I focus on how they construct racial/ethnic as well as work identities in response to their socially perceived inferior work status. Their identity construction is a form of resistance against interpersonal and structural discrimination. The discussion on these two groups of women shows interactional and structural natures of identity formation. Domestic service in the USA and global context Classical literature on domestic service in the USA and recent literature on the global domestic service have similar foci. They also emphasize different central concerns in this occupation. In the following, I review some important literature in the field of domestic service. Rollins (1987) and Romero (1992) are considered two major scholars on domestic service. These two studies highlight the gender, racial, and class inequality embedded in this occupation. Rollins work focusses on the relationship between black domestics and white female employers. Coming from the socio-psychological perspective, she explores the intricacy of unequal power dynamics between these two groups of women. Two central dynamics are important for discussion. One is white womens maternalism toward black domestics. Black domestics are often perceived to be childlike and unsophisticated. White womens maternalistic attitude creates a form of dominance in their relationship. Positioned in an inferior status, black women are unable to respond to these unequal interactions with dignity. Another central issue is white employers claim that they treat black domestics like one of the family. This rhetoric creates a personal relationship that can often oblige domestics to accept unreasonable requests and thus increases the possibility for exploitation. Rollins socio-psychological approach portrays intricate unequal power dynamics at the interpersonal level between white and black women. With a structural perspective, Romero (1992) examines experiences of Chicana domestics. She focusses on the organizational structure of work and discusses how these women workers restructure the work structure and work process to their advantage. For example, Chicana domestics choose to live out in order to gain personal as well as work independence. The live-out choice allows them to set the boundary of work, so they are not on call 24 hours a day as experienced by many live-in domestics. This choice increases their job opportunities and, therefore, they have options for employers. To further their advantage, Chicana domestics set their fee based on jobs as opposed to hours. This strategy of job work allows them to make use of their efficiency, so they can schedule as many cleaning jobs as possible. In addition to the above strategies of

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restructuring work, they also reshape their relationship with their employers and make it more business-like. A business-like relationship reduces the possibility for exploitation. Chicana domestics strategies signify a form of resistance. Feminist scholars (Anderson, 2000; Chin, 1998; Lan, 2006; Lutz, 2011; Parrenas, 2001) have produced abundant scholarship on domestic service in other national contexts. It is a response to the feminization of labor migration as well as to the rampant human rights abuse against migrant domestics. Anderson (2000), who has done much research on migrant women in England, explores migrant workers in the north. One central construct in her discussion is the global commodification of domestic service. She argues that migrant domestics sell not only their labor but also their personhood. For example, subservience is expected to be part of domestics performance and role. She also points out that the division of public and private sphere, with white middle class women occupying the former and migrant women occupying the latter, raises the question of whether a feminist alliance is possible. The debate about the feminist alliance between employers and domestics has yet to be settled even though the dichotomous representation of oppressors and victims is considered as too simplistic. Parrenas work (2001) discusses migrant Filipina domestics in Rome. The Philippines is the second largest labor exportation nation in the world, next to Mexico. The large outmigration of Filipinos is partially a result of the aggressive state labor export policy. She points out that the migration of women from developing countries to developed countries to provide reproductive labor constitutes an international gender division of labor as well as an international racial division of labor. Two major issues worth mentioning here are distant mothering and womens positioning in global hierarchies. Filipino migrant women have to mother their children from a distance while taking care of other womens children. At the same time, the children are left to female relatives to care, such as sisters, mothers, and aunts. Further, some migrant women, particularly those who are middle class, hire domestic workers in the Philippines to care for their children. There are thus hierarchical tiers in the global system occupied by women of different racial, class, and national identities, with white middle class women in the west on the top of the global economy, migrant domestics from the Philippines in the middle, and domestics left in the Philippines at the bottom of the global care economy. In addition to the exploration of the global political economy of care, other scholars examine the linkage between state policy and working and living conditions of migrant domestics. Chin (1998) examines Filipina and Indonesian live-in domestics in Malaysia. She connects the state policy, the Malaysian middle class, and the importation of migrant domestic workers. She argues that the Malaysian state promotes the development of the middle class through the importation of migrant domestics. While the state allows the entry of domestics, the Malaysian Government also controls their stay in Malaysia. For example, migrant women have to live with their employers. They are not allowed to change their employment. They have to go through pregnancy test every six months and would be deported if they get pregnant. They are not allowed to marry locals. The restrictive state policy controls the racial composition of the nation as well as maintains its national identity through monitoring and scrutinizing migrant womens bodies and sexuality. The immigration policy is thus embedded with gender, sexual, and racial ideologies. Similarly, Stasiulis and Bakan (2005) also discuss the racialized state policy and the Canadian Governments differential treatment of migrant women of different racial identities. Canada starts to import domestics since the early twentieth century. The original source of domestic workers is white women from Europe. These white

women are often deemed as potential wives of Canadians and mothers of future generations for the Canadian nation. They are automatically provided with residence status once they arrive in Canada. Since the middle of the twentieth century, Canada allows women from the Third World to enter as domestics due to the dwindling number of white women for domestic service. Women from the Third World are not given residence status while white women continue to be provided with citizenship status. The Canadian Government discontinues the racialized practice after protests from the public. Currently, Third World women have to fulfill certain restrictions for two years before they can acquire residence status. They have to work as live-in domestics, cannot change their employment, and cannot change employers. Tying domestics with their employers creates possibility for abuse and exploitation. The Canadian Governments previous differential management of white migrant women and migrant women of color and current restrictions for immigrant women workers also demonstrates the racializatiom of its immigration policy. Lans work (2006) focusses on Filipina and Indonesian domestic workers in Taiwan. An important construct she explores in her study is that of boundary work. The boundary work through material practices by Taiwanese employers has symbolic meanings. The boundary work, such as the separation of food, the segregation of household space, the delegation of tasks, the control of time, and the restrictions on the movement of domestics, is symbolic in delineating the power inequality as well as differential statuses between these two groups of women. These practices, materially and symbolically, denote racial differences and racial hierarchy. Another important point she makes is employers changing preferences for domestics of different nationalities. With Filipina domestics increasing demands for labor rights, Taiwanese employers now prefer hiring Indonesian domestics, whom they perceive as docile and subservient, and thus easy to manage and control. Besides the discussion of above constructs, she also points out similar restrictive immigration regulations for migrant women workers that aim at controlling the racial composition of the nation. She examines the media constructions of these women as the other, which provokes the concern of the general public as well as employers. All these combine to compel employers to adopt problematic practices that can possibly lead to exploitation. Lutzs (2011) study examines women from Eastern Europe and Latin America in Germany. Two concepts are important in her work, including do ethnicity and do family. With the concept of do ethnicity, Lutz argues that German employers deploy strategies to heighten their ethnic identity and thus differentiate themselves from migrant domestics. On the other hand, migrant domestics from these two regions also actively construct their ethnic identity in their interactions with German employers. For migrant domestics, this practice of doing ethnicity helps them continue to maintain their ethnic identity in the foreign land. Do family is similar to the concept of distant mothering discussed earlier. She explores the different strategies women from different regions utilize to care for their children. With the shorter distance between Poland and Germany, Polish women are able to engage in circular migration and return home more frequently as opposed to women from Latin American. The different distant mothering from these two groups of women creates distinctive effects and results for their mothering experiences. Through telling stories, she discusses some womens regret in working abroad in that their overseas employment changes their close relationships with their children. In addition, it destroys their relationships with their husbands/ partners and restructures the gender dynamics at home. Overseas work, while enabling them to gain financial and personal independence, brings heartbreak.

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Similar to Anderson, Lutz raises the issue concerning the alliance between employers and domestics. For her, alliance between these two groups of women is possible. Hondagneu-Sotelo (2003) examines living and working conditions of Mexican and Central American women in Los Angeles. One thing important to point out is her discussion of undocumented immigrant women. Undocumented women, to avoid the detection of the immigration authority, prefer to work as live-out domestics. Due to their undocumented status, they lack the negotiation power to better their working conditions, particularly wage, and to demand rights since they fear being reported. Toward the end of the book, she ponders on questions as to how we can best protect the rights of migrant domestics and whether eradicating domestic service and refusing to hire domestics would be the solution to eliminate abuse and exploitation. She argues that eliminating domestic service is not the solution in that domestic work provides immigrant women with a valuable job opportunity, particularly for those who support their family back home. Refusing to hire domestics is not the answer for feminists either. The key is that we respect their working conditions as employers as we would for workers with labor rights. Finally, similar to other scholars, she points out the necessity to include domestic service in the labor law, to regard domestic work as work, and to respect domestics as workers. Incorporating domestic service in the labor law is the first step toward bettering the rights of migrant domestics, or domestic workers in general. In the above review of studies on domestic service, I focus on central issues and concepts important to the field. Through case studies, scholars compare differences and similarities in different national and regional contexts. The discussion also shows that the concept of intersectionality can be applicable and be expanded to include the interconnection of gender, race, class, sexuality, nationality, and the global system. In the following, I examine narratives of white female employers and Polish domestics and show how the theoretical construct of whiteness is utilized by the former to construct the racial identity of Polish domestics and how the latter responds to the racial/ethnic construction. I utilize the theoretical framework of whiteness for this study since race is central to white female employers and significant in shaping the interactions between these two groups of women within the private household. Ethnography and methodological reflections This paper comes out of a larger ethnographic project. The data were solely based on qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews, focus groups, and participant observation (Hume and Mulcock, 2004; Morgan, 1996; Rubin and Rubin, 2011). In all, 45 in-depth interviews were conducted with Polish immigrant women and 35 in-depth interviews with white female employers. Follow-up interviews were carried out with most of the interviewees. Interview questions were semi-structured, with topics on migration decision, employment experiences, family dynamics, and racial/ethnic and work identities. The method of participant observation was also utilized and five Polish women were accompanied to their jobsites for me to observe their work. For the observation, my goal was to watch how they organized the work process to achieve the maximum efficiency. During the participant observation, field notes were taken. More open-ended questions were asked after the observation about why they organized their work a certain way. In addition, five focus groups were conducted with Polish domestics with discussions concentrating on their work and racial/ethnic identities. The number of participants was usually between 10 and 15. The in-depth interviews with both groups of women lasted from an hour and a half to two hours.

The observation usually lasted about three hours. The focus groups lasted about an hour and a half. Interviews were fully transcribed and data were coded. Similar patterns as well as differences within the experiences of each group of women were identified. The method of snowball and purposive sampling was used to recruit domestics and employers due to the dispersed nature of these two populations. Personal networks, such as friends, colleagues, neighbors, students, and their personal networks were utilized to locate research subjects. In addition, more research subjects were located through working with a labor organizer who assisted Polish domestics. Using snowball sampling has some major limitations. One is the inherent bias in using personal networks. While qualitative methods allowed me to acquire rich materials, the limited sample size meant that the result could not be generalized for the following reasons. The experiences of these immigrant domestics in Chicago would be different from those in other cities due to the particular nature of domestic service in the city. Sampling a small size in Chicago would not be representative of immigrant domestic workers in other cities. In addition, all Polish domestics work in downtown and the north side of Chicago and all employers live in these neighborhoods as well. This geographical limitation also created issues of representativeness and generalizability. Finally, since there was a wide range of differences in terms of variables, such as age, education, class, immigration status, and years of working experiences, these differences further reduced the size for each variable, thus creating similar problems. To understand domestics and employers thoughts and actions requires qualitative methods, in-depth interviews in particular. There are complications involved in conducting in-depth interviews with these two groups of women. One major issue with interviewing Polish immigrant domestics is language and translation (King and Horrocks, 2010). While some women have been in the USA for close to or more than ten years, quite a few women have only been in the country for a couple of years or shorter. Their language is proficient enough. For these women, a couple of Polish American women in Polish were recruited to translate the conversations. While these two Polish Americans grew up speaking Polish, their Polish would be different from that spoken by Polish immigrants. While they double checked with each other about the accuracy of their translation, this method still created issues at two levels. For example, did these two Polish Americans accurately translate my questions and convey their precise meanings? Did these immigrant women fully understand them and thus answer questions based on intended meanings? This is particularly important for questions concerning race and ethnicity (Twine and Warren, 2000). The definitions and concepts of race and ethnicity are different in Europe and in Poland. The definitions of these two terms used in the interviews were understood in academia in the USA. These two concepts are already difficult for native speakers outside of academia to grasp, not to mention immigrants, even if they have been in this country for a long time. It is thus difficult to know whether they understood and answered questions in a precise way. Another important issue is related to sensitive questions and the level of trust, which many feminist scholars have explored in their research and proposed strategies (Hesse-Biber and Yaiser, 2003; Naples, 2003; Sprague, 2005). In-depth interviews often involve questions that are sensitive in nature. Research subjects need to have a certain level of trust toward researchers in order to answer questions truthfully. In the case of employers, questions such as their treatment of domestics, family dynamics, and gender division of labor are rather sensitive. For example, they may exaggerate the equality in their household in order to appear equal to their husbands/partners.

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This raises the question as to how we can cultivate trust with them. Several strategies are useful. Researchers can explain to the interviewees in the beginning of the interview that they would not judge them based on their responses. Researchers can further stress that they should answer questions only based on their comfort level and they could stop the interview at any time. Researchers should probably refrain from asking sensitive questions during the first interview. They can approach sensitive questions once research subjects feel more comfortable and have more trust after the first interview. Researchers can ask sensitive questions during the second interview. They should frame questions in a way that would be non-threatening, non-intrusive, and non-judgmental. Of course, researchers cannot expect to build much trust only based on two interviews. This is no comparison to the trust and intimacy created in traditional ethnographic work, through which ethnographers immerse themselves in the group under study (Mclean and Leibing, 2007). These strategies were helpful to my research. Another critical strategy for building trust is to reduce the power inequality between researchers and research subjects. There often exists unequal power dynamics between them based on gender, race, class, sexuality, and citizenship status. For example, my privileged class and academic statuses might deter immigrant women from revealing their thoughts and feelings truthfully. Reducing the unequal power relationship might shorten our distance. This might assist in building trust, thus facilitating more mutual and equal exchanges. Developing trust through time and non-threatening questions is one way for research subjects to feel comfortable answering questions. However, while it might be our hope that this strategy would work, the question how we ensure the validity of their answers remains (Kirk and Miller, 1985). A few strategies were utilized in my research to address this particular issue. To verify the validity of employers answers, their domestics were interviewed if possible to assess their validity and truthfulness. Also, interactions between employers and domestics were observed. To assess the validity of domestics answers, individual interviews and focus group conversations were compared to see if there were contradictions. Based on my observation, Polish women seemed to feel more comfortable sharing their true feelings and thoughts in front of their friends and other Polish women. While these strategies may not be perfect, they did work well in quite a few situations in my case. Researchers framing of questions is always based on the theoretical lens they bring to the field. While our goal is to acquire data that could respond to our research questions, asking leading questions to gain preferred answers in order to fit our preset agenda is a form of theoretical imposition or epistemic violence. To avoid soliciting correct answers, a couple of strategies can be effective. The first strategy is to craft questions that are non-leading and neutral. The second strategy is to ask broad questions that allow research subjects to answer as they interpret them. Researchers can then solicit more elaborations without imposing any preset parameters and expectations. This strategy requires researchers to constantly check their embedded biases (Hammersley, 1999). This strategy worked well throughout my research project. How to interpret data is also an issue qualitative researchers struggle with (Feldman, 1994). Do we accept research subjects interpretations as they are or do we provide our interpretations as we see fit? This is particularly tricky when we disagree with subjects interpretations. Qualitative researchers, feminist scholars in particular, have debated about this issue for decades (Bloom, 1998; Kirsch, 1999). Some believe that researchers should accept research subjects interpretations in order to preserve

their voices. To avoid any contradictions, some researchers present their interpretations to subjects and allow them to respond. Some present both subjects and researchers interpretations in the text to allow readers to make their own judgments. Feminist sociologist Dorothy Smith (1989) argues that, while research subjects interpretations are important, we as social scientists are able to and should provide critical views as to how social structures operate and constrain ones actions. Research subjects may not be capable of analyzing the impact of structural systems. Social scientists critical analysis is thus an important contribution in advancing our understanding of research subjects conditions. Biases and subjectivity are often cited as major epistemological flaws for qualitative methods. Qualitative researchers argue that one way to reduce subjectivity and biases is to recognize how ones social positions and identities might shape the way one conducts research. Feminist researchers often present their social locations in the beginning of their texts as a way to acknowledge their particular lens, thus biases and subjectivity. Reflexivity is an important strategy for qualitative researchers to establish certain level of credibility (Hertz, 1997). The above are major epistemological and methodological issues that have emerged during my research. Above issues were chosen for discussion because they compelled me to reflect upon my methods and address possible pitfalls throughout the process. Hopefully, my constant reflections have assisted me in doing better research. Narratives of white female employers: whiteness, sameness, and differences I discuss narratives of white female employers and Polish domestics in the next two sections. In the following, I first discuss narratives of white female employers. I explore what Polish domestics white racial identity means to them. Instead of treating their whiteness as a given, I show how Polish immigrant womens identity is constructed by white employers. In addition, I examine how and why white employers treat Polish and Mexican domestics differently. I demonstrate Polish domestics as white and Mexican domestics as the racial other make the difference in white employers perceptions and practices. Hard working, reliability, and honesty Joining the labor force and having children are two major reasons for many employers to hire domestics. When they are full-time housewives, they are able to do housework on their own. Once they start working outside home, they no longer feel they could balance work and family. One major reason is because their husbands/partners play no role in sharing housework and childcare or, as many of them describe, they help out. The burden of the second shift forces them to hire a domestic. Almost all employers first think of Polish domestics when they decide to hire someone. They all emphasize that Polish people are hard working, reliable, and honest. They are reasonable in terms of their fee. They trust them easily. The procedure of hiring is similar in many cases. The domestic usually first comes to clean once or twice. They would then make their decisions based on multiple factors. While some articulate their decision-making based on performance, others state their impression of the domestics hardworking attitude, reliability, and honesty as the reason for their decision. Shared culture and shared modernity A few employers state that Polish immigrant women know how to do things and use appliances. They mention that, based on what their domestics tell them, while it is

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different in Poland, they can learn quickly in the USA. As a result, some employers assume that these two countries are not that different in terms of socioeconomic development. It seems that the perceived shared modernity is an advantage for Polish domestics. This perception does not apply to Mexico, which they consider as a developing country. Due to this unfavorable perception, Mexican domestics are at a disadvantageous position. A few employers use the term culture to explain why Polish domestics learn quickly. Interestingly, instead of comparing Poland and America, they would use Europe to indicate Poland. For example, Grace, a 39-year-old secretary, explains with some difficulties:
I dont mean our cultures are the same. They are not. Europe. America. But then when we talk about values, they are similar. Like, mmm, good work ethics. Polish people work hard. That is the same.

These employers feel it is beneficial to have domestics who share similar culture and come from a country of similar socioeconomic development. It reduces differences and increases sameness and thus familiarity. Culture equalizing race: a bond through whiteness Every employer who uses the term culture struggles with its meaning. Some employers equate culture with race. Kristen, an upper class woman, states:
I hired her because I thought it would be easier to communicate. I mean culturally. We would be more similar [y] We would be closer.

I pressed her to elaborate what she meant by being closer. It took Kristen a few times to get to the point:
I dont know. Closer. Culturally. I cant explain [y] Maybe white culture? We both are white. I think thats what I meant.

For these employers, culture equalizes race. Whites have the same culture, so they feel comfortable with white domestics. Race is an important factor in deciding how they choose their domestics. As scholars such as Haney-Lopez (1997) argue, whiteness is a social construction, historically, discursively, and legally. Whiteness is a process of becoming. Even though Polish Americans are already considered as whites, the rhetoric of these white female employers helps construct the whiteness of Polish domestics, particularly that of recent immigrant women. Polish immigrant womens white racial identity is not a given. It is a construction, by white employers in this case. Comparing Mexican and polish domestics: white or brown? A few employers have had experiences with both Polish and Mexican domestics. I am interested in the following questions. Why do they switch from Mexican to Polish women or vice versa? What is the basis for their decisions? What are their experiences with these two groups of women? Do they treat them differently? Better communication Some employers want someone with language skills, so they can have better communication. Interestingly, they do not necessarily realize that many Polish women are recent immigrants and may not speak English. They easily assume that Mexican women are immigrants, thus making them weary of the language barrier.

There are various reasons for the need for better communication. For some, they are able to give specific instructions about how things should be done, thus ensuring the best work performance. For others, they want better communication to establish a more intimate and less business-like relationship. A more intimate relationship can have both positive and negative implications. Based on my interviews, many recent immigrant women prefer an intimate relationship. They want to be treated like part of the family. They want to feel a sense of belonging in a foreign country. Being treated like part of the family reduces some sense of isolation and alienation. They at times transfer their feelings toward their own family to their employers and treat them as their fictive kin. This is particularly true if their employers are older or if they care for children. However, an intimate relationship can have negative effects. An intimate relationship can reshape the work dynamics and make it more personal and less business-like. As Romero (1992) points out, a less business-like relationship makes it difficult for domestics to negotiate their working conditions. A personal relationship also makes it easy for employers to make demands and difficult for domestics to decline requests or to charge for additional requests, thus creating situations of exploitation. Immigrants as better workers For some employers, it is the idea that Mexican women are immigrants that they decide to hire them. They feel Mexican women would work harder because they are immigrants. As Alice articulates:
When I was trying to hire someone, I was thinking who I should hire. I heard that Mexican and Polish women are both good. For some reason I felt Mexican women would work harder. Immigrants work hard. I dont mean Polish women dont work hard [y] I just feel there is a difference. Not sure how to explain it.

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Issues of payment and management come into play as well. Some employers prefer Mexican women not only because they are immigrants but also because they are cheaper. For others, their immigrant status makes them docile and easier to manage. It thus renders them powerless to negotiate for better working conditions. Who can play with children? For some employers, childcare is the reason that they switch from Mexican to Polish women. They feel that Polish women are better suited for this task. They usually use culture as an explanation. Miranda explains:
I just feel Mexican women and I raise our children differently. There are cultural differences. I found this Polish girl. She cleans and she can babysit too [y] I think it would be a better match culturally.

Miranda uses cultural differences in child rearing to describe why she prefers Polish women. She further takes into consideration whether domestics have better interactions with children. As she elaborates:
I have two children. The Mexican woman I had was older. The children were not close to her. She watched them, but she did not interact with them. I hired this young Polish girl. She is young. She plays with the kids. The children love her. They did not need a lot of time to adjust to her.

For employers like Miranda, whether the domestic can interact with children is important. Female employers tend to hire young women for childcare even though they

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may not have child-child-rearing experiences. Polish women are usually described as young and able to interact with children while Mexican women would be described as older and unable to interact with children. Further, it is easier for children to relate to young Polish women. While white female employers prefer young Polish women because they interact with children, it is important to note that white Polish women are people their children can identify with and thus get close to. Cultural differences as they indicate are sometimes masks for racial differences, i.e. the shared whiteness between white female employers and white Polish women as well as the different skin color. Task assignment: who should do what? Some employers, particularly upper class women, have both Mexican and Polish domestics at the same time. I ask them how they assign tasks. A few employers base their decisions on what they perceive as the strengths of their domestics. The perceived strength is often associated with race. As Denise explains:
I have this young Polish girl [y] She babysits my kids when I need her. She plays with them. They like her. I have two Mexican women clean the house every week. The Polish girl is better with kids. The Mexican women have been with me for many years. They clean very well. They are good at cleaning and washing clothes.

Employers usually have young Polish women take care of children while Mexican domestics do housework. White Polish domestics are seen to be capable of intimate and emotional work while Mexican domestics are regarded to be better at physical labor. Their decisions are based more on racial difference. There is thus stratification between domestics of different races in terms of task assignment. Through task assignments, Polish domestics whiteness is accentuated while Mexican domestics as the racial other are affirmed. The above discussion shows that white immigrant women and immigrant women of color have different experiences in domestic service. White female employers simultaneously racialize both groups of women. Polish immigrant women are constructed as whites while Mexican women are constructed as the racial other. In that sense, Polish immigrant domestics have certain privileges because of their whiteness. However, while white female employers and Polish domestics share the same racial identity, their shared whiteness does not make their relationship more equal. Polish domestics are still immigrants, work in an occupation considered low skilled and low waged, and occupy an inferior position in relation to their employers. Their occupational status and immigrant identity mean that they continue to face discrimination, from their employers, other Polish immigrants, and Polish Americans. In essence, they are constructed the same and difference at the same time by their employers. I want to emphasize that the above discussion is not to paint all white female employers as oppressors. This is certainly not the case. My goal is simply to explain how some white employers construct Polish domestics whiteness and thus treat domestics of different races differently. For these employers, race is central for them and shapes their practices. This is not surprising since we live in a racially stratified society. Many employers I interviewed respect the rights of their domestics and view them as workers. Some deem domestics as professionals with skills and knowledge. They create a fair working environment and provide their domestics with benefits, e.g. extra pay for additional requests, annual raise, pay during vacations, and paying taxes and health insurance. These employers do not stand in opposition to their domestics. Their relationship engenders the possibility for building alliances.

Narratives of polish domestic workers: constructing identities and discursive resistance In the following, I discuss narratives of Polish immigrant domestic workers on issues of racial/ethnic as well as work identities. These narratives come from both individual interviews and focus groups. Since race plays an important role in white employers perceptions and practices, it is central for us to understand how Polish immigrant women conceptualize issues of race, ethnicity, nationality, and immigration. In addition, doing domestic work is an integral part of their lives. In response to prejudice and discrimination, how they view themselves through work is central. I examine how these women construct their work identity and how some dispute negative images of domestic service as an inferior occupation. Their identity construction is a form of discursive resistance and a way for them to feel dignified. Racial and ethnic identities: the social construction of whiteness Racial/ethnic identity is important for Polish domestics in that they are sensitive to how others perceive them as immigrants with an accent, particularly those who are recent immigrants. When interviewing these women, I encountered the problem of how best to translate race and ethnicity in a way that they could understand within the context of the USA. Race and ethnicity are not concepts that are easily grasped by them. For longer immigrants, they might be able to understand these constructs better since they have been immersed in the USA for several years. Polish domestics conceptualize their race and ethnicity in various ways. They emphasize different aspects often based on their duration of stay in the USA. Poland: ties to homeland and circular migration For recent Polish immigrant women, they tend to emphasize nationality as opposed to race/ethnicity. They state that, due to their accent, they are often asked where are you from by others, so they interpret it as a question about their nationality. They also interpret that others might just see them as tourists. They prefer to use the sentence I am from Poland as opposed to I am Polish as a signifier. It is not just because they are from Poland and they have national pride. It is also because they still have connections with their homeland. They continue to return to Poland from time to time. As Angelia states:
I always say I am from Poland. I prefer for people to know the country. I sometimes mention Warsaw because that is where I am from. I dont say Polish. I sometimes feel you have to be here for a long time to say that.

Rethinking differences and inequality 549

Saying that they are from Poland and their foreignness also shield them from feeling discriminated. It makes them feel fine that their language is not as fluent as others might expect. Polish immigrants: caught in between Some Polish domestics, when asked where they are from or what their ethnicity is, tend to add how many years they have been here in addition to indicating that they are Polish. They want to feel that they belong, but they also want to emphasize that they are immigrants. This pattern is partially due to their sense of in-betweenness. They constantly feel that they are pulled from opposite directions or caught in between. As Agnes states:
I was asked a couple of times where I am from or my ethnicity. The first time the person used the word ethnicity, I did not understand. He changed to where are you from. I was a bit

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embarrassed. I thought I should know. I say I am Polish. I then mentioned how many years I have been here [y] I sometimes feel embarrassed by this question. I know this is because of the language. I have a strong accent. I just want to explain I have been here for several years. I plan to stay here.

550

For these Polish domestics, they are ambivalent about being asked about their nationality. They feel they are asked the question because of their accent. They use their immigration status to explain away their accent. However, disclosing their immigration status makes them feel they do not belong. Polish or polish Americans For some women who have American citizenship, they would not say they are Polish Americans when asked about their ethnicity. They feel Polish deep down regardless whether they have citizenship or not. They do not use their citizenship status to define themselves. For example, Broncia explains:
I feel Polish. My friends are Polish. I speak Polish most of the time. I eat Polish food. I dont like to call myself Polish Americans. I dont really feel American.

For some, they would emphasize that they are Polish Americans. They would be nervous whether others perceive them as immigrants. They are also proud of the fact that they acquire their citizenship. It does not necessarily mean that they abandon their Polish root. For some women, they try to instill their traditional value in their children and worry that their children become too Americanized. They sometimes regret that their children could not speak Polish, but they also understand that they need to have perfect English. Celina says:
I usually say I am Polish American. I came to this country because I wanted to have a better life for myself. Now I achieved it. My children are successful. I have a good life. I feel both Polish and American. I feel I am part of this country.

Whiteness and white privileges I ask them if they see themselves as white and what being white means to them. This concept is usually difficult for recent immigrants to grasp since they are not familiar with the racial politics in the USA yet. While they know African Americans are discriminated, they do not necessarily connect that with blackness and whiteness. For women who have been here for many years, they are articulate about racial politics in the USA. Interestingly, they do not necessarily define themselves as white even though they know American society defines them as such. They sometimes compare racial discrimination to ethnic stereotypes.
I dont see myself as white. I am Polish. That is how I see myself. That is who I am. I know blacks are discriminated. Sometimes Polish people are discriminated too. There are stereotypes about us.

I mentioned that white employers liked to hire them because of their white racial identity. They usually disputed this idea. They emphasize that Polish people work hard. That is their reputation. That is why employers hire them and like them. When I asked them if they felt they were treated better because they were white compared to Mexican domestics, they denied this statement as well. Zena explains:
We have good employers and bad employers. Good employers like us because we work hard. They are good because they are good people. Bad employers just dont respect us. I dont feel

we are treated better. We are treated terrible because they think we are low and because we clean their house. I dont feel I am treated better.

Polish domestics tend to utilize their work and immigration statuses to dispute the idea that they have white privileges. They emphasize that they are discriminated because what they do and because they are immigrants. They stress that they face discrimination and prejudice even from Polish Americans. Polish domestics have their own conceptions of racial/ethnic identities. They tend to dismiss their white racial identity and white privileges. However, it does not necessarily mean that they do not know the racial politics in the USA. When discussing their white racial identity, they stress their experiences of discrimination due to their work status. Work identity: self-definitions and discursive resistance Gendered work, daughterhood, and motherhood Some Polish immigrant women follow the traditional cultural ideology that defines housework as womens work. They used to watch their mothers do housework and help out as daughters. Working as domestics is simply a continuation of what they used to do or what they currently do at home. They do not necessarily see this gender norm as oppressive. Natalia, 22-year-old, is in the USA by herself. She uses her work as a daughter to form her work identity:
I dont mind doing what I am doing. It is a job I need to support myself. That is fine [y] I did housework and helped my mom. I know how to clean. It is just the same. I feel like I am doing housework at home. I dont feel devalued. I am doing what I was taught to do.

Rethinking differences and inequality 551

Agnes, who has three children, explains the meaning of working in domestic service for her as a mother:
I have three children. It is expensive to live here. School costs a lot of money. We are trying to buy a house. I have to work to support my children. We need to save money [y] It is my job. We both need to work so we have enough money.

Regardless whether these women are single or have children, they believe housework as womens work. Quite a few women see their job as an extension of their responsibility as a mother to support their children and their family. They use the term equal contribution to indicate their role in the household. We might be inclined to view them as traditional or even oppressed, but they do not define themselves as such. Further, working as a domestic gives them the flexibility in terms of schedule and allows them to look after their children. For these women, working as domestics represent being a woman and a mother. Searching for freedom: a journey for independence and better living For younger immigrant women, leaving Poland signifies a journey for independence and freedom. They want to live their own lives. They wish to support themselves financially to achieve freedom. In addition, with the dismantling of socialist states, Poland has been experiencing economic instability. The prospect of a good job or even a job has declined considerably. It is difficult for young people to find jobs suitable for their education. Leaving Poland provides them with an opportunity to search for a suitable job and for a higher living standard. However, since they are new immigrants, they often have difficulty finding full-time jobs, mostly due to the limited language skill. A few of them are undocumented, so a

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regular job is out of the question. Being a domestic worker is usually seen as temporary. Anna, 20-year-old, moved to Warsaw for school. She had trouble finding a job. She did not want to depend on her parents financially. She would like to have a sense of freedom and independence. She came to the USA as a tourist and decided to stay. Even though her English is good, her undocumented status makes it impossible for her to find a full-time job. As she states:
I wanted to come to the United States for a long time [y] I finally decided to leave. I just wanted to have freedom. I am independent now. I dont need to depend on my parents. I earn my own money and making my own decisions about everything [y] There is no problem with what I do. I tell everyone that. I feel proud. I am educated. I am smart. I dont feel I am low because I clean houses. It is just for me to support myself.

552

For these young women, doing domestic work stems from their desire for freedom and independence. They do not feel ashamed about cleaning houses. They do not believe they lack dignity simply because they are domestic workers. Domestic service is mainly the route to a better future. Domestics as workers: the demand for labor rights Some domestics construct their work identity as workers with rights. As long as they fulfill their responsibilities, they should be able to make demands, such as asking for a raise, for better working conditions, and for extra money for additional requests. They believe employers have their obligations. Unfortunately domestic workers are not protected by labor laws in the USA. They do not enjoy benefits afforded to workers in other occupations. However, the identity as a worker is important for their dignity. As Sabina articulates:
I dont work for people who dont respect me. I dont allow that. I ask for a raise every year. I will tell them why I deserve it. When I ask for it, most of them give me the raise. If there is a problem, I talk to them. If there is a problem, they talk to me. That is totally fine. This is like the same with any type of work. I am a worker. I need to be treated well. I have rights. All my employers respect that.

Redefining domestics as workers and including domestic workers in labor laws have always been on the political agenda of national and global activists for domestic workers rights. Activists argue that devaluing domestic service is devaluing womens work and womens contribution to national economy. Women like Sabina strive to dispute the conventional view of domestic work as unskilled. They work to demonstrate that domestics should be viewed as workers with rights. Domestic workers as professionals: the identity of a career woman Some Polish women construct their work identity as professionals. They have been working as domestics for a long time and have knowledge and skills. Some have the ambition to own their own cleaning companies in the future. As Karolina states:
I believe housework is important. I take care of my children and do housework. If I do not do it, it would be a disaster. What would happen to my house and my children? I have to organize my time very well. I have worked for a few years. I learn how to clean efficiently. It is a lot of effort to clean. You really need to know how to organize everything and assess what is the best way to do it, so you dont waste time. I need skills to do that. I know the cleaning stuff and what works best for the kitchen, bathroom, the floor. That is why I am a professional. I have skills and knowledge.

Karolina shows that she is able to redefine her identity as a professional and domestic service as a profession. Interestingly, these womens employers also tend to have the perspective that housework entails skills and knowledge. The professional identity helps maintain these immigrant womens dignity in a socially devalued occupation. Doing vs being: other defining features of their lives For some women, doing domestic work is just a job. This job does not define them and it is separated from other aspects of their lives. They utilize other important identities to define themselves. Juliana is an example. Juliana teaches Polish in a couple of learning centers. Most students are Polish Americans who would like to learn the language and their heritage. Juliana cherishes her role as a teacher. She distinguishes the difference between doing and being:
I dont feel anything. I work. A lot of women do it. That is not who they are. This is just a job for me. I need money and it worked out fine. The money is good. The schedule is flexible [y] I also teach Polish. I see myself as a teacher. That job is more important to me.

Rethinking differences and inequality 553

For Polish domestics like Juliana, there is a difference between doing domestic work and being a domestic worker. These women do not see themselves as domestics. They have other defining identities that are more essential to them. In addition to the discursive resistance, Polish domestics also engage in material practices beneficial to them as workers, similar to Chicana domestics described by Romero (1992). She describes how Chicana domestics charge based on jobs or tasks as opposed to hours. This job work is an advantage for domestic workers. After learning ropes with cleaning services, many Polish immigrant women switch to work as independents, which ensures they take in all the earning. When they interview with employers, they make sure that the latter understands the way they charge, i.e. based on jobs and tasks. They would make clear right from the start what basic cleaning includes. They also charge for extra tasks and additional requests. They make sure their employers respect their skills and knowledge. Some reason with their employers when the latter intervenes or corrects the way they clean. Rather than suffering indignity under abusive employers, they quit, warn others, and report these employers to the labor organizer. If employers do not pay for any reasons, they resort to the legal system if possible, with the assistance of the labor organizer. In other words, they utilize various strategies to ensure their work is properly compensated, their rights protected, and their dignity maintained. Polish domestics narratives show that they resist discursively and materially. I want to stress that I do not intend to represent all Polish domestics as agents of resistance through the above discussion. Essentializing all of them as resisters is equally problematic as essentializing them as victims. My intention is simply to present their construction of positive identities as a way to counteract negative images about them and their occupation. If they are collectively and individually constructed as inferior because of what they do, then the above is to show their individual and collective attempts to deconstruct the externally imposed inferior status. Rethinking difference and inequality at the age of globalization In the above, I discuss narratives of white female employers and Polish domestics. As mentioned previously, studying the dynamics between white women provides us with the opportunity to understand an aspect less examined in the literature. Using domestic service as a case study to examine constructs of difference and inequality is

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554

useful at multiple levels. The inequality between these two groups of women is the result of unequal gender division of labor within the private household. The demand for domestic workers in advanced countries signifies unequal relationships between different countries and regions. This unequal transfer of gendered labor at the global system manifests itself at the most intimate sphere. The global domestic service connects the personal and the global. The transnational movement of women perpetuates inequality in intersectional systems of gender, race, class, nationality, and the global system. The dynamics between these two groups of white women situated at unequal positions allow us to understand the construct of difference. While white female employers focus on their shared whiteness, they also construct difference based on unequal class and citizenship statuses. Their practices produce a stratified system of whiteness that includes both difference and sameness. In other words, difference is intimately linked with sameness. Feminist scholars (Chin, 1998; Hondagneu-Sotelo, 2003; Lan, 2006; Lutz, 2011; Parrenas, 2001) and the global human rights community have made considerable impact on public policies concerning the rights of domestic workers. Their critiques of immigration policies have forced respective governments to remedy relevant regulations. However, the major effort comes from domestics themselves. In the USA, the New York State passes Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in 2010. This is the first bill in the nation to provide protections for domestic workers. This bill requires employers to follow requirements, such as weekly working hours, rest days, appropriate wage, and adequate living and working conditions. Further, in 2001, the International Labor Organization adopts the convention concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers. The convention is to ensure that governments worldwide will extend international standard labor rights to domestic workers as those granted to workers in other occupations, such as overtime compensation, minimum or higher wages, rest periods, social security, safety and health insurance coverage, and fundamental labor rights such as collective bargaining and freedom to association. The passage of the above labor laws is due to years of local, national, and global domestic workers rights movements. At the global level, International Domestic Workers Network (IDWN) is an international organization that works with national domestic workers groups. This activism-based international organization works with national organizations to develop strategies for changes. IDWN plays a major role in facilitating the adoption of the international convention mentioned above. National and global domestic workers rights movements show that domestic workers resist at individual, local, national, and global levels. Recent scholars of social movements have turned to understanding how social movements frame their collective identity as a strategy for protests (Polletta and Jasper, 2001). In the case of domestic workers, the global domestic workers rights movement utilizes its collective identity as the basis for solidarity and for activism. This project is an important addition to the existing feminist scholarship in that it examines the less known aspect of the global domestic service. Understanding white domestic workers experiences enables policy makers to take into consideration their different experiences. While Polish immigrant domestics have white privileges, they still face discrimination based on their gender, class, work, and immigration statuses, not only from their employers but also from other Polish immigrants and Polish Americans. Their experiences of discrimination might enable them to build alliances with immigrant women of color. This alliance would definitely enrich local, national, and global domestic workers rights movements.

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