Transnational Domestic Workers

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Migration can be defined as a process in which non-nationals move into a country for the purpose of settling there for a defined period of time. In other words, migration is simply a movement that encompasses the element of residing in a new area. One predominant episode of migration that began in the twentieth century and continues today is the international migration of domestic workers that fulfill acts of social reproduction in foreign countries. Scholar Ryan Urbano defines domestic workers as “employees paid by individuals or families to provide elderly care, childcare, or housecleaning in private homes.” This episode of migration is voluntary in which workers migrate through their own agency to become a labourer in a foreign state. Through a combination of political, social, environmental, and economic factors, domestic workers tend to migrate from less economically developed countries characterized as Third World countries to more economically developed countries identified as First …show more content…
A central theme is transnationalism which regards the movement of people across borders who maintain relationships with various people and cultures simultaneously. This lens depicts that people are connected with each other, as reflected by the migrants who retain ties in several geographical locations. This generates transnational families across the globe. Also, a particular characteristic of the twentieth century incorporates the theme of feminization of migration in which an increasing amount of women are moving from one area to another. Lastly, the theme of globalization has served a recursive correspondence with migration as states become increasingly connected. Processes taking place around the world such as acts of labour, travel of capital, and the movement of people occur at a scale above a national level, that is, transnationally and extend throughout the