Interpreting Their Powerlessness: The Case of Filipino Domestic Workers in Vancouver

Transcription

1 Interpreting Their Powerlessness: The Case of Filipino Domestic Workers in Vancouver by Grace B. Sanchez B.A., Simon Fraser University, 1988 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES Department of Anthropology and Sociology We accept this thesis as conforming to the reauired standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April 1995 Grace Sanchez, 1995

2 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis forfinancialgain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of Anthropology and Sociology The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada April 25, 1995

3 Abstract This thesis points to an oversight in the literature about foreign domestic workers. Foreign domestic workers have, too often, been portrayed as one-dimensional victims a group of powerless women vainly struggling for a respectable place in Canadian society. This portrayal, however, while it can explain their disadvantage along class and gender analyses, assumes a concept of power which dismisses their ability to resist. This thesis argues that foreign domestic workers, although occupying a highly disadvantaged position relative to others in society, are not only victims but actors. This argument acknowledges that their lives in Canada are only part of their grander life histories. When foreign domestic workers are placed at the centre of analysis, as subjects rather than objects, I was able to investigate a multifaceted notion of power. Fifteen foreign domestic workers from the Philippines were interviewed and specific questions were asked about their day to day lives, their background, and their ambitions. Their answers reveal a profound understanding of who they are as women, and as domestic workers. Some clearly understand the connections between the economic crisis in the Philippines and their role in that crisis. The interviews also show that domestic workers contemplated their situations beyond the present, and that they recount their lives in episodes of opportunities as well as constraints. Finally, what is most revealing is the strategies they employ to get through their days. Overall, the interviews with foreign domestic workers illustrate that when they are viewed as active social agents, they articulate power at various levels corresponding with their overlapping social roles and multiple levels of struggle. ii

4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract Table of Contents Acknowledgement ii iii iv Chapter One Introduction 1 Chapter Two Theory 17 Chapter Three Methods 43 Chapter Four Review of Domestic Worker Legislation and Related Programs 59 Chapter Five Agency and Power Among Domestic Workers 79 Chapter Six Conclusions 112 Bibliography j Table 1 Select Characteristics of Women Interviewed 131 Appendix A New Entrants to the FDM Program by Region of Origin 132 Appendix B Interview Questions 133 iii

5 Acknowledgement I am indebted to a number of people for their help with this thesis. For their support, patience and guidance, many thanks to the members of my supervisory committee: Dr. Neil Guppy, Dr. Gillian Creese, and Dr. Graham Johnson. Doug MacLaren, my husband, stood beside me the whole time. Without his love, understanding; encouragement and sense of humour, this work would not have been completed. I also wish to acknowledge my parents, Tomas and Josefina Sanchez, for their unfailing support. Finally, I am grateful for the help of the West Coast Domestic Workers Association, the Philippine Women's Centre, the Committee for Caregivers Rights, and all the women I interviewed who so selflessly shared their stories and wisdom with me. iv

6 Chapter 1 Introduction This study is based on a series of in-depth interviews of Filipino domestic workers in Vancouver. My interviews reveal that Filipino domestic workers, as social actors, occupy a highlydisadvantaged position in Canada. While they are "powerless" in a lot of ways, they also have a number of outlets for resistance. To label them powerless only reinforces their disadvantage because it encourages society to view them as helpless victims. It denies these women their history of struggle. It undermines the efforts of this group of international migrant workers to improve their economic status, and trivializes the tremendous sacrifice these women have already made and the hardships they have already endured. This contention is not meant to make heroines out of these women, but to reveal a perspective from the other side of our viewing lenses. Key to understanding this perspective is an understanding of how Filipina 1 domestic workers view their own powerlessness. The research I conducted reveals that Filipina domestic workers in Canada are social actors engaged in purposive acts designed to improve their longrterm social, economic, and political status. This thesis begins from the position that the perspectives and insights of Filipina domestic workers about their own subordination can contribute to further understanding of questions about social inequality and feminist social science research. The term "powerlessness" as used in this work is fraught with meaning and is a central issue in this thesis. It is clear that foreign domestic workers are oppressed. Makeda Silvera's book, Silenced, provides ample evidence that foreign domestic workers suffer grave injustices. At the local level, the office of the West Coast Domestic Workers Association 2 has numerous surveys and anecdotal information which document the abuse endured by these women; Abuses were also cited to me during my interviews so I have sound reasons for believing that Filipina domestic 1 FiIipina is the feminine form of the word Filipino. Filipina is used interchangeably with Filipino women. 2 Also referred to as DWA, the West Coast Domestic Workers Association is a Vancouver-based organization committed to improving the lives of domestic workers through advocacy.

7 workers are disadvantaged in many ways by the employment rules they abide by, and the patriarchal and racist system they encounter once in Canada. Having said this, I also recognize that power comes in many forms, and that foreign domestic workers who venture outside their own countries to work abroad engage in a form of risk-taking which can be interpreted as an assertion and expression of power. Coming to Canada as domestic workers offers economic and personal opportunities for Filipino women which they would otherwise not be able to attain. When foreign domestic workers are labeled powerless, the power relations in question are those between the actors in North American society. Foreign domestic workers however are engaged in multiple levels of struggle. In addition to facing the ones in this society, they also face power relations within their families and within their countries of origin. This study suggests that because Filipina domestic workers face multiple levels of power relations, they can also be seen as powerful and powerless at the same time. By beginning an analysis of foreign domestic labour from the perspective that foreign domestic are purposive actors, we can appreciate the complexities of the day-to-day struggles of women from poor countries with no citizenship rights living in a privileged society, and we can begin to redefine the nature of power as viewed by these women. The research question I explore is "How do disadvantaged groups endure their disadvantaged position society." I have chosen the case of Filipina live-in domestic workers and nannies because the conditions under which these women work and live render them socially, economically and politically disadvantaged in Canadian society. The increasing number of Filipina domestic workers entering Canada is also a recent phenomenon so this study is especially timely. As well, very little i has been written in the academic literature about this. My research is a small contribution to this gap in literature. This case study also integrates class, gender, race, and ethnicity issues together in an analysis.

8 3 Definition of Terms Feminism. There is not one single feminist approach. Whether liberal, Marxist, socialist, radical, or women of colour feminists, all argue that women are subordinated and that this oppression is wrong. This is the most basic position from which to examine problems of social inequality. Domestic worker means someone who has been allowed to enter Canada for the sole purpose of providing domestic services to a household during a probationary period. The Filipina domestic worker is someone who entered Canada under a special program run by the Department of Employment and Immigration between As most Filipina domestics are also responsible for child care, I use the term domestic worker and nanny interchangeably. The Foreign Domestic Workers Program allowed women to work in Canada solely as a live-in domestic worker for up to three years, after which time, she can apply to become a landed immigrant or permanent resident. / During the probationary time of up to 3 years, domestics have no citizenship rights. The future of the domestic worker is entirely dependent on her employer and immigration officials who will later evaluate her desirability as a citizen. During the years that a domestic worker is in the home of her employer there are few legal outlets for speaking out against abuse. The situation is further complicated because laws which prevent abuse of the domestic by the employer are difficult to enforce. Disadvantaged position. I describe nannies under the Foreign Domestic Workers Program as being in a disadvantaged position in Canadian society for reasons relating to the circumstances of their employment. Most importantly, foreign nannies are called upon to perform labour which has historically been provided free by women, women's work having little economic worth. Secondly, foreign nannies are in disadvantaged positions because as workers they are dependent on character and work references from their employer. Thus, for Filipina nannies who register under

9 \ 4 the program hoping to immigrate to Canada, their participation in the program often means they are likely to keep silent, even if abused, rather than formally complain in order to attain positive references with which they can satisfy immigratipn officials. As live-in domestic workers, the relationship between employer and employee in this situation is concealed in privacy. For example, the number of hours performed by the worker and type of responsibilities expected by the employer cannot be publicly monitored and checked. This condition works in every way to the advantage of the employer. The domestic worker loses or gains a great deal depending on how she negotiates her position in the employer-employee relationship. Another manner in which domestic workers are disadvantaged is tied to their status as "somewhere between immigrant and visitor." As Audrey Macklin writes: The foreign domestic worker occupies the technically non-existent category of "visiting immigrant." To be more exact, her application to enter Canada as a foreign domestic worker is assessed as if she had the intention of remaining in Canada permanently, but once admitted she is officially labeled a visitor unless and until she successfully applies for landed status two years hence. Immigrants must meet a higher threshold than visitors in order to enter Canada; visitors have fewer entitlements than immigrants once they are in Canada and fewer procedural protections against removal. In other words, it is more difficult to enter as an immigrant, and more difficult to stay as a visitor. What this means in practice for a domestic worker is that she bears the burdens of both immigrants and visitors..., and receives the benefits of neither. 3 The disadvantaged position of domestic workers does not mean lack of power. Domestic workers are, after all, responsible for the care and security of their employer's children and the family home. An important part of my work investigated how the asymmetrical balance of power is negotiated between employer and employee. Class is defined in this work in Marxist terms, referring to the relationship to the means of production. Domestic workers who exchange the service they provide for a wage represent 3 Audrey Macklin, Assistant Professor, Dalhousie University, Foreign Domestic Worker: Surrogate Housewife or Mail Order Servant?, unpublished paper, 1991, pp found this paper in the Philippine Women's Centre in Vancouver with only the reference to the author and title. When I tried to reference this work properly, I phoned die author and was informed that this thesis was later published under the same title in the McGill Law Journal, Volume 37, No. 3, October 1, 1992.

10 membership in a proletarian class triply disadvantaged due to their class, gender and race. Although the writings of Karl Marx fail to sufficiently account for women's work in the home, I will draw on Marxists-feminists who have re-interpreted Marx to include women's unpaid labour in the productive realm. Power is broadly defined as the ability to influence the outcome of events. It can mean something that an actor possesses which is valuable in itself (for example, social position), or may be useful for obtaining other valued things (for example, specialized skills with a high market value). Implied in this definition is the notion of domination or authority, since the use of power can be used to obtain compliance from others. Powerlessness, in turn, is the lack of influence over circumstances. In feminist literature, there is ongoing work on reconstructing the notion of power. Combined with Dorothy Smith's work on "standpoint," I explore this emerging view. This work is also inspired by bell hooks work' on the concept that the powerless can also be powerful. To hooks, poor and exploited women can exercise power by rejecting the powerful's definition of reality^." Nancy Hartsock's work also informs this alternative notion of power. She refers to the consciousness-raising exercises of the 1960's as having some important effects for feminists. She writes: "The realization that the social world is a human creation and that through our own activity we have already changed important aspects of that world leads to a sense of our own power and provides a source of energy for further changes. "^ Contributions of this Study This research study contributes to our substantive knowledge about paid domestic labour. It also illustrates how to apply what we have so far learned about feminist theories and methods into a research study. By acknowledging that Filipina nannies are skilled agents who bring over a set of 4 bell hooks, Feminist Theory: From Margin to CentreiBoston. South End Press, 1984), pp Nancy Hartsock," Political Change: Two Perspectives on Power," Quest. Volume 1, Number 1, Summer 1974, p. 14.

11 personal histories beyond their existence in Canada, this work contributes to a feminist social science. The study also hopes to dispel or reformulate the image of powerlessness which dominates the literature on domestic workers and migrant workers today. It seems a gap exists in the literature about this topic the fundamental view of volition is omitted from existing works. As Anthony Giddens has emphatically reminded us in New Rules of Sociological Method: "the social world, unlike the world of nature, has to be grasped as a skilled accomplishment of active human subjects. This work contributes to theoretical work on conducting feminist social science research by illustrating how an "other" perspective can influence the conclusions of social science research. This case study demonstrates that the category "woman" is not monolithic, and that the manner in which "women" view the world is as varied as the types of women in it. As well, since I view feminism as a commitment to political action for improving all women's disadvantage, this study demonstrates how offering a forum for disadvantaged women to speak can lead to a broadened and different view of the social world. /" ' Finally, some of the insights that may be gained from this specific case study may be generalizable to all cases of disadvantaged groups thereby contributing to further understanding of the dynamics of our social world. In view of the increasing feminization of migrant workers, this thesis also hopes to make a contribution to understanding that phenomenon. Relevant Research Areas What struck me most when I began conducting my research was the paucity of material directly relevant to my subject group. Very little has been written in academic literature (in Canada, at least) about Filipino domestic workers other than the sensationalized cases in the media. There have been a few areas which mention domestic workers. As an introduction to the subsequent 6 Anthony Giddens, New Rules of Sociological Method. (London, Hutchinson & Co., 1976, p. 155.

12 chapters, I provide in this section a brief summary of the terms and relevant research areas that underlie the work. Domestic labour: Domestic labour debates stem from the 1960s clash between feminists and Marxists who disagreed on the position of women in society. Feminists expressed dissatisfaction with the exclusion of the women question from Marxist analysis which defines societal relationships according to one's relationship to the means of production. Women in Marxists analysis, its critics claim, only enter the discussion when subsumed under the family. This exclusion is, some would argue, because of Marx's limited definition of labour as paid labour. This automatically ignores women's contribution in the form of domestic labour to the family household economy. Although the debates were carried out in the name of the "universal woman," it was not until the early 1980's when "women of colour" perspectives emerged that the "universal woman" was reconceptualized as the reality of only the select few, that is, the reality, of white, Western, middleclass women. Disappointingly, the most militant of the feminists in these debates failed to foresee that once Western women are liberated from the drudgeries of housework, that other women from other parts of the world will be recruited to perform this unpaid, devalued work. Much work on domestic labour focuses on the feminist and Marxist debate. Shortly after the onslaught of the woman question in Marxism, the topic for discussion went.on to actual analyses of the condition of women. It was agreed that women have historically performed these domestic tasks for free and that when they entered the paid labour force, another group of labourers were needed to fill this gap. The role of the State then in responding to the needs of the citizens then comes into question. Historically, the State's response to women's demands may be said to have had the intention of placating rather than answering those demands. For example, some have argued that immigration laws for women have been tightened or relaxed according to the demands for female domestic labour (Calliste 1989, Devan 1989). I believe this action on the part

13 8 of the State circumvents the real questions relating to women's work and productive worth in society. Immigrant women: Feminist studies of immigrant women explore the way in which institutionalized systems reinforce the dependence of immigrant women when they arrive in Canada. Monica Boyd, for example, has written much on how competition for social-service resources, such as those for language training courses, have led to the reinforcement of dependency. The dependency and invisibility of immigrant women, she contends, are reinforced by certain institutional processes from their entry into Canada as "dependents." The implication is that the sexist system of considering immigrants as a category, according to analyses of immigrant women and work, hides the fact that men and women have different sets of experiences upon arrival in Canada. The research is also informed by Roxana Ng's work on the "social construction of immigrant women in Canada." Ng argues that the commodification of immigrant women, as defined by legitimate social institutions, demonstrates that ethnicity and gender are "constitutive features of productive relations^." That is, Ng suggests that ethnicity and gender are integral constituents in the organization of class in capitalist societies. Her ethnographic fieldwork during her stay at a counseling and placement agency for immigrant women formed the crux of her thesis. Another influence on this is the work of Pratibha Parmar on Asian women in British society. Parmar writes of how Asian women, despite major obstacles, have transformed stereotypical conceptions of Asian women. Parmar also succinctly points to the glaring gap in literature about immigrant women and their struggles. She contends that it is possible to view migrant women as courageous and that to not do so undermines the experience and hardships undertaken by 7 Roxana Ng, "The Social Construction of'immigrant Women' in Canada," The Politics of Diversity: Feminism. Marxism and Nationalism. R. Hamilton and M Barrett, eds, (Thetford: Thetford Press Ltd., 1987), p. 285.

14 9 from their entry into Canada as "dependents." The implication is that the sexist system of considering immigrants as a category, according to analyses of immigrant women and work, hides the fact that men and women have different sets of experiences upon arrival in Canada. The research is also informed by Roxana Ng's work on the "social construction of immigrant women in Canada." Ng argues that the commodification of immigrant women, as defined by legitimate social institutions, demonstrates that ethnicity and gender are "constitutive features of productive relations^." That is, Ng suggests that ethnicity and gender are integral constituents in the organization of class in capitalist societies. Her ethnographic fieldwork during her stay at a counseling and placement agency for immigrant women formed the crux of her thesis. Another influence on this is the work of Pratibha Parmar on Asian women in British society. Parmar writes of how Asian women, despite major obstacles, have transformed stereotypical conceptions of Asian women. Parmar also succinctly points to the glaring gap in literature about immigrant women and their struggles. She contends that it is possible to view migrant women as courageous and that to not do so undermines the experience and hardships undertaken by immigrant women workers in Britain."** Parmar's work ultimately argues that a history of oppression also documents a history of resistance. 7 Roxana Ng, "The Social Construction of Immigrant Women' in Canada," The Politics of Diversity: Feminism, Marxism and Nationalism. R. Hamilton and M Barrett, eds, (Thetford: Thetford Press Ltd., 1987), p Pratibha Parmer, "Gender, Race and Clas: Asian Women in Resistance," The Empire Strikes Back. Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, 1992, p 252.

15 10 Foreign domestic workers: Studies on foreign domestic workers emerged from the very first spark of debate on paid and unpaid labour. Although little has been published specifically about Filipino nannies, literature exists on Caribbean domestics. Research on Caribbean domestics has focused on the relationships between demands for a reserve labour force, and racist and sexist immigration laws. An analysis of foreign domestic workers examined the manner in which "working class immigrant women of colour face a four-fold oppression," focusing on how their "immigrant status interacts with race, class, and gender. "9 Some researchers have also acknowledged a hierarchy of types of foreign domestic labour available in Canada. There is often mention of Filipino nannies in these works, but analyses are not specifically applied to them, but to all nannies/domestic workers. References are also made to English and other European nannies, as well as Australian and New Zealand au pairs. In the U.B.C. department of sociology, for example, two master's level theses are available as resources: David Pedlar's 1982 work, "A Study of Domestic Services in Canada" and Mary Devan's 1989 work titled "Social, Economic and Political Factors Influencing the Supply and Demand of Foreign Domestic Workers." According to Devan's study, the Caribbean nannies of the late 1950s and early 1960s have now been replaced by Filipino nannies of the 1990s to occupy the least paid yet most vulnerable position. This fact is easily substantiated with quantifiable data from Employment and Immigration Canada (Chapter 4). 9 Agnes Calliste, "Canada's Immigration Policy and Domestics from the Caribbean: The Second Domestic Scheme," Race. Class, Gender: Bonds and Barriers (Toronto: Between the Lines, 1989), p. 136.

16 11 Feminist scholarship and feminist social science: This work draws upon an extensive line of feminists who articulate a "woman-centered" perspective on sociological issues. Feminism as a theoretical approach, in this view, is an acknowledgment of the oppression of women and an acceptance that this oppression is wrong. Although this theoretical approach offers a spectrum of epistemological assumptions within this common acknowledgment, there are commonalities within competing feminist viewpoints. A common concern in feminist scholarship is on how research and social science knowledge is constructed/conducted. My proposed work will observe a feminist praxis as defined by Liz Stanley. Feminist praxis, according to Stanley, is "an indication of a continuing shared feminist commitment to a political position in which 'knowledge' is not simply defined as 'knowledge what' but also as 'knowledge for.' 1^ This, in my view, resonates with Dorothy Smith's idea of a sociology "for women," to which I am committed. One of Smith's theoretical contributions to the social sciences is her theory on standpoint. According to Smith, an analysis of the realities of the social world, including the kind of questions deemed problematic about that world, unfolds a different tale when the personal experiences of women are considered as an integral and constitutive part. Standpoint is that unique perspective of the world where the woman as a thinking, acting being is recognized as having legitimate and different sets of experiences as that which have been perpetuated in exclusive, traditional discourse. This theory is relevant to this study in a profound way. I take inspiration from it because it provides me with theoretical grounding upon which to explain the realities of how women from disadvantaged groups can simultaneously exhibit varying stages of having power and not having power. 10 Liz Stanley, ed., Feminist Praxis: Research. Theory and Epistemology in Feminist Sociology. (London, Routledge, 1990), p. 15.

17 12 Another important criteria of feminist research is the step away from objectifying the research subject. This, too, was observed in this study. Furthermore, another feminist focus is to determine what the "facts" collected, mean to the subjects of the research. The "what," "how" and "why" of my proposed research would follow this feminist social science. Chapter 3, the discussion on research methods, presents these issues in greater detail. With reference to the method of the study, my thesis subscribes to the notion that invaluable information can be gleaned from the narratives of the domestic workers themselves. Personal narratives will place the findings of this work within a new context. The underlying belief is that the intersection of an individual life course and a specific historical moment will provide insight into the ways that particular lives take the shape that they do and how each woman makes sense of her world. A more succinct statement appears in the article "Conditions Not of Her Own Making": "Women's personal narratives also reveal the frameworks of meaning through which individuals locate themselves in the world and make sense of their lives." * * Assumptions The following assumptions inform my research: that domestic work is historically considered as women's work and therefore devalued; that the conditions of the Canadian government's Foreign Domestic Program created a disadvantageous system for Filipino women entering Canada as domestics; and 11 "Conditions Not of Her Own Making,," Interpreting Women's Lives: Feminist Theory and Personal Narratives,Personal Narratives Group, eds., (Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1989), p. 22.

18 13 that despite difficult working conditions, women from the Philippines will continue to consider domestic service in Canada as an alternative for improving their own and their families' lives. My analysis includes insight to the following questions and issues: 1. As the point of this enquiry is to gain new insight into a sociological phenomenon such as the increasing numbers of Filipino women entering foreign domestic work, did the interviews challenge any existing notions or assumptions that would contribute to understanding issues of social inequality? 2. What are the fundamental elements of their domestic position that shape issues of power and domination? 3. Explain the impact of class, sex, race, ethnicity and "foreign domestic" status, to the disadvantaged position of Filipino nannies. r. 4. As skilled actors, what common factors influenced the decision to apply for domestic work positions abroad? In analyzing these related research questions, the focus was on identifying new insights gained through personal interviews. Patterns of social behaviour will be outlined and explained. Powerlessness cannot be explained without first clarifying the sources of power. The notion of power, therefore, is a central theme of the work. The thesis interprets power as the ability to influence outcomes. In this case, the sources of power of domestic workers will be explained as well as the reasons why they are usually viewed as powerless. The notion of powerlessness,

19 14 however, is challenged once the subjects of the study, the domestic workers themselves, are located as prominent, active players. I contend that we should not too quickly dismiss domestic workers as lacking in power. Interviewing Domestic Workers Although informed by and building on feminist debates, the emphasis of the study was on interpreting stories from Filipino nannies themselves. I conducted a series of in-depth interviews with 15 Filipino domestic workers. Issues addressed in the interviews include those which relay the historical, socio-economic, political, and cultural conditions specific to the interviewees which influenced their decisions to come to Canada as domestic workers. What I attempted to encourage was a self-evaluation of their own social conditions and impressions about being Filipino nannies in Canada. The questions pursued were on how they translated their own oppression and how they negotiated their rights. Specifically, I covered the following questions during the interviews: 1. What were your expectations when you signed up to be a domestic worker? 2. Did you plan to leave the Philippines in the long run, or did you have plans to return once you've accomplished what you set out to do? 3. How long did you expect to work as a domestic worker? 4. In what area were you trained in, or what level of education have you attained/hope to attain? 5. In what countries have you worked? (If Hong Kong, Singapore or Malaysia or Middle East or other countries other than North America.) Did you see those as end destinations or were you specifically interested in coming to North America?

20 15 The interviews were conducted in both English and Tagalog, the Philippine language spoken and understood by most Filipinos. I amfluentin both which proved to be an asset as it provided an opportunity for Filipino nannies to express themselves in their more familiar mother tongue. A reflexive type of interviewing was employed for this work. 12 The tools used in this study were observation and open-ended interviews. Hammersley and Atkinson in Ethnography: Principles and Practice write that the role of the interviewer in non-directive interviewing is to appear passive but somehow keep the focus of the research. These roles and tools for the ethnographer would guide the researcher in this participant-observation study. Concluding Remarks This thesis touches on a number of issues relating to studies of domestic work, foreign domestic workers, and immigrant women. The following chapters elaborate on specific aspects of the topic: Chapter 2 serves as a review of existing literature which relates to this topic. I explain the feminist theoretical stance to which I subscribe. This chapter also clarifies that this thesis was informed by a number of research areas. The objective of the research study was to interpret the "powerlessness" experienced by foreign domestic workers in Canada. Unfortunately, the existence of Filipino domestic workers in Canada is a relatively new phenomenon so very little of academic writing has been devoted to this. I have instead used the concepts I could borrow from studies which focus on peripheral areas. I looked at the literature on the "institutionalized subordination" of immigrant women, at the literature on domestic labour, and a small body of work specifically on "foreign domestic workers." 12 M. Hammersley and P. Atkinson, Ethnography: Principles in Practice. (London: Tavistock, 1983), p. 113.

21 16 In Chapter 3,1 discuss the research methods for the work. I begin this chapter by recognizing that an exploration of feminist social science theories and methods is currently underway. I express my hope that this thesis becomes a part of this exploration. Chapter 4 illustrates the institutional constraints faced by Filipino domestic workers in Canada. It expounds on the relevant domestic worker legislation and related programs and serves as a contextual background. It also shows one level of struggle for the domestic worker. I would argue that her day-to-day life experiences can reveal other complicated levels of struggle. Chapter 5 is a discussion of the concept of agency and power among domestic workers. Using material from the interviews with domestic workers, I attempt to identify patterns of behaviour from which I am then able to draw conclusions. Finally, Chapter 6 offers a brief discussion and conclusion to this thesis. This section notes that foreign domestic workers play many roles, and that these roles determine their strategies for coping with their daily hardships.

22 Chapter 2 Theory To discover how a certain group of disadvantaged women understand their relative position of power, I framed this discourse to include these women, and begin analysis from their perspectives. I assume that this group of women, Filipino domestic workers, are active agents despite the subordinate relationship they may have with their employers. Another assumption is that being employed as a domestic worker is a choice, perhaps not so much because of its attractive benefits, but because of the more bitter alternatives. This rational choice by the domestic worker leads to questions about the other consequences the domestic worker may have been faced with. The theoretical background and literature review presented in this chapter will explain the theoretical grounding upon which the study is based. It will focus on how a feminist perspective has influenced not just the research question asked but also the consequent analysis. It will also locate foreign domestic workers as subjects of sociology. The theories of Anthony Giddens inform this study. Two concepts of Giddens are especially noteworthy: the pluralistic bases of power in society, and the assumption that members of society are actors operating within multiple levels of constraints and opportunities. Giddens' theory of structuration hinges on the idea that there are essentially three variable and dynamic classes in society according to the level of power and influence they have in society one group made up of those who own most of the means of production, another which is made up of those who may not own productive property but have special education or skills with a market value, and another made up of those with only their labour power to exchange in the marketplace. Structuration is the dynamic phenomenon by which actors in society generate and reproduce these social classes, as

23 18 well as social structures. From this theory, Giddens makes clear that the role of the rational actor is an important part of social relations. In 1976, Giddens reinforces the role of rational, reflexive actors in Rule No. 2 in his New Rules of Sociological Method: "The production and reproduction of society thus has to be treated as a skilled performance on the part of its members, not merely a mechanical series of processes. 1 Another theoretical concept which proved useful for analysis is Dorothy Smith's standpoint theory. One of Smith's contributions to sociological thought is that she offers a theory which explains the world as experienced by women. Her theory of a sociology for women begins from an argument that women have been located outside what is knowable in our society. She suggests that by expressing women's everyday experience as a conceptual or theoretical problematic, we can arrive at a different way of understanding the complexities of the social world. She writes: "Making the everyday world our problematic instructs us to look for the "inner" organization generating its ordinary features, its orders and disorders, its contingencies and conditions, and to look for that inner organization in the externalized and abstracted relations of economic processes and of the ruling apparatus in general." 2 With regard to foreign domestic workers, it is precisely that "inner" organization which this study probes. Thus, a rationale can be made that by interviewing foreign domestic workers in Vancouver for a case study, we can demonstrate how a sociology for women as posited by Smith can reveal the complexities of the social world. 'Anthony Giddens, New Rules of Sociological Method. (London: Hutchinson & Co., 1976), p Dorothy Smith, The Everyday World as Problematic: A Feminist Sociology. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 19870, p. 99.

24 19 A concern with a sociology for women is that different women are located at varying distances from the sources of power. Hence a discussion of how foreign domestic workers fit within the feminist framework as well as a discussion of power theories are also provided in this chapter. The domestic labour debate is used as an example of how earlier studies of women's lives do not necessarily inform us of all women's experiences. The literature review offered in this chapter reveals a further need for feminism as a theoretical approach to conceptualize a theory of power which can account for purposive action and the dynamic structuration of society. Feminism, Gender and Power "Before women can work to reconstruct society we must reject the notion that obtaining power in the existing social structures will necessarily advance feminist struggle to end sexist oppression. It may allow numbers of women to gain greater material privilege, control over their destiny, and the destiny of others, all of which are important goals. It will not end male domination as a system. The suggestion that women must obtain power before they can effectively resist sexism is rooted in the false assumption that women have no power. Women, even the most oppressed among us, do exercise some power. These powers can be used to advance feminist struggle...women need to know that they can reject the powerful's definition of their reality that they can do so even if they are poor, exploited, or trapped in oppressive circumstances. They need to know that the exercise of this basic personal power is an act of resistance and strength. Many poor and exploited women, especially non-white women, would have been unable to develop positive self-concepts if they had not exercised their power to reject the powerful's definition of their reality." 3 In the last thirty years, in addition to theorizing about gender relations and inequities, feminists turned their attention to social theories of power. The challenge for feminists was to establish a link between gender, which proved to be a useful analytical concept for explaining differences between the sexes, and power, which seems privy only to men. 3 bell hooks, Feminist Theory: From Margin to Centre, (Boston: South End Press, 1984), pp

25 20 Feminists therefore claimed that the traditional definition of power (generally speaking, the ability to influence an outcome) is inadequate because of its androgyny. The preoccupation of feminist thought then turned to exposing the gendered nature of power and conceptualizing a feminist definition. The more prevalent and classical conception of power is that it is a thing possessed and utilized in achieving gains, usually at another's expense. Or, as Steve Lukes wrote: The absolutely basic common core to all conceptions of power is the notion of the bringing about of consequences with no restriction on what the consequences might be or what brings them about. When used in relation to human beings in social relations with one another, it is attributed to persons or collectivities or, sometimes, to systems or structures within which they act. 4 In feminist literature, this is often described as the "top-down" or "power-over." Feminists agreed that the malestream conception of power not only involved domination and subordination, but a top-down application of it. A gendered power structure, feminists claim, favoured men who are inevitably inclined to dominate women, either because they are biologically different or because they are structurally situated to be dominant (reinforced to be so by patriarchal systems) throughout the history of malestream thought. The concern for feminists was primarily to study women's experience of powerlessness and oppression. Some feminist theorists conceptualized two types of power (Hartsock 1974, French 1985, Yoder and Kahn 1992): "power-over" and "power-to." Power-over is power which is wielded by institutions or its legitimate arm, the State. On the other hand, there is power- 4 Steve Lukes, "Power and Authority," A History of Sociological Analysis. Tom Bottomore and Robert Nisbet eds, (New York: Basic Books, Inc). 1978, pp

26 21 to, which is an internal source of strength during a situation of struggle, primarily of the personal kind. In the former, authority is a form of power, because authority is an enabling mechanism. As well, patriarchy in feminist literature is most often equated as power since patriarchy as the ideological system which relegates uneven values favouring the masculine gender over the feminine has proven to have enduring and disadvantageous effects for women. In the latter, power originates from the self, and if ideological consciousness occurs among several actors, "mutual empowerment" can occur, which in turn, can then be used to restructure and redefine the grander powers which order social life. In the convergence of the two powers, there is an implied assumption that once women gain the political power they seek, they will focus on the "power-to" aspects rather than "powerover." That is, some feminists believe that women will use power differently than men to correct the domination/subordination imbalance. To Nancy Hartsock, for example, "power-to," as a feminist concept, calls for women's empowerment without calling for men's subordination. 5 The feminist contribution to social science theories of power is the insight that power is gendered. Using the domestic labour debates as an example, feminists proved that gender can not only be regarded as differences but also as power relations Unfortunately, gender, as an operative concept, only explained the range of inequities between men and women, the masculine and feminine, and inequities between the value of men's jobs and women's jobs. The gendered nature of power explained inequities between men and women, but not in-between women. Furthermore, it became quite clear later that women's groups were also capable of exerting power, and that among women, some were more powerful than others. 5 Nancy Hartsock, Money. Sex, and Power: Toward a Historical Materialism. (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1983).

27 22 To complicate matters, while the different feminist positions can agree on the oppressed position of women, their solutions to attaining power differed widely. In general, liberal, Marxists, and socialists feminist accept structure and leadership as permanent features of organized groups. Liberal feminists however, insists on the right to equal opportunity for competing for positions in the organized state power. Liberal feminists do not see a need for reforming existing power structures, as the Marxists and socialist do. To liberals, electing more women in positions of power, will be a sufficient corrective. Radical feminists on the other hand, envision a matriarchal society free from coercive state power, war and domination, without truly explaining how this is to be attained. Radical feminists have, therefore, often been criticized as having a revolutionary albeit naive notion of power and power relations. The dissenting opinions gave Jill McCalla Vickers cause to note that feminism as a movement has "failed to come to grips with the character of power and power relationships except to assign normative labels such as 'problematic but inevitable' or 'male-devised and contaminating.' " 6 McCalla Vickers viewed power as central to the movement's progress and concluded that feminists must borrow from and tolerate one another's views in order to move forward. Thus, some concessions may have to be made by all camps. To McCalla Vickers, the belief that women have the potential to exert power differently, that women can lead with the endorsement of her peers, that somehow women can be processed through the rank and file of public office, are ideals within reach if feminists maintain a common goal. 6 Jill McCalla Vickers, "Coming Up for Air: Feminist Views of Power Reconsidered," Canadian Women's Studies. Volume 2, 1980, p. 66.

28 23 There are several feminists who shared McCalla Vickers concern for a unified or universalist feminist view of power. 7 Nancy Hartsock attempted to expand on a general feminist theory on gender and power by using the Marxist notion of class. To Hartsock, a more useful way of proceeding with feminist thought is to focus on the women's commonalities across race and class boundaries. Although more theoretically sophisticated, Hartsock's attempt suffers with the ailment ascribed to most other generalist theories: it overlooks too many differences. As one author noted, theoretical approaches within feminism that tend toward general explanations either have a tendency to "overlook differences" (as in Marxist approaches) or to "over-accentuate" them (as in Foucaltian discourse analysis). 8 More recently, the direction of feminist thought has shifted. A generalist theory of power is being rejected. The two main criticisms of the generalist theory is that the alternatives proposed by feminists all seem, firstly, incapable of dealing with power as a multifaceted concept and secondly, unable to account for the presence of asymmetric access to resources by different players. As one theorist, Kathy Davis, notes: Feminist 'common sense,' both traditionally and in the present, tends to treat power within gender relations as basically top-down and repressive. Women are regarded as the inevitable victims of male supremacy, helpless and hapless at the hands of the evil-intentioned, omnipotent male. Power, by the same token, is automatically linked to relations involving domination and authoritarian forms of control or coercion, making it difficult to see it as anything but negative and repressive. 9 7 Other feminist theorists have expounded on a general theory which can not be covered here. I am referring to psychoanalysis which focused on inequality with respect to the issue of reproduction and sexuality. Aafke Komter's account in "Gender, Power and Feminist Theory," in The Gender of Power, Kathy Davis, Monique Leijenaar and Jantine Oldersma, eds., (London: Sage Publications), 1991, pp , offers a useful overview. 8 Komter, p Kathy Davis, "Critical Sociology and Gender Relations," The Gender of Power. Kathy Davis, Monique Leijenaar and Jantine Oldersma, eds., (London: Sage Publications), 1991, p. 79.

29 .24 In short, if power can be simplistically conceptualized in terms of domination and subordination, why have women allowed this system to exist and to continue? Furthermore, how can we explain power relations beyond antagonistic interactions? How, for example, can feminists conceptualize power relations among friends or in colleagial settings. Davis and her colleagues offer a hypothesis. They suggest that the most promising link to feminist theories of gender and power to date, can be found in Anthony Giddens' work on structuration 10. Giddens has been commended for his use of Marxist and Weberian concepts for explaining social inequality. 11 Giddens' theory is that groups and collectivities are made up of structures which he defines as systems of interaction. To Giddens "to study structuration is to attempt to determine the conditions which govern the continuity and dissolution of structures or types of structure." 12 This theory is important because it leads to Giddens' concepts of power. His assumption is that "processes of structuration involve an interplay of meanings, norms and power." 13 Giddens thus conceptualizes power in a complex way. According to Kathy Davis in "Critical Sociology and Gender Relations," there are five dimensions to Giddens' concept of power: 1. Power is integral to social interaction. 2. Power is intrinsic to human agency. 3. Power is relational, involving relations of dependence and autonomy. 10 This insight was presented by Kathy Davis and Aafke Komter in The Gender of Power. 1 Edward Grabb, Theories of Social Inequality: Classical and Contemporary Perspectives, second edition. (Toronto: Holt, Rinehart and Winston of Canada), Giddens, 1976, p Giddens, 1976, p. 161.