Seminar by Dr. Anamika Ajay and Prof. J Devika

Seminar on ‘Tiding Over Pandemic-Induced Vulnerability : Reflections on the Experience of Two Groups of Cleaning/ Domestic Workers’

Chair:
Prof. Praveena Kodoth

Abstract:

This paper is a preliminary attempt to examine the experience of two groups of women cleaning/domestic workers in the cities of Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram grappling with pandemic-induced vulnerabilities. These groups are very similar to each other in several crucial respects, as assetless- or asset-poor workers of oppressed caste-social origins who perform stigmatized work and carry triple burdens of social reproduction. However, they relate to their work in quite distinctly different ways — in one group, entry into work and wages are negotiated individually, while in the other, both are mediated by a workers’ platform set up by local activists of a prominent political party. We find that while the first group secures better wages, the second does not. However the latter tided pandemic-induced vulnerabilities far better than the former. This prompts critical reflection about the gendered dimensions of low wages, familialism, and social security among workers doing stigmatized work.