« Le travail domestique est aussi une profession ! »

Abstract

This article analyzes female domestic workers’ fight for the social and political recognition of their occupational category in Brazil. Due to the multiple forms of oppression they face and their being included in the “non-working” group, female servants are often perceived as more difficult, if not impossible, to organize and represent. Yet, they have been organizing since 1936 and have formed their own unions to demand equal rights. In 2015, they obtained a law granting them some of the fundamental labor rights guaranteed by the constitution. This article examines the sometimes contradictory mechanisms at play in this fight and shows that the intersectionality of oppression can be understood as a potential resource for mobilization.

Keywords

• Brazil
• domestic work
• unionism
• intersectionality
• FENATRAD