Resilience and Resistance Among Migrant Male Domestic Workers in South Africa

Despite the large body of scholarly research that has addressed the various challenges encountered by female domestic workers, there exists a notable gap in understanding the experiences of male domestic workers in South Africa. The present study seeks to bridge this gap by exploring the experience...

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Main Author: David du Toit
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Johannesburg 2023-08-01
Series:The Thinker
Online Access:https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/2677
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author David du Toit
author_facet David du Toit
author_sort David du Toit
collection DOAJ
description Despite the large body of scholarly research that has addressed the various challenges encountered by female domestic workers, there exists a notable gap in understanding the experiences of male domestic workers in South Africa. The present study seeks to bridge this gap by exploring the experiences of ten black African migrant male domestic workers in Johannesburg. Drawing upon Katz’s framework of disaggregated agency, encompassing resilience, reworking, and resistance strategies, the study demonstrates that in the absence of collective resistance through unionisation, male domestic workers employ resilience and reworking strategies to improve their material well-being. Decision-making processes regarding migration to South Africa, engaging in job-hopping, and engaging in multiple piece jobs are examples of the resilience and reworking strategies used by male domestic workers to improve their living conditions. This study shows that paid domestic work in South Africa, whether performed by men or women, is not without challenges, but that male domestic workers exhibit agency by utilising various strategies to navigate and mitigate some of these challenges.
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spelling doaj-art-ebd8e771c89744959e31e4d744861e352025-01-28T09:01:51ZengUniversity of JohannesburgThe Thinker2075-24582616-907X2023-08-0196310.36615/the_thinker.v96i3.2677Resilience and Resistance Among Migrant Male Domestic Workers in South AfricaDavid du Toit Despite the large body of scholarly research that has addressed the various challenges encountered by female domestic workers, there exists a notable gap in understanding the experiences of male domestic workers in South Africa. The present study seeks to bridge this gap by exploring the experiences of ten black African migrant male domestic workers in Johannesburg. Drawing upon Katz’s framework of disaggregated agency, encompassing resilience, reworking, and resistance strategies, the study demonstrates that in the absence of collective resistance through unionisation, male domestic workers employ resilience and reworking strategies to improve their material well-being. Decision-making processes regarding migration to South Africa, engaging in job-hopping, and engaging in multiple piece jobs are examples of the resilience and reworking strategies used by male domestic workers to improve their living conditions. This study shows that paid domestic work in South Africa, whether performed by men or women, is not without challenges, but that male domestic workers exhibit agency by utilising various strategies to navigate and mitigate some of these challenges. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/2677
spellingShingle David du Toit
Resilience and Resistance Among Migrant Male Domestic Workers in South Africa
The Thinker
title Resilience and Resistance Among Migrant Male Domestic Workers in South Africa
title_full Resilience and Resistance Among Migrant Male Domestic Workers in South Africa
title_fullStr Resilience and Resistance Among Migrant Male Domestic Workers in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Resilience and Resistance Among Migrant Male Domestic Workers in South Africa
title_short Resilience and Resistance Among Migrant Male Domestic Workers in South Africa
title_sort resilience and resistance among migrant male domestic workers in south africa
url https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/2677
work_keys_str_mv AT daviddutoit resilienceandresistanceamongmigrantmaledomesticworkersinsouthafrica