Experiencing Live-In Domestic Work Through Bodies, Emotions and Subjectivity

The article examines the experiences of Cape Verdean, Eritrean, Ethiopian and Filipino women who worked in Rome as live-in domestic workers between 1970 and 1989. In the first part, it outlines the historical, theoretical, and methodological contexts. It then explores the materiality of domestic work, highlighting its impact on workers’ bodies and exploring power relations through the body as a visual and analytical lens. It also investigates coercive disciplinary practices deeply intertwined with affective relations, as well as the connections between public and private forms of coercion and the (im)mobilisation of domestic workers. In conclusion the article demonstrates that the intersection of public and private, along with the conditions of living and working in the same environment, influence the materiality and representation of domestic work, as well as workers’ self-perception, contributing to the construction and legitimation of their subordination.