UNDERSTANDING MIGRANT WOMEN’S DOMESTIC CLEANING AS a CARING PRACTICE

This article provides an empirical basis for the theorizing of domestic cleaning as care. An ostensibly mundane but essential part of the wider care economy, domestic cleaning has been overlooked in the literature to date. Centering the narratives of a group of migrant women cleaners in a small English city, the study adopts a feminist ethic of care which seeks to privilege the voices of this less-heard group. Semi-structured interviews provide rich insights into the hidden aspects of this work, revealing the complexities of cleaners’ relationships with clients’ homes. By applying Tronto and Fisher’s (Citation1990) typology of care, the article explores the diverse care practices involved in cleaning an empty home, including interpretations of “caregiving”, “caring about”, “taking care of”, and “care receiving”.