Greek and Filipina Domestic Workers in Contemporary Greece: : The Reproduction and Transformations of Domestic Work, Domestic Relationships and Female identities

This article explores the transformations that have taken place in the field of paid domestic work in modern Greece as a consequence of the massive entry of immigrants into the profession and the meagre presence of Greek domestic workers. By comparing Greek live-out domestic workers and Filipina live-in domestic workers, the article examines how the kinship model that traditionally regulated relations between Greek domestic workers and their employers has been abandoned in the case of Greek live-out domestic workers, while being redeployed and re-invented with respect to Filipina domestic workers. Through inter-cultural managements of kinship (Filipinas) and fellow-ethnic managements of domesticity (Greeks), reproductions of the Greek domestic model of ‘household’ and transformations in the fulfilment of female identities have arisen over time.