In my paper I discuss the changing role that work performed in private homes has played, and continues to play, in the construction and reproduction of citizenship and processes of inclusion and exclusion through migration law and integration policies. I focus primarily on childcare and household maintenance. An important theme will be to what degree work performed in the home is defined as (unpaid) contractual labour or as inherent to gendered family obligations, and what this distinction does or does not mean for claims to citizenship and/or residence rights. After an extensive and detailed description of the Dutch case, I discuss recent case law of both the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice, in order to compare the role that work performed in private homes plays in constructing and reproducing national notions of citizenship with the role that it plays in European case law.
Period
29 May 2011
Event title
International workshop: Migrant Legality and Employment in contemporary Europe