Migrant Domestic Workers in Europe: Law and the Construction of Vulnerability

Review “Migrant Domestic Workers in Europe exemplifies the benefits of rigorous comparative and multiscalar socio-legal analysis for understanding how law can both constitute and transform structures of vulnerability. It will inspire researchers and activists to continue to find ways to achieve decent work for migrant domestic workers.” ―Judy Fudge, Professor in Global Labour Studies, McMaster University, Canada Product Description This book explores the often neglected, but overwhelmingly common, everyday vulnerability of those who support the smooth functioning of contemporary societies: paid domestic workers. With a focus on the multiple disadvantages these – often migrant – workers face when working and living in Europe, the book investigates the role of law in producing, reinforcing – or, alternatively, attenuating – vulnerability to exploitation. It departs from approaches that focus on extreme abuse such as 'modern' slavery or trafficking, to consider the much more widespread day-to-day vulnerabilities created at the intersection of different legal regimes. The book, therefore, examines issues such as low wages, unregulated working time, dismissals and the impact of migration status on enforcing rights at work. The complex legal regimes regulating migrant domestic labour in Europe include migration and labour law sources at different levels: international, national and, as this book demonstrates, also EU. With an innovative lens that combines national, comparative, and multilevel analysis, this book opens up space for transformative legal change for migrant domestic workers in Europe and beyond. About the Author Vera Pavlou is Lecturer in Labour Law at the University of Glasgow, UK.