The bodily ambiguity of social reproduction: Navigating body work in migrant eldercare
Journal
Sociologija
ISSN
0038-0318
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2022
Author(s)
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to show the systematic relevance of corporeal
features of care by drawing upon the experiences of Croatian eldercare
workers employed in Austrian and German households through a live-in
programme which has recently become a common way of employment for the women
coming from the impoverished regions of Europe. Even when eldercare is
discussed in the context of growing migration flows, its daily performance
and somatic components have rarely been taken seriously enough and
productively linked to the global movements. Therefore, the caregivers?
experiences are analysed here by relying on the scholarship on ?body work?
(activities having human body as working material), which are then
contextualised within the larger socio-economic environment of
neoliberalism. Since live-ins not only point to, but also ?solve? systematic
contradictions in organizing eldercare (e.g., the gap between the desired
image of caring environment and practical conditions) - by either covering
up the empty spot left by potential providers of care or extending the
quality of that care - I argue that attentiveness to the details of the
bodies being worked upon is one point of departure from which micro and
macro can be analysed in a close correlation to each other, providing a
novel bodily insight into world economic restructuring.
features of care by drawing upon the experiences of Croatian eldercare
workers employed in Austrian and German households through a live-in
programme which has recently become a common way of employment for the women
coming from the impoverished regions of Europe. Even when eldercare is
discussed in the context of growing migration flows, its daily performance
and somatic components have rarely been taken seriously enough and
productively linked to the global movements. Therefore, the caregivers?
experiences are analysed here by relying on the scholarship on ?body work?
(activities having human body as working material), which are then
contextualised within the larger socio-economic environment of
neoliberalism. Since live-ins not only point to, but also ?solve? systematic
contradictions in organizing eldercare (e.g., the gap between the desired
image of caring environment and practical conditions) - by either covering
up the empty spot left by potential providers of care or extending the
quality of that care - I argue that attentiveness to the details of the
bodies being worked upon is one point of departure from which micro and
macro can be analysed in a close correlation to each other, providing a
novel bodily insight into world economic restructuring.
Language
English
Keywords
eldercare
body work
migration
Central and Eastern Europe
neoliberalism
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
National Library of Serbia
Volume
64
Number
4
Start page
584
End page
604
Subject(s)
Division(s)
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The_bodily_ambiguity_of_social_reproduction_Naviga.pdf
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Format
Adobe PDF
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