Servitude and Belonging Among Female Migrant Domestic Workers in India

This paper examines the narratives of female ‘domestic workers’ who discuss their migration journeys within India and from Bangladesh to India. My study focuses on the intersections of gender, religion, caste, social status, and age to understand the perspectives of these women and the everyday realities of servitude and power hierarchies in their workplaces. Drawing on ethnographic data gathered through narrative interviews conducted in three cities in India, I explore issues related to belonging and aspiration that shape the experiences of female domestic workers. I analyze these women’s descriptions of their dislocation from their natal families, which often leads to a sense of alienation from their own homes, as their parents left them behind, compelling them to work at others’ households.

The findings show that some women explicitly talk about their experiences of vulnerability and poverty, while others focus on their journey of forced and illegal migration from Bangladesh to India. Despite their varied biographical experiences, all the workers share a common aspiration to escape the cycle of transgenerational servitude. For these women, servitude is a source of up-rootedness and anxiety, particularly regarding their legal status. The study provides valuable insights into a cross-cultural approach to labor in South Asia, highlighting the often-overlooked perspectives of the workers themselves in academic research