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The outsourcing of domestic work in the UK has been steadily rising since the 1970s, but there has been little research into White British women who work as independent providers of cleaning services.
Work, Labour and Cleaning is a cross-cultural analysis based on new research into two particular social contexts, one in the UK and one in India. It argues that outsourced domestic cleaning can be undertaken either as work (using mental and manual skills) or as labour (usually defined as unskilled, 'natural' women’s work) depending on the social context and working conditions in which it occurs. The book challenges feminist dogma and popular myths about housework.
Introduction
Conceptualising Paid Domestic Work
Behind the Words: Introducing the Research Project and Respondents
Nuances in the Politics of Demand for Outsourced Housecleaning
The Imperfect Contours of Outsourced Domestic Cleaning as Dirty Work
Domestic Cleaning: Work or Labour
Meanings of Domestic Cleaning as Work and Labour
The Occupational Relations of Domestic Cleaning as Work and Labour
Concluding the Book, Continuing the Journey
Appendices