Résumés
Résumé
Parmi les dizaines de milliers de travailleurs ayant intégré le secteur de l’emploi domestique au XXe siècle en Jamaïque se trouvaient de jeunes personnes, dont la plupart étaient des jeunes filles, et quelques-unes encore des « enfants ». Tandis que certaines étaient recrutées en tant que servantes rémunérées, d’autres étaient placées (parfois sous la forme « d’adoptions » informelles) dans des maisonnées où elles effectuaient des tâches domestiques en échange du vivre et du couvert et dans l’espoir de recevoir un enseignement. Si généralisées qu’aient été ces conditions, on ne sait pas grand-chose de la façon dont ces « enfants » domestiques vivaient leur travail. Cet article s’efforce de contribuer aux discussions relatives au travail des enfants domestiques, au genre dans le travail domestique, aux adoptions informelles, à la construction de l’enfance, de même qu’au potentiel d’exploitation de ces enfants et même du travail servile. J’avance que la pérennité d’une ancienne culture du travail, des conditions de travail extrêmement diverses, des définitions de l’enfance sexuées, racialisées et de classe, situées à l’intersection des lois internationales et locales, ont créé un sous-secteur complexe de travailleuses dont les conditions de vie ont déstabilisé les catégories du travail domestique, de la servitude, de la famille et de l’enfance.
Mots-clés :
- Johnson,
- « enfants » domestiques,
- adoptions informelles,
- enfance,
- travail servile
Abstract
The tens of thousands of workers who entered the domestic service sector in twentieth century Jamaica included young persons, most of whom were female and some of whom were « children ». While some were recruited as paid servants, others were placed (sometimes through informal « adoptions ») into households where they performed domestic labour in exchange for the necessities of life and, they hoped, access to an education. As pervasive as these circumstances were, not a great deal is known about the working lives of these « child » servants. This paper seeks to contribute to discussions about child domestic workers, gendered domestic labour, informal adoptions, constructions of childhood as well as potentially exploitative, and possibly servile, « child » labour. It argues that a long-extant culture of work, widely varying conditions of labour, gendered, racialized and classed definitions of childhood and the intersections of international and local laws, created a complex sub-sector of workers whose experiences destabilized the categorisations of domestic service, servitude, family and childhood.
Keywords:
- Johnson,
- « Child » Domestic Workers,
- Informal Adoptions,
- Childhood,
- Servile Labour
Resumen
Entre las decenas de miles de trabajadoras que se integraron al sector del empleo doméstico en el siglo XX en Jamaica se encuentran los jóvenes, quienes era mayoritariamente jóvenes mujeres y algunas aun « niñas ». Algunas eran reclutadas en tanto que sirvientas remuneradas ; otras fueron colocadas (en ocasiones bajo la forma de « adopciones » informales) en los hogares en donde realizaban las tareas domésticas a cambio de alojamiento y alimentación, con la esperanza de recibir una educación. Aunque estas situaciones estaban bastante generalizadas, poco se sabe de la manera en que dichas « niñas » sirvientas vivían su situación. El presente artículo procura contribuir a las discusiones relacionadas con el trabajo de las niñas sirvientas, con el género en el trabajo doméstico, con las adopciones informales, con la construcción de la infancia, así como con el potencial de explotación de dichas niñas y con el trabajo servil. Sostengo que la perennidad de una antigua cultura del trabajo, de condiciones de trabajo extremadamente diversas, de las definiciones sexuadas, raciales y de clase de la infancia, situadas en la intersección de las leyes internacionales y locales, han creado un sub-sector complejo de trabajadoras cuyas condiciones de vida han desestabilizado las categorías del trabajo doméstico, de la servidumbre, de la familia y de la infancia.
Palabras clave:
- Johnson,
- sirvientas « niñas »,
- adopciones informales,
- infancia,
- trabajo servil
Parties annexes
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