Paid to Care: Domestic Workers in Contemporary Latin American Culture

Paid to Care is a collection of films, texts, and digital media that explore the struggles of paid domestic workers in Latin America since the 1980s, focusing on personal or coproduced cultural representations of domestic workers. It examines complex ethical issues relating to consent, mediation, and appropriation.

Format: Hardback
Length: 312 pages
Publication date: 06 February 2024
Publisher: University of Texas Press

Paid domestic work in Latin America faces significant challenges, including undervaluation, underpayment, and lack of regulation. To gain insight into the experiences of these workers, a wave of Latin American cultural texts since the 1980s has been analyzed. Paid to Care, a book by Rachel Randall, examines literary testimonials, documentary and fiction films, and works of digital media that draw on the personal experiences of paid domestic work or intimate ties to domestic employees.

The cultural texts analyzed in Paid to Care provide valuable insights into the struggles of domestic workers. They range from the experiences of unionization in the 1980s to the ongoing calls for their rights to be respected today. Randall's examination of work made in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay highlights the diverse legal histories of domestic work in these countries and how the legacy of colonialism and slavery continues to shape the profession.

One of the key themes of Paid to Care is the complex ethical issues surrounding consent, mediation, and appropriation in cultural representations of domestic workers. Randall explores how personal or coproduced cultural representations of domestic workers challenge traditional narratives and power structures. She also examines how these representations contribute to the broader public debates about paid domestic work.

Through her analysis, Randall demonstrates how paid domestic work is often invisible and marginalized in society. She highlights the importance of recognizing and valuing the work that domestic workers do and advocating for their rights and protections. Paid to Care is a valuable contribution to the field of cultural studies and provides a deeper understanding of the experiences of paid domestic workers in Latin America.

Weight: 622g
Dimension: 160 x 237 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781477327708