Multiple Forms of Violence in Maid-Employer Relations in Singapore

Abstract

The existing body of literature on the female foreign domestic worker (FDW) phenomenon is fairly heavily focused on the socially significant issues of exploitation and abuse inherent within maid ? employer relations. This thesis is placed squarely within this body of writing which takes a conflict or power perspective, but aims to add to existing knowledge by offering examinations of hitherto under-analysed micro-political and multiple aspects and/or articulations of violence in maid-employer relations, informed by the theories of Galtung (1990), Kleinman (2000), Harvey (1999), and Bourdieu, amongst others, with Singapore as a context. Three maid-related phenomena are explored through the lenses of structural, direct, cultural/symbolic violence ? the preponderance of female abusers of FDWs, with due consideration of the violence enacted by FDWs themselves; accusations made by employers of the use of sorcery or black magic by FDW; and the relationship between employer and maid as mediated by technology.

The thesis revisits existing theories of patriarchy and gender, and seeks to add to this an understanding of female-female power configurations in their own terms. Accusations of black magic are interpreted as a form of cultural violence in that they represent, amongst other things, inversions of aggression by accusers (employers) aimed at maintaining the hierarchical (im)balance of power between employers and maids. Concepts of cultural and symbolic violence are also used to examine how, by means of technological metaphors, the FDW comes to be viewed as the ultimate household appliance, hired to replace the Singaporean woman who can afford her; and the interaction between FDWs and technology against a backdrop of hyper-technological Singapore.