INFORMALITY AND THE DOUBLE DAY: THE CASE OF PART-TIME DOMESTIC WORKERS IN DHAKA, BANGLADESH

Abstract

This MA thesis aims to understand the experiences and perspectives of part-time women care workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It seeks to understand their dual role in social reproduction, a role they take up in other people’s homes for pay, and in their own homes under conditions structured by poverty and patriarchy. It particularly focuses on the live-out/part-time domestic workers in Dhaka, who represent an important segment of the informal labor market as they are not included in the country’s labor law and face numerous challenges, including discrimination, violence, insecurity, and low wages. Employing feminist political economy, especially social reproduction theory, this thesis aims to understand their paid and unpaid care works in two spheres. The research attempts to fill the knowledge gap from an anthropological perspective and to challenge prevailing narratives that predominantly focus on violence and overlook the complexity of domestic workers' lives.