Janice Stiglich

No Amotines El Gallinero: Domestic Worker Agency and Identity in Lima, Peru and the Daily Struggle Janice Stiglich

For centuries, indigenous women have been forced to labor in slave-like conditions as domestic workers in Lima, Peru. With neoliberal practices on the rise, Peru?s domestic labor informal economic sector struggles with sociopolitical representation. The downtrodden women of the household work economy exemplify the national perception of desconfianza, or distrust, as it trickles down from the wealthier individuals to those living in poverty. Although the nature of domestic work is a product of hegemonic colonial relations and, recently, violent social movements in the late 20th century, increasing attempts for government transparency and nongovernmental involvement, have created a slowly recovering broken social system. In this book, I ascertain that the identity of trabajadoras, or female workers, is primarily driven by their agency as they struggle to become upwardly mobile.