Abstract
This chapter discusses the positions of domestic workers and their employers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in relation to different conceptions of citizenship. Scholars studying domestic workers commonly use concepts of citizenship to situate the vulnerable position of domestic workers. This chapter elaborates on existing theory in specifying the connection between the concepts of access to justice, citizenship, and legal liminality. Specifically, this chapter shows how the theory of diminished citizenship, developed to analyse the position of domestic workers elsewhere, also applies to domestic workers in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates. Interviews and fieldwork show that in the case of a conflict, these workers have no proper access to justice; this results in severely diminished civil citizenship and is related to the fact that domestic workers are both migrants and women. This chapter then examines to what extent the position of the employers can be conceptualized within the same citizenship framework. The results suggest that the position of the employers cannot be framed using the same conceptions of citizenship. A more detailed look at Saudi and Emirati societies reveals new concepts, but also shows there may be an interconnection between the various concepts of citizenship. The study finally opens the discussion on possible connections between civil citizenship, social citizenship, and the position of women. As such, this chapter is relevant not only for the more than two million domestic workers in these two countries but also for reaching a better understanding of the importance of full citizenship for women worldwide.
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Vlieger, A. (2014). 16 Diminished Civil Citizenship of Female Migrant Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In: Truong, TD., Gasper, D., Handmaker, J., Bergh, S. (eds) Migration, Gender and Social Justice. Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace, vol 9. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28012-2_16
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