https://www.iss.nl/en/events/domestic-workers-political-subjects-within-...
Drawing on her research subjects' narratives about their lives as domestic workers, as members of
their families and communities and about their own selves, Amirali tracks domestic workers'
vocabulariesand modes of self-fashioning in various oppressive contexts within and beyond 'work'.
Committed to resisting hegemonic discourses (within national and transnational legal and cultural
domains and in liberal-humanitarian frameworks) which either render domestic workers invisible or position them as 'illegal migrants', 'helpless victims' or 'unencumbered individuals', she attempts to
give an account of
her subjects as 'fully human, political beings' in all of their complexity and contradiction, accompanied
by a corresponding account of her own 'self' in relation to her subjects.
Sharing insights from her recently completed ethnographic fieldwork in Pakistan, in this seminar,
Alia explores the concept of 'majboori' (translated literally here as 'compulsion' or 'obligation') as used
by her interlocutors in a variety of contexts, within and outside the realm of domestic service. In her
talk, Alia shows that her interlocutors navigate 'majboori' using a range of strategies which defy binary categorization, arguing that while 'majboori' may be at the heart of many of her subjects' choices, 'majboori' does not foreclose possibilities for resistance, refusal or disruption.
About Alia Amirali
Alia Amirali is a Left political organizer based in Islamabad, Pakistan who has worked closely
with formal and informal workers, students, women, slum dwellers and tenant farmers over two decades, in addition to engaging with various civil rights and social justice movements in the country.
She is also a lecturer in Gender Studies at the Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad and is currently in London doing her PhD in Gender Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
The Development Research seminars present cutting-edge research on development studies by
noted scholars from around the world.
The Series aims to stimulate critical discussion about contemporary development issues.
The Development Research seminars present cutting-edge research on development studies by noted scholars from around the world. The Series aims to stimulate critical discussion about contemporary development issues.
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