The Invisible “Native” Labor in the Settler Home
The plight of the domestic worker–the nanny, the elder-care provider, the cleaner–is the hidden bedrock of the bifurcated city. Mamdani’s analysis of the “native” subject finds its most intimate expression here, within the private sphere of the “settler” home. These workers, overwhelmingly immigrant women of color, are governed by a “customary” law of informality and isolation, denied basic labor protections, and subjected to the arbitrary power of their employers. Their work of social reproduction enables the settler class to participate fully in the public economy. A Marxist-feminist analysis identifies this as the hyper-exploitation of reproductive labor. The solution is not mere legal recognition but the building of powerful, transnational domestic worker unions that can shatter the isolation and challenge the patriarchal and colonial logic that treats this essential work as a private servitude.
Originally posted 2025-10-05 20:25:42.
