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Geographica 12 Geographica 12 Patricia Yocie Hierofani “How dare you talk back?!” Spatialised Power Practices in the Case of Indonesian Domestic Workers in Malaysia Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Hörsal 2, Ekonomikum, Kyrkogårdsgatan 10, Uppsala, Friday, 9 December 2016 at 13:00 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The examination will be conducted in English. Faculty examiner: Professor Linda McDowell (University of Oxford, School of Geography and the Environment). Abstract Hierofani, P. Y. 2016. "How dare you talk back?!". Spatialised Power Practices in the Case of Indonesian Domestic Workers in Malaysia. Geographica 12. 205 pp. Uppsala: Department of Social and Economic Geography, Uppsala University. ISBN 978-91-506-2604-9. By taking the experiences and narratives of Indonesian women in Malaysia as the empirical material, this dissertation offers an analysis on spatialised power practices in the context of paid domestic workers. Family survival prompts these women to work abroad, but patriarchal norms shift their economic contribution as supplementary to the men’s role as the breadwinner. The interviews reveal that these women chose Malaysia as their destination country after having listened to oral stories, but despite the transnational mobility involved in their decisions, they are rendered immobile in the employers’ house. Furthermore, the analysis shows an intricate ensemble of power relations in which gender, class and nationality/ethnicity interact with each other, inform and reproduce spatialised domination and labour exploitation practices by the employers. Immigration status of the workers, meanwhile, puts them in a subordinated position in relation to the employers, citizens of the host country. Without the recognition from the state on this particular form of embodied labour, the employers are responsible for defining the working conditions of the workers, leading to precarious conditions. Findings on several resistance practices by the workers complete the analysis of power practices, where resistance is treated as an entangled part of power. Contributing to the study of gendered geographies of exploitation, the study identifies the home and the body as the main levels of analysis; meanwhile, practices at the national level by the state, media and recruitment/placement agencies and globalisation processes are identified as interrelated factors that legitimate the employers’ practices of exploitation. Finally, the dissertation contributes to feminist geography analysis on gender, space, and power through South-South migration empirics. Keywords: feminist geography, paid domestic work, Indonesia, Malaysia, gender, migration, space, power, resistance, intersectionality Patricia Yocie Hierofani, Department of Social and Economic Geography, Box 513, Uppsala University, SE-75120 Uppsala, Sweden. © Patricia Yocie Hierofani 2016 ISSN 0431-2023 ISBN 978-91-506-2604-9 urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-305651 (http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-305651) Cover illustration by Peter Jacobsen Preface This preface was one of the hardest part to write. I sat in front of the laptop for almost an hour, just staring to the blank page as my mind recalled the winding path in the research process. It was a tough re- search to do, and I could not count how many people suggested me to quit on numerous occasions on account of the stress I experienced. Precarious work situation faced by these women domestics was an emotionally exhaustive topic. At the same time, I felt so close to the topic in many different ways, from a personal concern about the situa- tion of domestic workers, to a recognition of the difficulties as part of a migration process, being a migrant myself. The concern on migrant domestic workers originated from a previous work experience at the Indonesian National Commission on Violence Against Women (Kom- nas Perempuan), where I learned about the human rights abuses expe- rienced by Indonesian domestics. It motivated me to bring up their experiences in the academic discourses, both through the Master’s thesis and now the Doctoral dissertation. This dissertation would not be possible without migrant domestic workers who were willing to share their experiences to me. I am ex- tremely grateful for that. I am also indebted to mbak Tati Krisnawaty for the mentoring when I was in Komnas Perempuan and for facilitat- ing the fieldwork in Karawang. Thank you, mbak Tati and Paul, for the friendship and for welcoming me in your house. Terima kasih juga untuk mbak Dewi dan Fitri yang telah mencarikan kontak mantan TKW Malaysia di Karawang dan menemani wawancara—sekaligus menerjemahkan bahasa Sunda ke bahasa Indonesia sewaktu wa- wancara. I am grateful to Shazana for making the fieldwork in Kuala Lumpur less terrifying with the presence of a friendly face. Thank you to Susanna George for helping me to find contacts in Kuala Lumpur. This dissertation benefits from insightful discussions on its initial stage with Maria Platt (Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore), Diana Wong (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia), Shanti Thambiah (University of Malaya) and Sharuna Verghis—thank you! I am also grateful for the funding from the Swedish Society for Anthro- pology and Geography (SSAG), through Vega Fund and SSAG Fund, which allows me to carry out the fieldworks in Indonesia and Malay- sia and to attend an international conference to present the results. I cannot say thank you enough to the two wonderful supervisors, Aida Aragao-Lagergren and Irene Molina, for their continuous sup- port. I always felt inspired every time we had a supervision meeting— from the brilliant suggestions in analysing the materials, to lifting up the spirit and making me believe in myself again whenever I doubted the work. I truly appreciate it. Thank you to Brett Christopher, Rhiannon Pugh and Susanne Sten- backa as members of the reading group for showing interests on my work and for your invaluable comments on the final manuscript. For Ann Rodenstedt, Taylor Brydges, Su-Hyun Berg, Marat Murzabekov, Anna-Klara Lindeborg, Sofia Cele, Ann Grubström, Tsegaye Tegenu, David Jansson, Johan Jansson, Danielle van der Burgt and Brian Hracs, thank you for your inputs through Doctoral Forum or discus- sions during fika breaks. The inputs help shaping the manuscript along the way. I would like to thank all colleagues at the Department of Social and Economic Geography, especially the wonderful group of fellow PhD students. Thank you, John Guy Perrem, for starting the PhD, being an amazing officemate for three years, and now going through the last PhD phase together. I would like to thank Tina Mathisen, Gabriella Hinchcliffe and Karin Backvall as the original PhD batch starting the adventure with me; Chiara Valli, Sara Forsberg, Andreas Alm Fjell- borg, and Kati Kadrik, for all the fika, lunches and happy hours over the years; Sofia Joose for the interesting discussions through Dutch colonialism; and Julia De Gregario for being a great officemate in the last year. Thank you also to Pamela Tipmanoworn and Lena Dahlborg for being always patient in helping me with the administrative stuffs. Special thank you for Taylor Brydges and Rhiannon Pugh for keeping me sane, especially during the hectic times in the last 1.5 years! Outside the Department, but still within the professional contexts: Thank you to mbak Kamala Chandrakirana for the friendship and support along the way. Thank you to ibu Sjamsiah Achmad who in- troduced me to migrant domestic workers’ issues in the first place through Komnas Perempuan, and who encouraged me to pursue fur- ther studies in Sweden. Thank you to Anders Uhlin, Nicola Piper and Stefan Rother for the support on different stages of the Doctoral study. I truly appreciate the wonderful support from my family. Terima kasih banyak untuk Papa, Mama dan Giovanni! Aku bisa mencapai S3 ini karena doa, impian, harapan dan dukungan dari Papa dan Mama. Terima kasih, Gio, atas sharing-nya, via whatsapp maupun obrolan larut malam sewaktu di Jakarta. Björn Jacobsen, I feel thank you is not enough to express how grateful I am of your support throughout the PhD. Thank you for your patience in hearing me out as I sorted out the chaotic analytical thoughts, for enlightening discussions on theories (and life!), for picking me up when I felt my work was insignificant, and for being such a wonderful life companion! Thank you for the new family in Sweden—Ellen Gustafsson for your interest and sup- port on the work and for useful tips on dealing with the stress, and all the Jacobsens for always welcoming me in the annual summer gather- ing even when I had to bring work because I simply would not want to miss the fun! I am particularly grateful to my father-in-law, Peter Jacobsen, for developing the idea for the cover together and making such a fantastic drawing on the cover. It is a powerful illustration which represents the topic of the dissertation well through various symbols of gender, class, control and resistance. I and the artist hope that the picture is inspiring as an introduction to follow the stories of migrant domestic workers in experiencing domination and exploitation practices and in resisting these practices. Silverstaden, October 2016 List of terms in Indonesian/Malay language Emak Mother (Indonesian) Ibu/Bu A formal way to address an older woman, a married woman, or a mother (Indonesian); similar to Mrs in Eng- lish Kakak A way to address a slightly older woman, or an older sister (Indonesian) Maghrib One of the five praying times in Islam, at sunset, around 6 p.m. (Indonesian) Nyonya A deferent way to address an older woman (Indone- sian/Malay); similar to Madam in English Puan A deferent way to address an older woman (Malay); simi- lar to Madam in English Tasbih Beads on a rope, to be used for praying in Islam (Indone- sian) Tuan A deferent way to address an older man (Indone- sian/Malay); similar to Master/Sir in English Ya-sin One of the chapters in Quran Contents Preface .................................................................................................
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