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BROKEN SPACES; BOUNDED REALITIES; FOREIGN FEMALE DOMESTIC WORKERS IN THE UAE by Rima Sabban submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of The American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology / V Chair Kenneth C^-.Kusterer Samih K. Farsoun Vidvamali Samaraslnghe Dean of College of Arts and Sciences Dale 1996 The American University Washington, D.C. 20016 m AMEBICAB CHIVEBSITY LIBBAHY Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9706400 C o p y r ig h t 1996 b y S abb an, Rima Abdul All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9706400 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. COPYRIGHT bv RIMA SABBAN 1996 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED s. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. To my father. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. BROKEN SPACES; BOUNDED REALITIES: FOREIGN FEMALE DOMESTIC WORKERS IN THE UAE BY RIMA SABBAN ABSTRACT This dissertation studies the phenomenon of foreign female domestic workers (FFDW) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), within the context of the feminization of migration. It examines the impact of the migration process on the lives of the FFDW, their working conditions, and their interaction with their social and spatial surroundings. This study is based on a field work conducted in Dubai, the second largest city in the UAE. The field work consists of 51 extended interviews with the FFDW, and 34 limited interviews with their employers. The questionnaire is semi- structured and comprises open-ended questions that cover the period from the beginning of the migration joumey to the FFDW’s interview. The FFDWs migration journey is reported as a narrative that combines the quantitative and qualitative inquiry into research design. This inquiry was based on four aspects of the migration journey called the Four Cs. These aspects are: the composition factors of the FFDW in the sample; the causes of their migration joumey; their working conditions; and finally the consequences of this trip on their lives, their situated selves, their families and children, and finally on UAE society at large. i i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, for their continuous emotional and practical support, I would like to thank my husband and my sons, Khalid and Gaith, whom without their patience and understanding, I could not have completed this project. (When I began this joumey, Gaith was only four months old and Khalid was four years old.) My husband has had to go through tremendous social pressure, compromise, and adjustment, while my children, as young as they are, have been willing to understand continuously why so much of my time has been devoted to this dissertation. For their struggle to comprehend and accept this, I am grateful. Also, I wish to thank, my parents, especially my father, whose devotion to women's education has made me who I am. Sadly, he passed away when I was working on this project. Yet I know that no one would have been prouder to see me receiving my PhD than he would have been. I also would like to thank my brothers and my sister for their continuous encouragement. I would like to thank Mumtaz, the Indian domestic worker who strongly inspired this project, and I would also like to extend a special thank you to Patricia Watkins, who has greatly supported me during this endeavor. Academically, I wish to thank Dr. Kenneth Kusterer for his help and guidance throughout this research. It has been a privilege to work with such a person, gifted with rare sympathy for women’s issues and with such remarkable professional integrity. I also iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. would like to thank Dr. Samih Farsoun and Dr. Vidyamali Samarasinghe for their time in reading this dissertation, and for their insights and suggestions. I also wish to thank all my friends and teachers. It is impossible to individually name them all for they have been many, but I would like to specifically mention my thanks to Judith and Mahmoun Fandy, Mary Habib and Oya Acikalin. Finally, without the help of Blanca Madani and Stephanie Reich, who edited this paper and worked with me under the pressure of deadlines, I probably would not have completed this project on time. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................................ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..................................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENT......................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................................vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS................................................................................................. ix INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER ONE: FEMINIZATION OF MIGRATION........................................................ 10 I. WOMEN IN INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION...................................................12 II. CONCEPTUALIZATION OF FEMINIZATION OF MIGRATION................... 31 CHAPTER TWO: THE UAE...............................................................................................40 I. UAE BACKGROUND AND CHARACTERISTICS OF OIL STORY................42 II. THE UAE MIGRATION POLEMICS.................................................................58 CHAPTER THREE: METHODS OF RESEARCH.............................................................78 I. FIELD WORK AND CHARACTERISTICS OF AN AREA STUDIED............79 H. SAMPLE COMPOSITION.................................................................................. 95 CHAPTER FOUR: CAUSES AND CONCRETE CASES OF MIGRATION....................114 I. DECISION INITIATION/REASONS TO MIGRATE.........................................115 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. II. RECRUITMENT............................................................................................... 131 III. THE JOURNEY: CONDITIONS, EXPENSES, AND MEANS OF PAYMENT..............................................................................................................147 CHAPTER FIVE: WORK PLACE AND WORK CONDITIONS..................................... 169 I. THE NEW PLACE.............................................................................................. 172 II. THE WORK ITSELF.........................................................................................196 III. BENEFITS AND DAMAGES OF THE WORK............................................. 219 CHAPTER FIVE: APPENDIX.......................................................................................... 237 CHAPTER SIX: THE CONSEQUENCES........................................................................241 I. CONSEQUENCES AFFECTING THE FFDW SELF........................................244 II. CONSEQUENCES ON UAE SOCIETY.......................................................... 271 III. THE SITUATED FFDW.................................................................................