‘It's truly exploitative’: Labour control and exploitation in domestic work in Mexico

Abstract

This article analyses the complex interplay between control and exploitation in domestic work. Applying a labour exploitation continuum framework informed by an intersectional lens, the study draws on the work experiences of 15 Mexican domestic workers through five key dimensions of domestic work: workload and working hours; employment (in)security; compensation and benefits; occupational health and safety; and discrimination, violence and harassment. The article contributes to a broader understanding of the control-exploitation continuum, identifying a range of everyday exploitative practices such as low pay and long hours to extreme exploitation, such as sexual violence. Furthermore, control and exploitation vary across intersecting identities and are felt more acutely by some (more) marginalised identities. This article makes a dual contribution by highlighting the spectrum of exploitation faced by domestic workers in the global South and the role of extreme control mechanisms in exploitation, while also challenging the dominant focus on international migrant workers when examining the dynamics of labour exploitation.