“The space between us”*: Migrant Domestic Work as a Nexus between International Labor Standards and Trade Policy

Abstract

In June 2011, the International Labor Organization (ILO) celebrated the adop- tion of the historic Decent Work for Domestic Workers Convention (No. 189) and Recommendation (No. 201) at the 100th Session of its annual International Labour Conference (ILC). I argue in this essay that the new ILO standard set- ting builds on and transcends the limits of framing labor rights as human rights, by infusing the elusive notion of “decent work”1 with a strong normative core. In the new labor standards, decent work extends beyond a narrow but cru- cially prioritized set of fundamental principles and rights at work, to include a comprehensive normalization of working conditions and substantive social protections. In other words, decent work for domestic workers encompasses the core features of workplace citizenship...