What's Polanyi got to do with it? Undocumented migrant domestic workers and the de-commodifying effects of reciprocity

Safuta, Anna
(2012) ESPAnet Anniversary Conference “10 Years of European Social Policy Analysis Network (ESPAnet)” — Location: University of Edinburgh, UK (6.September.2012)

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  • Safuta, AnnaUCLouvain
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Abstract
The Hungarian socioeconomist Karl Polanyi demonstrated that in pre-modern Europe and most non-Western societies the importance of market exchange has only been marginal – a complimentary source of income for certain categories of the population (Polanyi 1944, 1957a & b, 1966, 1977). The livelihood of man in these societies was guaranteed mostly through redistribution and/or reciprocity. In contemporary market societies it is however the contrary: citizens are expected to survive on resources stemming primarily from market exchange, while resources originating from redistribution (the welfare state) - and, to a smaller extent, reciprocity (social links and obligations) – temporarily supplement or replace market resources when individuals are unable to take part in market exchange (due to old age, disability or unemployment for example). This paper shows the rudimentary decommodifying effects Polanyian reciprocity has for undocumented migrants. Using data collected in 2012 in Belgium through semi-structured interviews with migrant domestic workers, I show that resources stemming from reciprocity are of particular importance for undocumented migrants because they do not have access to the “safety net” offered by redistribution (the welfare state of the host country). I also use the Polanyi-inspired conceptual framework I developed to shed light on the importance of reciprocity for finding and securing jobs, a theme previously explored using the ‘social capital’ approach (Aguilera 2002, 2003; Granovetter 1995).
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Safuta, A. (2012). What’s Polanyi got to do with it? Undocumented migrant domestic workers and the de-commodifying effects of reciprocity. ESPAnet Anniversary Conference “10 Years of European Social Policy Analysis Network (ESPAnet)”, University of Edinburgh, UK. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/72018