The personalisation of domination in labour relations: women workers in maquiladoras and women in domestic service in Latin America

Abstract

Latin America is characterised by a huge diversity in the forms of employment and labour relations prevalent there. The comparison between two situations which would appear to be unrelated —maquiladoras and domestic employment— enables us to highlight the centrality of hierarchical labour relations and the personalisation of domination. The article begins with a presentation of these two work environments. It then analyses the personalisation of domination relations, examining the hypothesis that, far from being a characteristic of certain “archaic” forms of work and employment, paternalism is in fact a dimension deeply rooted in the most contemporary modes of labour relations, both in the “North” and in the “South”.