Caring about Care: Investigating Work-Life Conditions of Latin American Transnational Surrogate and Childcare Workers
Author: Vanda Bajs, vanda.bajs@gmail.com
Department: Institute for the Analysis of Change in Contemporary and Historical Societies
University: Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium
Supervisor: Laura Merla
Year of completion: In progress
Language of dissertation: English
Keywords:
Kinship
, Surrogacy
, Social reproduction
, Childcare
Areas of Research:
Women in Society
, Family Research
, Comparative Sociology
Abstract
The project comparatively investigates the work-life conditions of Latin American (LA) surrogates in Colombia and LA childcarers in Belgium. It explores societal differences in paid child-rearing and child-bearing through face-to-face interviews with reproductive workers (childcarers/surrogates) and employers (nanny agencies and surrogacy agencies/fertility clinics). The study aims to fill the research gap of transnational and cross-sectoral analysis of reproductive labour and give insights into the impact of kin beyond family structures. Combining critical kinship studies with Colen’s concept of stratified reproduction, the project will demonstrate how kinship and perception of non-genetic kin differently influence the socio-economic value of both roles and put them differently on the spectrum between “mother” and “worker” at the intersection of gender, race, class and global power dynamics. The project introduces a novel qualitative methodology that puts the voices of reproductive workers at the heart of the project. It will reveal (dis)similarities between Latin American surrogates and childcarers and clarify what improvements the mother-workers want to see. Finally, the research incites a non-dichotomous approach in the context of the international gender division of labour for reproductive workers and incentivises further cross-sectoral research on the correlation between value and kinship in reproductive labour.
