Labour of Sorrow

                                                     Labour of Sorrow

                                                                                                           Maria Reshetnikova.

Rhacel Parrenas (2001) in her book Servants of Globalization examines the experiences of the family members of transnational households. The author argues that in order to provide financial support for their families, Filipino women migrate to the developing countries such as the U.S and Italy, they often put themselves and their children under serious emotional stress. Immigrant women repress feelings of helplessness, loneliness, and regret caused by prolonged separation and this leads to negative consequences of their own and their children’s wellbeing. Children often become vulnerable to abuse and feel overwhelmed by anxiety, abandonment, and lack of emotional intimacy with their mothers.

 Similarly, Sedef Arat-Koc (2009) in her article “The Politics of Family and Immigration in the Subordination of Domestic Workers in Canada,” looks at the experiences of the immigrant women working as domestics in Canada and argues that features of the immigration policy such as temporary working permits and live-in conditions make these women vulnerable to abuse by their employers. Therefore, while these women are coming to developing countries in the hope of better opportunities, they are faced with serious emotional and physical costs that affect them and their families. Governmental intervention such as public childcare services and better structural support of the immigrant workers such as political rights may solve these problems in Canada. However, unless gender inequality is not eliminated in both sending and receiving countries, there is not a great deal that can be done to help these women and their families.

According to Parrenas, immigrant women who are working away from their families often experience feelings of helplessness, loss, and loneliness. The mothers realize the financial dependence of their families on them, and feel helpless because they have to continue to work abroad instead of being with their families (Parrenas, 2001, p.120). Parrenas comments that feelings of loss are associated with prolonged separation. Immigrant women often do not see their children grow up; moreover, prolonged separation leads to unfamiliarity between a parent and child and becomes harder to repair with time (2001, p.121). Loneliness also often overwhelms immigrant women. Lack of intimacy is often reinforced by the frequent contact with the children of their employees (Parrenas, 2001, p.121). Therefore, prolonged family separation leads to serious emotional strain among immigrant women which is underscored with time and type of job.

Moreover, Parrenas argues that in order to deal with such emotional strain these women repress their emotions (2001, p.125). Placing emphasis on the importance of their children education, mothers “equating love” with material support send money, designer clothes and toys (Parrenas, 2001, p.124) In addition, communication through frequent phone calls and letters leads immigrant women to believe that they are creating emotional “bridges” (Parrenas, 2001, p.125-126). The parents are convincing themselves that they are able to maintain close relationships and familiarity with their kin despite prolonged separation and geographical distance. The author argues that unfortunately this leads to rationalization of even longer separation which has a detrimental effect on mothers’ relationships with their children and their wellbeing (Parrenas, 2001, p.126). Thus, instead of facing harsh emotional difficulties, mothers in transnational families choose to repress these emotions which may have dire consequences for themselves and their children.

According to Parrenas, the experiences of the children who are growing up in transnational households are strained by the intergenerational conflict. Unlike their mothers, children often see emotional support more important than financial care (Parrenas, 2001,p.131). Additionally, children question the extent of their mothers’ efforts to build emotional “bridges” by judging their rare visits back home, and level of appreciation their mothers have for the sacrifices they make (Parrenas, 2001,p.131-132). Moreover, Parrenas found that despite the support from extended family and kin many children suffer emotionally. They feel anxious not knowing when they will be able to see their mothers again, hurt by this prolonged separation, and abandoned by their parents (Parrenas, 2001, p.136). In part such feelings are imposed by the traditional gender ideology in the Philippines. Children are raised in the culture that tends to deemphasize men as primary caregivers and exaggerates the expectations from the mothers (Parrenas, 2011, p.144).

 Furthermore, Parrenas states that the vulnerability of being abandoned, lost, and physically and sexually abused is dire but possible consequence of such separation (2001, p.137). Overall, children stress the importance of the emotional and intimate care and regardless of financial situation chose for their mothers to work in the Philippines even if that means economic insecurity (Parrenas, 2001, p.142). Therefore, despite financial support from their mothers, and help of the extended kin, children who are being raised in transnational households may suffer emotionally and physically when their mothers choose to work abroad, permanently affecting relationships between children and their mothers.

Sedef Arat-Koc (2009) looks at the abusive experiences of domestic workers in Canada, the majority of whom are immigrant women from the Philippines. Under the Live-in Caregiver Program, domestics must live in the same house with their employers; this allows employers to abuse the worker by relying on their services 24/7, often without paying for such services, therefore drastically reducing their hourly wage (Arat-Koc, 2009, p. 435). The author states that most of the work that domestics perform is often done in the privacy of their employers’ house. At the same time, despite the amount of effort, the work of domestics is often consumed rapidly by the occupants of the house and therefore remains invisible to the employer (Arat-Koc,2009,p.433). Subordination of the worker under the live-in program means that no privacy is available to domestics and employers are often in full control of their work and personal life (Arat-Koc, 2009, p. 437) In other words, by living with the employers, the workers are vulnerable to exploitation, denied any privacy, and their work is often underappreciated which could be humiliating and stressful.

The worker’s rights are very limited under temporary work permits. They cannot freely choose and change their employer or the type of work if they want to stay in Canada, therefore, the only freedom the employee really has is to return home (Arat-Koc, 2009, p. 440). Arat-Koc argues that since most of these workers are coming from Third World countries, the likelihood of them choosing to stay even under abusive work conditions is very high (2009, p. 440). Moreover, under the Live-in Caregiver Program workers can only come as single persons. The author cites Parrenas’ work as well as her own findings in the field and concludes that as a result of family separation and difficulties of reunifications, this “forced separation” can be considered an emotional abuse (Arat-Koc, 2009, p.446). The combination of the temporary working permits and live-in conditions of the immigration policy limits the opportunities of immigrant workers and promotes their vulnerability to emotional and physical abuse.

According to Arat-Koc, these negative consequences of immigrant domestic workers are the result of the immigration policies and government structures. Thus, perhaps instead of focusing immigration policies on “underregulating conditions and overregulating the workers”, the government should improve conditions of immigrant workers (Arat-Koc, 2009, p. 446). Such policies can help the experiences of immigrant women by giving them political rights and allowing them to form unions in order to protect themselves from exploitative practices by the employers (Arat-Koc, 2009, p.434-435). Moreover Arat-Koc, refers to underdevelopment of childcare services in Canada, and overall neo-liberal policies of the state to solve such problems in a privatized manner. Accordingly, instead of providing better and more affordable childcare services, parents are left by the state to solve the issue on their own, and the only solution that the state offers is undervalued services of the immigrant workers from the less developed countries (Arat-Koc, 2009, p. 446). However, where Arat-Koc falls short, is that today the pressure on the parents, even in the dual income families, to solve the problems on their own, means that mothers are the ones who are responsible for making such arrangements.

Parrenas in this matter provides a more thorough analysis.  According to the author, gender inequality in both sending and receiving countries is affecting the experiences of immigrant women (Parrenas, 2001, p.62). First, gender inequality is the cause of the migration of women in search of better economic opportunities. These women are often segregated in the labour market and in the family. Their access to jobs and education is limited to the stereotypic feminine positions such as teaching, nursing or housework (Parrenas, 2001, p.65). In family life, they are often being abused by their husbands, and unlike their husbands are not allowed to be legally divorced, or remarried (Parrenas, 2001, p.67). Thus, despite educational and labour experience, women choose to migrate to escape rigid traditional gender norms in the Philippines and find economic opportunities in more developed countries.

However, according to Parrenas’ analysis on their arrival to the developed country, these women also enter “international racialized division of reproductive labour” created by patriarchy and global capitalism (2001, p. 72). Similarly, to the women from Third World countries, despite their level of education and financial contribution to the household, women of the developed countries are still responsible for the household and childcare reproduction. Therefore, in order to liberate themselves from these responsibilities, they rely on the help of readily available women from the less developed world. Moreover, an immigrant woman who may be paid around $1000 a month working in the U.S, can in turn hire a  woman in the Philippines to perform household and childcare work for her  for around $40 a month (Parrenas, 2001, p.72-75). This means that instead of being abolished, gender inequality becomes reinforced and stretches on the international level where reproductive labour becomes less valued for women with fewer resources (Parrenas, 2001, p.78). Concentrating on the examination of Canadian system, Arat-Koc does not develop her analysis to include broader forces of international gender inequality. Parrenas, in this sense, provides broad-spectrum analysis from which one could conclude that unless gender inequality is eliminated in both sending and receiving countries, experiences of transnational families and women in general are not going to change.

References:

Arat-Koc, S. (2009). The Politics of Family and Immigration in the Subordination of Domestic Workers in Canada. In B. Fox (Ed.), SOC214H1: Family Patterns, Gender Relations (pp.432-446). Canada; Oxford University Press.

Parrenas, R.S. (2001). Servants of Globalization: Women, Migration and Domestic Work. Ch.3, 5. Palo, Alto: Stanford University Press. 

FINAL PROJECT

Here is the link to my final project blog

http://thearchitectureofbukhara.blogspot.com

Blog#10 UNESCO

What I got from this week readings is that UNESCO from the day one of its existence was full of confusion. Firstly, there was a lot of misunderstanding in terminology, for example, “RACE”. It took a while to decide and come up with an appropriate definition; is it biological, philosophical or social? Another thing I am interested in finding out what Nations are the part of the UN is it more powerful egalitarian nations of the West and Europe who are in fact coming up and dictating the rules to the rest of the world.

When it comes to Afghanistan the strategy of saving historical monuments, art etc. begins by nation-building process WHITHIN the framework of the UN. This is very interesting fact to note that while they are helping to protect or restore historical artefacts the UN uses its own framework on building nation identity of Afghanistan. UN is coordinating all the activities in the field of culture. Even though the effective cooperation is emphasized I do not see it being true in the country that had no right of voice in the modern world.  How can that be acceptable in the era of human rights? Do people decide for themselves how to exist or they let more powerful to decide for them? Especially after the Bamyian Buddhas incident a lot attention has been directed in investing in cultural heritage of Afghanistan. My question is why people are spending so much money to support the sites at Afghanistan? Can it be because of the desire to be able to say more confidently that it is in fact the WORLD and INTERNATIONAL heritage site, and not just of Afghanis?

Since UN considers deliberate destruction of historical and cultural artefacts as moral degradation and crime against culture they consider such acts as direct attack against UNESCO and international community. Therefore, since it is considered to be crime the action should be taken. Once again, there is more confusion. It seems that Afghanistan is being exception to too many rules. I am, for example, did not even know about existence of certain rules during war times. First, it says that all the artefacts religious, historical, cultural etc. should be preserved during times of international war. But war in Afghanistan was not an international war. Then here is a rule that can be applied to a civil war. But it wasn’t a civil war since 90% of the population chose Taliban as a government….hmmm it doesn’t matter rules still apply and it is still crime against humanity. That made me think about the incident in Baghdad when the National Museum of Iraq was attacked and the American soldiers were standing across from it and watched looters plunder the Worlds treasures.

 So who does it belong to? It seems to me that when no one cares about the object it is the people of the region who are responsible for its preservation, but when something like Bamyian Buddha incident is happening and the object becomes popular theme for discussion than it starting to belong to the international community.

Blog #9 Islamisation

Common definitions of terrorism refer only to those violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror), are perpetrated for  religious, political or ideological goals, deliberately target or disregard the safety of civilians, and are committed by non-government agencies.

I enjoyed reading this week articles very much. First of all, Gunn’s article mainly talks about Uzbekistan!!!!   Secondly, it talks about what is really going on there. Thirdly, all the articles showcase a social issue which is another great interest of mine. Lastly, all three pieces got me thinking really hard.

So if terrorism refers to violence perpetrated for religious, political or ideological goals and is not committed by government agencies …what is going on in Uzbekistan then? What I got from Gunn’s article “Shaping Islamic Identity” is that Uzbekistan is caught in between. On the one hand is gaining Islamic identity and separating itself completely from the past and Soviet Union and anything that has Russian identity. On the other hand,  tries to become a modern state and  doesn’t follow the same path as Afghanistan did, because of fear that C.A.   will become  a new battleground, with an excuse to its religious superiority. By doing so the government is suppressing many other religions that are not “official Islam” which can lead to the rise of Islamist movements. In Uzbekistan democracy seems to be the blanket that is covering complete totalitarianism in the eyes of the rest of the world. I would agree with the term “clash within civilization” but I would add that it is because of the fear of that  more powerful civilizations will be clashing onto C.A. and blaming it for its religious and cultural war. Colombia vs. Afghanistan was a good example.

It seems that everyone is blaming Islam for all the troubles in the world from 9/11 to Women’s lack of rights .That is what E. Said refers to  as Clash of Ignorance. He says that there is a big problem with the identifying labels.

What is Islam?   What is West? Does all Islam means is jihad, or it’s just a bunch of crazy fanatics? And how many Muslims live around the world, in U.S. in particular?

After all that we probably need a new definition for terrorism, as it appears governments and politicians are the ones who are creating terrorism   at its grassroots.

Blog # 7 Cosmopolitan Chang’an

Summing up in his article the history of the Tang Dynasty that was ruled by Li family from the 7^th century to the 10^th, Schafner refers to it as constantly changing times in Chinese history. He believes that the best way to differentiate them is by looking at the commerce and art of that period.

The 7^th century can be referred to as the era of conquest and settlement. In that period the prices were low, economy was stable, new taxes were introduced. Also, it could be viewed as the era of a social change when through official examination system (writing skills of candidates were tested) one could achieve a higher socio-economic status by passing the exam. That is probably why so many nations and races migrated at that time. At the end of the 7^th century Buddhism and Indian culture were at their peak.

The 8^th century was known as the “Fullness of T’ang”. Reign of Hsuan Tsang made China wealthy, safe and open for commerce. Yang-chou and Canton were the most popular centers of commerce at that time.

Then, the money economy came - people were using cash and thereafter the “Double Tax” reform was introduced, which in turn caused a collapse of independent farmers and rise of the merchant class.

The second half of the 8^th century was the time of decline and drop in population numbers due to deaths. It was a difficult time for the Chinese nation as it was surrounded by stronger neighbors such as Burma, India that did not want to gave up its independence, Uyghur, Turks, Khitans, Tibetans, Muslims with Arab pirates. It was also known as the century of tolerated foreign faiths. Bundy’s article is about the Nestorian missions in China, that is when the first Church of the East was approximately established. That was a perfect timing for someone of a foreign religion to approach the emperor asking to allow the preaching on the alien territory. Of course, it was difficult to sustain and rise when one competes with well established Buddhism or Manichaeism. Other factors were taken in consideration as well - some scholars say that they were “too foreign for superior culture”, or their abilities in translations did not satisfy the royalty (and made it hard for today’s scholars to study). Later on, Nestorians tried to tie in Middle-Eastern traditions with the local ones,which Chinese rulers highly encouraged foreigners to do. Perhaps Nestorians took a wrong approach as Bundy refers to it as apologetic. Perhaps due to the distance from the home land, Nestorian preaching did not reach high popularity within the locals, although some churches were built on territory of Chang’an  T’angs capital. I would probably agree and say that they were too foreign for the Chinese, the religion missed that exotic twist, the mysticism that attracted them so much.

By the 9^th century everything goes downhill with the ruling age of Huang Chao. It is known as the most fatal of human disasters in that century. Huge massacre of foreigner merchants at Canton in 879c.e. only shows negative impact on the trade. 

The 10^th century house of Li and Tang disappeared.

Obviously, China has been known for it’s obsession with political power, religion and commerce. Many wanted to migrate there, the most popular type of new comers were envoys, clerics and merchants. People traveled on land with caravans, from mountains and by sea. Port Canton was the most popular stop for “barbarians”. Canton was known for its pirate raids, corrupt officials and murderers – therefore, some preferred other ways of reaching the superior land.

Yang-chou, on the other side, was known as the jewel of China. Rich businessmen wanted to be there as it was the banking centre of China.

Chang’an can bee seen as racist in today perspective, as the rules and policies of the city could change on the spot depending on the race of the foreigners. The city was separated by “zones”. Western Market was for foreigners – it was more violent, but exotic. Strict surveillance was enforced all around the city, but was significantly higher in that area. Eastern Market, located closer to palace was richer and less crowded.

Chinese obsession with everything exotic was reflected in almost everything from fashion and art to their literature and religion.

Blog entry # 6 Dunhuang Caves

Presented articles by S.Fraser and Ma Shichang describe the decoration techniques and specific locations of the caves discovered in Dunhuang. This fascinating discovery helps us to understand the religious life of people during Tang dynasty. Themes such Magic Competition (murals presented in 16 caves-shrines, that took over 90 years to complete ), The Cave of the Thousand Buddhas at Magao caves and other Buddhist motifs demonstrate that Buddhism played a major role at that time and thereafter. This could be seen from the amount of effort that was put into the decoration of the caves. The caves served for variety of purposes - from meditating, storing sacred scrolls and utilizing them as workshops for artists to appropriating them as homes for locals. This is even more helpful in studying Chinese history today. Around 500 caves were discovered in the region, most of which were decorated by professional artists that worked at these workshops. The artists used variety of techniques from sketching to copying paintings and others. Sketches made a very important discovery - looking at them, one can see how the mind of the artist worked, as they were made more freely and spontaneously. In the copying techniques, pouncing and paper cutting were used. Even though some of the caves were not made for the purpose of evident demonstration, all of them were thoroughly decorated. The techniques that were used were well developed, and professional artists were sometimes hired by local ruling families such as Zhang and Cao clan to work on them. Once again, that proves that Buddhism was as important for common citizens as it was for the upper class.

Sogdiana. blog entry #5

Who were the Sogdians ? What impact have they made on the Silk Road? And how did neighboring countries influenced those people?

Sogdiana was located between Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers in modern Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Even though Samarkand  was considered the capital, Sogdiana was actually much larger, defined by the areas where Sogdian language was spoken. The language itself was Eastern Iranian and was highly popular along the Silk Road.

Sogdians were known as a great merchants and traders along the Silk Road. The Chinese even told anecdotes about Sogdians’ merchant race.

Sogdians didn’t have a single polity and were controlled by more powerful rulers from Hephthalites to Turks; which didn’t stop them from thriving. Sogdiana was perfectly located in a heart of the Silk Road with access to west (Sassanian Empire); north (Russian steppes);south( India and Afghanistan) and east(China). Sogdian rulers, whether Hephthalites or Turks  supported their  mercantile activities and even offer a protection to caravans(which also helped Buddhist monks to travel safely along those caravans  ).

In terms of religion Sogdiana  was mainly influenced by Iran , which religion at that time was Zoroastrianism. Therefore,  Sogdians worshiped Zoroastrian gods , but also several other deities. Goddess Nana (influence of Hindu); small communities of Christianity and Buddhism also existed.

Even though highly influenced by others, Sogdians still had their own culture and played a major role in developing of Silk Road relationships. They were know for  their silk textiles, language abilities(many Sogdians used to be translators), and artisans (Sogdian dancers were very popular with Chinese).

Being born in Uzbekistan, Tashkent I’ve traveled to Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva and other regions. One striking  thing that I have noticed that the people are very proud of their culture and the funny thing that they are in some way still the same as they were many centuries ago. When you get of  the station people are running to you trying to sell you things from breads and sweets to cars and whatever.

They  looooveeee to bargain and  I think it became their culture.