Servicing the Middle Classes - Class, Gender and Waged Domestic Work in Contemporary Britain (Hardcover, Annotated Ed)

Domestic service is being reinstated by the middle classes. Demand for domestic labour has increased in Britain in recent years. For some, hiring domestic help is nothing new, but for the majority of British households, it is beyond the range of immediate experience. This text sets out to investigate the resurgence of demand for waged domestic labour in Britain during the 1980s and early 1990s, and the consequent growth of a new "servant" class. Examining the conditions and trends which have conjoined to produce and reproduce this labour force, the book cites two particular case studies. It explores the day-to-day practices, composition, geography of demand, and social relations of the two major forms of waged domestic labour in contemporary Britain - nannies and cleaners. The work concludes by considering the effects of the ideologies of motherhood, false kinship relations and caring, on the ways in which paid domestic workers are employed. It also examines the broader theoretical implications of the study for debates on class and gender and its implications for feminist politics.