‘A Tactful Union’

Abstract

Recently, researchers and activists in India have been calling for attention towards the rising numbers of women entering the labour force as domestic workers, who have remained at the rock-bottom of the working-class hierarchy here. SEWA Kerala’s union displays marked differences from mainstream unions. This article reflects upon the agency of the SEWA domestic worker in contemporary Kerala through the analysis of workers’ narratives, and the specific strategies they deploy through SEWA’s unionisation in the changing context of the demand for domestic labour here. Second, we highlight SEWA Kerala’s strategies to transform domestic workers, generally positioned at the very margins of politics and the public in Kerala, into citizens. Third, we reflect on SEWA workers’ perception of full citizenship, and on their self-chosen distance from mainstream, formal politics.

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