Kavita Datta

Global cities at work : new migrant divisions of labour

List of tables List of figures List of plates List of acronyms Acknowledgements 1 Deregulation, migration and the new world of work 2 Global city labour markets and Londons new migrant division of labour 3 Londons low paid foreign-born workers 4 Living and remaking Londons ethnic and gender divisions 5 Tactics of survival amongst migrant workers in London 6 Relational lives: Migrants, London and the rest of the world 7 Remaking the city: Immigration and post-secular politics in London today 8 Just geographies of (im)migration Appendices References Index

From Coping Strategies to Tactics: London's Low‐Pay Economy and Migrant Labour

This article examines the means by which low-paid migrant workers survive in a rapidly changing and increasingly unequal labour market. In a departure from the coping strategies literature, it is argued that the difficulties migrant workers face in the London labour market reduces their ability to ‘strategize’. Instead, workers adopt a range of ‘tactics’ that enable them to ‘get by’, if only just, on a day-to-day basis. The article explores these tactics with reference to the connections between different workers’ experiences of the workplace, home and community, and demonstrates the role of national, ethnic and gender relations in shaping migrant workers’ experiences of the London labour market and of the city more widely.

Men on the move: narratives of migration and work among low-paid migrant men in London

The impact of migration on gender identities, norms and conventions has been predominantly understood from the perspective of female migrants. Far less attention has been paid to the potential that migration entails for the negotiation and reconstruction of male identities. Drawing on sixty-seven in-depth interviews with male migrants employed in low-paid work in London, this paper explores the reworking of male identities at different stages of ‘the migration project’, focusing particularly upon the reasons extended for migration and how these are shaped by gender ideologies in home countries and negotiation of life and work in London. The paper also draws attention to ways in which these re-negotiations are themselves cross-cut by ethnic, racial and class differences, so constructing a more nuanced picture of mobile men and male identities.

Strategies for Urban Survival? Women Landlords in Gaborone, Botswana

Abstract Women outnumber men as landlords among the urban poor living in the self-help housing areas in Gaborone, Botswana and as such they are important producers of scarce, much needed rental accommodation. Low rates of male participation are somewhat perplexing as landlordism is actually quite a profitable business in Gaborone. This paper is arranged around three broad aims. The first is to identify factors which encourage the participation of women in landlordism as well as analysing why more men do not let rooms. Secondly, the paper sets out to locate the sources of finance open to women and men for the construction of rooms, the scale at which they operate and the management of the rental property. Lastly the relationship between landlords and their tenants will be examined.

Housing and finance in developing countries: invisible issues on research and policy agendas

Housing finance has risen to the top of research and policy agendas in recent years. Yet, although our understanding of the formal delivery of housing finance has improved considerably, we know far less about households’ use and production of housing finance. This is particularly apparent in the case of four ‘invisible’ issues: land markets, rental housing, the role of savings and residential mobility. Drawing upon evidence from Botswana and Mexico, this paper considers the relationship between finance and the livelihood strategies that households adopt in order to fulfil their housing needs. On the basis of this discussion, the paper concludes by advocating a broader focus for housing finance-related research.

From Feminising to Engendering Development

Feminists have been crucial in challenging the gender-blindness of development discourse and practice. In the process, they have shaped the move from the feminisation to the engendering of development over the last three decades. This article explores this broad shift, focusing on the recent transformations within gender and development discourse and feminist approaches to development relating to diversity and representation, human rights, and the incorporation of men and masculinities within the development agenda, all set within the context of a globalising era. It highlights how women from the South have been critical in reshaping contemporary feminisms to celebrate difference and plurality and challenge Western hegemony. At the same time, feminists have also emphasised the commonalities among women in the name of addressing gender inequalities, evidenced in a recent upsurge in forging transnational alliances facilitated by the contradictory processes of globalisation.

Endangered Youth? Youth, Gender and Sexualities in Urban Botswana

Age is now recognised as a significant social cleavage in research on youth in the South. Using participatory urban appraisal methodologies, this article explores constructions of sexualities among urban youth in Botswana, a country that is currently experiencing an HIV/AIDS epidemic and high levels of teenage pregnancy. We argue that not only are young people sophisticated sexual beings, but that there is a need to adopt more holistic approaches to examining sexualities among them so as to appreciate that constructions of sexualities are multi‐faceted, highly diverse and heavily gendered. This appreciation must then be integrated into a multi‐sectoral policy approach that moves beyond information provision towards one that addresses changes in gender, cultural and sexual identities.

a migrant ethic of care? negotiating care and caring among migrant workers in London's low-pay economy

A care deficit is clearly evident in global cities such as London and is attributable to an ageing population, the increased employment of native-born women, prevalent gender ideologies that continue to exempt men from much reproductive work, as well as the failure of the state to provide viable alternatives. However, while it is now acknowledged that migrant women, and to a lesser extent, migrant men, step in to provide care in cities such as London, there is less research on how this shapes the nature, politics and ethics of care. Drawing upon empirical research with low-paid migrant workers employed as domiciliary care providers in London, this paper explores the emergence of a distinct migrant ethic of care that is critically shaped by the caring work that migrant women and men perform.

Risky Migrants? Low-Paid Migrant Workers Coping With Financial Exclusion in London

Research on financial exclusion among migrant workers is scarce. A growing presence in advanced economies, migrant workers’ experiences of financial exclusion are shaped by a broad range of ‘supply’ and ‘demand’ side factors. In particular, this article argues that migrants’ understandings and management of risk are critical in shaping their engagement with financial services and products. Drawing upon empirical research conducted with low-paid migrant workers in London, this article explores the everyday financial practices and lives of low-paid migrant workers; the strategies which they devise in order to cope with financial exclusion as well as focusing specifically on self-exclusion as a strategy which signifies a particular understanding and management of risk.

A Coming of Age? Re-conceptualising Gender and Development in Urban Botswana

Feminist research has debated whether Gender and Development (GAD) discourse should be re-conceptualised to include both women and men as gendered beings. While the arguments for and against such a re-conceptualisation are now fairly well established in the theoretical realm, empirically grounded work that has explored the sheer complexity of integrating men into what has hitherto largely been a women-only discourse is much more recent. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with NGO activists, government officials and focus group discussions with mixed groups of men in Gaborone, Botswana, this article explores the case for the inclusion of men in localised Gender and Development discourse, policies and programmes. The research evidence presented here is contradictory, suggesting both the potential for a marginalisation of women’s rights if men are embraced and the necessity of integrating men so as to further the struggle to achieve gender equality. The article concludes by arguing that, while the case for the re-conceptualisation of Gender and Development may not be clear cut in Botswana, there is a need to start to think about how male identities can be problematised and how men can be usefully included into Gender and Development studies.