MESA 52 TABLE 52 — La diversidad de la historia oral de las mujeres. Parte 2 The Varieties of Women’s Oral Histories. Part 2 CHAIR

Olga Brea

— Ozge Unkap (Turkey): “The status of women in Dengbêj tradition” — Li Qiaoning (China): “The Rural Women in Shaanxi Province” — Donita Moorhus (US): “Hidden Treasures in the Oral History Interviews of the Society of WomanGeographers.” — Célia Lucena (Brazil): “Voces de mujeres y la feminización de las migraciones.” — Avehi Menon (India): “Voices of the Marginalized: Unionization of Domestic Workers in Bangalore”

The status of women in Dengbêj tradition. Ozge Unkap (Turkey):

Resumen:

La presentación es el resultado de un proyecto de trabajo de campo que llevé a cabo en zonas del este y sudeste de Anatolia, dicho proyecto profundiza en el rol y posición social de las mujeres en la tradición dengbêj. Esta tradición ancestral permite a las personas Kurdas transmitir la memoria colectiva de una generación a otra durante cientos de años a través de la música. Dengbêj es todo aquel que canta las canciones denominadas kilam, estas son narrativas anónimas, que relatan los eventos sociales y personales importantes acontecidos en la vida real, cantadas durante los desplazamientos de un pueblo a otro. En el transcurso de sus viajes, los dengbêj-ên diseminan y popularizan las canciones kilam. Asi mismo, durante estos desplazamientos por la zona, también observan y analizan la forma de vida de las personas Kurdas y comparten oralmente estas experiencias. Las Dengbêji han sido representadas por las personas Kurdas durante casi cinco mil años en el Norte de Mesopotamia y algunas partes de Caucasia. Son propias de los Kurdos del Medio Oriente. Las dengbêj-ên cantan a través de los tiempos sobre todo lo relacionado con la vida diaria, la belleza de la naturaleza, memorias felices así como tristes, peleas, traiciones, actos de valentía y muchos otros temas. A través de entrevistas a siete mujeres dengbêj-ên, este estudio se centra principalmente en las dificultades que comporta el ser una mujer dengbêj en una sociedad patriarcal, feudal, la condición social de las mujeres dengbêj-ên, el rol de las mujeres dentro de esta enraizada tradición, los aspectos sociales resultantes de ser una mujer dengbêj y la lucha de las mujeres por su dimensión musical. Otros aspectos que he mencionado son los cambios de estilo y los tópicos de las kilams que se llevan cantando durante siglos; las diferencias generacionales y las reflexiones de las dengbêj-ên sobre la idea del dengbêj moderno

Abstract:

The presentation is the output of a fieldwork project, which I conducted in the eastern and south-eastern parts of the Anatolia, on the role and status of women in dengbêj tradition. It is a tradition that lets Kurdish people transmit the collective memory for hundreds of years from one generation to the other via music. Dengbêj is someone who sings the songs called kilam, which are anonymous sung narratives that tell about the important historical events happened in real life, while travelling from one village to the other. In the course of their travels, dengbêj-ên disseminate and popularize kilam-s. While travelling around the area, they also observe and analyze Kurdish people’s ways of living and passed these experiences down orally. Dengbêji has been performed among Kurdish people for nearly 5 thousand years in North Mesopotamia and some parts of Caucasia. It’s peculiar to Kurdish people in the Middle East. Throughout history dengbêj-ên sang about anything related to daily life; the beauty of nature, happy and sad memories, fights, betrayals, braveries and many other things. In light of the interviews with 7 women dengbêj-ên, the research mainly deals with the difficulties of being a woman dengbêj in a patriarchal, feudal society, the status of women dengbêj-ên, the role of women in this rooted tradition, the social aspects of being a dengbêj as a woman and the struggle of women for their musical entities. The other

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aspects that I mentioned are the changes in the style and the topics of the kilam-s that have been sung through centuries, the differences between older generations and young generation and the thoughts of dengbêj-ên about the idea of modern dengbêj. Keywords: dengbêj tradition, women dengbêjên, women in music, Kurdish music.

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What does it mean to be a woman in the Middle East? What is hierarchy? What does it mean in the Middle East? What does it mean here in Europe? How does it affect women? Indeed all of these questions are related to my topic today, but I will only try to deal with the last one. For the upcoming 20 minutes I will try to explain the challenges Middle East women have to overcome just to sing freely, and also how difficult it is to struggle against the confirmed patriarchal structure that we live in. First of all I want to explain dengbêj tradition very briefly, which is an essential musical and oral tradition of Kurdish culture, and then I will talk about the role and status of women in this rooted tradition. Music is one of the most important elements of Kurdish culture as the culture is transmitted via music from one generation to the other. Traditional Kurdish music performers can be classified in 3 groups; dengbêj-ên, çîrokbêj-ên and stranbêjên. These performers are the masters of the strong oral literature of Kurdish people. Another thing is that these performers are the most important reproducers and transmitters of Kurdish culture as Kurdish history lacks written materials. They must have a rich repertoire and approval from the people around. Among these groups çirokbêj-ên are storytellers. They tell the stories called çîrok in song form. And stranbêj-ên are the ones who sing regular songs called stran. Stran-ên have many different types like payîzok, biharok, heyran and so on. And finally, dengbêj-ên, who are the focus of my study, sing the songs, like dasitan (epics), kilam, serhatî, which tell about the important historical events happened in real life. With the help of these kilams, dasitans and serhatis we have an idea about the beliefs and the customs of Kurdish people and also about an event which occurred thousands of years ago. And also each of them has a story depending on real life.

Dengbêj-ên have the role of transmitting culture from one generation to the other by travelling from village to village. While travelling around the area, dengbêj-ên observed and analyzed Kurdish people’s ways of living and passed these experiences down orally. Dengbêji has been performed among Kurdish people for nearly 5 thousand years in North Mesopotamia and some parts of Caucasia. It’s peculiar to Kurdish people in the Middle East. Through year’s dengbêj-ên sang about anything related to daily life, the beauty of nature, happy and sad memories, fights, betrayals, braveries and many other things. They sang when a son or daughter of a young mother died, when a girl fell in love; when a storm brought deaths, when a shepherd woman saw flowers in the mountains. Extant poems from 3 thousand years ago, like Zaloğlu, Kürt Hüseyin, Kahraman Kati have reached today through dengbêj-ên. So, if we go back to the topic, my study mainly deals with the situation of women dengbêj-ên, the role of women in this rooted tradition, social aspects of being a dengbêj as a woman and the struggle of women for their musical entities, and to some extent the changes in the style and the topics of the kilams that have been sung through centuries, the differences between older generations and young generation, the thoughts of dengbêj about the idea of contemporary dengbêj-ên. I interviewed 7 women dengbêj-ên and I recorded some examples of kilams, dasitans and strans which are important genres in Kurdish music.

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I made my interviews in different cities of Anatolia. The names and the locations of these 7 dengbêj-ên I managed to reach are as follows; Dengbêj Xalide; İstanbul, Dengbêj Feleknas; Diyarbakır, Dengbêj Xanife; Silopi, Şırnak, Dengbêj Kürdiye; Silopi, Şırnak, Dengbêj Gazin; Van, Dengbêj Mukaddes; Van, Dengbêj Nevide ; Van. It was very difficult for me to reach these dengbêjen, because there are very few women who call themselves dengbêj. On the other hand there are many women who sing in gatherings, ceremonies, at home and still don’t call themselves dengbêj. All the women I interviewed agreed that dengbêji is the corner stone of Kurdish culture and women are the inventors and reproducers of this culture. The composers of the pieces are mostly women. But as the ones who can travel on their own are men, men performed as dengbêj-ên rather than women who are the owners of the pieces. Through their mothers women have been exposed to this culture directly, right after the moment they were born. So they had strong ties with music. They grew up by listening to the Soviet radio called Erivan. In their life you can see the effects of the radio Erivan which was broadcasted in Kurdish for half an hour every day. There were 2 reasons why this radio was that important. Firstly, it was their only connection to their culture during the days that Turkish government banned Kurdish language. Secondly, the women dengbêj-ên were listening to Meryem Xan, Eyşe Şan on the radio. Hearing a woman sing in Kurdish on a radio gave hope and faith to the women who were not allowed to sing. If we talk about women dengbêj-ên it is inevitable to mention Eyşe Şan and Meryem Xan who are the most leading figures for women dengbêj-ên, and also for all of my interviewees, without exception. They both suffered a lot because of the feudal structure that suppresses women in many different ways and do not let them sing in public. Meryem Xan who lived in the first half of the 20th century got divorced as her husband didn’t let her sing in public. She was sidelined by her relatives and had to leave her house to find a place where she could sing freely. Similarly Eyşe Şan was also sidelined by her family and had to leave her house for exactly the same reasons, just to find a place where she could sing… All of the dengbêj-ên I interviewed mentioned these two courageous women with admiration. I think it is not difficult to guess why these women have such an important effect on my interviewees. It’s because they struggled a lot and to some extent achieved what they demanded. They both managed to create space in musical area which was considered as a man’s world, and made their voices heard by massive numbers of people via radios and albums. They both managed to sing in public and record their voices regardless of the suppression they were exposed to. The question is; what has changed over the years? Let’s have a look of what has changed until 2012.

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(FOOTAGE 1) As you hear there are very brutal consequences for these women. Here we see that 6 out of 7 women I interviewed have similar conditions with Eyşe Şan, Meyrem Xan. They were suppressed, beaten up, sidelined by the people around. Each woman has a different sad story; Mukaddes tells that dengbêji stems from her sorrow and longings and adds that she suffered a lot, so sang a lot. She tells her sad story which started with her marriage to an old man with 7 children when she was at the age of twelve. She was not allowed to sing then. Gazin tells how her father beat her up when she sang. Xanife’s husband left her because she didn’t give up singing… As 6 of them stated, one of the main difficulties older women dengbêj-ên faced was that they couldn’t sing in public. They could only sing secretly on their own or among the women of the family. So, women couldn’t find opportunities to show what they produced. That is also the reason why women dengbêj-ên were not visible in terms of performance as much as men were. According to the women I interviewed, men heard the pieces from women and performed them in public which women were not allowed to do. Feleknaz, Mukaddes and Gazin all complain about the fact that even though they produced the songs, they didn’t have the right and chance to perform. Another element that prevents women is religion. People used to believe that it’s sinful for a woman to be heard by a man while singing. Because of such religious beliefs, women faced many difficulties. What a shame there are still many people who do believe that. But after the 80’s things started to change. With the help of individual and social struggles, women started to perform as dengbêj-ên in public. What has changed? Why did women start to declare that themselves as dengbêj-ên? During the 80’s the image of woman in Kurdish society of Anatolia was reconstructed. People started to believe woman would ensure emancipation of the nation via emancipation of her own. Those were the years women started to get politicized; women guerillas, Saturday mothers, who are the mothers’ of the people got lost in custody, Kurdish women politicians and so on. As dengbêj Feleknaz stated, especially during the 90’s, everyone saw that Kurdish women started to take part in party meetings, demonstrations, jails, mountains. And everyone saw that women carried the burden of life on her own; they were looking after kids, doing the housework, going to prison to visit their husbands, sons, daughters, going to the demonstrations. And that changed the status of women in society. Women also experienced individual struggles against society and their families. They all tried hard to convince their families that they were not doing something bad or sinful. To sum up, all my interviewees had difficulties through their lives. And they had to struggle against the patriarchal and religious obligations just to sing freely. But they achieved their goals in the end. Sadly there are still many women who cannot sing freely and who have been trying to survive as Kurdish women in the Middle East.

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Now, I want you to listen to these strong women for a few minutes and see what they have been struggling for. (FOOTAGE 2) In this limited time I tried to be a voice for the women who just want to sing… They have been struggling so hard in a country in which it’s difficult to be Kurdish, to be a woman, and to be a woman dengbêj. Now, I want to end my presentation with a longing for a world in which anyone can sing in any language without suppression, and discrimination. Thank you for listening.

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Hidden Treasures in the Oral History Interviews of the Society of WomanGeographers Donita Moorhus (US)

Resumen:

La Sociedad de la mujer Geógrafos (SWG ), organizada en 1925, transfirió recientemente las transcripciones y, en algunos casos, las grabaciones de sonido, de 80 entrevistas de historia oral con los miembros de la Biblioteca del Congreso, donde están disponibles para los investigadores. Miembros SWG viven en países de todo el mundo; todos están interesados en la exploración y los viajes. Trabajando como geógrafos o en un campo aliado, incluyendo la etnología, la arqueología, la antropología, astronomía, biología, historia natural, y la sociología, cada mujer ha publicado o producido, de una forma permanente, un registro de su trabajo que se suma a la tienda del mundo de conocimiento. A mediados de la década de 1970 la Sociedad comenzó a entrevistar a algunos de sus miembros. Las entrevistas continuaron en forma oportunista hasta principios del decenio de 1990, cuando SWG recibió una beca para iniciar un programa de historia oral profesional. Un consultor de historiador oral procedimientos establecidos, supervisó la compra de grabadoras analógicas profesionales, y proporcionó capacitación a los miembros de los cinco grupos regionales en los EE.UU. Sólo algunas entrevistas fueron transcritas. En la década de 1990, se llevaron a cabo y se transcribieron más entrevistas. Con una subvención obtenida en 2010 SWG contrató a un consultor para revitalizar el programa de historia oral. Entrevistas adicionales se llevaron a cabo utilizando las nuevas grabadoras digitales, y todas las viejas entrevistas fueron transcritas. Para mejorar el acceso a las entrevistas, SWG transferido grabaciones de audio y transcripciones, con material de apoyo , a la Biblioteca del Congreso. Las entrevistas revelan la historia del SWG y las luchas de las mujeres en una amplia gama de profesiones y el mundo académico, la exploración, el gobierno y el servicio exterior, así como otros campos - pero también incluyen relatos de primera mano sobre los países estas mujeres vivían en las culturas que estudiaron, y los desafíos de llevar a cabo investigaciones de campo en áreas no desarrolladas desde la década de 1920 hasta la actualidad. Las entrevistas SWG están disponibles para los investigadores.

Abstract:

The Society of Woman Geographers (SWG), organized in 1925, recently transferred transcripts and, in some cases, sound recordings, of 80 oral history interviews with members to the Library of Congress, where they are available to researchers. SWG members live in countries around the world; all are interested in exploration and travel. Working as geographers or in an allied field, including ethnology, archaeology, anthropology, astronomy, biology, natural history, and sociology, each woman has published or produced, in some permanent form, a record of her work that adds to the world’s store of knowledge.

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In the mid-1970s the Society began to interview some of its members. Interviewing continued on an opportunistic basis until the early 1990s, when SWG received a grant to start a professional oral history program. An oral historian consultant established procedures, oversaw the purchase of professional analog recorders, and provided training to members in five regional groups in the U.S. Only some interviews were transcribed. In the 1990s, more interviews were conducted and transcribed. With a grant obtained in 2010 SWG hired a consultant to re-energize the oral history program. Additional interviews were conducted using new digital recorders, and all of the old interviews were transcribed. To improve access to the interviews, SWG transferred audio recordings and transcripts, with supporting material, to the Library of Congress. The interviews reveal the history of SWG and the struggles of women in a wide range of professions—academia, exploration, government, and the Foreign Service, as well as other fields—but they also include first-hand accounts about the countries these women lived in, the cultures they studied, and the challenges of conducting field research in undeveloped areas from the 1920s to the present. The SWG interviews are available to researchers.

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Voces de mujeres y la feminización de las migraciones. Célia Lucena (Brazil):

Resumen:

Las mujeres peruanas establecidas en Sao Paulo han sido objeto de análisis para entender el fenómeno contemporáneo, denominado feminización de las migraciones. Para esas mujeres, la salida del país de origen es una posibilidad de cambiar la vida, de libertarse de la educación tradicional que recibían, de los encargos familiares, de los conflictos políticos; de la vida difícil que muchas tenían. En su búsqueda por ascensión social y autonomía, las bajas remuneraciones encontradas en Brasil en la mayoría de las veces representan algo superior a las ofrecidas en su país de origen. Transitan de acuerdo con el mercado; mujeres se desplazan, acompañadas o desacompañadas de sus parejas, solteras o todavía casadas, que migran dejando su compañero en el país de origen. Una vez instaladas en la metrópoli, esas mujeres se apoyan en la economía informal y para eso es importante recuperar sus técnicas, sus saberes son transferidos a las experiencias en nuevo contexto. El enfoque metodológico de esta investigación se basa en la recolección e interpretación de narrativas orales de mujeres que intentan ganarse su sustento por medio de la culinaria del país de origen y utilizan las singularidades como estrategias de inserción en el país de destino. En el período de 2007 y 2008, las narrativas recolectadas revelaran trayectorias de vida, redes de apoyo en los procesos de inserción, ferias étnicas, mercadillos y puntos de venta de comida peruana en Sao Paulo. A partir de 2012 se ha notado, mediante las voces, que cada vez más las prácticas culinarias posibilitan reconocimiento, sustento y un medio de divulgación de la cultura de origen. Para esas mujeres la inmigración es una experiencia de autonomía e independencia, están en constante mutación y sus identidades están siempre en reconstrucción. A la medida en que se feminiza el mercado de trabajo también se feminizan las relaciones transnacionales

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Abstract:

Peruvian women settled in São Paulo have been the subject for analysis to understand the contemporary phenomenon named feminization of migrations. To those women, leaving their country of origin poses a possibility to change their lives, of freeing them from traditional education they got, from the family burden, political conflicts, the hard life which many of them used to be submitted to. Searching for social climbing and autonomy, low remunerations found in Brazil most of time represent somewhat higher than conditions offered in their country of origin. In transit according to the market, women move followed or unaccompanied from theirs companions, single, but still married, migrating but leaving their companion in their country of origin. Once installed in the metropolis, these women support themselves in an informal economy, in self-employed services, and for this, it is important to retrieve their techniques, and so, their knowledge is transferred to a new context. The methodological focus of this investigation is based on the collection and interpretation of oral narratives by women trying to attain their support by means of the culinary from their original country and by using such peculiarities as a strategy to their insertion in their country of destination. During the 2007 and 2008 period, it was prioritized the location of the group to be investigated; on that occasion, narratives collected disclosed their path of life, supportive networking in their insertion processes, ethnical fairs, bazars, and points of sale of the Peruvian food in São Paulo. From 2012, through the voices from the protagonists, it is perceived that culinary practices increasingly allow the recognition, support and means to disseminate their cultural origin. For these women, migration is an

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autonomy and independence experience, life stories of these immigrant women are constantly changing, and their identities are always being reconstructed. According to the work market is becoming feminine, transnational relationships are also being feminized.

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INTRODUCCIÓN Las mujeres peruanas establecidas en Sao Paulo han sido objeto de análisis para entender el fenómeno contemporáneo, denominado feminización de las migraciones. Recurro a una frase de PALACIOS que afirma que para las mujeres hispano-americanas, las últimas décadas han sido las décadas de las feminizaciones: “feminización de la pobreza, feminización del sector terciario, y ahora la feminización de las migraciones” (2004, p.17). La llamada feminización de la mano de obra se extiende como la generación de un mercado transnacional compuesto por redes de mujeres que desempeñan servicios domésticos, dependientas en tiendas, trabajos en bares y restaurantes. En este sentido, la migración provoca una experiencia de independencia y autonomía femenina, puede ser un factor de cambio en roles y relaciones de género, esto es empoderarse. Para Ferreira (2005, p.204-5), La demanda de trabajadores migrantes en los países receptores se encuentra definida en gran medida por la segmentación del mercado de trabajo en esos países, es decir que las oportunidades disponibles son precisamente las de los puestos de trabajo con menores calificaciones que se consideran adecuados para las mujeres. A partir de la década de 1990 la dimensión del género y las migraciones femeninas vienen constituyéndose en temáticas en las discusiones sobre desplazamientos. A partir del año 2000, el tránsito de mujeres dentro de Sudamérica fue ampliado. En los días actuales más de 50% de la emigración en Sudamérica es femenina. Los procesos de feminización de las migraciones no son homogéneos, los flujos varían según las singularidades de los mercados de trabajo de los países emisores y receptores. La migración interna vivida en Latino América viene promoviendo la presencia de mujeres en ciudades con aumento de demanda de trabajos ya que las mujeres migrantes son consideradas parte de mano de obra barata. Estas llegan de regiones más pobres y asumen las tareas consideradas femeninas: cuidar de personas, servicio doméstico y en el sector informal. La incorporación en trabajos se da aunque sean en nichos precarios, estigmatizados y desvalorizados (MAGLIANO, ROMANO, 2011). Las mujeres pasan a ser las protagonistas en diferentes tipos de flujos de personas. Existe un número de mujeres latinas que son transferidas hacia otros continentes, en consecuencia del tráfico con fines de explotación sexual. Frente a los conflictos contemporáneos, por un lado, se enfrentan con el estereotipo de la mujer migrante considerada vulnerable, por otro lado, crece el número de mujeres que agarran las oportunidades de trabajo que la emigración ofrece. Son innúmeros los flujos de mujeres latinas hacia los diferentes rincones del planeta, dentro de la propia Sudamérica, regiones fronterizas y las metrópolis, que son los destinos favoritos. Para esas mujeres, la salida del país de origen es una posibilidad de cambiar la vida, de libertarse de la educación tradicional que recibían, de los encargos familiares, de los conflictos políticos; de la vida difícil que muchas tenían. En su búsqueda por ascensión social y autonomía, las bajas remuneraciones encontradas en Brasil en la mayoría de las veces representan algo superior a las ofrecidas en su país de origen. Transitan de acuerdo con las idas y vueltas del mercado; mujeres se desplazan, acompañadas o desacompañadas de sus parejas, solteras o todavía casadas, que migran dejando su compañero en el país de origen. Una vez instaladas en la metrópoli, esas mujeres se apoyan en la economía informal, en servicios autónomos, y para eso es importante recuperar sus técnicas, saberes y sabores que son transferidos a las experiencias en nuevos contextos. Algunos de los resultados que aquí se presentan son fruto de una continua investigación durante la última década. El enfoque metodológico de esta investigación se basa en la recolección e interpretación de narrativas orales, desde la perspectiva de la historia oral, de mujeres que intentan ganarse su sustento por medio de la culinaria del país de origen y utilizan las singularidades como estrategias de inserción en el país de destino. A fines de 2007 y durante 2008, se priorizó localizar el grupo a ser investigado. En esa ocasión las narrativas recolectadas revelaran trayectorias de vida de algunas mujeres, redes de apoyo en

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los procesos de inserción, ferias étnicas, mercadillos y puntos de venta de comida peruana en Sao Paulo. La ruta de la “culinaria peruana” en Sao Paulo, una vez explotada en la etapa inicial de la investigación, descortinó actores, sus problemáticas y vivencias, los barrios donde esos protagonistas viven en la ciudad, la reproducción en el país de acogida de las jerarquías del país de origen, las formas de inserción en el contexto metropolitano y la comida como elemento de la memoria. Moulin (1975) cree que comemos nuestros recuerdos, los más seguros, condimentados de ritos, que marcan la primera infancia. Lo que dice respeto a la comida son objetos “de aprendizaje precoz”. Según Bourdieu (1979), ese aprendizaje no es retomado en el modelo escolar, y siendo así, sigue más estrecho y significativamente tributario del habitus de la clase originariamente recibido. Parece ser importante la manera de preparar y, sobretodo, de consumir, de pensar en el modo de servir, presentar, ofrecer y compartir. En esta tarea divulgan la cultura de origen y abren puertas para que ganen su propio sustento y obtengan más igualdad y menos discriminación. En la etapa del trabajo de campo entre 2012 y 2014 se ha notado, mediante las voces de las mismas protagonistas y de nuevos actores, que cada vez más las prácticas culinarias posibilitan reconocimiento, sustento y un medio de divulgación de la cultura de origen. Para muchas mujeres, el proceso de migración internacional permite ejercitar mayor autonomía en sus vidas. Cuando las mujeres se empoderan benefician a toda la comunidad y a ellas mismas. Vale contextualizar la cuestión migratoria de este grupo en Brasil y particularmente en Sao Paulo: la emigración surgida como estrategia económica de los Sur-Americanos para diferentes lugares del planeta fue intensificada en las últimas décadas del siglo XX y todavía más en la primera década del XXI. Muchos buscan instalarse en países vecinos, las movilidades observadas en Sudamérica son un contrapunto a la emigración sur-americana hacia la América del Norte y Europa. Brasil es el destino más codiciado, la mayoría de las veces Sao Paulo siendo la principal opción. En la década de 1990 muchos tenían la intención de utilizar Sao Paulo como un lugar de conexión para otros países europeos. Sin embargo acabaran por arraigarse en la metrópoli paulistana. El grupo de peruanos instalados en Sao Paulo es un grupo heterogéneo, en su mayoría formados por jóvenes adultos, con una edad comprendida entre los veinte y los cuarenta años y un gran número de personas solteras con escolaridad media o elevada. Peruanos que se desplazan hacia Brasil, son en su mayoría de origen urbana y reproducen en el país de destino actividades del país de origen y transfieren también las diferencias sociales. Son personas procedentes de localidades diferentes, tales como: Lima, Cusco, Arequipa, Puno; todos con historias de vida y perspectivas migratorias diversificadas. Una vez instalado en la metrópoli, el grupo se constituye en una red e intenta consolidarse al compartir modos de ganarse la vida. Así, personas divulgadoras de la cultura peruana en Sao Paulo coexisten y se mantienen de forma articulada. Son las profesionales de la gastronomía (cocineras, confiteras), mujeres que venden comida en la calle, otras que son organizadoras de eventos, asociaciones, festejos y bazares, hombres cocineros y propietarios de restaurantes, comerciantes bien sucedidos, vendedore(a)s de artesanía y otros productos y lo(a)s prestadores de servicios: domésticos, traductores, profesores de español, mueblistas, electricistas, vendedores ambulantes, y aún los profesionales altamente cualificados de las áreas de medicina e ingeniería. El grupo se mantiene conectado en la búsqueda por oportunidades de trabajo y buscan también mantener una agenda compartida. Así, cuando el grupo de emigrantes sur-americanos busca integrarse, él busca también la protección social en Sao Paulo con la ayuda de las asociaciones y de redes de solidaridad.1 Castells (1999), al discutir las redes afirma que la reestructuración del modo capitalista de producción se expresa en la globalización y en los mercados transnacionales, y con eso ordenó un acercamiento del local con el global y de las

                                                             1 El Centro de Estudios Migratorios e o Servicio Pastoral dos Migrantes son organismos ligados a los misionarios scalabrianos que promueven protección, ayuda y solidaridad a los emigrantes, en especial a los sur-americanos.

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economías de las diversas naciones. Por redes de mujeres emigrantes se entiende la articulación entre personas y entidades teniendo en vista superar de manera integrada los problemas sociales. Por transnacionalita se entiende el proceso por lo cual los emigrantes elaboran y sustentan relaciones sociales multientrelazadas que juntan el contexto de origen y el receptor. Esas relaciones son construidas a través de las políticas de los estados nacionales con las redes, teniendo en vista la construcción de ciudadanías. ESTRATEGIAS FEMENINAS EN TRAYECTORIA MIGRATORIA Las historias de vida de esas mujeres refleten la vida que poseían en el país de origen, las estrategias utilizadas para instalarse en el país de destino. Mujeres autónomas migran con fines matrimoniales, mujeres casadas migran con intención de concebir el hijo en el país de destino, otras huyen del convivio familiar y de los problemas políticos y económicos, y también hay las que se desplazan para estudiar o para acompañar maridos en estudios universitarios. En general se aventuran en búsqueda de una vida mejor. Vilma2, cuando es preguntada sobre la intensidad de las dificultades enfrentadas por hombres y mujeres, en lo referido a las fronteras entre migrantes, responde: es igual! No ve diferencia entre el masculino y el femenino en lo que se refiere a enfrentar la vida y encontrar formas de supervivencia. Existe la idea de que la mujer consigue vencer y enfrentar las barreras. En 1980 Vilma partió de Lima rumbo a Sao Paulo, con 27 años y con el segundo grado completo. Ante la intención de vivir en Sao Paulo hizo un largo viaje en autobús de Lima, cruzando Chile, Argentina hasta llegar a la capital paulista. Antes de llegar a Brasil se había enfrentado con algunos problemas: la separación de su novio y la denegación del ingreso en la Universidad. Estos hechos, junto a las dificultades económicas, la inestabilidad política en Perú y el deseo de liberarse de la educación tradicional familiar, fueron los motivos para decidir realizar este cambio sola. Sobre la educación familiar recuerda: “todo era prohibitivo, todo era escondido, fiestas y diversiones. Entonces tenía catecismo y misa”. Después de llegar a Sao Paulo, encontró apoyo en un joven brasileño que trabajaba en el hotel en el que se instaló. Pocos meses después ese brasileño pasó a ser su compañero y el padre de sus dos hijos. Tiene una experiencia de vida atribulada y permeada por las ganas de vencer en la vida en por su cuenta y de no regresar más a su país. Su trayectoria está marcada por la autonomía. Siempre tomó decisiones y su voluntad se concretizó en la emigración lejos de su familia. En los primeros cinco años que vivió en Brasil se quedó sometida a las decisiones de su compañero, del que comenta:

Vivimos juntos cinco años y medio. Tuve dos hijos con él. Él era un poco aventurero, me llevó al garimpo, me llevó al campo para recoger café en Rondônia. Viajaba mucho: Cuiabá, Porto Velho. Conocí hasta Manaus. (...). Nos aventuramos, fuimos a Cuiabá, después fuimos al garimpo, tuve malaria, hepatitis, anemia. Es una persona errante. Fuimos a Manaus y allá fue la separación. Separé cuando mi segundo hijo tenía tres meses. Él me dejó sola con dos niños. Él me dejó en Manaus y se fue con otra. A partir de ahí tuvo muchas experiencias de trabajo: doméstica, repartidora de gas, profesora de español, enseñó a tricotar..., hasta que un día resolvió preparar comida peruana y ofrecerla en la feria dominical, en la Plaza de la República, en el centro de Sao Paulo. Un lugar que en la década de los noventa fue un espacio de artistas y artesanos, que divulgaban sus artes y objetos artesanales. Después de más de diez años vendiendo comida en “República”, ahora ha cambiado su tipo de clientes, haciendo servicios a empresas, consulados, embajadas y personas particulares. La identidad de Vilma se reafirmó al ser reconocida como una sobresaliente cocinera, especialista en platos peruanos. En 2007 las narrativas señalaban el suceso. Al cocinar para la embajada peruana, el

                                                             2

Vilma nació en Lima en 1953. Las entrevistas fueran colectadas en fiestas y eventos peruanos en São Paulo, en 2007, 2008 y 2014.

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Consulado de Costa Rica, el Consulado de Cuba, el Instituto Cervantes y para varias empresas multinacionales instaladas en São Paulo, se siente valorada por ese reconocimiento público. Para el Cónsul de Costa Rica “yo soy el orgullo latino”, para el cónsul de Cuba “soy divulgadora de la cultura del Perú en São Paulo”. Vilma guarda, con mucho orgullo, todos los mensajes recibidos, incluida la carta escrita por el Cónsul de Cuba, en 1994. En las entrevistas colectadas en 2013 y 2014 Vilma narra sobre la tendencia de la comida peruana en São Paulo y sobre su buffet:

Con una equipe de jóvenes peruanas preparo comida para fiestas, para matrimonios. Hoy la comida peruana está en alta. Hoy el numero uno internacionalmente en restaurantes es España, de repente la comida peruana es buscada por el ceviche. En la cocina hay que tener alegría, nada de cara fea. En ese ramo, uno tiene que tener pasión y paciencia. Es necesario preocuparse con las compras, no importa el precio, pero sí la cualidad. Hoy trabajo con todo orgánico y solo con aceite de oliva. Los brasileños se enamoraron de la comida latina. Antiguamente se comía porque se tenía hambre, hoy se come culturalmente3. Ya Irene4, que también participa de la red de cocineras en eventos, tuvo una trayectoria de vida bastante atribulada, hizo varios intentos, con experiencias diferenciadas, viviendo en Buenos Aires, después Sao Paulo, vendiendo artesanía, trabajando con costura, y finalmente encontró su espacio como cocinera en una casa de familia. Irene se mudó de Arequipa para Sao Paulo en 1997, con veinte y tres años de edad; en esa ocasión había asumido los encargos y tareas de casa después de la muerte de su madre. Ante la oportunidad de trabajar en casa de familia en Sao Paulo hizo un largo viaje en autobús de Arequipa hacia la capital paulista. Sobre el tiempo da costura, comenta:

Como ya había estudiado [costura] en Perú, yo ya sabía coser. Los coreanos son muy exigentes, son mano dura. Pagan poco, la comida era pésima. Entraba a las 7:00 de la mañana y trabajaba hasta las 6:00 de la tarde. Trabajé en Brás, ganaba en overlock 500/600 reales al mes. Hacía hora extra, en la hora del almuerzo tenía una hora, ganaba por pieza. El pagamiento era muy complicado, ni siempre venía en el día correcto. Después de inúmeras experiencias, Irene vive en compañía de su hija, en la zona sur de la ciudad en casa de pareja (mujer peruana y marido alemán) con estrato social elevado. En ese empleo encontró estabilidad y reconocimiento por su desempeño en las tareas, pasó a identificarse como una excelente cocinera, teniendo la capacidad de preparar elegantes cenas en la casa de patrones y hoy ofrece trabajo en un restaurante. Se inspira en un cardapio peruano o chino, pero todavía declara que conoce poco sobre culinaria brasileña. Cecília5, la confitera con su propio negocio, trabajo autónomo de venda de dulces, participa del Bazar de Arte Popular Peruana, hoy es jefe de uno restaurante peruano. Vive en Brasil hacen casi treinta años, su historia de vida es diferenciada de las protagonistas anteriores. Llegó en Brasil en 1986, con dos hijos pequeños, con el intuito de acompañar el marido en su formación profesional: una especialización en el campo de la medicina. Se identifica como hija y nieta de confiteros, hacer comida fue una práctica iniciada en la infancia. Cuando se vinculó a la red de mujeres peruanas que ganan la vida vendiendo comida en eventos, ha podido explorar sus conocimientos culinarios y se ha especializado en dulces, entro ellos alfajores, tejas e turrón de dona Pepa. Cecília, cuando los exhibe, acrescente una explicación sobre a origen de cada uno de sus productos. Tejas son bombones de la región de Ica, región al sur de Lima. Ya el alfajor peruano, de receta casera, es hecho de harina de trigo, mantequilla, leche y rellenado con dulce de leche. Todavía, es por medio del turrón de dona Pepa que Cecília refuerza su pertenencia, en el caso un fuerte sentimiento de pertenecer a una familia de mujeres confiteras. La actividad elegida para inserirse

                                                             Entrevista colectada en 26-04-2014. Irene, nació en Puno, vivió en Arequipa, se desplazó en 1997 con veinte y tres años para la ciudad de São Paulo. Hizo su escolaridad en Perú: enseño medio, secretariado y corte y confección. La entrevista fue realizada en 2007. 5 Cecília, vivió en Lima, se desplazó para la ciudad de São Paulo en 1986. 3 4

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en el país de acogida fue elaborada a partir de recuerdos del pasado, de memorias de los sabores de la infancia, de una práctica cotidiana de preparar dulces, desarrollada entre las mujeres de la familia. Las dos abuelas eran confiteras y la madre llegó a producir mil quilos de turrón al mes. El turrón es un dulce tradicional de Lima, consumido por la ocasión de la celebración del Señor de los Milagros. Según la narrativa popular, la esclava Pepa recibió la receta a través de un sueño, en la ocasión de un milagro que posibilitó su cura; a partir de ahí el dulce fue introducido en los festejos de octubre. María6 es un ejemplo de emigrante que ha tomado la iniciativa de migrar dejando el marido para atrás. Veo desde Lima hacia Sao Paulo en 1998, cuando esperaba un hijo. El marido permaneció en Perú, migró después de dos años, cuando el hijo ya poseía nacionalidad brasileña y la mujer había conquistado el visto de permanencia. María, cocinera peruana, se gana la vida vendiendo comida en la calle. Vino de Lima para Sao Paulo en 1998, con 24 años, y con el segundo grado completo. Al llegar se alojó en el Hotel Itaúna7, junto a su hermana, que ya llevaba en esta ciudad dos años. Su llegada fue justificada por su disponibilidad para cuidar a su sobrina. Pocos días después de su llegada descubrió que estaba embarazada, lo que facilitaría su visado de permanencia, una vez que tuviera su hijo. Dos años después llegó el padre, su compañero, con la intención de ganarse la vida en el comercio ambulante, vendiendo artesanía en la “25” (Calle 25 de Março). María viene a Sao Paulo de autobús, por Bolivia, entrando en Brasil por la frontera de Puerto Suárez /Corumbá. No encontró problemas en el viaje. Según ella: “ diez años atrás la realidad era otra. No tenía tanta fiscalización, la frontera hoy es mucho más rigurosa”. María se habituó a los trabajos informales, como la venta, por lo que no tuvo muchas dificultades. Aprendió a lidiar con los fiscales y la policía. En el periodo que vendió mercancías en la calle aprendió estrategias para sobrevivir en el nuevo contexto. Ya en 1999, un año después de su llegada, se arriesgó a vender “anticucho” (corazón de buey asado) para el consumo de las personas que frecuentaban las aceras de la Avenida Rio Branco (huéspedes y moradores del Hotel Itaúna). Hacer comida y vender en la calle es una práctica asertiva, pues la comida es preparada para un público específico. La calzada de la Avenida Rio Branco proporciona comodidad para los comensales, en su mayoría sudamericanos, que por la noche procuran una comida casera, representativa de su lugar de origen, por un precio atrayente. Para los comensales el menú del día es siempre una sorpresa, no saben el plato que van a comer, aunque confían en la garantía de una buena comida elaborada y condimentada con el sabor de su tierra. Sirve siempre carne o pescado acompañados de arroz y patatas. Uno de los platos solicitados es el escabeche de pollo o de pescado, los domingos sirve, muchas veces, “ceviche”. La cocinera, para realizar esta actividad, debe estar siempre alerta a la presencia de los fiscales, “es necesario disponer el coche adentro del edificio”, aunque este problema se ve compensado por el éxito y los elogios recibidos. Los hábitos alimenticios forman parte de un dominio en el que pasado y presente se entrelazan, a partir de una tradición que se actualiza en los platos que elaboran estas mujeres. La elaboración de la comida sirve, de esta forma, para cubrir determinadas necesidades básicas de subsistencia, dentro de unos parámetros culturales a partir de los cuales el gusto adquiere su propia singularidad: ser comercializada y ofertada a aquellos que a través de la comida se reencuentran con su país de origen, o a los que pretenden experimentar nuevas sensaciones e integrarse, desde la especificad, en el país de acogida. COMIDA PERUANA EN LA CAPITAL PAULISTA: PRESTADORAS DE SERVICIOS, PROPIETARIOS Y COMENSALES El centro de la ciudad de Sao Paulo registra hoy una fisionomía de interculturalidad, territorio elegido por diferentes grupos, marcado por misturas identitarias y de idiomas. Hay inmigrantes de todas partes, sudamericanos, africanos, caribeños (haitianos, jamaicanos), específicamente en los barrios de la Luz, la

                                                             6 7

Maria, nació en Lima, em 1974, vive en São Paulo desde 1998. Las entrevistas fueram realizadas en 2008 e en 2012. Almacén de artesania peruana en São Paulo.

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República y Santa Ifigênia. En la Avenida Rio Branco hay una concentración de peruanos, en su mayoría cuzqueños, que se han desplazado para quedarse o pasar temporadas, con el objetivo de vender mercancía (artesanía) traída de Perú. Hay un número significativo de restaurantes, de casas nocturnas con música latina y de comida peruana vendida en la calle. Los comensales en la calle aumentan, hoy en día: más allá de peruanos, también ecuatorianos, chilenos, colombianos, bolivianos y brasileños procuran la alimentación. En ocasión de grande movimiento Maria ya llegó a vender cien platos por noche. En su culinaria prevalece un “sabor regional”, donde predominan los paladares de la “cocina de la costa”, elaborada con condimentos venidos directamente desde de Perú, enviados por la madre y transportados por personas que en la ocasión hicieron el recorrido Lima-Sao Paulo. Los peruanos que frecuentan la calzada pública poseen un perfil que caracteriza la heterogeneidad del grupo. Algunos están instalados en Sao Paulo hacen más de veinte años, otros son recién llegados, muchos viven en el centro, otros en barrios próximos o distantes, sin embargo buscan la comida como forma de reencontrar el país de origen, de rever conterráneos y alimentarse. Gran parte de los comensales se dedica al comercio formal o informal, la artesanía es el producto más comercializado y la calle 25 de Março, el lugar de venda más apuntado. Algunos de los comensales en la calle fueron entrevistados en la primera etapa de la investigación. Martin8, peruano instalado en Sao Paulo desde 1995, comensal de platos servidos en la calle, comenta: “la región de la [avenida] Rio Branco es el corazón de los peruanos en Sao Paulo. Aquí se concentran los más humildes. Muchos ganan dinero”. Mujeres peruanas desde la década de 1980 venden comida en la calle en la región central de São Paulo. “Una vendedora más antigua envió los hijos para Europa”, dice Martin. En su habla se puede percibir el proceso de apropiación del espacio urbano por hombres y mujeres emigrantes en tramos de la Avenida Rio Branco. El proceso de territorialización tiene que ver con el proceso de identificación y como las fronteras culturales son configuradas en la cotidianidad de la vida de los protagonistas (VALCUENDE, 1998). En los últimos años los restaurantes de cocina peruana son cada vez más numerosos afuera del país, en Europa y en América; esa ola de “comida latina” por el mundo afuera alimenta los intentos de hombres y mujeres a ganarse la vida por medio de la gastronomía. El comercio de comidas sur-americanas y la instalación de restaurantes regionales es algo que viene proliferándose en la capital paulista. En Sao Paulo, restaurantes que hasta hace poco tiempo existían de forma limitada o clandestina, con objetivo de ofrecer espacio de sociabilidad, con raya al centro de la ciudad. En los días actuales ya hacen parte del recorrido gastronómico en algunos barrios y son divulgados en los guías de los periódicos de la ciudad. Los hombres demuestran mayor coraje y montan sus propios negocios, los restaurantes en general son emprendimientos masculinos, de emigrantes que están instalados ya hace algún tiempo o de jefes recién llegados. En los restaurantes generalmente son los hombres que cocinan y administran. Según Edgar, propietario del Rinconcito Peruano: todos que cocinan y atenden son hombres, todavía entre los clientes hay de todo9. La mujer no se encoraja en abrir una casa comercial, ella da preferencia a prestación de servicios y a los trabajos autónomos en venda de comidas. Buscan jugar sus ancoras en redes, en los consulados y en centros de apoyo al emigrante en búsqueda de caminos para reconstruir sus identidades en contextos transnacionales. La cocina peruana es perneada por un mundo simbólico de representaciones culturales y regionales. En Perú las cocinas locales están ligadas a identidades regionales: la costa, la selva y las zonas andinas. Para los brasileños estas diferentes cocinas son unificadas bajo la denominación de comida “peruana”. Así, el grupo investigado garante su pertenencia mediante la comida, adquiriendo nueva visibilidad, con algunos

                                                             8 Martin, nació en Punta Hermosa, próxima a Lima. Vino a Brasil con el intuito de quedarse por un tiempo, para después seguir viaje a Inglaterra, sin embargo resuelve quedarse por definitivo en São Paulo. Entrevista colectada en 2008 na Av. Rio Branco, São Paulo. 9 Edgar proprietario del Restaurante “Rinconcito Peruano”. Entrevistas colectadas en 2008 y 2014.

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tratamientos específicos, en los ajustes de los cardarios, atendiendo a los respectivos gustos y sabores. El inventario de los ingredientes, de sus transformaciones en preparaciones diversas, provee los elementos de una inmensa combinatoria de múltiples maneras. Los condimentos migran desde Perú a Brasil, a través de múltiples entradas los emigrantes buscan garantizar el paladar que caracteriza las singularidades de su país. Las comidas, temperos y condimentos en su origen acompañan las diferentes regiones de Perú, sin embargo, en Brasil adquieren re-significaciones por mil razones, una de ellas es la cuestión del sabor en tierra extranjera dejar de ser cuantificable. Para aprehender las modalidades de las prácticas culinarias, fue necesario realizar una serie de conversaciones individuales extensas, acompañar en directo el arte de hacer comida y saborear tanto la comida de los restaurantes como la vendida en la calle, en ferias y bazares. La finalidad de las conversaciones no era simplemente tener un marco representativo de las formas en las que las mujeres se ganan su sustento, sino también de escuchar su voz, conocer su modo de cocinar, de organizar sus trabajos, la importancia de su saber-hacer y las diferentes caras de la integración y la conquista de autonomía. Las conversaciones fueron grabadas y realizadas bajo la perspectiva de entrevistas libres, dando lugar a mucha libertad y flexibidad a la entrevistada en el momento de las conversaciones. ACTIVIDADES CULINARIAS COMO FORMA DE RECONOCIMIENTO Y AUTONOMÍA Las emprendedoras del ramo de la comida en trabajos autónomos, ambulantes, prestadores de servicios a restaurantes, bazares, consulados y embajadas son reconocidas e identificadas como competentes profesionales. Vilma, al defender la movilidad de las prácticas culinarias, hace un pronunciamiento sobre las fronteras culturales, cuando dice: “la América es única, es un continente, lo que existe son las fronteras”. Cecília cree que “la mejor manera de divulgar la cultura es a través de la comida”. El orgullo de Vilma al ser reconocida por los consulados, de poseer el prestigio en ser una “cocinera latina” en São Paulo, y la satisfacción de María, al sentirse lisonjeada por los elogios, símbolo del reconocimiento de su trabajo por los hispano-americanos que constituyen su clientela, demuestran sus formas de integración en el país de acogida. Dos de las emigrantes analizadas aquí conquistaran el RNE (Registro Nacional de Extranjeros) por el hecho de que los hijos han nascido en territorio brasileño. Vilma posee cartera de trabajo, presta servicios de forma legal, María, aunque sea “documentada”, se insiere en una economía informal, forma que encontró para garantizar el sustento de la familia. Irene, a su vez, ha logrado el RNE en la amnistía de 199810. Las actividades culinarias son, para la mayoría de las mujeres, un trabajo, pero también pueden ser actividades placenteras y creativas, un arte que exige imaginación y memoria. La comida de un pueblo no puede ser asociada exclusivamente con las necesidades primarias, implica también una forma de ser, un modo de vida, una manera de relacionarse social y culturalmente. Es el resultado de un proceso histórico que articula elementos seleccionados de una tradición, que se actualiza a través del tiempo. La comida marca diferencias, pero en este caso la singularidad se convierte en un hecho que sirve para ser reconocido y reconocerse tanto en relación a su grupo de pertenencia como en relación al nuevo contexto. Para Michel de Certeau (1994), las prácticas de preparar comidas, de hablar, de caminar, son del tipo táctico. Y una gran parte de las maneras de hacerlo son vitorias de los débiles sobre los más fuertes. En el caso del emigrante “sin salir del lugar donde tiene que vivir y que le impone una ley, él ahí puede instaurar pluralidad y creatividad. Por un arte de intermediación él saca de ahí efectos imprevistos” (p.93). El adquirido aportado por el costumbre no es sino la mejoría de las prácticas, de frecuentar, de caminar, por las cuales los usuarios de la ciudad pueden verificar sin cesar la intensidad de su inserción en el ambiente social. De esa manera, en la problemática de las identidades de migrantes en su proceso de afirmación en reconstrucción, la cocina en los últimos años pode ser apuntada como un fuerte referencial identitario, utilizada como símbolo de una identidad reivindicada para sí.

                                                             10

La última amnistia otorgada por el gobierno brasileño a los inmigrantes en 2009, benefició a aproximadamente 4200 peruanos.

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Participar de asociaciones y de eventos culturales significa para las mujeres emigrantes, conectadas a través de las redes sociales, oportunidad de divulgar y comercializar su cultura. Los temas discutidos en debates adquieren formatos más globalizados, priorizando temas de la realidad de la América Latina. Movilizar una populación para esos eventos es una forma de organización, de pertenencia y también una estrategia en búsqueda de reconocimiento en el país de destino. Las narrativas femeninas de mujeres que circulan por las fiestas migratorias ofreciendo habilidades culturales permeadas de elementos que proyectan afirmación de identidad y discursos de identificación (LUCENA, 2011). Para esas mujeres la inmigración es una experiencia de autonomía e independencia, pues las historias de vida de esos inmigrantes están en constante mutación y sus identidades están siempre en reconstrucción. A la medida en que se feminiza el mercado de trabajo también se feminizan las relaciones transnacionales. La opresión del género femenino surge de la supremacía masculina autorizada por la estructura patriarcal, que legitima las prácticas cotidianas y la justicia social. De esa manera, las experiencias migratorias provocan una re-acomodación de las relaciones de género y de las relaciones generacionales en lo que se refiere a los vínculos afectivos y al poder del grupo doméstico (PEDONE, 2011). Lo que supone que la migración pode levar a una rediscusión da independencia y autonomía da mujer y simbolizar cambios substantivos en las relaciones de género. Para Berenice: “Migrar da una aparente libertad. Uno puede hacer lo que quiere, no tiene los vínculos familiares. Sao Paulo permite circular con un cierto anonimato.11 Migrar representa un intento de rompimiento con la trayectoria de subordinación, de una voluntad de emancipación y de construir su caminada de forma despegada del masculino. Carmen, instalada en Sao Paulo desde 1984, dice:

Con la migración la mujer conquistó un cierto poder, ha logrado un cierto espacio, generalmente los hombres no aceptan esa mudanza. Generalmente la mujer casada migra y arregla con quien dejar los hijos (en el país de origen). Dejan con la madre o con una vecina y mandan dinero para el sustento. En algunos casos traen la familia, en otros ellas vuelven. Mujeres y jóvenes mandan remesas para el Perú periódicamente12. Las familias migrantes enfrentan nuevas modalidades en las organizaciones familiares en experiencias con los hijos e hijas, tanto en el lugar de origen como en el de destino. Una vez que se feminiza el mercado de trabajo, también se feminizan las relaciones transnacionales, posibilitando así una permanencia más larga de las mujeres en los lugares de destino. Las oportunidades de la migración para las mujeres explica su presencia en claves de posibilidades: mayor autonomía, menor opresión, independencia, libertad y busca de igualdad. Las migraciones pueden permitir que mujeres que se movilizan desde sociedades tradicionales y patriarcales pueden tener la oportunidad de adquirir nuevas competencias (MAGLIANO, ROMANO, 2011). Así, la investigación a través de la interpretación de narrativas orales viene dedicándose a las prácticas del espacio, a las maneras de emigrantes, particularmente las mujeres que se insieren en los contextos de destino, a la comprensión de la feminización en el mercado transnacional, a las formas de la emigrante lidiar con la invisibilidad y con las tácticas de reconstrucción de su identidad y de permanencia en el país receptor. Para Pedone (2011), la feminización en Latino América provoca una reacomodación de las relaciones de género y de las relaciones generacionales. En tiempos contemporáneos la familia se revela como un espacio de conflicto y negociación ( p.64). Voces escuchadas en diferentes momentos a través de entrevistas en profundidad y la observación participante como estrategia metodológica cualitativas, ofrece un trabajo continuo de interpretación. La

                                                             Berenice Young, nació en Lima, vive en São Paulo desde 1990. E psicóloga. Entrevista colectada en 13/06/2013. Carmen, geógrafa con master e doctorado en la USP. Vino a Brasil en 1984. É una das fundadoras da Asociación Inti Wasi (Casa do Sol), que tiene como objetivo discutir cuestiones de Latino América. Entrevista colectada en 25/05/2013. 11 12

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segunda etapa de la investigación tiene probado que esas mujeres, mediante las prácticas gastronómicas, tienden a ejercitar mayor poder de decisión en sus vidas cotidianas. Así la migración puede simbolizar para las mujeres cambios substantivos en las relaciones de género.

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BIBLIOGRAFÍA BOURDIEU, P. La distincion. Critique sociale du jugement. Paris, Minuit, 1979. CASTELLS, M.. A era da informação: economia, sociedade e cultura- a sociedade em rede. São Paulo: Paz e terra, 1999. CERTEAU, M.de. A invenção do cotidiano: 1. Artes de fazer. Petrópolis, RJ: Vozes, 1994. GONÇALVES, J.R.S. A fome e o paladar: uma perspectiva antropológica. In: Série Encontros e Estudos. 4º Seminário Alimentação e Cultura. Rio de Janeiro: Funarte, CNFCP, 2002. FERREIRA, J. Migración y Discriminación. In: Globalización, migración y derechos humanos. Quito: Programa Andino de Derechos Humanos.UASB-PADH, 2005. GIARD, L. Cozinhar. In: CERTEAU, M.; GIARD, L.; MAYOL, P. A invenção do cotidiano: 2.morar e cozinhar. Petrópolis, RJ: Vozes, 1996. LUCENA, C.. “As maneiras de fazer e identidades de mulheres imigrantes”. In: MAZZA, Débora; Von SIMSON, Olga (Orgs). Mobilidade humana e diversidade sociocultural. Jundiaí, SP: Paco Editorial: 2011. LUCENA, C.. Saberes e sabores do país de origem como forma de integração. In Cadernos CERU, São Paulo: CERU/USP, v. 19, n.1, junho de 2008. MAGLIANO, M.J. & ROMANO, S.M. El desarrollo y lãs migraciones femininas em la agenda política sobre migraciones internacionales: universalismo etnocêntrico y colonialidad de gênero. In: PIZARRO, Cynthia (coord). Migraciones internacionales contemporáneas, estudios para el debate.Buenos Aires: CICCUS, 2011 MAYOL, P. O bairro. In: CERTEAU, M.; GIARD, L.; MAYOL, P. A invenção do cotidiano 2. Petrópolis, RJ, Vozes, 1996. MOULIN, L. L’Europe à table, Introduction à une psychosociologie des pratiques alimentares. Paris e Bruxeles: Elsevier Sequoia, 1975. PALACIOS, P. B. Feminización de las migraciones. In: Globalización, migración y derechos humanos. Quito: Programa Andino de Derechos Humanos.UASB-PADH: 2004. PEDONE, C.. Nuevas formas de organización familiar: la migración ecuatoriana hacia Cataluña. IN: PIZARRO, Cynthia (coord). Migraciones internacionales contemporáneas, estudios para el debate.Buenos Aires: CICCUS, 2011. VALCUENDE DEL RIO, J. M. Fronteiras, Territórios e identificaciones colectivas. Sevilla: Fundación Blas Infante, 1998. WESTON, R. La cocina de los incas. Lima: Universidad de San Martin de Porres, 2006.

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Voices of the Marginalized: Unionization of Domestic Workers in Bangalore. Avehi Menon (India):

Resumen:

En este trabajo se explorará cómo la historia oral es la herramienta metodológica más adecuada en la exploración de la vida de los trabajadores domésticos en Bengaluru ( Bangalore ) ya través de eso entienden el compromiso de los trabajadores con los procesos democráticos. Los trabajadores domésticos constituyen una gran parte del sector no estructurado / informal en la India y casi el 90 % de ellos son mujeres o niños. En el sector no organizado , uno de los principales problemas es la pérdida de identidad , de una noción de ciudadanía. Esta es una industria que funciona en silencio detrás de las puertas cerradas. Dentro de este grupo , las mujeres , son una comunidad vulnerable, totalmente dependiente del empleador que puede o no puede conceder derechos laborales a los mismos. Legalmente , el trabajo doméstico no es reconocido como la mano de obra ( no existe legislación o proyecto de ley ha sido aprobada aún) así que no hay horas reguladas de trabajo, licencia médica o de cualquier otro beneficio . Cuando , lo que no es reconocido , el resultado es la ausencia de voces en el marco más amplio de la economía política . La democracia encarna el poder de la participación y así , ¿cómo un grupo de participar si sus voces no son escuchadas ? ¿En qué consiste el trabajo doméstico y cómo las mujeres ven su propia situación ? ¿De qué manera la historia oral ayudar al entrevistador a enmarcar un acuerdo? Estas son algunas de las preguntas que el entrevistador intenta entender a través de las entrevistas realizadas a los miembros de la Unión de Trabajadores Domésticos de derechos en Bangalore. El documento también hace hincapié en la importancia de crear un archivo para la posteridad de estas voces

Abstract:

This paper will explore how oral history is the most appropriate methodological tool in exploring the lives of domestic workers in Bengaluru (Bangalore) and through that understand the workers engagement with democratic processes. Domestic workers constitute a large section of the unorganized/informal sector in India and almost 90% of them are women or children. In the unorganized sector, one of the major issues is a loss of identity, of a notion of citizenship. This is an industry that functions quietly behind closed doors. Within this group, women, are a vulnerable community, dependent entirely on the employer who may or may not accord labour rights to them. Legally, domestic work is not recognized as labour (no legislation or bill has been passed yet) so there is no regulated hours of work, medical leave or any other benefits. When, what one does is not recognized, the result is an absence of voices in the larger framework of the political economy. Democracy embodies the power of participation and so how does a group participate if their voices aren’t heard? What does domestic work involve and how do women see their own situation? How does oral history help the interviewer frame an understanding? These are some of the questions that the interviewer attempts to understand through interviews done with members of the Domestic Workers Rights Union in Bangalore. The paper also emphasizes the importance of creating an archive for the posterity of these voices.

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“The difference between you and me is money. That’s it. You sit in an office and work, I move about, use my hands and work” - Rakhi, 22, Diamond District. I. INTRODUCTION: Petite and soft-spoken, Babita’s face would contort in anger, talking about the exploitation and abuse she faced in houses she worked in previously. Working in a household of a family of five, she would have to wash vessels that were piled up, manually wash an endless supply of clothes and clean the house in addition to other chores that were expected of her. But it was never enough, her employer engaged in verbal abuse, constantly nitpicking her work. She finally couldn’t handle it anymore and quit. My interest in recording oral histories with domestic workers began with listening to Babita’s stories, the domestic worker who worked at my home in Delhi. I began to question my own dependence on having household help and how I viewed domestic workers. I started listening more carefully to friends and family -‘employers’ in their own right and how they referred to their domestic help. I also got acquainted with an organization called Stree Jagruti Samhiti working with domestic workers in Bangalore, Mangalore and Belgaum that was helping unionize domestic workers and help them ascertain their rights. Trying to look at oral history archives of domestic workers online, I came across some websites across the world but none in India. While there has been discourse and archives detailing the Labour movement in India and accounts of the organizing of mills workers, garment workers, railway workers, there was not much material and voices representing women domestic workers. There are male domestic workers as well but women constitute 90% of the share. Women’s place in history has always been seen as contributory rather than a central role. The earliest mention of women’s roles in history is probably in the freedom movement but documented more as contributing to the central male figures. These contributions are often interpreted as what ‘use’ were those women to the movement rather than their individual contributions (Lalitha K et al. 1989, p. 20) In the discourse on women’s oral histories, there is a necessity to collect and record women’s individual voices. My intention with this paper is to listen to these women’s voices while locating their experiences in their workplace and the issues they face there. I believe my own frame of questioning is guided by trying to situate the women within a ‘community’ of domestic workers but it did include a slight feminist leaning. The women I have begun to interview, so far, a majority of them are part of the Domestic Workers Rights Union, in Bangalore. It is a collective started by an organisation called Stree Jagruti Samhiti. Some of the women are members of the executive committee while others are individual members. How has the union brought about changes in their lives? What were these changes? Could oral history be effectively used to understand how the women saw their own situation and interpreted being members of the union? These are some of the questions, I set out to explore, I found much more. The oral narratives recorded contributed to an understanding of the context, of what domestic work involved which I needed to comprehend, to analyze where they stand today, their reasons of joining the union. II. THE LARGER NARRATIVE: In terms of a historical context, while there’s no specific time period that saw the introduction of household help, traditionally, every landlord in the village would have a number of workers, many of them bonded labour. Which meant they weren’t paid for the work they did, rather were indebted to the family as repayment. There was a sense of ownership; the employer or master ‘owned’ the worker. And in turn, they also ‘owned’ the worker’s family. Children were usually given in exchange for a repayment of debt. The children ended up working in the house. Although bonded labour was abolished in 1976, it is still prevalent in India today. There are also many references scattered through history of the dark skinned ‘ayahs’ in colonial India, the servants that took care of the memsahib and her children. The caste system in India also perpetuated this practice; the lower castes were the ones who worked in homes yet were

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subjected to the laws of Untouchability. So the workers weren’t allowed to touch the pooja room1, enter through the front door or eat from the same vessels. Failure in agriculture, drought, famine and utter poverty forced more and more men, women and children to migrate to cities and with little or no education, and with the demand for ‘servants’, the women entered domestic work. Kalpana Sharma states (Sharma K, 2003) according to a study, "Invisible Servitude: An in-depth study of domestic workers in the world", by Social Alert, there are an estimated 20 million women, children and men in domestic work in India. Of these, 92 per cent are women, girls and children, 20 per cent are under 14 years of age and 25 per cent are between the ages of 15 to 20. She goes on to say that this might be an underestimation but it still demonstrates the scale at which this invisible ‘industry’ provides employment. Bangalore is one of India’s fastest growing cities. With a population of nine and half million people, a booming IT industry, expanding real estate and cosmopolitan outlook, it attracts more every year. More apartment complexes mean more demand for household help. Having a domestic worker enables both men and women to go out and work, thus the workers contributing to their own household income and add to the economy. Yet there is no framework that exists to empower domestic workers. III. WHY ORAL HISTORY? History, till now has been about remembering the past through the voices of rulers and leaders, whether kings or heads of state with little account for ordinary people and their accounts. Even as the scope of history did widen, ordinary people were statistical aggregates derived from some earlier administrative investigation (Thompson P, 2003, p. 27) Oral History, by including voices that have previously been marginalized, gave historical writing, a new democratic dimension. It also made people participators in their own history rather than bystanders. As a methodological tool, it has proved to be very insightful in understanding grass root movements, in giving space for people who may not be literate in written word, but do articulate their own experiences. With the domestic workers, oral history enabled me to record their stories. It enabled them to have control over their experiences, leading and linking the narrative as they saw fit. The domestic worker has largely been absent from any national discourse on labour. Without any legislative backing and the very nature of their work, renders them ‘invisible’ from the public eye. Oral history allows for their experiences to be recorded. Through their narratives, there is a landscape of socio economic conditions that leads them to domestic work. The dialogue so far with domestic workers has been either informal discussion by organisations or to be included as statistics in a labour report of the country. An exercise in oral history reveals much more. Over the last couple of decades, with some media attention, work done by various rights organisations and some efforts at building international links and coalitions, there has a marginal interest and change in the recognition of domestic workers. I was keen to understand how the women themselves interpreted and accessed the change. I felt oral history as a methodology enabled this understanding. Social investigators have used oral histories in the past to understand the living and working conditions by talking to the people who have experienced them (Linda S, 2002, p.1) While the oral narratives in this project demonstrate the complex class struggle that women negotiate with different employers, the discrimination in wages, leave and the helplessness the women feel, the analysis points out to how the women are reclaiming that same workspace after being members of the union. Narrators: The women domestic workers I interacted with live in slums spread across the city. They try and find work in the large apartment complexes and individual homes closer to where they live, so as to save on the money spent on commuting. The part time workers work in a minimum of 3 to 4 houses a day for about an hour and half to two hours at each house. I spoke to women in different categories of domestic work: some who were part time workers, some full time and a few of them migrants to the city who work within the

                                                             1

A space considered sacred because it’s where idols of various Gods are kept.

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two categories of part time and full time work. The women are in the age group range of 30 – 60 years, most born and raised in South India. One of the women spoken to was a migrant worker from Calcutta. I have not interviewed any child domestic workers who are currently working nor have I spoken to any livein domestic workers as their movements were regulated much more by the employer and their work dynamics would demand a different exploration. Few of the women interviewed though have been live-in domestic workers when they were children. Few had daughters who were also domestic workers. Their husbands are gardeners, factory workers, and production assistants on film sets; few of them had separated from their wives. They live in concrete houses; some owners while others pay rent. Some of the women are involved with cleaning tasks within an employer’s home – sweeping, washing dishes and dusting while two of the women do only the cooking in people’s homes. Based on the task, the wages they earn varies. A majority of them have little or no education; some have been educated till class 9. With no education and a restriction on them not to venture too far from home, the only work they turned to was domestic work, sometimes at a very young age. Anushree, 40, Jakkasandra: “I was disinterested in studies. I went to school to eat the food the school

gave, not to sit in class. I stopped going after third standard and took care of the cows at home…we had cows in those days, so I made butter, helped with work at home. I was then married off at 11 (years). After my first daughter was born, I went to look for housework. I was 13.” Pillamma, 38, HSR Layout: “I first started work at age 8. I wanted to go because I heard they were giving

fifty rupees! Imagine! Those days it was so much! My mother said No, but I still went. I did all the work there, sweeping, cleaning, washing and then played with the young children in the house. That time we used to wash with our hands, now everybody has machines. The money I made, I gave to my mother. Sometimes I would get 10 rupees from relatives who were visiting (the employer’s home). I would save 1 rupee out of that and go to the jatra (local fair)” Most women have an internal network or grapevine that would inform them of the houses where people are looking for work. In many cases, there’s also substitution, if the mother is unwell, then the daughter goes for a day or two in her place. Sometimes the employers ask for a replacement if they’re unwell or have to go on leave. One worker for another. The women say, the work cannot stop, it must go on. Wages: Since there is no standard pay scale, salary discussions become a matter of negotiation between individual employers - employee often leaving the domestic worker with feeling that she’s got the raw end of the deal. In 2004, Karnataka became one of the first states to fix a minimum living wages for domestic workers in order to then ascertain fair work wages. It was fixed at one thousand six hundred rupees per month. But as Stree Jagruti Samhiti, the organisation that has set up the Domestic Workers Rights Union pointed out, this was calculated on the basis of minimum working hours and not the number of tasks a domestic worker did. In this scenario, women’s wages vary drastically from one employer to the other. Also finally even though the minimum wage was fixed, implementation has been very poor. (Hamid, Areeba, 2006). Since the employer worker relationship has always been a personal, negotiable one, looking back, the women started work for meager amounts. Anushree, now 40, started working at the age of 13; she earned thirty rupees in one house and in the second, fifty rupees. At the first house, 22 years later, it only increased to a hundred and fifty rupees. Pillamma had her own story to tell. Pillamma, 38, HSR Layout, “…I was 20 when I went back to working in houses. I worked in 3 houses and

earned rupees 350 per house. After my children were born, I fell sick so stopped housework and worked in a factory instead for 4 years. Then I had to go back, this was 6 years later, I had no choice, I went back to the same three houses, I earn rupees 900 per home”

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Leave: In addition to the variable income, there’s lack of job security, if the employer moves or asks the domestic worker to leave. Being outside the purview of legislation and social security leaves them with no rights to claim compensation. There’s also a question of a weekly day off, the women say there’s no stipulated leave that’s set, for most of them, even Sunday is not a day off. Anushree, 40, Jakksandra, “…There’s no sunday ginday2! We get leave when the employer decides to go on

holiday but when they are back, then they make a face and say look at this dust and that. Then there’s more work to be done” the personal sphere: Domestic workers carry out their work in a largely private space, in the home of the employer. Unlike a formal building to sanctify a place of work, domestic work is carried out in a private, personal sphere where the rules in each household vary depending on the employer. Their work being ‘invisible’ to the public eye would mean that there is no legislative protection from the State in case of exploitation. Apart from the nature of the space they work in, they often share a complex, personal relationship with the employer. The employer is usually seen as the woman of the household, even if the husband is one paying the wages to the worker, her (the domestic worker) interaction is limited to the woman, most times, since the kitchen and household work is seen as the woman’s bastion. The employer employee boundary is permeable, employers, especially women share a lot of their personal difficulties, stress at work or at home with the workers. An affinity, a sharing based on belonging to the same minority group. There is a constant play of emotions, of gratitude and guilt, for example when the employer gives them gifts or even old clothes, electric appliances etc., they expect them to be grateful and any demand of a salary rise after that is treated as an affront. The relationship oscillates between camaraderie to cruelty. The women speak of being discriminated based on caste, notions of being ‘dirty’ and impure. The manifestation of class is more visible in cities, where the restrictions of caste (Untouchability based on purity laws) needed to be shed in public spaces – such as public transport, restaurants so the caste divisions merged into roughly 3 classes – the elite upper class, the growing middle class and lower class. As Sarah Dickey says of class (Dickey S, 2000) Class which is more mutable than caste and derives more directly from both social and economic standing, has become one of the most potent idioms of identity, rank and contemporary India, especially urban areas, therefore domestic service interactions constitute the most intense contact with other classes, creating a unique employer employee relationship governed by personal mores. Placed at the other end of the spectrum, the women felt like they are not considered as human beings. Anushree, 40, Jakkasandra: “I used to work in a Brahmin household. Worked there for twenty-two years and I always had a separate glass and plate. Everybody does that, know?” Saraswati, 34, Jakkasandra: “. …this domestic work is the worst work. I do it because I have to, but it really is the worst…some people are so unhygienic, sanitary pads are sometimes left there and we have to dispose it. They leave the bathrooms so dirty and even their clothes that need to be washed are sometimes so badly stained… When I told my employer, ‘See, I’m also human, why do you leave it like this?’ She said, ‘Saraswati, adjust karo.’ (Sarawasti, please adjust)” Honamma, 29, HSR Layout “ They sometimes boil brewed tea leaves again, the ones used to make tea for

themselves, to make tea for us or sometimes the baby’s milk that’s leftover is used to make tea… We sometimes feel we are treated like animals” So while the women talk about being treated inhumanly on part of some employers, there are also references and praise for the ‘good employer’. I asked them what that meant, to be ‘good’.

                                                             2

The narrator rhymes it with Sunday to emphasize a point.

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Pillamma, 37, HSR Layout “My employers are all good people. They all are nice to me…. ‘Good’ as in there is no discrimination, no separate plate is given to eat in, I can eat at their house also.” Nanjamma, 55, Jakksandra “ My hands have got cracks in them and it bleeds. It’s an allergy to washing detergents. My employers only took me to the doctor to get it checked and paid for my medicines. Nothing’s changed after that, what to do, I still need to work. But my employers have been good to me ” As Gluck puts it, recording women’s daily acts of resistance, isn’t that what women’s history is about? (Gluck and Armitage, 2003) The narratives reveal women’s struggles that were specific not just as workers but also as women. There is much that is internalized and accepted because of the role assigned them. It also lies in the idea of domestic work, whether it’s within their own homes or others. Household work is seen as woman’s work, it is her responsibility to cook, clean, feed the children. So many of the women, as young girls were ‘naturally’ expected to follow their mothers into domestic work. They were expected to know how to perform these tasks. Seen as vulnerable, working in a household then seemed like a refuge. The women don’t consider the work they do as ‘work’ and because of that, they seem resigned to not demanding better wages or working conditions. There is a sense of helplessness and misfortune, that in the absence of choice, this is their fate. The consciousness imbibed from being part of a collective, led to having a voice in the professional sphere but has a slower impact in the personal. In their own homes, there are stories of abuse and violence, of underage marriages and alcoholic husbands. In a patriarchal society, women are supposed to ‘bear’ this abuse; it is the duty of a wife and mother. The women are slowly finding the courage to bring some of these issues forward to the union. Oral histories serve then as a repository for these ‘daily acts of resistance’. It is these intangible acts of courage, in the everyday that should contribute and be given space in women’s struggles and movements. I refer to Gluck (Armitage, Gluck, 2003, p. 77) when I reflect that the collection of women’s oral histories are therefore as much important as invaluable primary documents. THE DOMESTIC WORKERS UNION: As the domestic workers function in a private space, any exploitation that occurs does not receive any legal action since there’s no legislative protection. Some laws can be invoked for specific instances, such as the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008 and the Juvenile Justice Act. There’s no national policy on the protection of domestic workers and their rights. In 2011, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) adopted the Domestic Workers Convention on Decent work for Domestic workers, and India supports the Convention but is yet to ratify it. In the absence of government sanctification, it means that the domestic workers have no identity proof to gain access to various government schemes and no insurance against any risks or health issues that might occur during work. They also have no protection from being exploited when the employers falsely accuse them of theft. The organisation led by Geeta Menon, an activist based in Bangalore, felt the need of creating a collective or union because a lot of women they interacted and worked with in slums in Bangalore are domestic workers. They felt the need for the women to come together, have a space to voice their issues and ascertain rights. The Domestic Worker Rights Union was started in 2009. The union is hoping to get more of its members registered, giving out for now a union identity card till the Labour Department gives out ID cards. The organisation has also conducted surveys with domestic workers and employers in a particular area and fixed minimum wages for the worker as well documented the issues employers face – regulated timings that the worker adheres to, fixed work hours and notice for leave. In the past five years, The Domestic Workers Rights Union has gathered over 2000 women together, formed an executive committee of domestic workers themselves and set up a small Workers Facilitation Centre. They continue to go out almost door-to-door, asking women to register. They raise funds to give out educational scholarships to the children of domestic workers and have helped the women avail government insurance schemes in the past.

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The identity card was talked about as a tangible benefit that they received from the union. This card though not a legal identity unlike a voter’s id or income tax pan card, offered them emotional protection which was articulated through the interviews. Saraswati, 34, Jakkasandra “ If people accuse me of something and then when I respond, they say, ‘who are you to talk like that?’ I say, I also am part of a union, I have an identity card. Now, whoever it is, police station, MP’s, MLA, I talk ‘direct to direct’ ” As Saraswati puts it, the card gives her the power and confidence to walk into a police station and show her card, to declare that she belongs to a collective. The words she uses, “direct to direct”, implies a sense of equality she feels with those she was previously intimidated by. This has been a personal, intangible gain. One of the recurrent themes that I heard the women articulate was one of gaining courage. They realized they weren’t alone and that maybe as individuals they were helpless but as a collective they had strength. They gained in confidence to talk to their employers about an increase wages, leave and even a bonus. They speak about helping other women, to learn about the organisation, to address their issues. In a sense, some of them have become ‘vigilantes’ in their own areas. Lakshmi, 60, Neelsandra, “ Being part of a group brings courage. What one person can’t do, if there are

four people, we can ” Saraswati, 34, Jakkasandra: “ People have asked me, do you get paid for being part of the union, attending

the meetings? I say no, but if I feel I’m involved in social work, why should I get paid for it? I paid for the auto fares; I paid rupees 400 to bring people to the meeting, so that they know that there is a place for help. This will put our union forward, that’s why I don’t mind paying for the fares…” I argue that oral history is a tool that could be used here as a means of articulating citizenship. In the telling of their stories, the women are reclaiming the workspace, breaking the silence on a hegemonic history and retelling it. They are clearly articulating their situation and what needs to be changed. The women, otherwise invisible, are powerfully stating the need for their rights to be recognised, voiced through the space of an oral history interview. They understand their rights and want to claim them as citizens of a democracy. These small steps of gaining confidence, using the union card to empower are realizations that the women themselves have had, reflected in the change in their tone and language when they compare their initial days to how they articulate their needs today. For future historians, this moment of growing awareness among the women is valuable because this may lead to change in policy, legislation and lives ahead. Pillamma, 37, HSR Layout “ I have no issues as such which I need help from the union but today my

employers are good, but who is to say that tomorrow if they leave (from their current residence), then the next employers I get will be good? That is why it is important to know my rights, be part of the union” Honamma, 29, HSR Layout “Earlier we had no idea what the limit was. Whatever we were told to do, we would do. I felt helpless. Now if they ask me, ‘Why are you 10 min late?” I replied back saying, “My work is also not limited to a fixed hour, right? I work more than a hour if there’s extra work, don’t I?”I would not have known how to speak like that earlier” Oral histories of women domestic workers are important to document for the history of labour, because they display a complex web of power relations that the workers negotiate with their employers and other government machinery because of the work they do and therefore what socio economic class they belong to. Within this context, the narratives reveal how being part of a ‘community’ has helped them, what have they accessed with joining the union. As Benmayor puts it, “a community is created through common circumstances and common struggle and so “it builds on common histories and on bonds of national origin, class and gender”(Benmayor, Rina, 1991, p.160). As found in the narratives, the oral histories of the women talk about the sense of power and strength they derive from being a collective. To have dignity and

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self respect when the work you do is menial is quite a challenge, these women now have the confidence to demand their rights. As much as women’s individual oral histories are important, it needs to feed back into the community in order to create an empowered collective against various levels of oppression. Honamma, 29, HSR Layout: “ I know, we could have used this one hour for (union) meetings to go to work, earn some more money. But I realized that I’m also learning when I attend the meetings. That’s why I feel it’s good. I’m learning and I should pass it on to other women so that they also benefit. I don’t want other people to suffer like I did.” V. LEARNING THROUGH INTERVIEWING: The oral history interviewing process has been a huge learning experience for me. A continuing process, I have interviewed nine women so far from three different localities in Bangalore. In a well-known essay from 1981, Ann Oakley exhorted women interviewing women to abandon the traditional technique of detachment, which produced a hierarchical relationship between the expert and her object of study. She felt this would encourage a non-exploitative relationship and in turn benefit research. I did go into the interviews, not detached but involved, interested in their lives. But no matter how similar we were, it would maybe take many more interviews to lower certain barriers, especially one of class. To them I was young, literate, urban and ‘looked’ upper class. I was referred to as ‘madam’, a word that was used for anyone from a higher class or from the same background as employers. These were the immediate differences, but once they realized I was there to listen and learn, as I didn’t know so much about their world, it helped make the situation more equal. I had to use a translator; since I wanted them to speak in languages they were more comfortable in, which were Kannada and Tamil. Both of which, I could follow their speech but couldn’t frame grammatically correct questions. Though I followed most part and was frustrated by not being able to communicate to them directly, after a while, I noticed, they looked at me and spoke rather than just the translator, assuming I was understanding what they said. Knowing that it was important that I understood and engaged with what they had to say, for it to be disseminated. It proved to be difficult for them to give me time. The members of the Domestic Workers Rights Union helped me a great deal in coordinating with the women. But with busy work schedules, commuting and household work, I had to either wait outside their workplaces or change the timings of interviews. Interviews were short or longer depending on the time they could spare. I therefore let the women lead the interview far more than I expected, I rather they shared what they wanted to in the time span that we had. Then there was a question of interview space. Some interviews were done outside workplaces or in a nearby park. Both in public views, so initially the women were conscious of their surroundings. The interviews done at their homes were almost never private. In the kind of localities these women lived in, there were no boundary walls, most didn’t even have toilets. So their spaces are common, their doors, at least during the day are always open. Conducting an interview therefore, is a community event. There would always be interruptions, children witnessing the interview and another member of the union chipping in. The personal is almost never private. The benefits of this kind of interview situation were that the women would egg each other on to elaborate on certain memories; their personalities could be drawn out more. In some situations, with the translator being someone from Stree Jagruti Samhiti, the interviewee, during the interview would deviate and start talking about their own personal problems and seek help from the union. While this was a deviation, it gave me an insight into how the union is looked at beyond just the professional to also offering advice and help with personal issues. Memories were recounted differently by different women, some didn’t dwell on the past too much, indicating it has always been a life of hardship, there was nothing much to linger over. Some went into minute details describing a particular event of discrimination. I noticed this more with the younger,

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outspoken members of the union, where an understanding the space, audience and assumed purpose of the interview, they went into greater detail. One interviewee, Nanjamma, remembered important changes in her life by relating it to popular culture, for instance, while recalling when she joined the union, she thinks about it and says it was the same time Vishnuvardhan (a popular actor from Karnataka) had died. Some women did not remember their date of birth since there are no records. They usually recall the age they get married because it’s after they start menstruating. That becomes an important landmark because it is an indicator that a girl is ready to bear children and therefore ready for marriage. Some women remembered starting work again based on how old their children were. Therefore events were committed to memory by popular culture or by physical changes in their own bodies. The aim is to put together an archive that represents the social and historical context in which the women are located. This archive could be a tool, the union explores as resource to put forward their suggestions to the government, participate in national debate and demand a drafting of the legislation that will frame a Domestic Workers Bill. As Benmayor said, Social empowerment enables people to speak and speaking empowers (Benmayor, R, 1991, p. 159). This process has had an effect on the interviewee and me as an interviewer. It’s effect on me as a woman who had the advantage and means of telling the stories and I assume on the women themselves who were able to organise their experiences in a meaningful way. The women who are members of the union are used to telling their story, at meetings and to other women, but the oral history interview offered them a chance to reflect more on their own life story. There was therefore little I offered in the way of questions and more was shared in terms of different memories. There is a lot of discussion among feminist oral historians about the interviewer interviewee relationship, on how the interpretation of the narrative should be a collaborative effort between both the interviewer and the interviewee. I agree with Sherna Berger Gluck when she says (Armitage, S Gluck, S, p. 78, 2003) that there is a danger of one imposing one’s own interpretation on the interviewee’s experiences with little doubt about the validity of one’s interpretation. I haven’t shared the interviews yet with my interviewees, I intend therefore on collaborating with the women on their narratives and undertake the risk of rejection of my interpretation. After all, it is their story.

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REFERENCES: Armitage, S and Gluck, S Reflections on Women’s Oral Histories, An exchange. In: Perks, R and Thompson (P) (eds.) The Oral History Reader, Second Edition, 2006, New York, Routledge Benmayor, R, Testimony, Action Research and Empowerment: Puerto Rican Women and Popular

Education. In: Gluck, S and Patai, D (eds.), Women’s Words: The Feminist Practice of Oral History. 1991, New York, Routledge, Chapman and Hall Borland, Katherine, ‘That’s not what I said’: interpretive conflict in oral narrative research. In: Perks, R and Thompson, P. Oral History Reader, Second Edition. 2003, Taylor and Francis e-Library Dickey, S (2000) Permeable Homes: Domestic Service, Household Space and the Vulnerability of Class

boundaries in Urban India Dickey S, Kapadia, Kumar, In: Dickey, S (2000) Permeable Homes: Domestic Service, Household Space and

the Vulnerability of Class boundaries in Urban India Gluck S and Patai D. (eds.) (1991) Women’s Words, The Feminist Practice of Oral History, New York, Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc. Kakar, S. Leprosy in India: the intervention of oral history. In: Perks, R and Thompson, P. Oral History Reader, Second Edition. 2006, New York, Routledge Lalitha, K, Kannabiran V, Melkote R, Maheshwari U, Tharu S and Shatruglalitana, V.(1989) We Were Making

History: Life Stories of Women in Telangana People’s struggles. London, Zed. Hamid, A. Harsh, Everyday Realities. Economic and Political Weekly. [Vol 41, No 13 (Apr 1-7, 2006]] Portelli, A. What makes Oral History different. In: Perks, R and Thompson, P. Oral History Reader, Second Edition. 2003, Taylor and Francis e-Library Sharma, K. In the name of Servitude. The Hindu, [online] Aug 24, 2003. Available from:http://www.hindu.com/mag/2003/08/24/stories/2003082400200300.htm. Accessed on [4th April, 2014] Shopes, L. What is oral history? In: Perks, R and Thompson, P (eds.) Oral History Reader, Second Edition 2006, New York , Routledge Shopes, L. "Making Sense of Oral History,"History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web [online] February 2002. Available from: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/oral/. Accessed on [6th April, 2014] Thompson P (eds.) The Voice of the Past. In: Perks, R and Thompson, P (eds) Oral History Reader, Second Edition 2006, New York, Routledge.

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