By training the spotlight on exchanges of and within relations of intimacy, this collection of papers focuses on the intimate labour performed by gendered migrant subjects in a variety of settings ranging from homes in the city and rural villages, toilets in transnational corporations to public entertainment spots. It contributes to the discussion on intimate labour: using exchange as a focusing lens foregrounds the nature of the labour rather than its empirical foci, and by doing so allows us to see the commonalities and contrasts that echo through disparate sectors of work across Asia. In adopting the idea of intimate exchange as a particular practice and relation that flows across migrants’ lives, this themed section focuses on a wide range of lived experiences that draw together, rather than keep apart, the spheres of intimacy and work.
From ARI Conference on “Love’s Labour’s Cost? Asian Migration, Intimate Labour and the Politics of Gender”, 3-4 December 2018.
