Domestic Service

CFP, Left History

Call for Papers

Special Issue: Domestic Service

Domestic service occupies an exceptional role in labour history for its historic and contemporary intersections with issues of gender, race, and class. As such, the study of paid domestic labour—women (and to a lesser extent, men) hired to cook, clean, perform child care and other services, in private homes and public spaces—has evolved. Once seldom acknowledged as "real" labour, its position on the boundary of home and work, and the often similarly unstable position of domestic workers in the labour market make it an important site of study The work of these women and men—and, specifically, women and men of colour—is consequently both a project of labour historians seeking to capture the stories of these neglected workers and a site that feminist, Marxist, and poststructuralist historians and theorists have used to interrogate the concept of labour itself.

Left History is seeking submissions for a special issue on Domestic Service, to be published in Fall 2007. We are looking for articles that detail the history of domestic service across a variety of geographic areas and periods, as well as articles that will interrogate the relationship between domestic service, labour, gender, race, class, and immigration.Left History welcomes research articles, theoretical pieces, reviews, and artwork. Manuscripts should ideally be 20 to 30 pages, or 10 000 words, and can be submitted electronically or by mail to the addresses below. The deadline is March 1st, 2007.

The Editors, Left History
Department of History
York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, ON
Canada M3J 1P3
Email: [mailto]lefthist@yorku.ca[/mailto]
Visit the website at [url]http://www.yorku.ca/lefthist/[/url]