Mobile phone for empowerment? Global nannies in Paris

Abstract

Feminization of migration has emerged as a common livelihood strategy to alleviate poverty and escape difficult socio-economic, cultural, and familial situations. Mobile phones have become the most crucial and pervasive communication device that enables migrants to be simultaneously mobile and connected, anytime and anywhere. Is the mobile phone empowering or disempowering as a new form of social control? Based on a long-term ethnographic research on global nannies in Paris, this study presents a case for the importance of the detailed investigation of everyday contexts and power relations to better understand the complexities of mobile phone use in work life. This study will argue that, far from an instrument of empowerment, the mobile phone can work to reinforce already existing power relations and mundane social structures, leading to more unequal and enslaving relationships in work life.