Gendering the Stranger: Nomadic Care Workers in Europe — a Polish-Italian Example

Abstract

Advertisements with headlines like ‘Una donna Straniera’ (a female stranger) can often be read in local newspapers in Sicily. Local people know that this means someone is looking for an Eastern European woman willing to work as a housemaid in private homes and take care of elderly persons. This is an expression of Italy’s changed role in international migration, from being a sending country to becoming a receiving country. In 2007, nearly four million migrants lived in Italy. This is a considerable increase since 1997, when there were only one million migrants in Italy (ISMU 2007). In 2005, 64,000 work and residence permits were issued to Polish citizens in Italy (Nere 2006). Many of them are women working as professional healthcare workers in public and private hospitals. Jobs as domestic workers in the informal economy have also attracted thousands of Polish women to urban and rural areas in Italy.