{"id":38743,"date":"2026-05-11T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/?p=38743"},"modified":"2026-05-04T13:36:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T11:36:35","slug":"constructing-better-exchanges-by-enforcing-a-moral-contract-grey-work-irregular-migrant-labour-and-the-moral-economy-of-illegality-in-paid-domestic-work-in-geneva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/?p=38743","title":{"rendered":"Constructing better exchanges by enforcing a moral contract: Grey work, irregular migrant labour and the moral economy of illegality in paid domestic work in Geneva"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-4fc3f8e1 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Author(s): Lo\u00efc Pignolo<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/48872914\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/48872914<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this article I analyse the establishment of a new moral economy of illegality in the domestic service economy in Geneva. I look at the different spaces, instruments and policies that make up this moral economy of illegality, as well as the ways in which this moral economy is perceived and experienced \u2018from below\u2019 by the economic actors involved. My argument, based on interviews and documentary analysis, is threefold. First, I argue that the emergence of this moral economy is justified by the fact that it confers rights on vulnerable workers. Second, the findings show that the moral economy is based on the idea of constructing better \u2013 if not legal \u2013 economic exchanges. The establishment of this new moral economy of illegality creates a continuum by adding a mode of \u2018accepted illegality\u2019 between full legality and full illegality. Third, I argue that the transformation of employment relationships is achieved through the \u2018light-touch\u2019 enforcement of a moral contract.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Author(s): Lo\u00efc Pignolo Source: https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/48872914<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16],"tags":[854,7,746,9,583,341,271,294,262,158],"class_list":["post-38743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economics","tag-854","tag-article","tag-domestic-workers","tag-english-language","tag-ethics","tag-geneva","tag-human-rights-violations","tag-irregular-migration","tag-undocumented-immigrants","tag-working-conditions"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38743"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38744,"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38743\/revisions\/38744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swissmig.unine.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}