Silva, Maciel Henrique. Nem mãe preta, nem negra fulô: histórias de trabalhadoras domésticas em Recife e Salvador (1870-1910)

Abstract

When we speak of domestic work in Brazil, we should have in mind a well established, long standing, perennial institution in our society. Heavy labor, it is traditionally carried out by poor, usually black women, subject to uncertain and subjective rules that, in the intimacy of family homes, can give protection from the insecurity of the streets but, at the same time, brutally oppress these workers. 1 living with the omnipresent possibility of humiliation, violence and sexual abuse was the day-today experience of thousands of female workers who live in this complex, slippery world, outside of regulation. A significant part of the history of this institution situated between the last decades of legal slavery in Brazil and the first half of 20 th century, but still so present in 21 st century Brazil, is retold by the historian Maciel Silva. With care and sensibility, the author narrates the experiences of domestic servants in two great Brazilian capitals, Salvador and Recife, using extensive research and interpretative rigor. The author deals with the period starting from the decade of the 1870's, when free persons, slaves and poor fee women were recruited for the tasks "from the doorway inward", as they said at the time, while 1910, was chosen as a demarcating point due to the consolidation of diverse urban reforms in Brazil, and consequently, changes in habit, rhythm of life and in the domestic working dynamic. originally presented as a doctoral thesis in Social History at the Universidade Federal da Bahia, the book is also