# 476: ARTICLE OF THE WEEK — “The Paper that You Have in Your Hand is My Freedom”: Migrant Domestic Work and the Sponsorship (Kafala) System in Lebanon
Story behind the article choice
This is the first week I am blogging about a scholarly article and not a book. I feel, my blog will be changing quite soon — from the habit of blogging about a book each week to blogging more freely about different readings and topics. This is life, it keeps changing. I take this to be a sign that the things that have been changing inside me these past months are now materializing in the outside world…
The paper today is the first one I have read about a topic that will stay with me for quite a while. The Kafala system will be my research topic when going to Lebanon. And who knows what will happen there that might turn this topic into an entry point to a new adventure — both in life and my career? The only thing I know is that the pieces of my life puzzle are now really coming together; falling into place. Throughout my theological studies program, I have felt that the one thing it has done to me is awaken my political core again. I have always been “political” in many ways, did political youth education work in the past, grew up with political discussions at home, studied political science. Now is the time to become active again — on a different level and in a way that brings together everything I have learned in the past: about research and about myself.
- Oral history as “therapy”
I am not going to define the kafala system here in detail because it is something that you can look up. This is not going to be a scientific paper (I will get back to writing these quite soon, I feel). What I simply want to do, as in the case of my book posts, is highlight some bigger aspects that just caught my eye. And one of them is the way in which the author describes her research work and the experience she gained when interviewing women. I immediately knew what she meant by calling the benefit of the interviewees “therapeutic,” even though there is, as always, a flip side to the coin.
Before getting to the challenge, I want to highlight how comforting that is to experience when someone who is allowed and acvitely encouraged to share his/her story, especially a painful one, can use this as an outlet. Talking helps — might be the simple conclusion. People doing chaplaincy work know exactly what I mean by that but all other human beings will know this as well: Very often, we do know that talking about our pain will not make any difference to the cause of the pain, i.e., it will not immediately change the situation. Still, just giving a voice to the pain lifts an immense burden from one’s shoulders. This cannot be underestimated.
The point about doing research and experiencing this positive side effect in interviewees is a mixed one. For me personally, it adds a human component to the otherwise very rational endeavor of collecting data for gaining insights. Still, one is also tempted to ask more questions and be more empathetic than one would usually be in a research setting. I do not want to artificially problematize the aspect. I just think that these experiences make one question one’s own path as a researcher and they can determine or rather strengthen your core beliefs: Is your conviction that data and research is the path to making the world a better place or is it active involvement and assistance for the people on the ground?
I am leaning towards the first option but the question is always a tough one since there are ways in/between; it does not have to be an either/or question.
2. Passports and freedom
For people working at airports but also for travelers, this finding that a piece of paper in your hand determines EVERYTHING is not new. Still, when you go through this situation, it feels different. And if you then reflect on it from a more distanced angle, it is even more scary. Your entire identity, your freedom of movement, your “value” as a human being depends on your ID card/passport. Without this sheet of paper in your hand and maybe a few additional documents and stamps — you are worth nothing; you cannot go anywhere; you are an alien, maybe even illegal; you can end up in prison.
Reading about these things again reminds me of my own research path on Arab Americans. I have many déjà-vue experiences these days. And this one reminds me of an article I wrote about airports as non-places and the relevance of passports as well as the differnet identity markers therein that are especially limiting if you are, for example, of mixed ethnic background. Somehow these voices from the past make me feel humble. They show me that everything we do has a purpose and we see how the dots connect only in the future. For so many years, I thought the work I did in the past was useless in the sense that it is not taking me anywhere. I was wrong. Yes, it is taking me to new places, e.g., Lebanon and a new research topic, but it is also taking me further on my life journey.
3. Orientalism
This blends in well with the previous section. The keywords “Orientalist images” also take me back to my research past. When I wrote my PhD about Arab Americans and how they were/are still being portrayed in the media, Edward Said and his classic Orientalism was kind of like a Bible to me (sorry to offend the theologians!). It was not only for the main theses that the book stands for, i.e., the fact that the Orient as we, the West, know it, is a creation of our own images that are fueled by literary and media representations. It was mostly due to some of the other things Said writes about the connection between art, politics, and the identity of people in the Middle East, to summarize it.
In any case, what Panda is writing about the image of the abusive woman and the sexual Arab predator blends in well with the stereotypes but the point is: these are not stereotypes, these things, unfortunately, happen for real. Whereas the sexually abusive man of Arab descent is not that much of a surprise, the abusive woman is. How can women employers abuse their maids? Obviously, within the kafala system, this is rather the norm than the exception. But it is too early for me to come up with any assessment. I will have to let the research unfold and there is also a slight hope in me that the search for Biblical examples of gendered violence will also at least motivate me to give the Bible another chance — let’s see.
I stay curious and hopeful and I am really excited about this new journey.
It feels right.
There is purpose in the topic.
There is a need for research.
And there is my own being that can make a small difference.
Reflection Questions
1) Would you ever do research on a topic or with a method where there is a risk that personal and professional issues get mixed up or confused, as in the case of narratives having a therapeutic function? Why/not?
2) If someone took away your passport and there was no chance for you to live “legally” in your own country, what would you do to survive?
3) Which stereotypes do you have in your mind when you think about “Arab men”? Be honest… Where do they originate? Which role does personal experience play here?