Le travail domestique en Tanzanie entre les luttes coloniales et post-coloniales: Approches genrées du syndicalisme

This article seeks to explain the reasons behind the limited involvement of women domestic workers in Tanzania in trade union activism in recent decades. To this end, it examines some historical events that are crucial for understanding the phenomenon of contemporary domestic work. In particular, it looks at the trade union activism of male domestic servants during the British colonial period, when they sought to defend a form of waged domestic service that was losing its value and respectability. Reflecting on the presence or lack of prestige and respectability associated with this labour sector over time helps to understand and interpret the testimonies of today’s female workers, which were collected during ethnographic research in Tanzania between 2018 and 2019.