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Ambivalent intermediaries: social networks in migrant Filipina domestic work in London

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

E-pub ahead of print
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>12/08/2025
<mark>Journal</mark>Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
Publication StatusE-pub ahead of print
Early online date12/08/25
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

This article examines how Filipina domestic workers in London mobilise informal social networks and migrant intermediaries to navigate precarious employment and legal constraints. Based on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observation, the study introduces the concept of ambivalent intermediaries – actors who provide critical support while simultaneously reproducing vulnerability. Drawing on feminist ethics of care and the literature on migrant infrastructures, the article theorises ambivalence as a structured condition shaped by moral obligations, emotional reciprocity, and structural exclusion. Rather than framing intermediaries as either exploitative brokers or altruistic helpers, the study shows how Filipina domestic workers themselves become intermediary figures, sustaining mutual aid under hostile migration regimes. The article contributes to scholarship on migrant agency by highlighting how informal infrastructures enable both resistance and dependence within everyday life. It calls for a rethinking of migration governance narratives that criminalise solidarity and informal support networks among migrants.