Inferiorization and deference: The construction of social hierarchies in the context of paid domestic labor

In Argentina, domestic work is one of the main occupations for women from low-income sectors. As in other Latin American societies, it is one of the most paradigmatic forms of contact between the different social classes. As such, this labor relationship has been analyzed in numerous studies as a critical location for the reproduction of social differences and inequality. The interpersonal relationships between employers and workers mobilize categorization criteria and stereotyped images that reveal wider dynamics regarding the construction of social hierarchies. On the basis of a qualitative study, the objective of this article is to analyze, in the city of Buenos Aires, the processes of constructing social hierarchies that are implied by this particular labor relationship. This analysis seeks to reveal the operations through which employers construct a stereotype of social inferiority for domestic workers through which they legitimize their dominant position in the labor relationship, and to examine the tensions and ambiguities of this. •We study the hierarchical relationship between domestic workers and their employers.•We identify the categorization criteria that are mobilized in their interactions.•We examine the process of racialization of socioeconomic status of domestic workers.•This process is part of the construction of workers' subordinate role.•Conflict emerges when workers stop accomplishing the role socially assigned to them.