Working lives of Turkish domestic workers and Uzbek domestic workers in Ankara: A comparative study of Turkish citizens and non-Turkish citizens' residences

This study, evaluates the Uzbek and Turkish citizen female workforce working in the domestic service sector in residences, which is the new Ankara settlement model. Face-to- face interviews were conducted with Uzbek and Turkish domestic workers in the field. These interviews are about issues such as finding a job, recruitment processes and workingconditions and adaptation processes of domestic workers. The starting point of the analysis is to evaluate the concept of insecurity according to the differences and similarities arising from the working conditions of Uzbek and Turkish domestic workers. The research questionof this study is about how the difficult working conditions and survival strategies of Turkishand Uzbek women working as domestic workers are formed as intersectionally, and what are the similar and differentiating dimensions. The study aims to make sense of this question in relation to the concept of precariat. In this context, it focuses on the precarious/vulnerability, informal working conditions brought about by the lack of effective social protection of domestic workers in Turkey. On the other hand, another analytical tool used to understand the problems that Uzbek working women face in relation to their working conditions; It is the intersectionality paradigm that reveals how different lines of domination intersect, overlap or intertwine, based on the metaphor of the four-way/junction (intersection) in traffic. The fieldwork of this research was carried out in two stages. First, a literature review on the fields of domestic work was conducted. These areas are respectively; consists of areas such as housework at desk working stage, foreign women working in domestic labor discrimination experienced by local and foreign women from an intersectional perspective. It consists of studies such as the second part of the literature review evaluation of the legal regulations on domestic labor in Türkiye and Uzbekistan and examining the relationship of these regulations with immigration to Turkey. The second stage of the research is field work. The field research of this thesis study continued throughout the spring semester of 2021 and fall semester of 2022. It is recognized that the combined use of quantitative and qualitative research methods is more suitable for understanding the similarities and differences in the economic, cultural and social vulnerabilities experienced by female workers who are citizens of the Republic of Turkey and female workers from Uzbekistan in their working. This approach aims to provide a broader and more descriptive data regarding individuals. In this study that includes both local and Uzbek domestic female workers, the adoption of both qualitative and quantitative research methods allows for a more detailed understanding of a heterogeneous group and enables the firsthand, direct narration of their experiences. Furthermore, in this study focusing on local and Uzbek domestic female workers as the research subjects, a descriptive sociological content analysis approach has been adopted. Descriptive sociological content analysis facilitates the detailed presentation and exploration of personal meaning and experience. The sample of the study consists of "residence" complexes, which are the newly developing settlements of Ankara. 23 key Uzbek domestic workers from residential areas in Ankara were reached. A total of 52 Uzbek domestic workers were reached and in-depth interviews were conducted through these key people. In addition, 11 Turkish female domestic workers were reached from the residence complexes, and in-depth interviews were conducted with a total of 49 Turkish female domestic workers with the help of these 11 key people. At this stage, snowball sampling method was used to reach the total sample. The socio-demographic findings obtained from the interviews were analyzed in depth using descriptive content analysis. The number of female domestic workers who are citizens of the Republic of Turkey, reached through key people, hasreached 49. The study, comparing the experiences of Turkish and Uzbek female domestic workers, examines the differences and similarities within the framework of Jürgen Habermas's theory of public/private sphere. Based on the concept of precarity, the study focuses on how insecurity is structured in the informal sector of domestic work. The discussion section evaluates the findings through descriptive content analysis, while the conclusion section interprets the results using Pierre Bourdieu's spatial/temporal analysis and the forms of capital as the basis, drawing on the metaphor of an auction system. The study provides guidance for future research on empowering female domestic workers socioeconomically. Keywords: Domestic workers, Immigration, Intersectionality, Gender, Precariat