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Indentured Labor or “Good Governance”? Interrogating eMigration and Workers’ Negotiations Over Contracts in Kenyan Domestic Worker Labor Migration to the Gulf States

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This article critically examines the governance of Kenyan domestic workers’ labor migration to the Gulf states through digital platforms such as the Labor Mobility Management Information System (LMMIS). Drawing on interviews with returnee migrants and other stakeholders, it interrogates whether contemporary eMigration systems reproduce colonial-era indenture logics by creating a “fiction of free labor” through contractual rituals. The study reveals how debt, work contract substitution, and structural barriers exacerbate vulnerabilities, despite state efforts to ensure “good governance.” By applying a pluralizing social reproduction approach, the authors highlight the gendered, racialized, and neoliberal dimensions of care work migration, urging reforms that center migrant agency and rights.

Source: Social Politics International Studies in Gender State & Society

DOI: 10.1093/sp/jxag018

Authors: Paula Mählck, Marygorety Akinyi Otieno, Aina Tollefsen

Institutions: Stockholm University, University of Nairobi, Umeå University

Language: English

Topic: Migration and Labor Dynamics

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Reduced inequalities, Gender equality

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,631