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‘Pink Slave’ or the ‘Modern Young Woman’? A History of the Au Pair in Britain

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Part of the book series: Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship Series ((MDC))

Abstract

The au pair has been all but written out of histories of domestic service and immigration in Britain; when au pairs are mentioned, it is only in passing with little historical explanation or contextualisation.1 The main reason for this gap in historiography lies in the fact that au pairs are regarded as neither economic migrants nor paid domestic workers.

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© 2015 Eleni Liarou

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Liarou, E. (2015). ‘Pink Slave’ or the ‘Modern Young Woman’? A History of the Au Pair in Britain. In: Cox, R. (eds) Au Pairs’ Lives in Global Context. Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137377487_2

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