Concession, cooperation, and contestation : Filipino undocumented migrant domestic workers in the UK and the Netherlands navigating the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Drawing on 40 interviews, this article advances understanding of how Filipino undocumented migrant domestic workers (UMDWs) in the UK and the Netherlands navigated the pandemic by undertaking a comparative analysis of their resilience strategies. Using social navigation as analytic lens, it conceptualises a typology of three strategies—concession, cooperation, and contestation—that Filipino UMDWs engaged in at the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels to account for how they coped during the pandemic and are fighting to change their conditions. Finally, it reflects on how these strategies articulate the need for more effective migration governance for undocumented migrants post-COVID-19 and beyond