A Confucian feminist response
Chan, Sin-Yee
DANIEL A. BELL engages in the timely and worthy task of looking at an important social issue in East Asia—the employment of domestic workers—from a Confucian perspective. In Hong Kong, for...
...Laws that protect people's basic interests can be bent, but only in exceptional cases, and only by virtuous and highly respectable officials...
...In addition, Confucianism clearly imposes some kind of constraints on the means to achieve economic enrichment...
...The current situation of domestic employment in Hong Kong is my primary reference point...
...Consequently, it is extremely difficult to develop family-like relationships with complete strangers...
...He notes that "excessive focus on rights can undermine affective ties," and that "the liberal individualist may prefer to err on the side of justice, but the Confucian may opt for norms and practices more likely to secure harmony and trust within the family" He concludes that we should tone down the talk of rights in order to promote affective relationships between employers and workers...
...Given the mind-set of a transitory relationship, very few people would want to invest their emotions...
...Above all, if we can have faith in the affectionate nature of the employers, why can't we have equal faith in the fairness of the employees and assume that they only seek their deserved benefits...
...Given this challenging environment, to ask domestic workers to discount their rights and leave their well-being to the goodwill of their employers seems hypocritical, if not unkind...
...This, plus the fact of a widely open market, motivates the workers to look for better working environments and change jobs when opportunities arise...
...With the abolition of the practice of hiring domestic workers, to solve the problem of taking care of the family, we should perhaps give more thought to the Confucian approach of tapping into the resources of extended family and the community...
...One does not worry about scarcity so much as about inequality" (Analects 16:1...
...But government policy creates financial disincentives, as it requires employers to pay extra for workers' pensions when the employment relationship is longer than five years...
...The same is true on the employers' side...
...Third, there is the Confucian hierarchy of values distinguishing the superior mental labor from the inferior menial labor...
...In traditional China, most domestic workers who spent their whole life in the family were still not regarded as family members, though their employers might take good care of them when they were old...
...And, as Bell reminds us, we should not assume that there is always a trade-off between legal protection and affective ties...
...The lesson should be especially important for the 102 n DISSENT / Winter 2008 ARGUMENTS little "emperors" and "empresses" who are the products of the one-child policy of mainland China...
...Bell points out aptly the textual supports for the idea that the first obligation of a government is to provide for people's basic means of subsistence...
...Bell's first major argument is based on the priority of care over rights in Confucianism...
...Perhaps, the passage is only saying that equal distribution is the best means to eliminate poverty, not that it matters more than poverty...
...As for the empirical reason, although I share Bell's serious concerns about free immigration by migrant workers, I believe that the current, closed-door policy is not the only viable solution...
...Migrant workers can still be an important part of the solution if they work as trained employees in nursing homes and nurseries, rather than as in-house workers...
...An Alternative Confucian Suggestion In contrast to Bell, I believe that a Confucian, especially a Confucian feminist, will advocate the abolition, rather than the defense, of the practice of hiring domestic workers...
...According to a report of the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor in 2001, out of 2,500 foreign domestic helpers that were interviewed, at least 25 percent had experienced violations of their contract, including being paid under the minimum wage, and not being allowed their mandatory weekly day of rest and statutory holidays...
...There is no reason to believe that we cannot devise new ones based on both economic reality and the requirement of justice...
...Bell counters that objection by pointing out the disastrous economic consequences of an open-door policy for migrant domestic workers and appealing to what he believes to be a Confucian idea of sacrificing certain rights for the sake of enriching the people...
...Both the empirical and the theoretical reasons, I believe, are based on some kind of "allornothing" thinking, which, if followed, would deprive us of more promising solutions...
...Bell mentions the lack of a common language, but that is only the tip of the iceberg...
...M OREOVER, THE sacrifice of legal protection may be mere waste because the cultivation of a family-like relationship between employers and employees is an impractical dream for most people...
...At best, the priority means that the toleration is justified when no other means to secure subsistence is available...
...These helpers contribute to the economic power of married women and consequently the gender equality of the society as they enable married women to participate actively in the work force...
...Second, and more important, because family is so valued and cherished in Confucianism, its integrity is also carefully guarded...
...SIN-YEE CHAN is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Vermont...
...As I suggested earlier, in the case of migrant domestic workers, there are viable alternatives to a closed-door immigration policy...
...Therefore, to see whether one is justified in downplaying legal protection of domestic workers' rights in order to promote the value of affective concern, we need to ask the following questions: first, whether the wellbeing of the workers is already protected to such an extent that further legal efforts are not necessary, and second, whether the creation of family-like affective ties between employers and domestic workers is a feasible social goal...
...In Hong Kong, for example, live-in foreign domestic helpers (most domestic helpers in Hong Kong and Taiwan are foreign women) constituted 7 percent of the total labor supply in 2001...
...He suggests that to improve the current practice, employers should create family-like relationships with domestic workers, have affective concern for them, and not merely respect their rights...
...And the sad fact that the migrant workers continue to be employed in inferior jobs further reinforces this heritage of racism...
...Also, more than 25 percent had experienced physical, verbal, and sexual abuse...
...But we need to be careful and should not try to achieve the ideal at the expense of the baseline protection of the workers' rights...
...As noted in Bell's paper, Confucianism accords a special moral status to family because it is perceived as the place where one's moral potential is nurtured and developed...
...Unfortunately, this conclusion is not fully justified by his reasons...
...More important, even if we grant the priority of economic subsistence over other values, it does not imply the toleration of all kinds of abuses, exploitation, and injustices...
...Cultivating family-like relationships between employers and domestic workers is an admirable, though largely unattainable, ideal...
...She has written on ancient Confucianism, feminism, and emotion...
...A better alternative is to have measured accommodations, such as a lengthier residency requirement for citizenship...
...But the current infrastructure does not allow much opportunity for the development of loyalty to employers...
...They might prefer more stable workers, especially if they have young children...
...I shall then sketch an opposing position on the issue that is also based on Confucian values...
...In addition, many foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong live in a hostile environment (remember, they are live-in domestic workers), as racial and gender discrimination is widespread...
...As for the Confucian value of granting priority to economic enrichment, I think the claim needs a bit more clarification...
...If Confucianism is not endorsing free-rein capitalism, we have no reason not to take seriously values such as equality and justice...
...In what follows, my comments will focus on two major arguments he gives for that purpose...
...Unfortunately, when domestic workers are the caretakers of young children, they often are subservient to the children, not authoritative adults who guide and inspire...
...First, domestic workers are perceived as coming from countries with "less civilized cultures" that traditional Confucianism despised...
...Annie Lin, "Racial Discrimination at Work in Hong Kong," Asian Labor Update, www.amrc.org.hk/5301.htm Hong Kong Human Watch Monitor, Shadow Report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Regarding the Report of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, July 2001...
...On the other hand, when discussing governing, Confucius also says that trust/faithfulness is more important than military strength and food (Analects 12:7...
...The parents set the boundaries, impose discipline, and serve as the role models for their young children...
...This is because the practice undermines the role of family as a training ground for moral cultivation and threatens the development of fulfilling relationships...
...A reality check, I believe, indicates that the baseline of domestic workers' well-being has not yet been reached...
...Whatever the interpretation, one can at least say that equality is a serious Confucian constraint on economic arrangements, especially when we consider how equality is seen as relating to harmony and a stable government...
...Sixty percent stated that they were discriminated against and unfairly treated because they were domestic workers, and 22 percent ascribed the reason to their foreign status...
...Traditionally, the extension of affective ties was made on the basis of lineage or bloodline or at least through the mediation of other relationship networks, such as a friend of one's cousin...
...Bell's second major argument consists of a reply to the objection that the practice "rests on the fundamental injustice of unequal citizenship," as the workers are not allowed citiDISSENT / Winter 2008 • 101 ARGUMENTS zenship no matter how long they have worked in the society...
...they are despised and would not easily be seen as part of a family...
...Appealing to some basic Confucian values and informed by his own personal observation and exchange with domestic workers, Bell tries to defend and suggest ways to improve the practice of hiring domestic workers...
...Bell is correct that the flexibility of the Confucian concept of family and Confucianism's emphasis on family value facilitate such development...
...Other employers deliberately do not want to renew contracts with employees, because they know that one day the workers will leave for good, and they fear their children will develop strong attachments to the workers...
...But whether this is, in fact, the case always requires a clear demonstration, and it is our moral obligation to seek viable alternatives that can best address other values on top of subsistence...
...Conceding that traditional Confucianism lacks the concept of individual rights and downplays the importance of laws in comparison with education and rolemodeling, we should note that it still recognizes the indispensable role laws play in the maintenance of social order and protection of personal interests...
...Yet the practice also creates racial discrimination and other social problems...
...Huge, if not insurmountable, cultural and structural obstacles stand in the way of developing such affective ties...
...For most domestic workers, their employment is a transitory measure to help them meet some urgent financial needs or save money for the future...
...Furthermore, familial love is the cornerstone of the Confucian virtue of ren because it is typically altruistic, nurturing, noncalculating, and, most important, protective and inspiring...
...Then there are the particular Confucian factors...
...According to a study, almost all foreign domestic workers interviewed 100 n DISSENT / Winter 2008 ARGUMENTS believed that the contract violations they experienced were significantly related to racial and gender discrimination...
...it should not be abandoned altogether...
...Yet due to the hierarchical nature of employer and employee relationships, further aggravated by traditional prejudices and structural alienating forces as described earlier, the current arrangement encourages and reinforces the unjust subordination of a class of people (foreign females) in a family...
...The paradigm relationship experienced by a child then is a self-centered, domineering relationship, instead of one that is premised on mutuality...
...Those lucky few who were rewarded with a kind of semi-familial relationship often had clearly demonstrated exceptional loyalty to the employers...
...But these kinds of affinity building blocks are completely absent in the case of domestic workers...
...But domination cannot be the road to fulfilling relationships...
...DISSENT / Winter 2008 n 103...
...Respect and amiability seem to be the more functional attitudes for both employers and employees...
...Recall John Rawls's and Susan Okin's warning that one cannot learn about equal citizenship if sexism is practiced at home...
...The existing immigration policies already have immensely complex standards for citizenship eligibility...
...Sometimes, it is amazing how much dignity, respect, and independence a separate roof can confer...
...There are the usual structural factors that are unfavorable to the forging of bonds between employers and employees, such as the inherent conflict of interests and the disparity between the two in regard to education, class, and power...
...In fact, historically, these countries were treated as "barbarian" countries that paid regular tributes to the "Middle Kingdom...
...Domestic workers are menial laborers...
...Sexism and racism seriously pollute the moral training ground of Confucianism...
Vol. 55 • January 2008 • No. 1
