Situating Women's Mobilities through the labour infrastructure in the hospitable city

Identifier:  imarina:9452215

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina9452215

Authors:  González-Domingo, A

Abstract:
This article examines how women's mobility and labour become infrastructural in reproducing hospitality in Barcelona. Reflecting on hospitality as a labour infrastructure, it delves into the differing bodily capacities and affective dispositions induced by high-risk mobilities associated with emergent intersectionalities. The micro-politics of tourism mobilities are linked to the controversial space-times where the kinaesthetic affordances of tourists impose daily and bodily burdens on women workers caring for temporary populations. Simultaneously, it reflects on the rigidity of urban transport infrastructures and the pressures on the social infrastructures that sustain urban life. Interviews with workers connect to the daily mobilities and their cumulative affections experienced in hotel cleaning, short-term rentals management, and the Airbnb call centre. Conversely, interviews with key informants and various scientific and policy materials complement the fieldwork to highlight the politics of invisibility surrounding women's mobilities and hospitality labour. The results indicate highly differentiated experiences for women that impact social reproduction and well-being prospects in the hospitable city. This research also demonstrates the value of viewing cities as infrastructural to unveil the invisibility of urban hospitality throughout the day and nighttime.