ABSTRACT
Chapters5,6and7formthecase-studyofthebookandaddresstheexperiences ofAfricanwomenemployedasdomesticworkersinRome.Inthischapter,I amconcernedwiththeearlystagesofAfricanwomen'smigratoryhistoryto Italy.Isuggestthat,inthe1970s,femalemigrantsweresubjecttoadouble invisibilityaswomenandasworkers.Nationalgenderdiscoursesdidnot addresstheirspecificsituationasfemalemigrants.Rather,migrantwomen werelocatedwithinthecategoryofmigration.Thispositioningcontributed totheirinvisibilityasworkersbecausetheirprincipalemploymentlocation wascentredwithinamarginalisedandfeminisedsectoroftheeconomydomesticwork.Thischapterexaminesthe1970sandearly1980s.Itismy viewthatthisperiodstandsasacrucialstageintheestablishmentofa differentiatedgenderstatusformigrantwomen,asitwasatthistimethatone aspectoftheirmultipleinterlockingsocialidentities-migrantworker-was constructedasadominantidentity.
