Alizée Delpierre: "They charge up to 12,000 euros a month. It's golden exploitation."

BarcelonaShe put on pearl earrings, fake pearls. And she set foot in the most exclusive neighborhood in Paris for the first time. It was September 2012, and sociologist Alizée Delpierre, who had been researching the relationship between the wealthy and their servants for some time, decided it was essential to see and experience it firsthand. That's why she worked as a nanny in the homes of the super-rich. The result of the investigation is Serving the rich (Editorial Península).

I was surprised by how much the servants get paid.

— I was very surprised; some earn up to 12,000 euros a month. And the bosses can give very expensive gifts, live in their beautiful homes, and go on vacation on large boats to heavenly places.

Put like that, it seems like a bargain.

— But these privileges justify exploitation: they work all the time. They have no life other than that of their bosses. That's why I speak of gilded exploitation.

Do you know that you are being exploited?

— They know there's an element of exploitation. They can't see their family when they want, they can't have children, but most of them tell you it's a choice. That they choose it for a while to earn money, and with that money, they can have another life.

Why did you decide to enter one of these houses?

— There's been no research on the people who serve the wealthy. Only on jobs in hotels, but not inside homes. I conducted many interviews with workers and billionaires, but I needed an inside look at the relationships between professionals.

What surprised you on the first day?

— The level of wealth: the decoration of the houses, their size, and the impression that no one was there. The servants move around quietly and speak softly. They are visible, because their work is visible, but invisible because they must pretend they are not there.

And what are the rich like?

— Very rich. People who earn between 100,000 and 200,000 euros a month. It was important for me to understand why servants are important to them. And why it's important to have dozens, not just one or two.

And why is it important?

— For two reasons. First, status. When you're rich, it's important to show that you're rich, and specifically, that you're richer than the person next to you. But status also has to do with showing that you use your money wisely.

And what does it mean to use them well?

— There's a kind of moralization of money among wealthy people. Investing it in servants is well-regarded; they see it as something similar to philanthropy. And it means you're not wasting money.

First reason: statutes. And the second?

— It's strictly material. They're huge houses, the rich work, and usually work a lot, and they don't do any of the housework physically.

Do they work? Doesn't wealth run in the family?

— Yes, it runs in the family, but these super-rich also hold high positions. They're bankers, finance managers, top doctors, etc. With the money they have, they pay for their time.

What does it mean?

— Since they don't have to do anything around the house, they can go out to dinner, have children, and play sports. This lifestyle wouldn't be possible if they had to spend all day cleaning or taking care of their children.

Are you aware of your wealth?

— They know they live in a world apart and aren't ashamed of having money. Everyone I interviewed finds it normal that there are rich and poor.

And what do you think of the poor? That they don't try hard enough?

— Yes. Well, they never say it like that, and they obviously do a lot of philanthropic projects. But they naturally experience world domination, because their vision of society is hierarchical. It would be interesting to research more about politics and the rich. All the super-rich I've met are right-wing.

They will not know the poor either.

— They live in wealthy neighborhoods, go to private schools, and do everything they can to avoid blending in.

But the servants break that pattern. How do they relate to each other?

— It's a game of proximity and distance. They have a very strong relationship because they live together, and having money doesn't mean you don't have feelings. But there's a difficult line, and when it's crossed and proximity becomes excessive, the rich know how to distance themselves.

As?

— They do not use the person's name at first. For example, small from the house where she was called Maria.

Just kidding, right?

— No, they didn't call me by my name. They usually justify it with the argument that servants have difficult names, but on a symbolic level, it means you don't have your own identity; it all comes down to the identity of a worker.

The requests they make are also significant.

— One man asked for his eggs to be boiled for 12 seconds, others asked to go to bed while one of the servants sang. They may seem anecdotal, but they clearly convey the kind of domination they exercise. And there is a common whim.

Which?

— Wanting to go to a sold-out concert. And deciding half an hour beforehand. And you know what happens? They always go, front row, to the reserved area.

And how do workers relate to each other?

— There's a clear hierarchy. The division of labor is a division of race and gender. Women take care of the children, men drive and garden. There's a bit of everything in the kitchen, but the heads are always men. They're not very original.

And in this hierarchy, who is below?

— The rich adhere to the stereotypes that society has, and those that correlate with a country's history. In the case of France, there are always Black people and Arabs at the bottom. But they never consider it racism, because they understand that these are the people they employ.

In one chapter you address the exposure of female workers to sexual assault.

— Domestic work is the most vulnerable to violence because it's done in the home. This is also true in the homes of the wealthy. I must also say that I've seen cases of a certain level of resistance. Women who decide to work elsewhere because they don't want to put up with it. Now, they don't go to court because they always think they won't win. I'd like to tell them they're wrong, but honestly, I'm not sure.