Description
Book SynopsisThrough a series of case studies oflow-status interactive and embodied servicing work,
Working Bodies examines the theoretical and empirical nature of the shift to embodied work in service-dominated economies.
- Defines body work' to include the work by service sector employees on their own bodies and on the bodies of others
- Sets UK case studies in the context of global patterns of economic change
- Explores the consequences of growing polarization in the service sector
- Draws on geography, sociology, anthropology, labour market studies, and feminist scholarship
Trade Review"Nevertheless, the book is accessibly written, and the variety of themes it explores will ensure it has broad appeal among undergraduates and postgraduates studying social division, gender, service work, labour relations and their relationships. The book also provides academics working in and across the disciplines of sociology and human geography with a good overview of research into interactive work and its implications in contemporary society." (Work, Employment & Society, 25 March 2011)
"Between the covers of this beautifully crafted book is a thoughtful, innovative, and thorough analysis of high-touch interactive service work that draws on numerous case studies and ethnographies, mostly from the United Kingdom, and on the author's own original research. . . . This ambitious book is insightful and informative, and it makes a valuable contribution to the study of work in contemporary capitalist societies". (Canadian Journal of Sociology, 2010)
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations vi
Series Editors’ Preface vii
Preface and Acknowledgements viii
1 Service Employment and the Commoditization of the Body 1
Part I Locating Service Work 23
2 The Rise of the Service Economy 25
3 Thinking Through Embodiment: Explaining Interactive Service Employment 49
Part II High-Touch Servicing Work in Private and Public Spaces 77
4 Up Close and Personal: Intimate Work in the Home 79
5 Selling Bodies I: Sex Work 101
6 Selling Bodies II: Masculine Strength and Licensed Violence 129
Part III High-Touch Servicing Work in Specialist Spaces 159
7 Bodies in Sickness and in Health: Care Work and Beauty Work 161
8 Warm Bodies: Doing Deference in Routine Interactive Work 191
9 Conclusions: Bodies in Place 212
References 229
Index 256
