Invisible Labor: Hidden Work in the Contemporary World / Edition 1

by Marion Crain, Winifred Poster, Miriam Cherry, Arlie Russell Hochschild

Overview

Across the world, workers labor without pay for the benefit of profitable businesses—and it's legal. Labor trends like outsourcing and technology hide some workers, and branding and employer mandates erase others. Invisible workers who remain under-protected by wage laws include retail workers who function as walking billboards and take payment in clothing discounts or prestige; waitstaff at “breastaurants” who conform their bodies to a business model; and inventory stockers at grocery stores who go hungry to complete their shifts. Invisible Labor gathers essays by prominent sociologists and legal scholars to illuminate how and why such labor has been hidden from view.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520287174
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	06/28/2016
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Marion G. Crain is Vice Provost, Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law, and Director for the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Work and Social Capital at Washington University. 

Miriam A. Cherry is Professor of Law at Saint Louis University. 

Winifred R. Poster is a Stanford-trained sociologist affiliated with Washington University.

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
FOREWORD: INVISIBLE LABOR, INAUDIBLE VOICE - ARLIE HOCHSCHILD

PART ONE. EXPOSING INVISIBLE LABOR

1. INTRODUCTION: CONCEPTUALIZING INVISIBLE LABOR
WINIFRED R. POSTER, MARION CRAIN, AND MIRIAM A. CHERRY

2. THE EYE SEES WHAT THE MIND KNOWS: THE CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF INVISIBLE WORK
JOHN W. BUDD

3. MAINTAINING HIERARCHIES IN PREDOMINANTLY WHITE ORGANIZATIONS: A THEORY OF RACIAL TASKS AS INVISIBLE LABOR
ADIA HARVEY WINGFI ELD AND RENÉE SKEETE

PART TWO. VIRTUALLY INVISIBLE: DISEMBODIED LABOR VIA TECHNOLOGY AND GLOBALIZATION

4. VIRTUAL WORK AND INVISIBLE LABOR
MIRIAM A. CHERRY

5. THE VIRTUAL RECEPTIONIST WITH A HUMAN TOUCH: OPPOSING PRESSURES OF DIGITAL AUTOMATION AND OUTSOURCING IN INTERACTIVE SERVICES
WINIFRED R. POSTER

PART THREE. PUSHED OUT OF SIGHT: SHIELDED FORMS OF EMBODIED LABOR

6. HIDDEN FROM VIEW: DISABILITY, SEGREGATION, AND WORK
ELIZABETH PENDO

7. SIMPLY WHITE: RACE, POLITICS, AND INVISIBILITY IN ADVERTISING DEPICTIONS OF FARM LABOR
EVAN STEWART

8. PRODUCING INVISIBILITY: SURVEILLANCE, HUNGER, AND WORK IN THE PRODUCE AISLES OF WAL-MART, CHINA
EILEEN M. OTIS AND ZHENG ZHAO

PART IV. LOOKING GOOD AT WORK: INVISIBLE LABOR IN PLAIN SIGHT

9. THE FEMALE BREAST AS BRAND: THE AESTHETIC LABOR OF BREASTAURANT SERVERS
DIANNE AVERY

10. THE INVISIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF AESTHETIC LABOR IN UPSCALE RETAIL STORES
CHRISTINE L. WILLIAMS AND CATHERINE CONNELL

11. FROM INVISIBLE WORK TO INVISIBLE WORKERS: THE IMPACT OF SERVICE EMPLOYERS’ SPEECH DEMANDS ON THE WORKING CLASS
CHRIS WARHURST

PART V. BRANDED AND CONSUMED

12. SELF-BRANDING AMONG FREELANCE KNOWLEDGE WORKERS
ADAM ARVIDSSON, ALESSANDRO GANDINI, AND CAROLINA BANDINELLI

13. CONSUMING WORK
MARION CRAIN

14. CONCLUSION
WINIFRED R. POSTER, MARION CRAIN, AND MIRIAM A. CHERRY

ABOUT THE EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS
INDEX