Invisible Labor: Hidden Work in the Contemporary World

Published by University of California Press 2016

Invisible Labor

Hidden Work in the Contemporary World

Edited by: Marion Crain , Winifred Poster and Miriam Cherry

https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520961630

Overview
Contents

About this book

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.

Author information

CrainMarion:

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.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Foreword: Invisible Labor, Inaudible Voice Arlie Hochschild Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Part One: Exposing Invisible Labor
1. Introduction: Conceptualizing Invisible Labor Winifred R. Poster, Marion Crain and Miriam A. Cherry Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
2. The Eye Sees What the Mind Knows: The Conceptual Foundations of Invisible Work John W. Budd Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	28
3. Maintaining Hierarchies in Predominantly White Organizations: A Theory of Racial Tasks as Invisible Labor Adia Harvey Wingfield and Renée Skeete Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
Part Two. Virtually Invisible: Disembodied Labor via Technology and Globalization
4. Virtual Work and Invisible Labor Miriam A. Cherry Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
5. The Virtual Receptionist with a Human Touch: Opposing Pressures of Digital Automation and Outsourcing in Interactive Services Winifred R. Poster Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	87
Part Three. Pushed Out of Sight: Shielded Forms of Embodied Labor
6. Hidden from View: Disability, Segregation, and Work Elizabeth Pendo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
7. Simply White: Race, Politics, and Invisibility in Advertising Depictions of Farm Labor Evan Stewart Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	130
8. Producing Invisibility: Surveillance, Hunger, and Work in the Produce Aisles of Wal-Mart, China Eileen M. Otis and Zheng Zhao Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	148
Part Four. Looking Good at Work: Invisible Labor in Plain Sight
9. The Female Breast as Brand: The Aesthetic Labor of Breastaurant Servers Dianne Avery Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
10. The Invisible Consequences of Aesthetic Labor in Upscale Retail Stores Christine L. Williams and Catherine Connell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
11. From Invisible Work to Invisible Workers: The Impact of Service Employers’ Speech Demands on the Working Class Chris Warhurst Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	214
Part Five: Branded and Consumed
12. Self-Branding among Freelance Knowledge Workers Adam Arvidsson, Alessandro Gandini and Carolina Bandinelli Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
13. Consuming Work Marion Crain Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	257
14. Conclusion Winifred R. Poster, Marion Crain and Miriam A. Cherry Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	279
About the Editors and Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	293
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	299