Recognition, intersubjectivity and service work: labour conflicts in call centres

"Der Beitrag untersucht, wie Anerkennungsverhältnisse zwischen Unternehmen, Beschäftigten und Kunden die Dienstleistungsarbeit strukturieren. Anerkennung wird dabei als grundlegendes Medium sozialer Integration verstanden. Diese Perspektive ermöglicht es, den vielfältigen Weisen nachzugehen, wie Subjekte in Organisationen adressiert und positioniert werden, wie sie commitments mobilisieren, aber auch Widerstand leisten. Der Beitrag skizziert zunächst Anerkennung als theoretisches Konzept, analysiert dann die spezifischen Anerkennungsverhältnisse der Dienstleistungsarbeit im Kundenkontakt und untersucht schließlich Arbeitskonflikte in Callcentern in Begriffen von Kämpfen um Anerkennung. Deutlich wird, an welchen Punkten die spezifischwidersprüchlichen Anforderungen der Dienstleistungsarbeit zwischen Standardisierung und Interaktion, die vervielfältigten Anerkennungsbeziehungen zwischen Kunden, Unternehmen und Beschäftigten und die vielfältigen sozialen Beziehungen von 'nicht-unqualifizierten' Teilzeit- Belegschaften zum Ausgangspunkt von Anerkennungskämpfen und -ansprüchen werden können." (Autorenreferat)"The paper explores the concept of recognition as a link between organisations, work and subjectivity. Looking at relations of recognition offers a focus for analysing the multiple ways subjects are being addressed, (re-)positioned or indeed constituted by organisations, and a way to approach the dialectics of control and resistance. This is especially promising for service work in which interaction and thus intersubjectivity is an integral part of the labour process even though the work itself may be routinised. The paper first sketches the theoretical place of recognition as a concept, then analyses the relations of recognition in service work, and finally, it explores some empirical examples of labour conflicts in call centres in terms of struggles for recognition. It will be shown how both the inherent contradictions of recognition and the multiplicity of relations of recognition shape labour conflicts in a symbolic and normative way." (author's abstract

Recognition, intersubjectivity and service work: labour conflicts in call centres

"The paper explores the concept of recognition as a link between organisations, work and subjectivity. Looking at relations of recognition offers a focus for analysing the multiple ways subjects are being addressed, (re-)positioned or indeed constituted by organisations, and a way to approach the dialectics of control and resistance. This is especially promising for service work in which interaction and thus intersubjectivity is an integral part of the labour process even though the work itself may be routinised. The paper first sketches the theoretical place of recognition as a concept, then analyses the relations of recognition in service work, and finally, it explores some empirical examples of labour conflicts in call centres in terms of struggles for recognition. It will be shown how both the inherent contradictions of recognition and the multiplicity of relations of recognition shape labour conflicts in a symbolic and normative way." (author's abstract)"Der Beitrag untersucht, wie Anerkennungsverhältnisse zwischen Unternehmen, Beschäftigten und Kunden die Dienstleistungsarbeit strukturieren. Anerkennung wird dabei als grundlegendes Medium sozialer Integration verstanden. Diese Perspektive ermöglicht es, den vielfältigen Weisen nachzugehen, wie Subjekte in Organisationen adressiert und positioniert werden, wie sie commitments mobilisieren, aber auch Widerstand leisten. Der Beitrag skizziert zunächst Anerkennung als theoretisches Konzept, analysiert dann die spezifischen Anerkennungsverhältnisse der Dienstleistungsarbeit im Kundenkontakt und untersucht schließlich Arbeitskonflikte in Callcentern in Begriffen von Kämpfen um Anerkennung. Deutlich wird, an welchen Punkten die spezifischwidersprüchlichen Anforderungen der Dienstleistungsarbeit zwischen Standardisierung und Interaktion, die vervielfältigten Anerkennungsbeziehungen zwischen Kunden, Unternehmen und Beschäftigten und die vielfältigen sozialen Beziehungen von 'nicht-unqualifizierten' Teilzeit- Belegschaften zum Ausgangspunkt von Anerkennungskämpfen und -ansprüchen werden können." (Autorenreferat

Locked into the present or transforming the future: flexible organisations and Identities?

"The paper explores current theoretical debates and seeks to examine empirically how subjects position themselves in relation to organisational change. To do this, it suggests some theoretical additions to critical management theory from the tradition of pragmatism and social differentiation theory. In current debates in critical management theory and in the sociology of work and organisation as well, identity and subjectivity are being (re)discovered both as sources of value and objects of far-reaching changes through the flexibilisation of organisations and the expansion of markets. Theories of subjectivity addressing organisational change may be roughly grouped into theories of subsumtion/subjection, of ‘empowerment’ and of differentiation. I argue that both the theories of ‘subjection’/subsumtion and of ‘empowerment’ frequently fail to address the complexity of the relations between the demands of markets and organisations and the subjective processing of these demands. Consequently, subjectivity tends to be misunderstood as the mere fulfilment of such demands. Contradictions, ambiguities and differentiations thus are underrated. (Re-)Introducing pragmatist concepts of subjectivity and agency here may help to address the multiplicity of ways in which subjects react to and act upon organisational demands. Subjects then enact and process organisational demands like other social expectations and relations of domination, and these shape subjectivity and identities in a variety of ways best addressed empirically. Empirical studies of subjects in organisations, their biographies, careers and interpretations reveal that even and especially under conditions of flexibilisation and marketisation workers do not unilaterally develop the entrepreneurial and/or fragmented identities the theories would expect. Drawing on contrasting studies in both “old” and “new” organisations in the field of new information and communication technologies,1 the paper presents an empirically grounded typology of subjective involvements in and detachments from processes of organisational change. It allows to modify the questions of subjection or empowerment along the lines of the distribution of chances and options, the social possibilities of emancipation and their prerequisites." [author's abstract

Articulating the speed(s) of the Internet: the case of open source/free software

"The Internet is widely considered as a key factor of speeding up social and cultural change. It represents the merging of information and communication technologies and enables flows of information and capital, and communication and co-operation regardless of space and, possibly, time. The paper explores the example of Open Source/Free Software development, i.e. software development in self-organised projects based on a considerable share of voluntary work. Here, we find complex articulations of speeding up and slowing down technological development. Open Source/Free Software projects complement the logic of speeding up technological progress and of obsolescence with a reflexive logic of optionality, variety and sustainability which addresses the accessibility of technology and knowledge as a precondition for future creativity beyond markets and organisations." (author's abstract

The Global Call Center Report: International Perspectives on Management and Employment (Executive Summary)

[Excerpt] This report is the first large scale international study of call center management and employment practices across all regions of the globe – including Asia, Africa, South America, North America, and Europe. Covering almost 2,500 centers in 17 countries, this survey provides a detailed account of the similarities and differences in operations across widely diverse national contexts and cultures. The centers in the survey include a total of 475,000 call center employees