Work in Call Centers: The Corporeality of work experience

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22458/rr.v10i1.2752

Keywords:

sociology of work, sociology of emotions, working conditions, employmente conditions, corporeity of work

Abstract

This article presents some of the results obtained in a social investigation aimed at exploring the daily life of call center workers in Costa Rica. Its purpose is to analyze their working conditions and experience, through interviews and surveys from the perspective of their body and emotions: what I call the corporeity of work. The study dwells on intimate experience, and links elements which are usually left out when work transformation processes are studied. It observes the conditions in which people work and are employed and how they subjectively experience these conditions, from within their bodies and emotions. After briefly putting in context the subject matter and establishing the development of subcontracting companies in the area of telecommunication services, it analyzes the conditions of employment and work, and then delves into the value of work, temporality, labor flexibility and health effects, as well as call center culture. This text allows us to examine the life experience of a group of workers not often studied in the country.

Author Biography

  • Nancy Piedra Guillén, University of Costa Rica

    Doctora en Ciencias Sociales con énfasis en Sociología. Directora del Programa de Posgrado Centroamericano en Sociología de la Universidad de Costa Rica. Profesora-investigadora de la Escuela de Sociología de la Universidad de Costa Rica y el Posgrado Centroamericano en Sociología de la Universidad de Costa Rica. Especialista en estudios de género, relativos a la feminidad y la masculinidad, construcción de procesos identitarios, relaciones de poder y género en el mundo público y privado. Diseño y planificación de políticas públicas con perspectiva de género; condiciones de trabajo y empleo, salud ocupacional y corporeidad del trabajo. Especialista en metodología en las ciencias sociales.

Additional Files

Published

2019-12-13

Issue

Section

Artículos

How to Cite

“Work in Call Centers: The Corporeality of Work Experience”. 2019. Revista Rupturas 10 (1): 103-37. https://doi.org/10.22458/rr.v10i1.2752.