000 01399pab a2200157 454500
008 180718b2003 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100 _aKorczynski, Marek
245 _aCommunities of coping: collective emotional labour in service work
260 _c2003
300 _ap.55-79.
362 _aFeb
520 _aThis article argues that communities of coping among front-line service workers are an important part of what Hochschild has called `collective emotional labour' in service work. The analysis is framed in a sociological understanding of the customer as a key source of both pleasure and pain for service workers. Irate and abusive customers, who are systematically part of the social relations of the service workplace, may occasion real pain to service workers. The structure of workers' social situation means that they are likely to turn to each other to cope with this pain, farming informal communities of coping. Drawing on extensive research in four call centres in Australia and the USA, the article highlights his process in action. The communities of coping were an important social process in these workplaces, creating informal, dense cultures among the workforce. These cultures had important implications for how far the social relations of the workplace were open to management control. - Reproduced.
650 _aLabour
773 _aOrganization
909 _a55733
999 _c55733
_d55733