Global economy of signs and selves: A view of work regimes in call centers in the Philippines
Reflecting on the global nature of third-party offshore call center and its implications on the agent, this piece is an account of the researcher’s own experience, observations, and interactions as a call center worker. Using the theoretical frame Global economy of signs and selves, weaving ideas fr...
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| Опубликовано в: : | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/sdt, |
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| Главный автор: | |
| Формат: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Язык: | Anglais |
| Опубликовано: |
Sociologie du travail
2019
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| Предметы: | |
| Online-ссылка: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Итог: | Reflecting on the global nature of third-party offshore call center and its implications on the agent, this piece is an account of the researcher’s own experience, observations, and interactions as a call center worker. Using the theoretical frame Global economy of signs and selves, weaving ideas from Scott Lash and John Urry, Pierre Bourdieu and Erving Goffman, the study looks at some dimensions and conditions of global service work experienced by Filipino agents. With the relocation of accounts offshore, call centers in the Philippines have given rise to a growing section of society required by the imperatives of their work to “defy” time and space, synchronizing their cycles and routines according to the rhythms and cycles of a distant social dimension and the imperatives of globalized production. Although relocation has allowed firms to reduce costs and make use of cheaper labor, the distance traversed by this new call center platform comes with some hidden costs, borne by workers, who may themselves take these other forms of work they deliver for granted. Highlighting under-emphasized, undervalued and misrecognized aspects of call center work, the study attempts to link the global, the local and the personal, while emphasizing the social and symbolic work involved in call center production. |
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