Abstract
In the previous chapter we have seen how social position and associated moral injury—the withdrawal of recognition at the interface of economic and moral principles where dirty workers fail to match the expectations of the neo-liberal market—may potentially lead to forms of resistance. Picking up this theme, this chapter explores resistance in dirty work. Resistance can be seen as an action, inaction, or process whereby individuals within a power structure engage in behaviours stemming from their opposition to, or frustration with, enactments of power (Collinson 1999; Knights and McCabe 1999). As Thomas et al. (2004) point out resistance has a long pedigree in organisation studies though orientations have altered in form—seen less as a behavioural response in the form of oppositional practices to inequality at work and more in terms of struggles against the potential colonisation of particular meanings and subjectivities. At this ‘micro-political’ level (Weedon 1993), resistance takes place when tensions occur between ‘an individual’s notion of self (itself derived from discourse) and the subjectivity offered in a dominant discourse’, thereby involving ‘contests over meanings and the articulation of counter discourses’ (Thomas et al. 2004: 6). Resistance is thus seen as socially constructed in context in that its manifestation and performance will vary between individuals in their specific temporalities and spaces.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ackroyd, S., & Thompson, P. (1999). Organizational misbehaviour. London: Sage.
Ashforth, B., & Kreiner, G. (1999). “How can you do it?” Dirty work and the challenge of constructing a positive identity. Academy of Management Review, 24(3), 413–434.
Ashforth, B., & Kreiner, G. (2014). Dirty work and dirtier work: Differences in countering physical, social and moral taint. Management and Organization Review, 10(1), 81–108.
Ball, K. (2004). Gendering new managerialism. In R. Thomas, A. Mills, & J. Mills (Eds.), Identity politics at work: Resisting gender and gendering resistance (pp. 85–104). London: Routledge.
Bonnett, A. (2010). Left in the past. New York: Continium.
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1993). Sociology in question. London: Sage.
Bourdieu, P. (1994). In other words: Essays towards a reflexive sociology. Cambridge: Polity.
Boym, S. (2001). The future of nostalgia. New York: Basic Books.
Braverman, H. (1974). Labour and monopoly capital. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Charlesworth, S. (2000). A phenomenology of the working class. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Connell, R. (2000). The men and the boys. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Davies, A., & Thomas, R. (2004). Gendered identities and micro-political resistance in public service organizations. In R. Thomas, A. Mills, & J. Mills (Eds.), Identity politics at work: Resisting gender and gendering resistance (pp. 105–122). London: Routledge.
Dick, P. (2004). Resistance to diversity initiatives. In R. Thomas, A. Mills, & J. Mills (Eds.), Identity politics at work: Resisting gender and gendering resistance (pp. 67–84). London: Routledge.
Grandy, G., & Mavin, S. (2012). Doing gender in dirty work: Exotic dancers’ construction of self enhancing identities. In R. Simpson, N. Slutskaya, P. Lewis, & H. Hopfl (Eds.), Dirty work: Concepts and identities (pp. 91–112). Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Harper, D. (1990). Spotlight abuse–save profits. Industrial Distribution, 7, 47–51.
Kerfoot, D., & Knights, D. (1998). Managing masculinity in contemporary organizational life: A managerial project. Organization, 5(1), 7–26.
Korczynski, M. (2003). Communities of coping: Collective emotional labour in service work. Organization, 10(1), 55–79.
Lawler, S. (2004). Rules of engagement: Habitus, power and resistance. In L. Adkins & B. Skeggs (Eds.), Feminism after Bourdieu (pp. 110–128). Oxford: Blackwell.
Lawrence, S., & Robinson, T. (2007). Ain’t misbehavin: Workplace deviance as organizational resistance. Journal of Management, 33(3), 378–394.
Mulholland, K. (2004). Workplace resistance in an Irish call centre: Slammin, scamming, smokin’ and leavin’. Work, Employment and Society, 18(4), 709–724.
Newman, K. (1999). No shame in my game: The working poor in the inner city. New York: Vintage.
Prasad, A., & Prasad, P. (2001). (un)Willing to resist? The discursive production of workplace opposition. Studies in Cultures, Organizations and Societies, 7(1), 105–125.
Sayer, A. (2005). The moral significance of class. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Selmi, G. (2012). Dirty talks and gender cleanliness: An account of identity management practices in phone sex work. In R. Simpson, N. Slutskaya, P. Lewis, & H. Hopfl (Eds.), Dirty work: Concepts and identities (pp. 113–125). Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Thomas, R., Mills, A., & Mills, J. (2004). Introduction: Resisting gender, gendering resistance. In R. Thomas, A. Mills, & J. Mills (Eds.), Identity politics at work: Resisting gender and gendering resistance (pp. 1–20). London: Routledge.
Weedon, C. (1993). Feminist practice poststructuralist theory. Oxford: Blackwell.
Willis, P. (1977). Learning to labour: How working class kids get working class jobs. London: Hutchinson.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Simpson, R., Hughes, J., Slutskaya, N. (2016). Resistance in Dirty Work: Street Cleaners and Refuse Collectors. In: Gender, Class and Occupation. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-43969-7_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-43969-7_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-43967-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-43969-7
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)