Introducing Dirty Work, Concepts and Identities

Abstract

This edited book sets out a research agenda for the study of dirty work - generally defined as tasks, occupations and roles that are likely to be perceived as disgusting or degrading (Ashforth and Kreiner, 1999). Through the different occupational settings presented, it explores the identities, meanings, relations and spaces of dirty work and how the boundaries between ‘clean’ and ‘dirty’ are negotiated and defined. As Ashforth and Kreiner (1999) have argued, dirty work has been a neglected area within Organisation Studies, with theory and research failing to reflect changes in the nature of and demand for such work. This neglect is surprising given, within the context of the UK and elsewhere, the increase in the demand for ‘dirty’ work - including paid caring (Anderson, 2000), domestic work and low-level service (Noon and Blyton, 2007) and night-time work driven by the 24-hour economy (Hobbs, 2003) - as well as for areas of work performed by migrant labour.