XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 15-21, 2018)

553

Intersections of Labour and Nationhood in Transnational Service Work

RC30 Sociology of Work (host committee)

Language: English

The aim of this session is to trace the connections between two dynamics underlying transnational service encounters between employees and customers – service labor and constructions of nationhood. While “labor” has been explored largely in relation to notions of the economy and market, and “nation” in relation to politics and the state, this stream draws attention to the intersection: the labor involved in constructing nations, and nationalisms implicit in doing service labor. Papers on a wide array of transnational service work which explores these dynamics of labor and nation are invited. Examples may include research on offshored call center work, telehealth, international educational initiatives etc. Papers will explore the many ways workers engaged in cross-national service exchanges create imaginaries of nations, both their own and those in which their customers are based. Some of the questions which contributors could explore include: How are ideas of nation, nationhood, and nationalism manifested in cross-national service exchanges?  How are citizens and outsiders constructed during service encounters?  How do histories and geographies impact the enactment of various cross-national service interactions?  How do the relationships between gender, race, class, sexuality, and nation impact service encounters?  Critically, how does the national intersect with the transnational, in rhetoric, imageries, and practices?