Body Labour and Care Work in the Service Society: Research and Critical Themes

In our contemporary society the body plays an essential role for the construction of the self and identity. Body appearance, health and fitness are central for our impression management (Goffman 1973) and social performance, which has turned body maintenance into a lifelong commitment and duty (Turner 19833, Schroer 2005). As a consequence, body work, which was traditionally carried out in the private sphere and was therefore mostly invisible, has been delegated to paid service workers and thus been shifted into the public space: now beauty-, nail- and hair salons, tattoo- and piercing shops, health and fitness centers are ‘all over the place’. Defined as work that focuses directly on the bodies of others by assessing, handling and treating it, the body work sector also includes health care, sex work and body work that alters the body (i.e. tattooing). The number of these professions not only has grown rapidly over the last four decades but has also diversified and produced new body services.

In this seminar we will be looking at different theoretical approaches, classical studies and some of the newest research in order to discuss aspects of the body/work relationship in various professional fields. What constitutes the actual worker-patient/client interaction?  How do body workers make sense of customer/patient needs/wishes and produce a satisfying result (product) for customers? How do they develop a professional know-how in the intersection of moral/aesthetical norms and customer wishes? We will address these and related questions by looking at factors such as gender, ethnicity and work conditions in these professions.

This course will be taught in English in order to give students the opportunity to practice their academic English in a tolerant seminar atmosphere.