Morality in the labour world of the 21st century

Abstract

This chapter summarizes three case studies on different work experiences in Argentina: call centres, social program beneficiaries and urban waste collectors. A particular dimension of processes related to transformations in labour so as to understand the role of emotions is discussed. In this regard, it is demonstrated how: a) socially constructed fear organizes perceptions and structures “correct ways of feeling” to guarantee not only the inexistence of conflict, but enormous profit rates for call centres; b) the “embodiment” of workers’ faces is located at the core of a business’s presentation, as a human ability to be valued and regulated for social program beneficiaries; c) the “sensibility of disposable people” displays the way a particular reality becomes unquestionable, favouring a state of occupational disposability. Finally, these changes in the labour world show particular ways of managing emotions, becoming an axis of the “morality” at the current stage in expansion of capitalism.