Service Encounters: Class, Gender, and the Market for Social Distinction in Urban China By Amy Hanser Stanford University Press. 2008. 256 pages. $55 cloth, $21.95 paper

Schwartz, Rachel A.

doi:10.1353/sof.2011.0027

Cited by 3 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…The unequal power dynamics are extremely salient when working-class workers face middle-class customers, both of whom display a 'doing of class', in the form of workers' deference and customers' sense of entitlement (Sherman, 2007). Here, I borrow Hanser's (2008) concept of 'deferential work' to describe workers' class performance of subservience to produce customers' privilege in service interactions. Customers seek workers' respect, recognition and care through the latter's deference in service work, which is most noticeable in a situation where the customers are obviously more privileged than the workers (Kang, 2011).…”

Section: Concepts and Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the extensive literature, there are research gaps in three aspects. First, most research has a narrow understanding of the content of class performance, concentrating on either the aesthetic or interactive dimension (Hanser, 2008;Williams & Connell, 2010;Witz et al, 2003). Second, most scholarship that analyzes the service workers' performance of class primarily examines class performance in the workplace without extending it to workers' personal lives (Sherman, 2007).…”

Section: Concepts and Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Echoing existing literature, the service workers were also found to display interactive class performance through deferential work in the workplace to give the middle-class customers a sense of privilege (Hanser, 2008;Sherman, 2007). Scripts of how to serve customers were provided by some organizations, and workers had to rehearse the conversations with customers.…”

Section: Interactive Class Performance At Work: Deferential Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this sense, a vital task for service workers is to offer customers respect and recognition (Johns et al, 2003). Therefore, both customers and workers are seen in the service industry to 'do' or 'perform' class, which renders clear class distinctions between the middle and working classes (Hanser, 2008).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the research above has made significant contributions to the study of service workers' class performance, I argue that these studies are flawed in three ways. First, most scholarship concentrates on either the aesthetic or the interactive aspect of class performance in service work (Boyle & de Keere, 2019;Hanser, 2008;Sherman, 2007). As class is embedded in people's personal lives, class can be 'omniscient' (Bettie, 2003, p. 201).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Class performance: An empirical case of Chinese service workers in hair salons

Chen

2023

Regional Science Policy & Practice

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China's service sector has attracted millions of internal migrants from impoverished rural areas. This research investigates how service work contributes to the reproduction of class inequalities in China through the everyday interactions between service workers and customers. Based on 15 in‐depth interviews with Chinese service workers in hair salons, this research argues that the workers conducted class performance to distinguish their class from others. Specifically, they displayed aesthetic and interactive class performance at work through aesthetic labour and deferential work to legitimize the superiority of middle‐class aesthetics and the middle‐class customers' sense of entitlement. Moreover, under the circumstances of increasing job instability and the suzhi discourse, the workers' class performance could also be extended to their lives through entrepreneurial labour and relational work. While the service workers could exert agency through certain strategies in their class performance, their agency was still limited in the structural constraints and even reinforced class inequalities. This research deepens the understanding of class inequalities in the Chinese context and provides policy implications to diminish class inequalities.

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Section: Concepts and Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Concepts and Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Interactive Class Performance At Work: Deferential Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Class performance: An empirical case of Chinese service workers in hair salons

Chen

2023

Regional Science Policy & Practice

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Disruption in Study Abroad during the Pandemic: Chinese Students in France

Li,

Yan,

Wang

2023

Chinese in France Amid the Covid-19 Pandemic

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Breaking away from inferiority: the strive for legitimacy in postcolonial service encounters

Azikiwe¹

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This study examines how service worker identity is mediated through global cultural flows and the consumption practices of elite clients within beauty stores in Nigeria. With a social constructionist approach and Foucault’s theoretical perspectives on power, subject and technologies of the self, I used qualitative methods involving fieldwork such as participant observation and interviews for the data collection. The findings of the study expose how inequalities that go deeper than differences in wealth and economic status shape the experiences and subject positions taken by the service workers in this context; symbolic meanings and values attached to global brands are embedded within socio-historical discourses and class differentiations; lastly, stigma is found to be a significant driver of behaviour as the workers collectively and consistently express a deep sense of inferiority in relation to their client's status, as well as relaying stories of struggle and striving for their acceptance. Thus, in seeking to manage these social asymmetries, western brands are used to mask the perceived subjugated identities experienced by the workers. The findings extend Fanon’s and Spivak’s postcolonial theoretical perspectives by examining how workers' identities are transformed through the internalization of inferiority within the context of beauty salons in Nigeria. Also, it enhances the overall theoretical perspectives of brands in the marketplace, especially in postcolonial settings like Nigeria. The implication of this study provides more insights into the socio-cultural context of global brands, which offers new business opportunities for emerging markets such as Nigeria. This is relevant because the success of most big firms from developed economies within the emerging markets is crucial, particularly as they are already operating in a saturated business environment.

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Service Encounters: Class, Gender, and the Market for Social Distinction in Urban China By Amy Hanser Stanford University Press. 2008. 256 pages. $55 cloth, $21.95 paper

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Class performance: An empirical case of Chinese service workers in hair salons

Class performance: An empirical case of Chinese service workers in hair salons

Disruption in Study Abroad during the Pandemic: Chinese Students in France

Breaking away from inferiority: the strive for legitimacy in postcolonial service encounters

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