Typological Approach to the Discourse on Emotional Labor

• In Event: 106 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session I
  In Refereed Roundtable: A. Table 02. Cultural Sociology 1

Abstract

Emergence of concept of emotional labor could show that emotions have also been reinterpreted like other material goods in the market. I argue that the discourses on emotional labor reflect this marketization process and socio-cultural contexts of the Korean society: entry into post-industrial society and expansion of consumer capitalism. In analyzing discourse, I used two types of research methods. I primarily used critical discourse analysis and analysis on semantic structure focuses on interpretation of meanings which were structured by keywords networks. The results show that discursive structure is consisted of 3-types of discourse. The first type of discursive dimension is discourse on gender-sensitive perspective. This discourse mainly discusses on the gender issues of emotional labor. Second type is discourse on political-economics. This discourse focuses on critics on commercialization process in neo-liberal policies and alienation of human being in workplaces. Third is discourse on management. In this discourse, emotional labor is an object of scientific management which is converted to numerical and empirical orders. Two major mechanisms are behind social context of discourse on emotional labor; the expanding service sector and consumer capitalism. An economic changing reinforces the expansion of service to the area that used to be thought as non-service sector. Rapid expansion of service sector and entry into post-industrial society changes the meaning of consumption. Consumption is not limited to material goods. Non-material values have been reinterpreted and these non-material goods, such as emotion, became objects of market transaction.

Author

• Jongwoo Kim