The Joking Relationship: Masculinity, Humour, and Everyday Multiculturalism at Work

• In Event: 320 - Regular Session. How Institutions and Culture Shape Identities

Abstract

Humour - joking, teasing, and banter are fundamental forms of social intercourse in all human
societies. This paper is about the role and effect of ‘humour’ in multi-ethnic blue-collar workplaces. Humour
delineates boundaries of group membership, establishes insiders and outsiders, and offers a ritual
solution to ambiguity and liminality, tension and social unease. Humour is Janus faced. Historically, it
has been a central tool of the racist; a way of expressing disgust and hatred with an exit strategy:
“just joking”. Yet humour can incorporate outsiders, challenge authority, produce new modes of
belonging and deal with uncertainty. This paper focuses on blue collar male-dominated
Australian workplaces and explores the role of everyday humour, banter and joking in mediating,
reinforcing and overcoming boundaries of racial and ethnic difference.

Author

• Amanda Yvonne Wise, Macquarie University