Sumptuary Labor: On privatized Governance and those who do it

• In Event: 092 - Regular Session. Political, Legal, and Scientific Contexts of Occupations

Abstract

States today regulate consumption to promote public health by restricting access to problematic commodities. But it is not the state itself but rather service employees in the private sector who do the work of enforcing such regulations. We term such work "sumptuary labor." Drawing upon ethnographic work among casino dealers and bartenders, this paper elaborates three components of sumptuary labor (ensuring eligibility, preventing overindulgence, and ensuring safe consumption), and considers common conflicts of interest that occur during its performance. A growing number of US workers perform sumptuary labor in the course of their routine work duties, while an understanding of sumptuary labor is vital for predicting whether and how modern sumptuary regulations are enforced.

Authors

• Jeffrey J. Sallaz, University of Arizona

• Chi Phoenix Wang, Harvard University