An Interview with Arlie Russell Hochschild: Critique and the Sociology of Emotions: Fear, Neoliberalism and the Acid Rainproof Fish

Erik Mygind du Plessis, Pelle Korsbæk Sørensen

Research output: Contribution to journalEditorial

Abstract

Arlie Russell Hochschild is Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Her books include: The Managed Heart (1983), The Second Shift (1989), The Time Bind (1997) and The Commercialization of Intimate Life (2003). In her work, Hochschild explores the many ways we manage our emotions in personal life and perform emotional labor in the workplace. Her most recent work explores the growing political divide in America, and the need for each side to climb an ‘empathy wall’ to begin dialogue with those on the other side. She reports on five years of field-work among Tea Party enthusiasts in Louisiana in her latest book, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (2016). In this interview, she reflects on the phenomenon of critique within the framework of emotional labor, which leads to discussions on neoliberalism and the ideal worker in contemporary working life.
Original languageEnglish
JournalTheory, Culture & Society
Volume34
Issue number7-8
Pages (from-to)181–187
Number of pages7
ISSN0263-2764
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Critique
  • Emotional labor
  • Management
  • Sociological theory
  • Work

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