Intersectionality in intractable dirty work: how Mumbai ragpickers make meaning of their work and lives
Recent dirty work research has begun to explore intersectionality, attending to how meaning is made at the intersection of multiple sources of taint. This research has shown that individuals often construct both positive and negative meanings, which can be challenging to manage because the meanings...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Academy of Management
2021
|
| _version_ | 1797108666088816640 |
|---|---|
| author | Shepherd, DA Maitlis, S Parida, V Wincent, J Lawrence, TB |
| author_facet | Shepherd, DA Maitlis, S Parida, V Wincent, J Lawrence, TB |
| author_sort | Shepherd, DA |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Recent dirty work research has begun to explore intersectionality, attending to how meaning is made at the intersection of multiple sources of taint. This research has shown that individuals often construct both positive and negative meanings, which can be challenging to manage because the meanings people construct require a certain coherence to provide a foundation for action. This challenge is intensified when dirty work is intractable—when it is difficult, if not impossible, for a person to avoid doing this work. Our study of meaning making in the face of intractable dirty work examines ragpickers in Mumbai, India, who handle and dispose of garbage, and are further tainted by belonging to the lowest caste in Indian society, and living in slums. These ragpickers constructed both an overarching sense of helplessness rooted in the intractability of their situation, and a set of positive meanings—survival, destiny, and hope—rooted in specific facets of their lives and enacted through distinct temporal frames. By holding and combining these disparate meanings, they achieved “functional ambivalence”—the simultaneous experience of opposing orientations toward their work and lives that facilitated both acceptance and a sense of agency, and enabled them to carry on in their lives.
|
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:31:50Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:64f9e6bc-6473-46d2-ac50-272c6679ab21 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:31:50Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Academy of Management |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:64f9e6bc-6473-46d2-ac50-272c6679ab212023-02-02T07:41:06ZIntersectionality in intractable dirty work: how Mumbai ragpickers make meaning of their work and livesJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:64f9e6bc-6473-46d2-ac50-272c6679ab21EnglishSymplectic ElementsAcademy of Management2021Shepherd, DAMaitlis, SParida, VWincent, JLawrence, TBRecent dirty work research has begun to explore intersectionality, attending to how meaning is made at the intersection of multiple sources of taint. This research has shown that individuals often construct both positive and negative meanings, which can be challenging to manage because the meanings people construct require a certain coherence to provide a foundation for action. This challenge is intensified when dirty work is intractable—when it is difficult, if not impossible, for a person to avoid doing this work. Our study of meaning making in the face of intractable dirty work examines ragpickers in Mumbai, India, who handle and dispose of garbage, and are further tainted by belonging to the lowest caste in Indian society, and living in slums. These ragpickers constructed both an overarching sense of helplessness rooted in the intractability of their situation, and a set of positive meanings—survival, destiny, and hope—rooted in specific facets of their lives and enacted through distinct temporal frames. By holding and combining these disparate meanings, they achieved “functional ambivalence”—the simultaneous experience of opposing orientations toward their work and lives that facilitated both acceptance and a sense of agency, and enabled them to carry on in their lives. |
| spellingShingle | Shepherd, DA Maitlis, S Parida, V Wincent, J Lawrence, TB Intersectionality in intractable dirty work: how Mumbai ragpickers make meaning of their work and lives |
| title | Intersectionality in intractable dirty work: how Mumbai ragpickers make meaning of their work and lives |
| title_full | Intersectionality in intractable dirty work: how Mumbai ragpickers make meaning of their work and lives |
| title_fullStr | Intersectionality in intractable dirty work: how Mumbai ragpickers make meaning of their work and lives |
| title_full_unstemmed | Intersectionality in intractable dirty work: how Mumbai ragpickers make meaning of their work and lives |
| title_short | Intersectionality in intractable dirty work: how Mumbai ragpickers make meaning of their work and lives |
| title_sort | intersectionality in intractable dirty work how mumbai ragpickers make meaning of their work and lives |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT shepherdda intersectionalityinintractabledirtyworkhowmumbairagpickersmakemeaningoftheirworkandlives AT maitliss intersectionalityinintractabledirtyworkhowmumbairagpickersmakemeaningoftheirworkandlives AT paridav intersectionalityinintractabledirtyworkhowmumbairagpickersmakemeaningoftheirworkandlives AT wincentj intersectionalityinintractabledirtyworkhowmumbairagpickersmakemeaningoftheirworkandlives AT lawrencetb intersectionalityinintractabledirtyworkhowmumbairagpickersmakemeaningoftheirworkandlives |