Being Santa Claus
The Pursuit of Recognition in Interactive Service Work
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2373702 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter Hancock (0000-0003-0229-5669, University of Essex, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1004-1020 |
| Publication date | 2013-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Work Employment and Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0950-0170 • E-ISSN: 1469-8722 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0950017012461836 |
| OpenAlex | W1997164439 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 12 |
| References cited | 26 |
The labour of interactive service work, particularly its emotional and aesthetic dimensions, has been the focus of significant research. This article investigates the occupational practices of perhaps one of the most immediately recognizable of interactive service workers, the Santa Claus performer. Through a series of observations and in-depth, semi-structured interviews, it explores both the conditions of employment encountered by these workers and the practices and techniques by which they aim to bring a level of authenticity - one perceived to be unparalleled in similar roles both service and theatrical - to their performance. In doing so, the article explores work characterized by the pursuit of interpersonal recognition derived from the self-esteem that is desired and, in many instances, achieved from the perceived authenticity of this performance, that is, by being Santa Claus
Aesthetics · Art · Business · Emotional labor · Focus (optics · Interpersonal communication · Performing arts · Service (business · Sociology · Visual arts · Work (physics · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Emotional Labor in Professions · Engineering · Management and Organizational Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology · Marketing
(Un)Real matters
Organisational magic and the making of Christmas
Unveiling copyright law double bind through pragmatist feminism
Socializing children into pop culture
Rolling with the punches
A trifecta trajectory of moral taint contagion
Nowhere else sells bliss like this’
Recognition and the moral taint of sexuality
Reassembling difference? Rethinking inclusion through/as embodied ethics
Live Performers' Experiences of Precarity and Recognition during Covid-19 and Beyond
Doing the brand
Recognition in India's new service professions
The struggle for recognition
The Disneyization of Society
The Precariat
The Precariat
The organization of Santa
Performance and customer service
Communities of Coping
Emotion Management in the Workplace
The Labour of Aesthetics and the Aesthetics of Organization
Health clubs and body politics
Postmodern tourism
A Child's Christmas in America
Embodied Generosity and an Ethics of Organization
Myth, identity, and social interaction
The Disneyization of Society
Networks of aestheticization
The (mis)representation of customer service
Looking Good and Sounding Right
Service Work in Consumer Capitalism
| Unique citing works | 12 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,2 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2026 (11) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 11 |