‘Being Santa Claus’: the pursuit of recognition in interactive service work

Philip Hancock

Work, Employment & Society, 2013, vol. 27, issue 6, 1004-1020

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: aesthetic; emotional and performative; interactive service work; labour; recognition; Santa Claus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://wes.sagepub.com/content/27/6/1004.abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:27:y:2013:i:6:p:1004-1020

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Work, Employment & Society from British Sociological Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().