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Aesthetic Labour

First Edition

Chris Warhurst - The University of Warwick, UK
Dennis Nickson - Strathclyde University, UK

Other Titles in:
Critical Management | Human Resource Management | Sociology of Work

July 2020 | 216 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd

This accessible and exciting new text looks at the implications of aesthetic labour for work and employment by contextualizing debates and offering a critical approach. The origins of aesthetic labour are explored, as well as the relevant theories from business and management, and sociology. Coverage includes key topics such as: corporate strategy; recruitment and selection practices; and discrimination.

Key features include:

- a range of case studies from across different types of organizations and popular culture

- the exploration of topics such as branding, 'lookism', 'dressing for success' and cosmetic surgery

- suggestions for further reading.

Chapter 1 Appearances Matters

Chapter 2 The Aestheticization of the Economy and Society

Chapter 3 If You Look the Part, You’ll Get the Job

Chapter 4 Ready to Workwear

Chapter 5 Body Talk: ‘signalling with more than looks’

Chapter 6 Irritable Vowel Syndrome

Chapter 7 Beauty and the Beast: The ‘Dark Side’ of Aesthetic Labour

Chapter 8 The Future of Aesthetic Labour

A remarkable contribution by two outstanding researchers. This is an important topic which, in their words, was born in the sociological imagination and developed through rigorous empirical research. The book is well-written and very accessible. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in the realities of the world of work.

Professor Irena Grugulis

Leeds University Business School, UK

In this monograph-textbook hybrid, Warhurst and Nickson deliver smooth prose, theoretical complexity, and a clarion call to confront appearance-based discrimination. [...] The authors produced an accessible text without diluting their intellectual contributions. Witty chapter titles and section headings reflect both the book’s approachability and the importance of popular culture to aesthetic labor. Warhurst and Nickson take care in explaining key concepts and using examples to help enforce reader comprehension.

Kyla Walters

Sonoma State University, USA

Teaching Sociology