Abstract
The aim of this study is to explore dirty workers’ affective responses to chronic insecurities produced by the practices and logic of neoliberalism, and to demonstrate the centrality of affect in shaping the relationship with the past and the future. An ethnographic approach was adopted, using participant observation and narrative interviews with 37 road sweepers, refuse collectors and graffiti removers on their daily rounds. The findings demonstrate how participants’ interpretations of their work were underpinned by the erosion of traditional norms, evoking strong feelings of anxiety and nostalgia. We discuss how these affective responses shape dirty workers’ relationship with the past and the future, strengthening their nostalgic feelings towards the past and hindering the possibility of engagement with the future.
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