Flesh in voice: The no-touch embodiment of transnational customer service workers

Abstract

Telephone-based customer service work is often conceptualized as disembodied. Automatic dialing systems direct callers through menu-driven options, and eventually to a distant customer service worker. Interactions are scripted, and workers have little job discretion to deal with out-of-the-box customer requests. Yet, although the bodies of call center workers and their customers do not come into contact, this article considers whether their interactions are in fact disembodied. Based on interviews with transnational customer service workers in India, I argue that bodies matter in remote customer service interactions. Part of the job of a customer service worker is the transmission of bodies through voice. This involves making sense of how ideal workers are embodied in callers’ eyes and using their voices to emulate these imagined ideal workers. I argue that exploring the embodiment of ‘voice workers’ extends analyses of embodiment to date, which have focused primarily on whole bodies in physical contact with others. The findings presented here highlight the importance of interpellation—specifically the work of ‘reading bodies’ which is a significant part of service work, especially work which crosses national borders. Bodies are ‘read’ based on social and historical contexts within which people are immersed and these contexts are influenced by social stratification, state policies, and colonial histories.