This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (10) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Taylor, P. Articles by Bain, P. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

‘India calling to the far away towns’

the call centre labour process and globalization

University of Stirling, UK, philip.taylor{at}stir.ac.uk

Peter Bain

University of Strathclyde, UK

In recent years prominent companies have migrated call centre services to India provoking much-publicized fears for the future of UK employment. This article challenges the widely-held assumption that offshoring voice services is a seamless undertaking, principally through an investigation of the Indian call centre labour process. This enquiry is informed initially by an analysis of the political-economic factors driving offshoring and shaping the forms of work organization to have emerged in India. A critical review of literature on call centre work organization provides a conceptual framework, through which Indian developments are analysed. Data comes from fieldwork conducted in India and a complete audit of the Scottish industry, through which UK trends can be evaluated. We conclude that the Indian industry reproduces in exaggerated and culturally-distinctive forms, a labour process that has proved problematical for employers and employees alike in the UK and elsewhere.

Key Words: call centres • globalization • India • labour process • offshoring

Work, Employment & Society, Vol. 19, No. 2, 261-282 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0950017005053170


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. Bonacich, S. Alimahomed, and J. B. Wilson The Racialization of Global Labor American Behavioral Scientist, November 1, 2008; 52(3): 342 - 355. [Abstract] [PDF]

				D. Das, R. Dharwadkar, and P. Brandes The importance of being `Indian': Identity centrality and work outcomes in an off-shored call center in India Human Relations, November 1, 2008; 61(11): 1499 - 1530. [Abstract] [PDF]

				P. D'Cruz and E. Noronha Doing Emotional Labour: The Experiences of Indian Call Centre Agents Global Business Review, June 1, 2008; 9(1): 131 - 147. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Korczynski Service work, social theory, and collectivism: a reply to Brook Work Employment Society, September 1, 2007; 21(3): 577 - 588. [PDF]

				L. Cohen and A. El-Sawad Lived experiences of offshoring: An examination of UK and Indian financial service employees' accounts of themselves and one another Human Relations, August 1, 2007; 60(8): 1235 - 1262. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. Herod, A. Rainnie, and S. McGrath-Champ Working space: why incorporating the geographical is central to theorizing work and employment practices Work Employment Society, June 1, 2007; 21(2): 247 - 264. [Abstract] [PDF]

				P. D'Cruz and E. Noronha Being Professional: Organizational Control in Indian Call Centers Social Science Computer Review, August 1, 2006; 24(3): 342 - 361. [Abstract] [PDF]

				G. Cheney and D. L. Cloud Doing Democracy, Engaging the Material: Employee Participation and Labor Activity in an Age of Market Globalization Management Communication Quarterly, May 1, 2006; 19(4): 501 - 540. [Abstract] [PDF]