An Autoethnographic Account of Gender and Workflow Processes in a Commercial Laundry

David Weir

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

The commercial laundry is of interest as an important institution because it stands at the fulcrum of organised industrial society’s concern with cleanliness and the need to regularly purify clothing, linen, and table coverings and make them fit for social use again. The function of a laundry is to make dirty things clean and re-fit them for their proper function in a social order in which cleanliness is a virtue. This case study uses Douglas’ framework of Purity and Danger to illustrate the central significance of gender and the distinction between heavy and light tasks in mapping the flow of work through the organisation.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationEthnographic Research and Analysis
Subtitle of host publicationAnxiety, Identity and Self
EditorsTom Vine, Jessica Clark, Sarah Richards, David Weir
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Chapter10
Pages171-189
Number of pages19
Edition1st
ISBN (Electronic)9781137585554
ISBN (Print)9781137585547
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Nov 2017
Externally publishedYes

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