Introduction

In the humanities, the ‘affective turn’ refers to the increasing scholarly interest in emotions, senses, and bodily experiences since the 1990s. In terms of the workplace, the significance of affect has been theorized through concepts such as ‘emotional labour’ or ‘emotion work’ (Hochschild, 1983), ‘affective labour’ (Hardt & Negri, 2000), and ‘passionate work’ (McRobbie, 2016). Poynter (2002) suggests that such concepts offer ‘rich ground for re-examining the relationship between the individual and the objective or structural circumstances in which they find themselves’ (Ibid., 248-249).

The literature on affective and emotional labour focuses on the immaterial aspects of contemporary labour processes, which often fall outside what is traditionally recognized as ‘work’ (Lazzarato, 1996; Gregg,2009). Examples include sociable interactions between workers and colleagues or customers, expressions of care or concern, and the production of cultural, symbolic and artistic works or knowledges (Lazzarato, 1996; Hesmondhalgh & Baker, 2008). In her highly influential work on emotional labour, Arlie Hochschild (1983) suggests that workers must manage their emotions and the emotions of others to meet the expectations of their jobs. Such labour may involve practicing empathy and inducing, enhancing, or suppressing certain feelings (Hochschild, 1983; Grindstaff, 2002). For instance, to offer good service, a worker may need to suppress feelings of exhaustion or stress, perform a personable and cheerful version of the self, and aim to elicit happiness or dispel dissatisfaction among customers. In this sense, affect is integral to the experience of labour.

Although much scholarly work on the affective qualities of labour has examined the service and healthcare industries, there is also a growing body of literature that deals with emotion in media and creative industries. As Hesmondhalgh and Baker (2008) argue, when examining subjective experiences of labour, it is essential to consider the specificities of the sectors in which this labour is taking place.