Startseite Chapter 22. Household workers’ use of directives to negotiate their professional identity in Lima, Peru
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Chapter 22. Household workers’ use of directives to negotiate their professional identity in Lima, Peru

  • Susana de los Heros
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Identity Struggles
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Identity Struggles

Abstract

This article examines interactions between employers in Lima, Peru, and their household workers who are generally perceived as unskilled (Fuertes, Rodríguez and Casali 2013). Using a constructionist approach (Bucholtz and Hall 2005), I explore the household workers’ struggle to negotiate professional identities using directives in task-oriented situations. Directives are associated with higher professional ranks in the workplace (Holmes and Stubbs 2003), thus indexing power. The data consists of audio-recorded interactions between household workers and their employers. The analysis of these interactions shows that household workers use directives to position themselves in non-subordinate roles with their employers’ consent. In using directives, workers take charge and assert their knowledge with certain tasks to claim expertise power (Vine 2004) and create a more professional or skilled work identity.

Abstract

This article examines interactions between employers in Lima, Peru, and their household workers who are generally perceived as unskilled (Fuertes, Rodríguez and Casali 2013). Using a constructionist approach (Bucholtz and Hall 2005), I explore the household workers’ struggle to negotiate professional identities using directives in task-oriented situations. Directives are associated with higher professional ranks in the workplace (Holmes and Stubbs 2003), thus indexing power. The data consists of audio-recorded interactions between household workers and their employers. The analysis of these interactions shows that household workers use directives to position themselves in non-subordinate roles with their employers’ consent. In using directives, workers take charge and assert their knowledge with certain tasks to claim expertise power (Vine 2004) and create a more professional or skilled work identity.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Dedication v
  3. Table of contents vii
  4. Acknowledgements xi
  5. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  6. Part I. Struggling to construct professional competence
  7. Chapter 2. Coping with uncertainty 21
  8. Chapter 3. Constructing a “competent” meeting chair 39
  9. Chapter 4. Juggling “I”s and “we”s with “he”s and “she”s 57
  10. Chapter 5. Epistemic “Struggles” 79
  11. Chapter 6. Who’s the expert? 95
  12. Part II. Struggling to (de-)construct in-group membership
  13. Chapter 7. You’re a proper tradesman mate 127
  14. Chapter 8. Indian women at work 147
  15. Chapter 9. The dynamics of identity struggle in interdisciplinary meetings in higher education 165
  16. Chapter 10. Laughables as a resource for foregrounding shared knowledge and shared identities in intercultural interactions in Scandinavia 185
  17. Chapter 11. Workplace conflicts as (re)source for analysing identity struggles in stories told in interviews 207
  18. Chapter 12. Identities on a learning curve 225
  19. Part III. Struggling to combine (sometimes competing) expectations
  20. Chapter 13. Managing patients’ expectations in telephone complaints in Scotland 243
  21. Chapter 14. Identity work in nurse-client interactions in selected community hospitals in Kenya 263
  22. Chapter 15. ‘Even if there were procedures, we will be acting at our own discretion…’ 281
  23. Chapter 16. A kind of work 299
  24. Chapter 17. Adapting self for private and public audiences 317
  25. Chapter 18. “I speak French=eh” 335
  26. Part IV. Struggling to define identity boundaries
  27. Chapter 19. The discursive accomplishment of identity during veterinary medical consultations in the UK 355
  28. Chapter 20. Embracing a new professional identity 371
  29. Chapter 21. Identity and space 387
  30. Chapter 22. Household workers’ use of directives to negotiate their professional identity in Lima, Peru 407
  31. Chapter 23. ‘We’re only here to help’ 427
  32. Chapter 24. Epilogue 445
  33. Index 455
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.69.22del

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Dedication v
  3. Table of contents vii
  4. Acknowledgements xi
  5. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  6. Part I. Struggling to construct professional competence
  7. Chapter 2. Coping with uncertainty 21
  8. Chapter 3. Constructing a “competent” meeting chair 39
  9. Chapter 4. Juggling “I”s and “we”s with “he”s and “she”s 57
  10. Chapter 5. Epistemic “Struggles” 79
  11. Chapter 6. Who’s the expert? 95
  12. Part II. Struggling to (de-)construct in-group membership
  13. Chapter 7. You’re a proper tradesman mate 127
  14. Chapter 8. Indian women at work 147
  15. Chapter 9. The dynamics of identity struggle in interdisciplinary meetings in higher education 165
  16. Chapter 10. Laughables as a resource for foregrounding shared knowledge and shared identities in intercultural interactions in Scandinavia 185
  17. Chapter 11. Workplace conflicts as (re)source for analysing identity struggles in stories told in interviews 207
  18. Chapter 12. Identities on a learning curve 225
  19. Part III. Struggling to combine (sometimes competing) expectations
  20. Chapter 13. Managing patients’ expectations in telephone complaints in Scotland 243
  21. Chapter 14. Identity work in nurse-client interactions in selected community hospitals in Kenya 263
  22. Chapter 15. ‘Even if there were procedures, we will be acting at our own discretion…’ 281
  23. Chapter 16. A kind of work 299
  24. Chapter 17. Adapting self for private and public audiences 317
  25. Chapter 18. “I speak French=eh” 335
  26. Part IV. Struggling to define identity boundaries
  27. Chapter 19. The discursive accomplishment of identity during veterinary medical consultations in the UK 355
  28. Chapter 20. Embracing a new professional identity 371
  29. Chapter 21. Identity and space 387
  30. Chapter 22. Household workers’ use of directives to negotiate their professional identity in Lima, Peru 407
  31. Chapter 23. ‘We’re only here to help’ 427
  32. Chapter 24. Epilogue 445
  33. Index 455
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Heruntergeladen am 23.9.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/dapsac.69.22del/html
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