Talking class,talking race: language,class, and race in the call center industry in South Africa |
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Authors: | Mark Hunter |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Geography , University of Toronto Scarborough , 1265 Military Trail, Toronto , Ontario , Canada , M1C 1A4;2. School of Built Environment and Development Studies , University of KwaZulu-Natal , South Africa mhunter@utsc.utoronto.ca |
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Abstract: | Against a backdrop of declining manufacturing employment, this article uses a study of the call center industry to argue that English language proficiency is central to new service jobs in post-apartheid South Africa. Drawing on research in Durban, we in this study show that access to call center work—especially the highest paid niches—is heavily mediated by English language skills generally attainable only at the most elite high schools. In doing so, we argue that access to English-medium education can challenge racial disadvantage, but simultaneously that English can help to consolidate white privilege through the continued association of a ‘prestigious’ accent with whiteness. The study accordingly reveals the importance of language in the changing intersectionality of race and class and, in doing so, underlines the value of social and cultural perspectives in labor geography. |
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Keywords: | South Africa call centers class language labor geography intersectionality |
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