Working the Night Shift

Relatively high wages and the opportunity to be part of an upscale, globalized work environment draw many in India to the call center industry. At the same time, night shift employment presents women, in particular, with new challenges alongside the opportunities. This book explores how beliefs about what constitutes "women's work" are evolving in response to globalization. Working the Night Shift is the first in-depth study of the transnational call center industry that is written from the point of view of women workers. It uncovers how call center employment affects their lives, mainly as it relates to the anxiety that Indian families and Indian society have towards women going out at night, earning a good salary, and being exposed to western culture. This timely account illustrates the ironic and, at times, unsettling experiences of women who enter the spaces and places made accessible through call center work. Visit the author's website at http://www.working-the-nightshift.com and facebook group.

"It will be difficult for anyone who has not recently conducted research in India to appreciate the massive social changes which the outsourcing revolution has brought to that society. Reena Patel's excellent ethnography, Working the Night Shift does, however, succeed in conveying to readers a sense of what is involved when new customer service industries originating in the West explode on the local scene . . . [T]he book provides a much needed gender dimension to research on global call centres.", "In this timely, beautifully written, and path-breaking ethnographic exploration, Patel brings to life the often unnoticed human beings who answer our phone calls on the other side of the world, making visible the dreams, lives, and desires of the women behind the anonymity of the call centers. In clear and accessible prose, she interweaves insightful analysis with the real life stories of these key players of economic globalization. Working the Night Shift should become indispensable reading; it is a book for everyone, for right now.", "Unlike many studies of working women in India then, it goes beyond their roles in the household as mothers and wives. It extends more broadly to consider issues of movement and space—riding on buses, getting apartments, etc. It is also about how other groups—those in the society at large—view and construct the image of these women . . . No doubt this will become a primer for anyone interested in gender, work, call centers, family, and more, in South Asia.", "This is a fascinating book. Combining an acute geographical imagination with careful attention to detail, Patel makes a significant contribution to debates about the complex and contradictory consequences of women's growing labour market participation. This is a key text for all social scientists interested in global change and new divisions of labour.", "Patel provides a rare glimpse into the lives of Indian women, as global call centers dislodge restrictions on mobility and transport them into night and public worlds. Amidst renewed surveillance by the media and community, how these women navigate new freedoms of transportation, housing, and socializing is a fascinating story."

Reena Patel is a feminist scholar and currently serves as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S Department of State. She also advises companies on gender issues in the workplace.