Relational Work and Economic Sociology

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Bandelj
Keyword(s):  
Economic Sociology ◽  
Relational Work

Relational Work in the Economy

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 251-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Bandelj
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Economic Sociology ◽  
Scaling Up ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
Relational Work ◽  
Economic Interactions

In her groundbreaking scholarship on intimacy and economy, Viviana Zelizer coined the concept of relational work, or efforts in matching social relations with economic transactions and media of exchange. This article reviews the conceptual advances and empirical applications of relational work over the past two decades. I first trace the origins of the concept and discuss how it is distinct from the idea of embeddedness. I then identify variants of relational work proposed in economic sociology, including relational accounting, obfuscated exchange, clarifying and blurring practices, and emotions and power in relational work. The second part of the review discusses research on relational work in five areas: earmarking money, walking the terrain of morally problematic exchange, configuring social relations through economic activity, using social relations to negotiate economic interactions, and scaling up to relational work of organizations and institutions. I end by proposing areas of future research to examine the determinants and consequences of relational work for (dis)trust, (in)equality, and relational (mis)matches.

Cognition and Social Meaning in Economic Sociology

2019 ◽  
pp. 506-525
Author(s):  
Nina Bandelj ◽  
Christoffer J. P. Zoeller
Keyword(s):  
Economic Sociology ◽  
Social Meaning ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Relational Work ◽  
The Social ◽  
Multiple Meanings ◽  
Meaning Of Money ◽  
Compare And Contrast ◽  
Central Economic

This chapter reviews the literature on cognition and social meaning in economic sociology, with special attention to the case of money. The first part discusses subfields related to economic sociology that have carved space for attention to the role of cognitive processes, or cognitive embeddedness, including the institutional logics, conceptions of control, and classification/categorization perspectives. The second part takes up one central economic object, money, to compare and contrast the behavioral economics perspective on mental accounting with the research on the social meaning of money and relational work, which emphasizes how money’s multiple meanings and forms influence the negotiation of social-economic relations.

Book Reviews

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 953-955
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Economic Sociology ◽  
Global Markets ◽  
Fourth Dimension ◽  
Relational Work ◽  
Theoretical Statement ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sociological Approaches

Amandine Ody-Brasier of the Yale School of Management reviews “Re-Imagining Economic Sociology,” by Patrik Aspers and Nigel Dodd. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Twelve papers investigate the role of theory in economic sociology by providing major theoretical insights and their significance to economic sociology as well as a general theoretical statement of the field. Papers discuss theorizing in economic sociology (Richard Swedberg); reimagining capitalist dynamics—fictional expectations and the openness of economic futures (Jens Beckert); utopianism and the future of money (Nigel Dodd); what a financial market is—global markets as media-institutional forms (Karin Knorr Cetina); economy and law—old paradigms and new markets (Bruce G. Carruthers); economic institutions from networks (Victor Nee and Sonja Opper); the fourth dimension of power—the social construction of interest in the new economic sociology (Frank Dobbin and Jiwook Jung); certifying the world—power infrastructures and practices in economics in conventional forms (Laurent Thévenot); thinking about social relations in economy as relational work (Nina Bandelj); phenomenological identity in economic sociology (Patrik Aspers); the organizational gift and sociological approaches to exchange (Philippe Steiner); and the kind of reimagining that economic sociology needs (Neil Fligstein).”

Small talk as work talk: Enacting the patient-centered approach in nurse-practitioner-patient visits

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Staci Defibaugh
Keyword(s):  
Nurse Practitioners ◽  
Nurse Practitioner ◽  
Medical Visit ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
Small Talk ◽  
Medical Visits ◽  
Relational Work ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Patient Relationships

Small talk in medical visits has received ample attention; however, small talk that occurs at the close of a medical visit has not been explored. Small talk, with its focus on relational work, is an important aspect of medical care, particularly so considering the current focus in the US on the patient-centered approach and the desire to construct positive provider– patient relationships, which have been shown to contribute to higher patient satisfaction and better health outcomes. Therefore, even small talk that is unrelated to the transactional aspect of the medical visit in fact serves an important function. In this article, I analyze small talk exchanges between nurse practitioners (NPs) and their patients which occur after the transactional work of the visit is completed. I focus on two exchanges which highlight different interactional goals. I argue that these examples illustrate a willingness on the part of all participants to extend the visit solely for the purpose of constructing positive provider–patient relationships. Furthermore, because exchanges occur after the ‘work’ of the visit has been completed, they have the potential to construct positive relationships that extend beyond the individual visit.

Relational work in dispute: Negotiating norms, negotiating relationships

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanwei Hu
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Process ◽  
Normative Commitment ◽  
Relational Work ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Normative Basis ◽  
Relational Aspect ◽  
Evaluative Judgement

AbstractRecent developments of politeness research mainly consist of the study of politeness within a broader framework of relationship or relating and the re-conceptualization of politeness as an evaluative judgement made by participants on the basis of norms and expectations. This article hopes to contribute to the study of relating by probing into the normative basis of relational work. Addressing the relational aspect of communication, Habermas’ (1979) concept of normative rightness claim highlights the normative commitment of the speaker in doing (more than judging) relational work, which has been obscured by the focus on (hearers’) judgements in current research on relational work. Habermas’ concept brings into focus the fact that participants in interaction can define and redefine their relationship through contesting the other’s normative rightness claim or the normative background thereby evoked. This dynamic process of negotiating relationships through negotiating norms can be further explicated by drawing on Culpeper’s (2008) and Kádár and Haugh’s (2013) differentiations of norms. The article explores the usefulness of such differentiations by analyzing different cases of norm variation which can be seen to underlie relational work dispute.

It’s Not Just Sex: Relational Dynamics between Street-Based Sex Workers and Their Regular Customers

2021 ◽  
pp. 095001702110217
Author(s):  
Sharon S Oselin ◽  
Katie Hail-Jares
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Considerable Time ◽  
Economic Stability ◽  
Relational Dynamics ◽  
Relational Work ◽  
Boundary Setting

Establishing regular customers is an integral aspect of any service industry since they can increase profits and referrals. Most research on regulars within sex work focuses on indoor, high-end workers, who cultivate them through relational work practices. Yet very little is known about whether street-based sex workers employ these same tactics or even seek out regulars. This article draws upon interviews with 36 street-based sex workers in Washington, DC, USA. Sex workers dedicate considerable time and effort in order to retain regulars via relational work, noting such customers offer greater economic stability and fewer risks. Relational work also has disadvantages, exacerbated by the illicit and illegal nature of this work. Street-based sex workers navigate boundary setting and slippage as a part of retaining or rejecting regular clients. These findings have implications for policies that can reduce harms for sex workers and enhance their protections.

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