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Sacrificial Labour: Social Inequality, Identity Work, and the Damaging Pursuit of Elusive Futures

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  • Torin Monahan

    (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA)

  • Jill A Fisher

    (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA)

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between personal sacrifice and identity work within conditions of profound structural insecurity. We develop the concept of sacrificial labour to describe how individual self-sacrifice aligns workers’ identities to the needs of organizations while gradually foreclosing the actualization of individuals’ desired future selves. Drawing upon qualitative data from a longitudinal study of healthy individuals who enrol in paid clinical trials for the pharmaceutical industry, we make two contributions to the identity-work literature. First, we argue that the ongoing project of building stable and secure identities may become damaging when structural and cultural conditions defy even provisional, fragile attainment of this goal. Second, we reflect on how racialization and social marginalization erode identities and constrain possibilities for identity recuperation. Whereas the identity-work literature often focuses on the agential accomplishments of individuals, we provide a troubling account of how persistent social and economic inequalities confound identity realization efforts.

Suggested Citation

  • Torin Monahan & Jill A Fisher, 2020. "Sacrificial Labour: Social Inequality, Identity Work, and the Damaging Pursuit of Elusive Futures," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(3), pages 441-456, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:34:y:2020:i:3:p:441-456
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017019885069
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ashforth, Blake E. & Kreiner, Glen E., 2014. "Dirty Work and Dirtier Work: Differences in Countering Physical, Social, and Moral Stigma," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(1), pages 81-108, March.
    2. Natasha Slutskaya & Ruth Simpson & Jason Hughes & Alexander Simpson & Selçuk Uygur, 2016. "Masculinity and Class in the Context of Dirty Work," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 165-182, March.
    3. Blake E. Ashforth & Glen E. Kreiner, 2014. "Dirty Work and Dirtier Work: Differences in Countering Physical, Social, and Moral Stigma. 脏活与更脏的工作：在对抗身体、社会和道德污名上的差异," Management and Organization Review, The International Association for Chinese Management Research, vol. 10(1), pages 81-108, March.
    4. Mats Alvesson & Hugh Willmott, 2002. "Identity Regulation as Organizational Control: Producing the Appropriate Individual," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 619-644, July.
    5. Fisher, J.A. & Kalbaugh, C.A., 2011. "Challenging assumptions about minority participation in US clinical research," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(12), pages 2217-2222.
    6. Jill A Fisher & Lisa McManus & Marci D Cottingham & Julianne M Kalbaugh & Megan M Wood & Torin Monahan & Rebecca L Walker, 2018. "Healthy volunteers' perceptions of risk in US Phase I clinical trials: A mixed-methods study," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-21, November.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Papoulias, Stan (Constantina) & Callard, Felicity, 2022. "Material and epistemic precarity: It's time to talk about labour exploitation in mental health research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).

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