Interspecies Emotional Labour
Unspoken Expectations of Professionalism in Guide Dog Work
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published:3rd Dec '25
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This book explores the topic of interspecies emotional labour through the work of guide dogs and their instructors. The skill of managing emotions to present oneself with the professionalism required is referred to as emotional labour. Extending practitioner knowledge and emotional labour theory to Anthrozoology and Animal Organization Studies discourse, this multispecies ethnography draws on the author's work with guide dogs, and those of the professionals she interviewed, to introduce multiple case studies that explore the enmeshed dynamics and practices involved in emotional labour within multispecies workplaces. It presents new insights into why the emotional labour strategies a human or dog worker utilises are important, and how these can directly impact an individual’s working success and well-being. Despite the centrality of emotional labour performances in multispecies workplaces, it has fallen under the radar of academic and practitioner attention until recent years, making this an innovative, timely addition to existing discourse. This book will appeal to practitioners and academics interested in understanding and improving emotional labour education and practices to support more sustainable interspecies work.
‘In this rich ethnography, insightful vignettes and stories illustrate that both animals and humans are shaped by the values of the workplace; regulating their expressions and feelings, and collaborating to perform the efficient and professional self. A timely update to the field of multispecies emotion work and to human-animal studies.’
Professor Lindsay Hamilton, School for Business and Society, University of York, UK
‘Thoughtfully rooted, analytically nuanced, and ethically robust, this important book can strengthen both scholarship and multispecies work-lives in compelling and humane ways.’
Kendra Coulter, Professor, management and organizational studies, and Coordinator of animal ethics and sustainability leadership, Huron University College, Western University
‘This fascinating book extends our conceptualisation of classical emotional labour beyond humans to dogs. In a 9-year multispecies ethnography of the Guide Dog industry, Tiamat Warda expertly illustrates a nuanced discussion of interspecies practices, advancing ‘sustainable emotional labour’ in multispecies work. An engaging read and highly recommended!’
Dr Linda Tallberg, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lapland (Finland), Co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Animal Organization Studies
‘Warda’s ethnographic study of guide dog work provides rich insight into the ways in which both humans and dogs are required to perform emotional labour throughout different aspects of their work together. A pioneering study, it is sure to stimulate further critical engagement with emotional labour within the developing field of Animal Organization Studies.’
Professor Katherine Dashper, Leeds Beckett University, UK
ISBN: 9781032989860
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 560g
192 pages