Obfuscatory Relational Work and Disreputable Exchange Gabriel Rossman PWP-CCPR-2013-009 December 19, 2012 California Center for Population Research On-Line Working Paper Series Obfuscatory Relational Work and Disreputable Exchange* Gabriel Rossman Sociology, UCLA 264 Haines Hall LA, CA 90095-1551 310-206-8904
[email protected] *THis researcH benefited from National Science Foundation award number SES- 0724914 and a Sloan foundation Industry Studies Fellowship. The author is grateful to Ari Adut, Nina Bandelj, Alan Fiske, Alice Goffman, Neil Gross, Dan Lainer-Vos, Oliver Schilke, Stefan Timmermans, and Viviana ZeliZer. Keywords: Relational work, economic sociology, morality FortHcoming in Sociological Theory Abstract This article develops a model for how the structure of excHange can accomplisH relational work to manage such disreputable exchanges as the commensuration of sacred for profane. Whereas extant researcH has discussed rHetorical reframing of exchange, tHis paper suggests a more profound reconceptualiZation through structures that obfuscate that an exchange is occurring and tHereby mitigate exchange taboos. The article develops three such exchange structures: bundling, brokerage, and gift excHange. Bundling uses cross-subsidization across innocuous circuits to synthesize a taboo circuit. Brokerage finds a third party to accept responsibility for exchange. Gift excHange delays reciprocity and reframes exchanges as expressions of friendship. All tHree of tHese strategies Have alternative meanings and so provide plausible deniability to taboo commensuration. The paper concludes by arguing that engaging in such structural “relational work” to evade taboos represents a synthesis of “nothing but” and “hostile worlds,” rather than an alternative to tHem as ZeliZer suggests. 1 The core premise of economics is tHat Human beings exchange to achieve gains from trade.