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Baristas: The Artisan Precariat A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Labour Studies at The University of Waikato by Gemma L Piercy 2018 i ABSTRACT My research on the work identit(ies) of baristas demonstrates that different workplaces, in conjunction with individual biographies, produce different kinds of work identities. Connected to these differences are the actual and perceived levels of skill and/or social status ascribed to workers within the service work triadic relationship (customers, co- workers/managers and workers). The higher the level of skill or social status, the greater the capacity of workers to experience more autonomy in their work and/or access improved working conditions. These findings are informed by my research approach, which incorporates three key methods: key informant interviews; observation/participant observation; life history interviews; all of which is underpinned by the mystory approach and autoethnography. My findings from the case study research on the barista work identity are expressed in the following. (1) The different work identities within a specific occupation contribute to the heterogeneity of service workers and service work. This heterogeneity, in turn, obscures the range of skills utilised in the technical and presentational labour mobilised in service work. The skills are obscured by the social and practice-based nature of knowledge transmission in service work like that of baristas, as well as by the dynamic and shifting alliances that may occur in the triadic relationship of customer, workers and employer/manager. (2) Interactive service workers are involved in providing labour or work that is more complex than is socially understood and recognised. This complexity stems from the ways in which presentational labour is commodified, appropriated and mobilised in the workplace within the spaces of the organisational context, internal practices, and the service encounter. (3) I further argue that service workers are also dehumanised as part of the service encounter through the structure of capitalism, specifically the application of commodity fetishism to workers by customers, colleagues, iii managers, capital and at times themselves. Commodity fetishism dehumanises workers, creating an empathy gap between customers/managers and workers. As such, the commodity fetishisation of service workers also reinforces and promotes compliance with the insecure and precarious employment practices common to occupations in the service sector. (4) As the conditions of precarious work continue to spread, the employment relationship is being altered in relation to consumption practices. Based on this shift in employment relations, I argue that we are moving towards a labour market and society shaped by the practices of the consumer society as well as the traditional production-based economy. However, the increasing influence of consumption practices stems from neoliberal inspired changes in employment relationships rather than the consumer society emphasis on agentic identity projects. As such, the self-determining identity projects highlighted by researchers engaged in aspects of service work and consumption-based research also need to be accompanied by an understanding of the political economy and structural forces which shape the labour process. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This journey took over 12 years; as such, there are too many people to thank and not enough words to thank them, particularly all of those in the coffee industry who have shared their knowledge with me so willingly over the years. I do, however, want to acknowledge three people who started with me on this journey but are not here to see me finish–the most amazing collaborator and friend a person could ask for, Gloria Abernethy, my mentor and friend Dr Paul Harris and the inspiring and challenging Professor Kirsten Weber. Finishing this is for me but also for Gloria who ran out of time to finish this adventure with me. Mostly importantly, I want to specifically thank my supervisors over the years, Paul in the first instance but also Dr Tom Ryan, Dr John Paterson, Professors Finn Sommer and Kirsten Weber (during 2009-2010 scholarship at Roskilde University, Denmark), and the two troopers who saw me through to the end, Associate Professor Robert Rinehart, and Dr Linda Twiname. I also had the good fortune to work with three amazing students who share my interest in understanding interactive service work better: Hannah Burton, Melissa Goodman and Michael Burgess, thank you for driving my thinking forward. I would like to thank some special people, two without whom I may not have ever started, Sandra Owen and Anthony Billington, and those without whom I may not have ever finished, Michael Cameron my wonderful husband, my parents, especially my mum Carol Piercy, my friend and fellow PhD journeywoman Debrin Foxcroft, and my amazing cheerleaders Mark Houlahan, Justine Kingsbury and Janinne Thomas. Finally, I want to thank Stacy Paul, a super amazing artisan precariat and ever patient muse, and fellow coffee enthusiasts Jim Fulton, Cameron Frethey, Michael Law and Niels Warring. v PREFACE Lewis Carroll invited the millions who have read his books to go down a rabbit hole. (This is a fitting metaphor that researchers know well, from the balancing act of learning about something from the outside in and then from the inside out.) I invite you, dear reader, to join me on my outside, inside–inside, outside journey. An important aspect of my journey into and through the written text is my use of an autoethnographic story at the start of each chapter, signalled to the reader through the use of italics. In line with the practices of autoethnography from time to time an inner monologue has been included as part of the main body text of chapters. When these inner monologue comments appear, this will be signalled to the reader through the use of text that is also in italics. Autoethnography as part of the mystory approach is defined in Chapter 1 and discussed in Chapter 2. Lastly, although the APA 6th Edition is to use double quotation marks to signal emphasis, the use of slang, or terms used in an ironic manner and single quotation marks to signal quoted text, in line with British punctuation, this thesis uses single quotation marks for emphasis and double quotation marks for quoted material. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .......................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... v Preface .......................................................................................................... vii List of Tables .................................................................................................. xv List of Figures ............................................................................................... xvii Chapter One: Baristas ...................................................................................... 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 3 Mystory and Autoethnography ................................................................................... 4 Research questions ..................................................................................................... 8 Theoretical framework ................................................................................................... 9 Consumer society ........................................................................................................ 9 Service economy ....................................................................................................... 12 Identity ...................................................................................................................... 14 The artisan and the precariat .................................................................................... 17 Thesis Outline................................................................................................................ 25 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 27 Chapter Two: Imagining and being in the field–cafés, roasteries and competitions ................................................................................................. 29 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 30 Finding the field: Locating labour studies ................................................................. 31 Labour