Status fixity and dirty workers' experiences of recognition

Slutskaya, Natalia, Game, Annilee, Morgan, Rachel, Delabre, Izabela and Newton, Tim (2025) Status fixity and dirty workers' experiences of recognition. Sociology. ISSN 0038-0385

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Abstract

Based on interviews with waste management workers, this study focuses on changes in low-paid/low-status workers’ experiences of recognition during and after the pandemic. In this article, we explore these developments, drawing on the work of Honneth, Fraser, Neckel and Reckwitz. Our analysis challenges the rather romanticised treatment of recognition that persists in existing research on dirty work. In particular, though the pandemic heightened societal awareness of the value of essential services, we found that these emancipatory moments were short lived, as status hierarchies remained largely unchallenged. Instead, workers’ experiences during the pandemic suggest a growing sense of status fixity and polarisation which, following Neckel and Reckwitz, reflects a broader sharpening in economic and cultural inequality.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 10 - reduced inequalities ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/reduced_inequalities
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Norwich Business School
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Employment Systems and Institutions
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	08 Aug 2025 08:30
Last Modified:	11 Oct 2025 10:13
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/100113
DOI:	10.1177/00380385251365514

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