Breaking the Myth of Indian Call Centers: A Postcolonial Analysis of Resistance

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2013

Keywords

postcolonial, globalization, transnational corporations, Indian call centers, resistance

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2013.776172

Abstract

This article provides a postcolonial critique of power-resistance dialectics among outsourced call center workers in India. A constructivist grounded theory analysis of focus group and interview data with 65 participants reveals how microresistance intersects with global capitalism in ways that both accommodate and rupture Western discourses. These discursive and material intersectionalities are made visible through employees' processes of (1) aping the West, (2) articulating new logics and demonstrating Indian sensibilities, and (3) embracing a new life. The themes primarily reveal how the employees rupture the essentialist image of the other and challenge the dominant logic of neoliberalism.

Was this content written or created while at USF?

No

Citation / Publisher Attribution

Communication Monographs, v. 80, issue 2, p. 199-219

Share

COinS