Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This article seeks to demonstrate the value of producing still photographs as a way of comprehending the growth of the ‘body work economy’. It documents the body work landscape of contemporary capitalism through exploring the ubiquity, appearance and scale of body work enterprises and employment in two localities of south Florida. It focuses on health, social care and other services for the ageing population of retirees in southeast Florida, as well as on tattooing and other body work services for younger, fashionable residents of and visitors to South Beach, Miami. The article sees the photographs of body work enterprises it deploys as a kind of ethnographic evidence, similar in status to quotations from a fieldwork diary or interviews, and suggests that they may help to pinpoint issues that require further analytical exploration, in this case the role of body work as a component of economic development and patterns of employment. The article goes on to explore the reasons for the growth of the body work economy in south Florida.

Keywords

Body Work Body Work Economy Ageing Health Care Social Care Privatisation Tattooing South Florida South Beach

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adler

(2007) Burgeoning Home Care Services Market Presents Opportunities and Potential Pitfalls <http://nrelonline.com/seniorshousing/Home_Care_Services_Market/> Accessed 23/2/2009.

Anderson

(2000) Doing the Dirty Work, London: Zed.

AWI (2011) Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation. 50 Fastest-Growing Occupations <http://www.careerinfonet.org/oview1.asp?Level=Overall&from=State&stfips=12>Accessed 10/10/11.

Barrett

(1986) ‘A Theoretical Construct for Studying Photography’, Studies in Art Education 27 (2): 52–60. [doi:://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1320497]

Bartik

T J

and Erickcek

(Rds) (2007) Higher Education, the Health Care Industry, and Metropolitan Regional Economic Development: What Can ‘Eds & Meds’ Do for the Economic Fortunes of a Metro Area's Residents? Upjohn Institute Working Paper No. 08-140. Kalamazoo, MI: W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research <http://research.upjohn.org/up_workingpapers/140> Accessed 10/10/11.

Bauman

(1998) Work, Consumerism and the New Poor, Buckingham: Open University Press.

Becker

(2002) ‘Visual Evidence: A Seventh Man, the Specified Generalization and the Work of the Reader’, Visual Studies, 17: 3–11. [doi:://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14725860220137327]

Blinder

A S

(2006) ‘Offshoring: The Next Industrial Revolution’, Foreign Affairs 85 (2): 113–128. [doi:://dx.doi.org/10.2307/20031915]

BLS (2011a) US Bureau of Labor Statistics <http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_33124.htm#29-0000> Accessed 30/10/11.

10.

BLS (2011b) US Bureau of Labor Statistics <http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_fl.htm#39-0000> Accessed 30/10/11.

11.

Boris

and Parreñas

R C

(Eds) (2010) Intimate Labors: Cultures, Technologies and the Politics of Car, e Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.

12.

Cohen

R L

(2011) ‘Time, Space and Touch at Work: Body Work and Labour Process (Re) organisation’, Sociology of Health and Illness 33 (2): 189–205. [doi:://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9566.2010.01306.x]

13.

FACULTY FOCUS (2011) Gary Monroe. <http://www.smponline.org/ex_monroe_faculty.html> Accessed 10/10/2011.

14.

Featherstone

(1991) ‘The Body in Consumer Culture’ in Featherstone

The Body: Social Process and Cultural Theory, London: Sage. First published 1982.

15.

Gimlin

D L

(2002) Body Work: Beauty and Self-Image in American Culture Berkeley: University of California Press.

16.

Glenn

E N

(1996) ‘From Servitude to Service Work’ in Macdonald

C. R.

and Sirianni

(Eds) Working in the Service Sector, Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

17.

Gospodini

(2006) ‘Portraying, Classifying and Understanding the Emerging Landscapes in the Postindustrial City’, Cities 23 (5): 311–330. [doi:://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2006.06.002]

18.

GREATER MIAMI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (2011) <http://www.miamichamber.com/committees/healthcare.aspx> Accessed 30/10/11.

19.

Halford

(2008) ‘Sociologies of Space, Work and Organisation: From Fragments to Social Theory’, Sociology Compass 2/3: 925–943.

20.

Harvey

(1998) ‘The Body as an Accumulation Strategy’ Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 16: 401–21. [doi:://dx.doi.org/10.1068/d160401]

21.

Harnish

(2006) Revenue per Employee <http://www.gazelles.com/columns/Revenue%20per%20Employee.pdf> Accessed 8/04/2012.

22.

HOOVERS (2011) Nursing Homes and Long-Term Care Facilities <http://www.hoovers.com/industry/nursing-homes-long-term-care-facilities/1382-1-0-> Accessed 8/04/2012.

23.

IRENE MARIE (2009) <http://www.irenemarie.com/bio.html> Accessed 10/11/11.

24.

Kang

(2010) The Managed Hand: Race, Gender and the Body in Beauty Service Work, Berkeley: University of California Press.

25.

Karp

(2008) ‘Medical Travel: Global Impact and Local Response’, Health Policy Newsletter 21 (4) Article 6 <http://jdc.jefferson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1609&context=hpn&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dkarp%2520medical%2520%2520travel%2520global%2520impact%2520health%2520policy%2520newsletter%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D1%26ved%3D0CDoQFjAA%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fjdc.jefferson.edu%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1609%2526context%253Dhpn%26ei%3DKJCBT5aCCsbJ8gPyl8W2Bg%26usg%3DAFQjCNG_FLR6FQxPkmKZixGsORE-ALdKeA#search=%22karp%20medical%20travel%20global%20impact%20health%20policy%20newsletter%22> Accessed 27/03/2012.

26.

Katz

(2005) ‘Spaces of Age, Snowbirds, and the Gerontology of Mobility: The Elderscapes of Charlotte County, Florida’ in Katz

(Ed.) Cultural Aging: Life Course, Lifestyle and Senior Worlds, Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

27.

Kemp

C L

(2008) ‘Cultural Contradictions and Structural Arrangements: Reflections on Growing Old in Contemporary Capitalist Contexts’, The Gerontologist 48 (4): 553–557. [doi:://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geront/48.4.553]

28.

Knowles

and Sweetman

(eds) (2004) Picturing the Social Landscape, London: Routledge.

29.

Korcok

(1987) ‘Alternatives to “Assisted Living”: Developing an Alternative to Nursing Homes’, CMAJ 137: 843–845.

30.

Lejeune

J F

(2009) ‘City Without Memory: Planning the Spectacle of Greater Miami’ in Shulman

A. T.

(ed.) Miami Modern Metropolis, Miami Beach: Museum of Art/Balcony Press.

31.

Longino

and Bradley

(2004) ‘Later Life Migration Impacts’ in EPS Proceedings of the Aging American: Impacts on Ecology and Environmental Quality Workshop, EPA August. <www.epa.gov/aging/pdfs/2005_1012_finaldraftaging.pdf> Accessed 10/10/11.

32.

Lopez

S H

(2006) ‘Culture Change Management in Long-Term Care: A Shop-Floor View’, Politics & Society 34: 55–80. [doi:://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0032329205284756]

33.

Manchester

(2007) Kai Tiaki: Nursing New Zealand <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4839/is_3_13/ai_n29342937/>Accessed 18/04/2011.

34.

Mcdowell

and Dyson

(2011) ‘The Other Side of the Knowledge Economy: Reproductive Employment and Affective Labour in Oxford’, Environment and Planning A 43: 2186–2201. [doi:://dx.doi.org/10.1068/a43591]

35.

Mcdowell

(2009) Working Bodies: Interactive Service Sector Employment and Workplace Identities, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

36.

Mchugh

K E

(2003) ‘Three Faces of Ageism: Society, Image and Place’, Ageing & Society 23 (2): 165–185. [doi:://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X02001113]

37.

MDPL (2011) ‘Miami Design Preservation League: A Brief History’ from <http://www.mdpl.org/about-us/about-miami-design-preservation-league/a-brief-history/> Accessed 1/11/2011.

38.

MIAMI JOB MARKET (2009) The Largest Employers and Top Industries <http://www.miamibeach411.com/news/index.php?/news/comments/job-market>. Accessed 23/2/2009.

39.

Nijman

(2010) Miami: Mistress of the Americas, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

40.

Player

and Lees

(2008) ‘Commodifying Health’ in Huws

and Hermann

(Eds) The New Gold Rush, London: Analytica Publications.

41.

Posner

(2009) Miami Babylon: Crime, Wealth and Power: A Dispatch from the Beach, NY: Simon & Schuster.

42.

Raley

H M

, Polansky

L G

and Millas

A J

(1994) Old Miami Beach: a Case Study in Historic Preservation, July 1976-July 1980, Miami Beach: Miami Design Preservation League.

43.

Ramesh

(2011) ‘German Company Involved in Talks to Take Over NHS hospitals’ Observer 4 September 2011 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/sep/04/german-company-takeover-nhs-hospitals?INTCMP=SRCH> Accessed 5 /09/2011.

44.

Sassen

(2000) Cities in a World Economy, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

45.

Schwartz

J M

and Ryan

J R

(Eds) (2006) Picturing Place: Photography and the Geographical Imagination, London: I. B. Tauris.

46.

SENIOR JOURNAL (2006) ‘Nude Nursing Home Photos Fuel New Zealand Controversy’ <http://seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Eldercare/6-05-15-NudeNursing.htm> Accessed 18/04/2011.

47.

Sennett

(1994) Flesh and Stone: The Body and the City in Western Civilization, London: Faber & Faber.

48.

Sheskin

and Dashefsky

(2010) Jewish Population of the United States, 2010 Storrs, CT: Berman Institute, University of Connecticut <http://www.contemporaryjewry.org/resources/Jewish_Population_in_the_United_States_2010.pdf> Accessed 10/11/2011.

49.

Soja

(1989) ‘It All Comes Together in Los Angeles’ in Soja

(ed.) Postmodern Geographies, London: Verso.

50.

SPLASHLIGHT MIAMI (2011) History of Miami Fashion <http://www.splashlightmiami.com/who-we-are/history-of-south-beach-fashion/> Accessed 25/10/2011.

51.

Stevens

(2008) ‘History and Health Policy in the United States, 1948-2008’, Social History of Medicine 21 (3): 461–483. [doi:://dx.doi.org/10.1093/shm/hkn063]

52.

Suchar

(2004) ‘Amsterdam and Chicago: Seeing the Macro-Characteristics of Gentrification’ in Knowles and Sweetman (Eds).

53.

Taylor

(1994) A Dream of England: Landscape, Photography and the Tourist's Imagination, Manchester: Manchester University Press.

54.

TODAY (n. d.) ‘The Top 10 Most Tattooed Cities in America’ http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38722211/ns/today-style/t/top-most-tattooed-cities-america/#.TpM8f81WCCU Accessed 8/04/2012

55.

Twigg

(2000) ‘Carework as a Form of Bodywork’, Ageing & Society 20 (4): 389–411. [doi:://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X99007801]

56.

Twigg

, Wolkowitz

, Cohen

R L

and Nettleton

(2011) ‘Conceptualising Body Work in Health and Social Care’, Sociology of Health and Illness 33 (2): 171–188. [doi:://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9566.2010.01323.x]

57.

Widding Isaksen

(2002) ‘Masculine Dignity and the Dirty Body’, NORA 10 (3): 137–46.

58.

Wolkowitz

(2011) ‘The Organizational Contours of Body Work’ in Jeanes

, Knight

and Yancy Martin

(Eds) Handbook of Gender, Work and Organization, Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.

59.

Wolkowitz

(2006) Bodies at Work, London: Sage.

60.

Wolkowitz

(2002) ‘The Social Relations of Body Work’, Work, Employment and Society 16 (3): 497–510. [doi:://dx.doi.org/10.1177/095001702762217452]

61.

YELLOW PAGES (2011a) Miami Beach modelling agencies <http://www.yellowpages.com/miami-beach-fl/modellingagencies?g=Miami+Beach+%2C+FL&q=modelling+agencies&order=distance> Accessed 10/11/2011.

62.

YELLOW PAGES (2011b) Miami Beach waxing salons <http://www.yellowpages.com/miami-beach-fl/salon-waxing?g=Miami+Beach%2C+FL&q=salon+waxing> Accessed 10/11/2011.

Flesh and Stone Revisited: The Body Work Landscape of South Florida

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References