Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/15258
Title: ‘Cool’ Meanings: Tattoo Artists, Body Work and Organizational ‘Bodyscape’
Authors: Simpson, R
Pullen, A
Keywords: aesthetic labour;body work;‘cool’;tattooing
Issue Date: 2017
Publisher: SAGE Publications on behalf of The British Sociological Association
Citation: Simpson, R. and Pullen, A. (2018) ‘'Cool’ Meanings: Tattoo Artists, Body Work and Organizational ‘Bodyscape’', Work, Employment and Society, 32(1), pp. 169-185. doi: 10.1177/0950017017741239.
Abstract: This article analyses the meanings tattooists as ‘body workers’ construct around their work. Based on an ethnographic study, the research finds that tattooists adhere to notions of non-conformity, unconventional artistry and professionalism. We locate these meanings within the cultural values and aesthetics of ‘cool’ as an admired set of attributes and displays which enable tattooists to manage some of the tensions of the work. Combining Bourdieu’s concept of habitus with Gagliardi’s notion of landscape, we develop the idea of ‘bodyscape’ to further an integrated understanding of body work as spatialized and embodied i.e. one which incorporates the significance of spatial practices and artefacts, the bodies of those worked upon and the embodied dispositions of workers.
URI: https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/15258
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0950017017741239
ISSN: 0950-0170
Appears in Collections:Brunel Business School Research Papers

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
FullText.pdf986.07 kBAdobe PDFView/Open


Items in BURA are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.