ABSTRACT

Despite a symbolic shift toward ‘emotional taint’ in dirty work literature, the role of the workplace has not been studied in relation to socially admired professions, such as corporate social responsibility (CSR) work. This article carries out an in-depth, critical examination of CSR as an emotionally tainted occupation in Japan. Its findings, substantiated by an analysis of 34 CSR workers’ rhetoric, help conceptualise ‘internal uselessness’. This emerges when workers feel their organisations publicly foster an image of their work that is decoupled from its internal reality, assigning them chief tasks they consider irrelevant. This leads to negative consequences that damage their workplace social relationships, professional aspirations and emotional well-being. The findings ultimately show that these CSR workers in Japan attempt to counterbalance internal uselessness through a social quest with peers outside their workplace, but also manage their emotions by rationalising their job status as inescapable, influenced by situated commitment norms.

摘要

尽管在肮脏的工作文献中象征性地朝着“情感污点”转移，但尚未就工作场所的作用与社会上受尊敬的职业（例如企业社会责任（CSR）工作）进行研究。本文对CSR进行了深入的批判性研究，认为CSR在日本是一种受到情感污染的职业。通过对34位CSR工人的言论的分析证实了其发现，该发现有助于概念化“内部无用”。当工人感觉自己的组织公开树立了与其内部现实脱节的工作形象时，就会出现这种情况，将他们认为无关紧要的主要任务分配给他们。这会导致负面后果，损害他们的工作场所社会关系，职业抱负和情感幸福感。