Workers must now perform enthusiasm for work rather than merely perform the work.

Evidence

Being exploited is no longer enough. The nature of labour now is such that almost anyone, no matter how menial their position, is required to be seen (over)investing in their work. What we are forced into is not merely work, in the old sense of undertaking an activity we don’t want to perform; no, now we are forced to act as if we want to work. Even if we want to work in a burger franchise, we have to prove that, like reality TV contestants, we really want it. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1705

Categorization

• SEED: The emotional-affective labor demand — forced to act as if you want the burger-franchise job — is a concrete hook for writing about service-work affect management.
• XREF: connects to: Society compels laborers to sublimate diversionary drives into focused work — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1409; Service jobs require workers to perform and suppress feelings for pay — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 506; Industrial work rationalization requires reshaping workers’ entire mode of living, not just their labor — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1117 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Emotional performance at work becomes commodified labor when feelings are bought and sold. #expands (0.85) — Theresa M. Senft, Camgirls, 105
• Service jobs require workers to perform and suppress feelings for pay #expands (0.82) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 506
• Rationalized labor discipline requires directing nervous energy away from passion #expands (0.78) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1124
• Society compels laborers to sublimate diversionary drives into focused work #expands (0.75) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1409
• Industrial work rationalization requires reshaping workers’ entire mode of living, not just their labor #expands (0.72) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1117
• Slash-career workers pursue passion projects chiefly for income in uncertain labor markets #qualifies (0.72) — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love, 14