Mechanisms of invisibility: rethinking the concept of invisible work

Abstract

In the mid-1980s, Daniels coined the term 'invisible work' to characterize those types of women's unpaid labour-housework and volunteer work-which had been culturally and economically devalued. Scholars have since applied this term to many types of labour, yet there is little clarity or consensus as to what 'invisibility' means and what mechanisms produce it. Through an in-depth analysis of this far-reaching literature, the present article seeks to reconstruct 'invisible work' as a more robust analytical concept. It argues that work is made invisible through three intersecting sociological mechanisms-here identified as cultural, legal and spatial mechanisms of invisibility. Though they differ in function and degree, each of these mechanisms obscures the fact that work is performed and therefore contributes to its economic devaluation. Ultimately, this revised concept of invisible work offers scholars a new analytic tool to untangle the systems that produce and reproduce disadvantage for workers.

Captive in Cycles of Invisibility? Prisoners’ Work for the Private Sector

“…It follows that invisible work is variously, 'physically out of sight … ignored or overlooked … socially marginalized … economically and/or culturally devalued … legally unprotected and unregulated … or some combination thereof.' (Hatton, 2017: 337; see also Daniels, 1987;Zatz, 2008).…”

“…In this respect, the typical prisoner's experience of socio-economic inequality reflects Hatton's (2017) mechanisms of invisibility which intersect in various settings to 'obscure the fact that work is being performed' (Hatton (2017: 345). It follows that invisible work is variously, 'physically out of sight … ignored or overlooked … socially marginalized … economically and/or culturally devalued … legally unprotected and unregulated … or some combination thereof.'…”

“…While originally applied to women's unpaid labour (Daniels, 1987), the definition of invisible work has come to encompass a wide range of devalued, noneconomic, informalised, casualised work in the current labour market (Hatton, 2015(Hatton, , 2017; see also Visser, 2017;Zatz and Boris, 2014). Accordingly, Hatton (2017: 346) has identified and theorised the 'sociological mechanisms' of social, economic, cultural, legal and spatial disadvantage that underpin such forms of work.…”

“…Accordingly, Hatton (2017: 346) has identified and theorised the 'sociological mechanisms' of social, economic, cultural, legal and spatial disadvantage that underpin such forms of work. Prison-labour is subject to a particularly comprehensive intersection of Hatton's (2017) 'mechanisms of disadvantage', being spatially segregated, legally excluded from the classification of employment and culturally, socially and economically devalued; thus, on multiple axes, it is a prime example of invisible, noneconomic work (see Zatz, 2008). This article explores prisoners' perceptions of their prison-work's rehabilitative potential in a context where a one-sided market exchange is present and their noneconomic, invisible but nevertheless productive labour at Bridgeville delivers pecuniary benefit for the institution and commercial firms.…”

“…First, prison-work's status as noneconomic, invisible work is reviewed and is placed in its wider context with reference to Hatton's (2017: 336) framework of mechanisms of invisibility. The second section outlines the research methods employed and the third presents the study's findings.…”