"Embodying" dirty work: a review of the literature

This article reviews the growing literature on dirty work i.e. work that is seen as disgusting or degrading and argues for a more ‘embodied' understanding of such work. It points to a tendency in the literature to focus on the nature of the task or role and on social and moral dimensions of the work at the expense of its material and embodied aspects. The latter are discussed through three, interrelated themes: ‘embodied suitability' whereby forms of dirty work are seen as suitable for some ‘working bodies' and not for others; ‘staining' which is presented as both a material and a symbolic process; and the role of work practices in both supporting and undermining ideological constructions around the work. The article concludes by arguing for a more comprehensive approach which includes both the material and the symbolic into accounts of such work.