Neutral Accent: How Language, Labor, and Life Become Global

165 Pages·2015·1.67 MB·English

by  A. Aneesh

NEUTRAL ACCENT
Duke University Press Durham and London 2015
NEUTRAL
ACCENT
How Language, Labor, and Life Become Global
A. Aneesh
© 2015 Duke University Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper ♾
Typeset in Myriad Pro and Quadraat by Graphic Composition, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Aneesh, A. (Aneesh), 1964–
Neutral accent : how language, labor, and life become global / A. Aneesh.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8223-5846-6 (hardcover : alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-8223-5853-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-8223-7571-5 (e-book)
1. Call center agents—India—Gurgaon. 2. Call centers—India—Gurgaon.
3. Globalization. 4. Intercultural communication. i. Title.
he8789.i4a54 2015
381'.1—dc23
2014046257
Cover art: bpo, Bangalore, Kamataka, India. Photo by IndiaPicture/uig via Getty Images.
FOR ELIJAH, until the last breath and after

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Prologue: One World, Diverse Itineraries 1
1
Glimpsing an Urban Future: Divergent Tracks of Gurgaon 13
2
Inside a Call Center: Otherworldly Passages 35
3
Neutral Accent 53
4
System Identities: Divergent Itineraries and Uses of Personality 77
5
Nightly Clashes: Diurnal Body, Nocturnal Labor, Neutral Markets 101
Epilogue: The Logic of Indifference 127
References 137
Index 151
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Had I not taken half a dozen years to complete this book, I would have pre-
vented names from slipping through the cracks in memory, and I will not
have to face the anxiety of ingratitude. Perhaps I needed to start an acknowl-
edgment section before starting the manuscript, as debts began to accumu-
late long before the manuscript took shape. Now I succumb to the cheap
trick of apologizing to those whose help, though scattered through the
pages ahead, remains unacknowledged.
Let me begin by thanking the MacArthur Foundation for funding field
research in India, including research assistance, equipment, and all other
expenses during 2004–5 (Grant No. 03–80081–000- gss). I also thank two
research assistants, Sabil Francis and Rosmin Matthew, who were graduate
students at Jawaharlal Nehru University at the time, and partners in research.
A couple of years later I was fortunate to receive a resident fellowship at the
School for Advanced Research (sar) in Santa Fe, allowing me to reflect back
on field research, analyze the material, read a lot, and write a bit. I felt deeply
supported by the sar’s president at the time, James Brooks, and his sociolo-
gist wife, Rebecca Allahyari, who made critical comments and suggestions on
early presentations and writing. I must also thank my colleagues at the sar—
Graham St. John, Barbara Rose Johnston, Eric Haanstad, Noenoe K. Silva,
Julie Velasquez—whose intellectual and gastronomical companionship was
crucial to that magical year of contemplation and New Mexican cuisine. Had I
concentrated less on eating out in Santa Fe, I would have probably completed