Revista Española de Sociología (RES) 2019 © Federación Española de Sociología doi:10.22325/fes/res.2019.40 Artículos / Articles Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work / Códigos de barras, motricidad y estética. La corporeización del trabajo de cajera *Oriol Barranco Centre d’Estudis Sociològics sobre la Vida Quotidiana i el Treball (QUIT), Institut d’Estudis del Treball, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, España / Spain oriol.barranco@uab.cat Recibido / Received: 26/01/2019 Aceptado / Accepted: 10/04/2019 ABSTRACT RESUMEN Few empirical studies have analysed the process Existen muy pocos estudios empíricos que analicen of formation and/or transformation of disposi- el proceso de formación y/o transformación de dis- tions from the perspective of Bourdieu’s analytical posiciones desde el marco analítico de Bourdieu o framework or the closely related one of Lahire. This el cercano de Lahire. El artículo contribuye a paliar article helps alleviate this problem by studying the este problema con un estudio sobre el proceso de embodiment of work organization by new cashiers corporeización de la organización del trabajo por in a hypermarket. This question is approached from parte de las nuevas cajeras de un hipermercado. the dual perspective of Bourdieu’s analysis of body La cuestión se aborda desde la doble dimensión care and dispositional dynamics. The data were ob- de análisis de Bourdieu del cuidado corporal y las tained from an ethnographic study with participant dinámicas disposicionales. Los datos provienen de observation that closely followed Wacquant’s car- una etnografía con observación participante que nal sociology proposal. The article shows that two siguió de cerca la propuesta de sociología carnal processes take place as the cashiers strive to learn: de Wacquant. El artículo muestra que durante el first, the adaptation of generic dispositions to the aprendizaje de las cajeras, que exige de su esfuer- new situations of the hypermarket; and second, zo, tienen lugar dos procesos. Primero, una adap- the incorporation of new specific gestural and mo- tación de disposiciones genéricas que se tenían a tor dispositions and the memorization of technical las nuevas situaciones del hipermercado. Segundo, procedures, protocols and barcodes. una incorporación de nuevas disposiciones espe- cíficas gestuales y motrices y la memorización de procedimientos técnicos, protocolos y códigos de barras. Keywords: embodiment, dispositions, carnal Palabras clave: corporeización, disposiciones, sociology, Bourdieu, neo-Taylorism. sociología carnal, Bourdieu, neotaylorismo. *Autor para correspondencia / Corresponding author: Oriol Barranco. Centre d’Estudis Sociològics sobre la Vida Quotidiana i el Treball (QUIT). Institut d’Estudis del Treball. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Sugerencia de cita / Suggested citation: Barranco, O. (2019). Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work. Revista Española de Sociología, 28 (3, supl. 2), 99-117. (Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.22325/fes/res.2019.40) RES n.º 28 (3, supl. 2) (2019) pp. 99-117. ISSN: 1578-2824 99 Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work INTRODUCTION which is a second way to embody work organization. These empirical results on the dynamics of dispo- In late 2005, as part of the ethnographic field sitional change are an important contribution, be- work for my PhD thesis, I worked for two months cause few empirical studies have addressed the as a cashier in a hypermarket located in the met- issue from the perspective of Bourdieu analytical ropolitan area of a large Spanish city. Inspired by framework or the closely related one of Lahire. To my Bourdieu’s (1972, 1977, 1999, 2008) analysis of knowledge, the only studies that have done so are the body, furthered by Wacquant through his pro- those dedicated to the formation of habitus in box- posal of carnal sociology (1995, 2004, 2005) and ers (Wacquant, 1995, 2004) and forest firefighters Lahire’s (2002, 2003, 2012) studies of dispositions, (Desmond, 2007). I analysed the learning process followed by the new The research carried out applied the line of work hypermarket cashiers. The article considers two opened by these studies to a very different activity. questions: what dispositions do new cashiers ac- Whereas boxing and firefighting are masculinized, quire in this process and how do they acquire them? qualified activities with high levels of autonomy in The article attempts to respond to these ques- their execution, cashier work is feminized, poorly tions using Bourdieu’s conceptions that we learn qualified and organized under neo-Taylorist criteria “with the body” (2008: 118) and that learning that leave far less autonomy to do the job. crystallizes in the incorporation of social structures The article shows that the learning and social- in the form of bodily dispositions. Dispositions are ization of new cashiers involve two different pro- propensities to perceive, feel, think and behave in a cesses in relation to dispositions. The first process certain way that have been learned in past socializ- consists of adapting generic dispositions acquired ing experiences and have been recorded in the form from the socializations prior to hiring (school, of body memory. They are propensities because they family, previous work experience, etc.) to the new are only used or activated in situations that require situations of the hypermarket. Specifically, the fol- their mobilization. Also following Bourdieu (1977, lowing dispositions to act are adapted: basic skills 2008), the body is investigated from the dual per- of reading and writing, body care and personal spective of analysis of body care (clothing, aesthet- interaction management and those of obedience, ics, diet, etc.) and the dispositional dynamics. discipline, responsibility and effort. The second The dispositions of the cashiers are studied process is one of habituation (Noble and Watkins, without considering whether they constitute a 2003), through which cashiers undergo a sedimen- habitus and analysing only those of the type that tation (Wacquant, 1995) of new, specific gestural Lahire (2002, 2012) calls dispositions to act (“dis- and motor dispositions and memorize procedures, positions à agir”). These are propensities to act or protocols and barcodes. Both processes are pos- behave in a certain way and do not include beliefs sible thanks to the active role and effort of the new or moral and ideological convictions, which La- cashiers, who learn quickly under the implicit pres- hire calls dispositions to believe (“dispositions à sure of having to do so to keep their jobs, which croire”). often makes them tense and nervous. The article shows that cashiers embody work organization in the form of body aesthetics when performing the aesthetic component of their work, EMBODIMENT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE which consists in adapting their body image to OF BOURDIEU’S ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK the company regulations. It thus provides a new example of work that involves this type of embodi- Body care and the incorporation of dispositions ment, which has been documented for many other in Bourdieu jobs dealing with the public in the service sector (e. g. Witz et al., 2003; Wolkowitz, 2006: 86-89). Bourdieu analyses the body from the dual However, the article also shows that new cashiers perspective of body care and the incorporation of modify their dispositions as they learn the trade, dispositions. This analysis is linked to his notion RES n.º 28 (3, supl. 2) (2019) pp. 99-117. ISSN: 1578-2824 100 Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work of habitus as a “system of durable and transfer- with analogous demands produce a congruent and able dispositions” (Bourdieu, 1972: 17)1. The dis- integrated habitus, while those with divergent de- positions of habitus develop progressively through mands generate conflicting or tense dispositions the socialization experiences that people undergo that cause irregular patterns of action (Moreno- throughout life, from the first experiences in the Pestaña, 2004; Wacquant, 2016: 69). family to those in school and adult life. Habitus The acquired dispositions provide a practical collects and stores the effect of the institutions sense (Bourdieu, 2008: 107; 1999: 242-243), that in which a person has had socializing experiences is, tacit skills and knowledge that allow people to (Wacquant, 2016: 68-69). It is formed through behave “appropriately” (Goffman, 1979), or “as socializations according to family origin and the one should” (Bourdieu, 1999: 184) according to the social environment of growth (neighbourhood, demands of the situation. This is not a mechani- school, etc.) and life trajectories marked by class, cal and determined process, but a generative one gender, ethnicity, etc. (Bourdieu, 1999: 89), because habitus is a “gram- Habitus is acquired cumulatively (Cicourel, mar” (Alonso, 2004: 220) or a practice-generating 1995: 90). The dispositions that people acquire matrix. It is the matrix of cognitive schemata that in an institution condition their behaviour and the people use to interpret the world and behave in it. incorporation and/or transformation of dispositions The capacity to adapt behaviour to the situational in later socializing experiences (Bourdieu, 1999: requirements depends on dispositions. Therefore, 211). In addition, the general habitus includes situations that are the same as or similar to oth- specific habitus composed of the dispositions ers previously experienced are easy to deal with be- obtained through immersion in a specific field of cause we have the dispositions to respond to them professional or leisure activity. Therefore, there are appropriately (Bourdieu, 2008). By contrast, new the specific habitus of miners, farmers, musicians, situations involve difficulties, and we are some- teachers and entrepreneurs. times unable to adopt the required behaviour be- Habitus is acquired through the body through cause we do not have the right dispositions. a process of practical familiarization and mimesis (Bourdieu, 2008: 120-121). A person apprehends —or remembers and reinforces— the rules and Developments based on or related to Bourdieu social structures that govern each situation that is experienced. Experiences of composure, verbal Bourdieu’s analysis of the body and the con- codes and behaviours considered correct in given cept of habitus are of great value and utility. How- situations involve an “implicit pedagogy” that is ever, as several authors point out, Bourdieu did not unthought and unconscious, through which people empirically document or sufficiently explain the incorporate, in the form of dispositions, the catego- dynamics of formation and transformation of dis- ries and principles of perception, evaluation and positions (Cicourel, 1995: 111; Lahire, 2001: 129; behaviour that organize the situation (Bourdieu, Noble and Watkins, 2003: 524-525; Frère, 2011: 2008: 112). In this way, social structures are re- 253). Nevertheless, these issues can be addressed corded in the mind or body (Barranco, 2003: 196). through their own analytical framework (Noble and The process of incorporating dispositions is not Watkins, 2003; Frère, 2011), as has been done in a a simple reflection of social structures (Bourdieu: few empirical works. 2008: 119) but depends on the redundancy and ho- Some authors have used observational data to mology or discordance and tension between the sit- reveal interactions-conversations that would con- uations experienced. Organizations and situations tribute to the formation of habitus. Cicourel (2004) studied two mothers who strive to make their re- spective children behave suitably, and O’Mahoney 1 For a review of Bourdieu’s analyses of the body, see Moreno-Pestaña (2004), and for reviews of the concept (2007) studied three discussions of employees of habitus, see Martin-Criado (2009), Wacquant (2016) about the fairness of their working conditions that and Martínez-García (2017). would intervene in the formation of the ethical RES n.º 28 (3, supl. 2) (2019) pp. 99-117. ISSN: 1578-2824 101 Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work conceptions of their habitus. They are both valu- habitus of the profession. He argues that the dis- able studies, but they fail to capture the process of positions that firefighters had prior to their hiring formation of dispositions because they are based (as a result of their rural, male and working-class on data from a single moment. socialization) connect with the demands of the pro- Other authors have used biographical interview fession. Once employed, through formal and infor- data to analyse the synchronous evolution of dispo- mal training and learning they acquire the specific sitions. Moreno-Pestaña (2006a) shows the emer- dispositions that make up the firefighter’s habitus. gence of the disposition of self-control related to This article investigates the embodiment of the body and food in people with eating disorders work organization by cashiers using Bourdieu’s and, subsequently (2006b), the battle of dehabitu- (1972, 1977, 1999, 2008) analytical framework ation through therapies. Rabot (2015) identifies an on embodiment, the later work on this framework ethos of reading (how to read, advise, etc.) among by Wacquant (1995, 2004, 2005), and Lahire’s librarians that is prior to and reinforced by their (2002, 2003, 2012) proposal to thoroughly analyse employment. Finally, Lahire (2002, 2003, 2012) dispositions without using the concept of habitus. investigates people’s dispositions using his own It therefore studies a work process in the service analytical framework, sharing many of Bourdieu’s sector in which neo-Taylorist organizational prin- ideas but diverging from the assumptions that all ciples are applied (Barranco, 2007). Neo-Taylorism dispositions are permanent and that they can be involves the adaptation of the principles of classi- grouped in a habitus (2012: 40-42). Lahire (2002) cal industrial Taylorism to current work processes, proposes and develops more detailed and thorough taking advantage of new technological possibili- analyses of dispositions, their formation processes, ties. Its principles are to divide and simplify tasks, their dynamics of permanence and change, and streamline processes, control performance and au- their transfers from the contexts of production to tomate where possible. These principles have been those of mobilization. widely applied since the 1980s in large industrial All these contributions are very valuable, but and service companies (Chennoufi, 2015: 85), in- they also fail to capture the process of formation cluding supermarkets and hypermarkets (Barranco, and/or transformation of dispositions because of 2007). the limitations of the interview data. The data are conditioned by being a present reinterpretation of the past, and people have limited memories (Noble METHODOLOGY and Watkins, 2003) and only partial awareness of their learning processes. The article is based on the ethnographic study Wacquant (1995; 2004) and Desmond (2007) carried out by the author for his PhD thesis, which do manage to capture the process through ethno- was aimed at studying labour consent and resis- graphic studies with participant observation. Wac- tance (Barranco, 2010). The study consisted of sev- quant explains and documents the formation of the eral field visits from September 2005 to December boxer’s habitus. He dissects the technical, gestural 2008. From the set of data collected, the article and moral dispositions that compose it and how is based on those obtained through the following they are formed in the continuous “pedagogical methods: two and a half months of participant work” carried out in training. Through the imita- observation, which included the selection process tion and repetition of the gestures and movements and two months working as a part-time cashier; made by experts and the corrections of the coach, informal conversations with co-workers during this a gradual process of incorporation of bodily and period; analysis of institutional documents that are mental schemata called sedimentation (1995: 72) given to new cashiers; twelve semi-structured in- takes place. The process requires a great effort terviews with cashiers about their employment tra- and sacrifice by novice boxers. Desmond (2007) jectory and experience in the hypermarket, carried analyses the transformation of the general habitus out after the observation; and ten informative inter- of people hired as forest firefighters to the specific views with trade unionists about business policies, RES n.º 28 (3, supl. 2) (2019) pp. 99-117. ISSN: 1578-2824 102 Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work working conditions and the characteristics of the terviewees. Therefore, the analysis of the data was workforce. based on those from my own experience, which were The participant observation closely followed compared and triangulated whenever possible with the type of observation proposed by Wacquant those from one or both of the other sources. When (2005, 2004) for his carnal sociology, which aims this was not possible, only data from my personal to study the creation of the dispositions that make experience were used. The results indicate the up habitus. It is a sociology “not only of the body, source of the data in each case and the royal “we” in the sense of object, but also from the body, that is never used. is, deploying the body as a tool of inquiry and vec- tor of knowledge” (Wacquant, 2004: viii). Thus, if ethnographic observation has been considered THE PROCESS AND CONDITIONS OF CASHIER the most appropriate method for studying habitus WORK (Bourdieu, 1972; Cicourel, 2004; Desmond, 2007; Sánchez-García and Spencer, 2013), the partici- The cashier department studied is part of a hy- pant observation proposed for carnal sociology has permarket with 280 employees, of whom 125 are the originality of using the researchers’ bodily expe- cashiers. The aim of the cashiers’ work process is rience while they learn an activity as the centre for to charge customers and contribute to their loy- data collection and analysis. The participant obser- alty. The process has three components: the physi- vation must therefore involve a deep and lasting cal work, which consists of passing the products immersion in the practice and in the micro-world over the barcode scanner or typing their price and in which dispositions are acquired. It consists in swiping the card or receiving cash and returning observing and analysing experience to convert car- the change; the work that since Hochschild (1983) nality into a “resource for the production of socio- has been called emotional and that at checkouts logical knowledge” (Wacquant, 2013: 197). consists of controlling one’s emotions and trying to Following this orientation, my participant ob- generate good feelings in the customers (Soares, servation focused on collecting data on my own 1998); and, finally, the work that Witz et al. (2003) learning process of cashier work and was comple- call aesthetic and that the cashiers perform by mented with data from informal conversations adapting their image to the institutional require- with four fellow workers about their experience. ments. The conversations were held at various times of It is an organized work process, as Barranco the working day (before, during and after it) on the (2010: 279-289) explains, based on combining first two days, at least once a day on the following neo-Taylorist criteria with the principle that J. P. four days, and on a regular basis in the subsequent Durand (2004) calls the king-client. The service is weeks. The data were recorded through daily field organized to make customers feel that the company notes taken mostly just after the working day and is offering all possible advantages and facilities. sometimes during breaks. In addition, in the twelve The application of neo-Taylorist criteria has gradu- interviews with cashiers I asked about their learn- ally rationalized the work process by dividing and ing experiences. The four cashiers who had been simplifying tasks; applying patterns, protocols and trained a few months earlier provided relevant data rules to technical procedures, to the aesthetic im- on their personal process. The rest of the interview- age and to behaviours; applying computing and ees offered less information about their learning automation where possible; and monitoring perfor- experiences because their memories were more dis- mance and compliance with the rules. tant, but some contributed interesting impressions The introduction of computers, as Prunier-Poul- of the learning process of new cashiers. maire (2000) explains, has allowed the checkouts Logically, the data of my own experience have to be connected to a central computer that records a far greater wealth, depth and detail than those the individual activity of each cashier: items billed obtained through conversations with my four fellow per minute, customers served per hour, time be- workers and the reconstructed memories of the in- tween customers, number of mistakes made, etc. RES n.º 28 (3, supl. 2) (2019) pp. 99-117. ISSN: 1578-2824 103 Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work Specialized software is used to calculate the opti- suffer an anti-union management policy based on mum number of cashiers at any given time accord- the setting up and promotion of a “yellow” or pro- ing to the customer flow forecast for the time of day, management union that hinders the development day of the week, time of the month, etc. of class unions (Barranco, 2010: 465-472; 2011: The work process follows a design of what J. P. 32-33)3. Durand (2004: 147-154) called tight flow. A work process with this design fights the porosity of work by trying to build a continuous flow of matter, in this THE EMBODIMENT OF CASHIER WORK case of customers and products (Bernard, 2005). The customers in the queue place pressure on the This section reconstructs the learning process cashier’s pace of work, which is complemented by of new cashiers and their embodiment of work or- the context of urgency generated by the calculation ganization. The process is not explained on a daily of the optimal number of cashiers and the manage- basis but in stages, in each of which the moments ment’s requirement of good individual performance and elements analytically found to be key are docu- in order to achieve job improvements (renewal of mented. Four chronologically ordered stages are temporary contracts, transformation of these into presented: staff selection, training, the first days of stable ones, better schedules, etc.). The cashiers work and, finally, the stage when the work has been must thus combine a fast passage of the products mastered sufficiently. with good attention to the customers. The result is a work with imperfect standard- ization (Bernard, 2005). While most physical and The preliminary stage. The selection aesthetic work procedures are highly standardized, of generically “willing” and competent people emotional work largely resists standardization and to work as cashiers is guided by a few detailed protocols (explained be- low) and the generic precept of “good treatment” After presenting the CV, I was summoned, of customers. together with nine other men and ten women, to The management’s use of numerical flexibility the first group interview for staff selection, which means that the cashiers have different employment lasted about an hour. The meeting began with statuses. They can be grouped into three segments: a promotional explanation of the benefits of the cashiers with stable, full-time or almost full-time company’s jobs. Next, we were told that no specific contracts (40 or 36 hours per week), who account prior training was required to be employed in the for 9 %; those with stable contracts working part- company and we were required to state in public time (20 h per week) and those contracted for the our level of education, work experience, motivation weekend, who account for 32 % and 5.5 %, re- to work in the company, time availability and pre- spectively; those with temporary contracts working ferred job position and branch. From the answers, it part-time or weekends, who account for 45 % and was clear that all the women were applying for the 1.5 %, respectively; and finally 7 % of the cashiers cashier position and I was the only man. A “self- who are on training contracts2. pre-selection selection” based on sex is found, as The working conditions of the cashiers can be Bouffartigue and Pendariès (1994: 344-345) found characterized as poor: low salary, poorly qualified for this job in France. work with low recognition and social prestige, little Most interview attendees behaved “appropri- training and limited possibilities for promotion and ately” (Goffman, 1979), or “as one should” (Bour- career development. Most cashiers have afternoon- dieu, 1999: 89). We arrived early to show punctual- evening schedules ending after 10 pm and many ity, dressed in formal clothes and “well-groomed” temporary workers have variable schedules and (the women wearing makeup and the men shaved), working days. The workers of the hypermarket also 3 On this policy in the sector, see Barranco (2007) and, 2 Data from 01/31/2007. especially, Martín-Criado and Carvajal-Soria (2016). RES n.º 28 (3, supl. 2) (2019) pp. 99-117. ISSN: 1578-2824 104 Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work and during the interview we followed the instruc- Stage 1. The trainee who strives to learn tions at all times. A few applicants, however, the fundamentals urgently in the welcoming showed an “inappropriate” behaviour that may sessions have conditioned their chances of being recruited. Two attendees arrived twenty minutes late and The welcoming sessions for recently hired work- three wore sportswear. ers last only two days and consist in teaching them The workers chosen were asked a few days later the minimum necessary for them to start working. to attend a personal interview. The bulk of my inter- The sessions on behaviour and technical procedures view focused on checking whether I would endure must be characterized more as “basic instructions” the cashier work and whether I would know how than “training”, as reported by Martín-Artiles and to correctly manage interactions with customers4. Lope (1999) regarding another hypermarket. In ad- Nothing was asked about other skills, probably be- dition, the sessions did not indicate the necessary cause they were taken for granted from the CV. obedience behaviour of workers, literacy and numer- Through this process, the management tries acy skills, management of interactions with clients to hire people for the cashier’s job who apparently or care of the body image. It can be deduced that have four characteristics: first, basic generic lit- this is because it was not necessary because the eracy skills and abilities, management of personal vast majority of new workers will normally behave interactions with strangers and aesthetic care; “appropriately” or “as one should”, which neces- second, the dispositions of obedience, discipline, sarily implies having the dispositions for doing so. responsibility and effort; third, acceptance of the This is also the case, as will be seen below, with the contractual conditions; and fourth, ability to endure behaviour of the observed workers. the routine and monotonous work of checkouts. If The welcoming sessions consisted of the fol- the selection process has worked, the hired people lowing three moments. have the generic dispositions that will allow them to learn quickly from the work and have a behaviour that is “appropriate” to their position as employees Moment 1: first transmission of discipline rules who do the work designed by others under a hierar- chy of authority. At a meeting to which I was summoned to sign The management’s search for people with these the employment contract, also attended by four qualities, together with the type of candidates who women and three other men, we were given two apply for the cashier position, had formed between documents: one of general regulations for all hyper- September 2005 and December 2008 a highly market workers (e. g. how to clock in and out) and feminized cashier staff (between 95 % and 100 % one of rules, tips and some checkout protocols, all women, depending on the time), with a majority repeated orally the next day. At the end of the meet- of female workers with medium and low levels of ing, we were provided with work uniforms and the education and a significant number of young stu- aesthetic care rules were explained to the cashiers. dents undertaking secondary and higher education. The uniform had to be always clean and ironed, and In addition, most of the workforce had a lower- or these tasks had to be performed by us outside the working-class social origin; in 2007 and 2008 the working day. The shoes, to be provided by us, had presence of immigrants, most of them of Latin to be black and “smart”. Finally, we must be “well- American origin, increased to almost 40 %. In early groomed”, which meant wearing clean hair with a 2007, the age composition of the cashier staff was ponytail or bun if it was long, women wearing “dis- 1 % under 20, 31 % between 21 and 30, 40 % be- creet” make-up and men being clean-shaven. In tween 31 and 40, and the remaining 28 % over 40 addition, wearing piercings, earrings, necklaces or years. ostentatious rings was prohibited. The company exercised its power through these rules and the newcomers behaved appropriately 4 See the main questions in Barranco (2010: 330-331). by being attentive and listening to the instructors, RES n.º 28 (3, supl. 2) (2019) pp. 99-117. ISSN: 1578-2824 105 Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work showing obedient behaviour and recognition of au- cal), the conveyor belt at the front and back of the thority. scanner, the telephone to communicate with the checkout supervisor, the security tag remover, and products for keeping the counter clean (see Fi­ Moment 2: the “theoretical” training gure 1). At all times the five trainees showed interest The next day I began the training, which I fol- in the instructor’s explanations and willingness to lowed along with four female workers, two around make an effort. This is suggested by the fact that, 20 years of age and two between 25 and 30. The without anyone having told us to do so, we had all training was divided into two parts, the first “theo- brought a notebook and pen in case we had to take retical” and the second on-the-job. notes, and by the comments and questions of the The training began with the instructor, a head trainees: “How interesting!”, “That’s really well of cashiers, reviewing the body image of the five set up!” and “How should we do this?” I had the trainees5. After checking our scrupulous compli- impression that these expressions showed interest ance with the regulations, she gave us her approv- in a somewhat exaggerated way, thus being a par- al: “You look perfect: very good-looking and smart”. ticular type of practice that Venceslao and Delgado With this adaptation of our image we carried out (2017: 200) call exhibitionist, consisting of appro- the aesthetic component of the work and thus em- priate but premeditatedly exaggerated behaviours. bodied the rules in the form of a body image. In this case the exaggerations were produced by the Undoubtedly, this behaviour came from our desire to project an image of interest and capacity willingness and effort to offer an image of “compli- for effort. ance”, presumably motivated by our desire to keep In the second part of the theoretical training, our jobs. We knew it was in our best interest to con- for 1:40 minutes the instructor used a video to vey this image to the head/trainer, as evidenced by present the tasks to be performed and some in- the fact that before the training all five of us had structions. We were told that throughout the day spontaneously checked each other for compliance we would be at the checkout counter and would with the rules. perform four tasks: charging, informing customers We were able to adopt this behaviour because of any offers or promotions of which we had been we had the dispositions to do so, including obedi- notified, making sure that customers paid for all ence and the skills of body care. We had to have products purchased, and keeping the checkout both skills prior to our recruitment, as we were ap- counter tidy and clean. plying them before starting the training. Therefore, In addition, we were taught the technical pro- we necessarily had to have learned them in previ- cedures for operating the conveyor belt, the barcode ous work and/or situations or experiences outside scanner, the cash register, the security tag remov- work. This is logical because, as stated above, er, etc. We were also informed of the protocols for people with these dispositions are sought in the charging, bagging (e. g. fish and frozen food have staff selection. to be bagged) and hidden surveillance. The in- Then we began the theoretical training, which structor explained the protocol of interaction with consisted of two parts. In the first, the instructor customers, which is an adaptation of the usual showed us the hypermarket in a ten-minute walk SBAG (the Spanish acronym for “Smile, Good morn- and the checkout line in ten more minutes. She ing, Goodbye, Thank you” - Sonreír, Buenos días, explained the types of checkout (normal, home Adiós, Gracias): in each interaction the cashiers delivery, fewer than ten items, etc.) and the parts must start by looking into the eyes, smiling and and instruments of the checkout counter: the cash greeting the customer; throughout the interaction register, the barcode scanner (horizontal and verti- they must avoid showing signs of fatigue and/or apathy and always be friendly, pleasant, cheerful, 5 From that moment on, the feminine pronouns were used patient and available to the demands, complaints to refer to the cashiers, including myself. and claims of customers; the interaction must end RES n.º 28 (3, supl. 2) (2019) pp. 99-117. ISSN: 1578-2824 106 Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work Figure 1. Checkout counter. 1. Cash register 5. Rollers   9. Security tag remover 2. Conveyor belt 1 6. Chair 10. Security tag detector 3. Coveyor belt 2 7. Gate 11. Conveyor belt control panel 4. Scanner 8. Drawers with the mandatory farewell and/or thanks; and the agement trusts the people hired to have the skills to cashiers must always address customers using the make the right decisions or, at least, not very wrong formal usted pronoun6. ones, and to polish their responses on the basis of With these rules and protocols the manage- poorly resolved interactions. Several of the cashiers ment tries to control and standardize the physical interviewed appeared to be skilled in dealing with and emotional components of the work. Regarding customers before being hired by the hypermarket. In the latter, we were not told how to deal with any several cases, moreover, prior to their current em- problems that might arise in the interaction with ployment as cashiers they had done work requiring customers. It can thus be deduced that the man- these skills (see table 1). Antonia, for example, had previously worked as a waitress and, when asked 6 Usted in Spanish is the polite form for “you” that is about how she learned to combine the many tasks used for addressing strangers and more distinguished of cashiers, she told me: “being nice [to customers] people. was already natural to me”. RES n.º 28 (3, supl. 2) (2019) pp. 99-117. ISSN: 1578-2824 107 Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work The behaviour of the trainees continued as at- give customers all the information about promo- tentive listening and we tried to memorize and write tions. In addition, I was surprised to see that ca- down what each of us thought was important, thus shiers knew various barcodes by heart, which is applying simple writing skills. This was an appro- a form of embedding work organization into their priately disciplined and responsible behaviour that memory. Later I saw that many of them were proud was linked to our need to learn the instructions of and satisfied with this memorization, as it allowed the work and to continue giving an image of good them to charge faster. Furthermore, many cashiers workers to the supervisor/instructor. had turned this memorization into a game or chal- lenge in the sense of Roy (1953) and Burawoy (1979). It was about seeing who knew more codes Moment 3: on-the-job training by heart. Without interruption, we began the on-the-job training, which lasted two days: three hours in the The first practical trials same morning, the afternoon of the same day, and the morning and afternoon of the following day. On the same afternoon and the next morning, the trainees began to try out the work on a practical level for short periods under the supervision of the Watching carefully and memorizing as much fellow cashiers/instructors, who were behind each as possible of us. The five trainees then found that we did not have the gestural and perceptual body mechanics The method consisted of placing each trainee to perform the procedures correctly and quickly, and at a checkout counter next to a fellow cashier who, that we had not memorized all the protocols and while doing her job, acted as an instructor. The procedures we had to follow. We therefore went ex- content of the training was not formalized and the tremely slowly, always making mistakes or forget- learning was done informally. Each worker showed ting some aspect of the sequence to follow in each us the job and commented on what she considered interaction. appropriate. The trainees observed, asked ques- We felt clumsy and unable to perform the nec- tions and tried to memorize as much as they could essary sequence of actions and movements at the of what they thought was necessary. Each trainee required speed. This was confirmed in a conversa- repeated this process with four or five different fel- tion in which my four fellow trainees mentioned the low workers. Basically, all the cashiers/instructors same problems. However, we received the valuable offered the same content but each one empha- encouragement of three veteran cashiers who told sized different things. Most of the fellow cashiers/ us they had also gone through the same initial instructors showed helpful behaviour towards the problems, even imagining that they would not be trainees, which greatly facilitated our adaptation to able to do the work, but that later, like the rest of the job. According to the interviews, this behaviour the cashiers, they soon developed the right skills. was shown to all new cashiers. The same feelings of initial clumsiness and inca- The first observations already showed the dis- pacity were also noted by the interviewed cashiers tance between the job description and the actual (see Table 1). Personally, I noticed difficulty in the work, which was confirmed by subsequent obser- following: vations. Cashiers clearly develop working methods different from the official ones to make work easier — The technique of checking out the prod- and/or less tiring. Some of these methods are tricks ucts: they often went too fast or too far and the (Coller, 1997) that do not violate the rules, while scanner did not read them, and they sometimes others are fiddles (edwards, 1990) that do violate went too slowly or in the wrong position and were them. For example, cashiers sometimes do not bag scanned twice; I also had problems finding many everything indicated by the rules or do not always of the barcodes. RES n.º 28 (3, supl. 2) (2019) pp. 99-117. ISSN: 1578-2824 108 Table 1. Summary of experiences of the interviewed cashiers. Data Feelings Stages 1-2 Stage 3 Pseudonym, age, class family origin, completed Time in Tension on Help from Automation Days to first Previous jobs Difficulty/ or ongoing education the job the first few Somatic symptoms fellow of mechani- technical inability days workers cal tasks mastery Lucia, 20, working class, primary; Latin American Department store, factory 7 months Yes High Fatigue, stomach Yes Yes 10-12 immigrant pain Vanessa, 24, working class, HVT Call centre operator, 8 months Yes High Fatigue Yes Yes 12 waitress Maria, 25, working class studying UD Shop assistant, cashier, 6 months *Yes *High *Fatigue Yes Yes DR shop assistant Manu, 28 years, working class, studying UD Cashier, shelf stocker 6 months *Yes *Low *Some stress Yes Yes DR Susi, 19, working class, studying HVT None 11 Yes High Fatigue, stomach Yes Yes 12-15 months ache, loss of appetite Sonia, 32, working class, primary Administrative assistant 2 years Yes High Fatigue, stress Yes Yes DR Juan, 20, middle class, studying HVT Warehouse 15 years; Little *Low no Yes Yes Quickly weekend Angels, 39, middle class, secondary; Latin Own workshop, sales, 2.5 years Yes High Fatigue, loss of Yes Yes 6-12 American immigrant manual worker appetite RES n.º 28 (3, supl. 2) (2019) pp. 99-117. ISSN: 1578-2824 Silvia, 29, working class, UD Instructor, shop assistant 6 years Yes High Fatigue Yes Yes 6 (full-time) Antonia, 23, working class, secondary Waitress 3 years **In new **In many **In new cashiers Yes Yes 10 cashiers new cashiers (full-time) Angels, 44, middle class, middle class, secondary Department store, cashier 5 years **In new DR DR Yes Yes DR cashiers Conchi, 54, working class, primary Farm work, house 35 years **In new **In many DR Yes Yes DR cleaning cashiers new cashiers HVT, higher vocational training; GU, university degree; DR, Don’t remember. * Refers to experience in another hypermarket; **Refers to the experience of fellow cashiers. Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work 109 Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work — Combining attention to the scanner and of the day under the supervision of a fellow cashier/ the product flow while greeting customers and instructor. We had five consecutive hours of prac- making sure that no theft occurred. tice on a Saturday, the day of the week with the — Mastering the conveyor belt. It set the pace largest customer flow. At the end of the day, we for me rather than the other way round, and I often closed the checkout and our instructors taught us reached for the products by hand rather than using it. to cash up the tills, which involves making simple additions and subtractions and therefore using ba- In short, my lack of mastery of the actions sic calculation skills. The teaching method of my meant that in order to do them, I had to think and fellow cashier/instructor was always to make me pay close attention, which prevented me from car- watch what she did and how she did it. rying them out simultaneously in the right way. Thus, a fundamental part of cashier work is For example, if I focused on products, I could not learned through informal, oral, gestural, visual look at, greet and interact with customers and vice and mimetic teaching, which experienced cashiers versa. In cashier work, if you have to think about use to transmit a good way of doing the work to all the actions, you cannot achieve a pace of work the new ones. It is the “real” mode that includes acceptable to the management and the customers. part of what is laid down in the rules, in addition At the end of the first day of training my col- to the practical knowledge that cashiers have ac- leagues and I had the feeling of being faced with quired. For example, the fellow cashiers/instructors a difficult, hard and repetitive job that reminded advised us and allowed us to copy the “cribs” they us of an assembly line. Several of the interviewed had in their notebooks, which included instructions cashiers made the same comment. for infrequently used cash register procedures or barcodes of products that are often typed, because they often lose their labels (e. g. some bags of veg- Alone under supervision etables or loaves of bread), because it is easier to type them than to scan them (e. g. water jugs On the second day of training, we started with are heavy and difficult to handle) or because the the same methodology, but at the end of the morn- scanner does not usually read them (e. g. frozen ing in some cases and in the afternoon in others, foods and fish, whose barcodes can get wet) (see the trainees changed to working alone for the rest Figure 2). Figure 2. “Cribs” on barcodes from author’s notebook. RES n.º 28 (3, supl. 2) (2019) pp. 99-117. ISSN: 1578-2824 110 Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work Stage 2. The novice who strives to improve tired at the end of the day, and both I and some quickly of the workers interviewed sometimes had somatic symptoms such as stomach ache and/or loss of ap- After only two days, the trainees faced the petite (Table 1): real work situation. We started working alone and entering our personal identity number in the till, Do you remember having trouble coping in the which mean that the computer would record our first few days? activities. We were also visually monitored occa- Oh, yes, yes, the first few weeks were very hard. sionally by the supervisors, and the more experi- Really hard... I remember coming home with a stom- enced cashiers told us that customers can make ach ache from my nerves (Marta, 24 years old). a complaint if they do not feel well treated and [Same question] The first week was horrible... Especially on the that, from time to time, we might have to deal first three days of training I had a terrible time. I had with the mystery shopper (an inspector posing as such a hard time, I couldn’t even eat because of the a customer), who would assess the treatment they stomach ache. And I had the feeling that I wouldn’t received. be able to do the job... (Susana, 19 years old). Of course, after the first few days we had not yet mastered the work: we were still clumsy and gesturally awkward, we had not memorized the pro- cedures we had to follow, we were unable to resolve Stage 3. The beginner who will perfect her craft many mistakes on our own, and we did not know many tricks and fiddles that speed up the work. We Of course, little by little, day by day, and with therefore often had to consult our notes and call some exceptions, the cashiers’ effort was rewarded the supervisor to answer questions. As a result, by gradual improvement and progressive acquisi- we worked more slowly than the more experienced tion of the know-how corresponding to the job. The workers and had to work harder and pay more at- constant repetition of body movements and mental tention than they did. operations with each customer made us improve Keeping our jobs made us strive to improve and memorize without realizing it. After six to rapidly. We had to pay close attention to our ac- twelve days the new cashiers seemed to feel they tions to minimize the number of mistakes and to had mastered the mechanics of checking out prod- resolve and learn from all the new and/or unusual ucts (see Table 1). situations that arose both at the technical level and In addition, the repetition of the diverse work in the management of interactions with customers situations and procedures, including the less com- (including chatterers who blocked the queue and mon ones, allowed us to learn how to perform them. customers who were disrespectful). We also had However, this takes longer. In my case, after a to deal with the demanding technical features of month I knew most situations and procedures and working at the various “special checkouts” and the had the impression of having sufficient mastery more intense work on Friday afternoons and Sat- to do the job with acceptable quality. However, I urdays. did not yet know all the technical procedures, as I In addition, my five fellow trainees and I tried learned a new one about the till fifteen days later. to improve by talking to our colleagues in breaks In an informal conversation, two veteran cashiers and in the changing rooms. We asked for advice, said you needed six months to gain good control of resolved doubts, found out tricks, fiddles and the all the procedures. margins of autonomy left by management monitor- This learning takes place through the process ing mechanisms, and then shared the information that Noble and Watkins (2003: 535) call habitu- with each other. ation, which allows a progressive sedimentation The lack of mastery of the work during the first (Wacquant, 1995) of specific gestural and men- few days led us to feel insecure, so we were tense tal dispositions to do the job correctly. Bernard and nervous at work. As a result, we were extremely (2005) considers that as they learn, cashiers ac- RES n.º 28 (3, supl. 2) (2019) pp. 99-117. ISSN: 1578-2824 111 Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work quire what Leplat (1997) calls incorporated skills think, reflect and make decisions when problems (“compétences incorporées”). These, inspired by or unforeseen events arise. The stories of the inter- Bourdieu’s habitus, are skills learned primar- viewed cashiers also show the importance of these ily through practice and experience and related automatisms: to automatism. I personally noticed that I had acquired or incorporated learning in the form of When I’m at the checkout, it’s something routine mental and motor dispositions to perform the fol- that I do... [...] There came a time when I started lowing tasks: taking it as a routine, and now I bag without think- ing about what I’m bagging, because if I have to — Use the conveyor belt without thinking. be thinking, with a long queue... it’s a bit of a drag — Find the location of item barcodes quickly (Marta, 23 years old). and easily. Checkout work is mechanical. I scan the pro­ — Know the products for which it was better ducts mechanically. I don’t think. At first you have to to type in the codes than scan them. think, but then you get the hang of it and you scan without thinking... (Manu, 28 years old). — Type in codes memorized from frequent use. — Automatically look at, greet and smile at each new customer. When the mechanical part of the job is done — Pass the products over the scanner at the automatically, the cashier can focus on customer required speed and distance without thinking. service: she can chat with customers and improve — Respond without thinking to till sounds: her attention. Each cashier finds a way to combine e. g. stopping if the beep didn’t sound or if I did the demands of fast charging and good customer not hear the printing of the price on the receipt, service. which meant that the product had not been regis­ Thanks to the tricks and fiddles learned, to- tered. gether with knowledge of the margins left by cor- porate surveillance and the tolerance of imme- My personal experience showed that as you diate supervisors to the violation of some rules, acquire these specific dispositions, you become the work became less demanding because it was able to do the work correctly, quickly and easily, easier and less tiring. This, and the mastery ac- simultaneously carrying out the various tasks that quired, reduced the high levels of tension of the are required. There comes a time when, without first few days and allowed us to be more relaxed realizing it, you scan the products almost without at work. looking and without thinking while chatting with In addition, cashiers develop, individually the customer or reaching out automatically for the and without organization, hidden resistances or, ticket because you have heard that the printing in Scott’s terms (1985), “everyday forms of resis- has ended. Thus, the acquisition of the gestural tance”, that is, acts of resistance that are not and perceptual dispositions necessary to perform publicly declared and are voluntarily concealed. the most mechanical part of the work allows the Some of these acts are addressed to the manage- cashiers to perform it automatically. Paraphrasing ment. For example, the cashiers can slow down Wacquant (2004) when he explains the result of the pace of checking out products or not clean acquiring the boxer’s dispositions, it can be said the checkout counter on purpose because they that acquiring perceptual and motor dispositions are unhappy with the working conditions. They allows the cashier to become a kind of “automaton” can also show behaviour to customers that is that adapts almost perfectly to the demands of the considered incorrect. Typical actions of this type routine part of the work7. Obviously, it is an intel- are returning the change in small coins when ligent machine that is able to self-regulate and to banknotes are available, not helping to bag, and speeding up or slowing down the pace of check- 7 The analogy of the “automaton” is also pointed out by ing out to annoy the customer (see Barranco, the cashiers of a study by the INRS (1994). 2010: 333-397). RES n.º 28 (3, supl. 2) (2019) pp. 99-117. ISSN: 1578-2824 112 Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work Figure 3. The author checking out. CONCLUSIONS of embodiment is evidenced in many other jobs that deal with the public in the service sector (see Witz In order to determine the dispositions that are et al. 2003; Wolkowitz, 2006: 86-89). acquired in cashier work and the ways in which Two different processes were detected in rela- they are obtained, this article has studied the tion to dispositions. The first process consists of embodiment of work organization of cashiers in a adapting generic dispositions acquired from the hypermarket. This has helped alleviate the short- socializations prior to hiring (school, family, previ- age of empirical studies on the formation and/or ous work experience, etc.) to the situations of the transformation of dispositions from the perspective hypermarket. Specifically, four types of generic of Bourdieu’s analytical framework or the closely dispositions to act are adapted: basic literacy and related one of Lahire. numeracy skills are used to learn the working rules The analysis carried out shows that the learn- and protocols and to perform some tasks; body- ing and socialization of new cashiers involves an care skills enable the workers to adapt to the in- embodiment of work organization that affects their stitutional rules; personal interaction management bodily aesthetics and dispositions. The cashiers skills are applied in dealing with customers; and embody work organization in the form of bodily the dispositions of obedience, discipline, responsi- aesthetics when they perform the aesthetic compo- bility and effort enable the workers to behave “ap- nent of their work, which consists in daily adjusting propriately” (Goffman, 1979) or “as one should” their aesthetics to the institutional rules. This type (Bourdieu, 1999: 184) by complying with the rules, RES n.º 28 (3, supl. 2) (2019) pp. 99-117. ISSN: 1578-2824 113 Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work being obedient to supervisors, showing interest and toms. Similar feelings are common in trainees of making an effort at work. many activities, such as boxing Wacquant (2004), In all four cases these are simple adaptations but in the case of new cashiers it is also due to consisting of transferring and adapting disposi- the accelerated training system, which puts them tions acquired in previous experiences of similar to work quickly before they have attained sufficient situations to the new situations encountered in mastery of the activity, under the pressure of know- the hypermarket. Therefore, they only require the ing that they have to learn and adapt quickly in cashiers to perform a similar simple reasoning. order to keep their jobs. These are the type of adaptations that Bourdieu The new cashiers learn the job in a short time (2008: 104) considered to be based on the ho- thanks to the relatively low complexity of the work mology between (past) situations of production of and the generic dispositions that the persons hired dispositions and (present) mobilizations of them. bring with them. They are largely prepared and In short, we find the phenomenon pointed out by qualified for the work before recruitment, as is cus- Bourdieu (1999: 217-218) and documented by Des- tomary in many low-skilled feminized jobs (Kergoat, mond (2007) in firefighters and by Rabot (2015) in 1982). librarians: certain previously constituted disposi- Finally, fellow workers play a crucial role in the tions largely conform to the demands of the institu- learning of the trade by the new cashiers. First, the tion that the workers are joining. In addition, the experienced cashiers act as on-the-job instructors re-activation of the four aforementioned disposi- in the period of formal training and tell the trainees tions by cashiers in the hypermarket is presumed to the real way in which the work is carried out, over function as a “memory” that reinforces them. and above the institutional rules and protocols. The second process is one of habituation (Noble Second, mutual help and daily solidarity between and Watkins, 2003), through which new, specific fellow workers facilitate and simplify the learning dispositions are sedimented (Wacquant, 1995) in and adaptation to the job. the cashiers. The constant repetition of body move- ments and mental operations crystallizes into mo- tor dispositions and the memorization of technical ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS procedures, protocols and barcodes. The incorpo- ration of these dispositions allows the cashiers to The first work on this article took place as a carry out the routine part of the work mechanically part of my PhD thesis and resulted in one of its without even thinking about it, which, in turn, is chapters, which was an early version of the pres- a necessary condition for carrying out the work as ent article. I would like to thank Carlos Lozares and quickly as is required. Stéphane Beaud for their helpful and encouraging The embodiment of the work that has been ex- supervision of this work. I also wish to thank Mi- plained is only possible thanks to the active role of chel Pialoux for his early suggestion to carry out an the new cashiers, who make a great effort to in- ethnographic field work for my PhD thesis. Finally, corporate new dispositions. 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Rennes: PUR. versitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the École des Roy, D. (1953). Work satisfaction and social reward Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. He in quota achievement. American Sociological has been a postdoctoral researcher in the Depart- Review, 18, 507-514. ment of Political and Social Sciences at Univer- Sánchez-García, R., Spencer, D. L. (2013). Introduc- sitat Pompeu Fabra and then at the Universitat tion: Carnal ethnography as path to embodied Autònoma de Barcelona. He is currently a member knowledge. In R. Sánchez-García, D. L. Spencer of Centre d’Estudis Sociològics sobre la Vida Quo- (eds.), Fighting Scholars. Habitus and ethnog- tidina i el Treball (QUIT) - Institut d’Estudis del raphies of martial arts and combats sports Treball (IET), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. (pp. 185-192). London: Anthem Press. His research focuses on the field of Sociology of Scott, J. C. (1985). Weapons of the weak. New Ha- Labor (labor domination and resistance at work- ven: Yale University Press. place, labor process, labor trajectories and social Soares, A. (1998). Les qualification invisibles dans capital and employment), Research Methods (eth- le secteur des services: le cas des caissières nographic approaches, mixed methods and social de supermarchés. Lien social et Politiques, 40, network analysis) and Social Movements (trade 105-116. unionism and housing movements). He has pub- Venceslao, M., Delgado, M. (2017). Somatizacio- lished in major journals in English and Spanish nes del internamiento en un centro de justicia such as Quality & Quantity, Transfer: European juvenil. La participación de los dominados en Review of Labour and Research, Journal for the RES n.º 28 (3, supl. 2) (2019) pp. 99-117. ISSN: 1578-2824 116 Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work Theory of Social Behaviour, Economic and Indus- Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 47: trial Democracy; Work, Employment and Society; 481-501; Barranco, O., Lozares, C., Muntanyola- Empiria, Sociología del trabajo, Papers. Revista de Saura, D. (2019). Heterophily in social groups Sociología, and Cuadernos de Relaciones Labora- formation: a social network analysis. Quality and les. Some of his recent co-authored publications Quantity, 53(2): 559-619. Barranco, O., Molina, O. are: Barranco, O., Lozares, C., Moreno, S. (2017). (2019). Continuity and change in trade union The work process setting and situational contexts frames: evidence from general strikes in Spain. based on socially distributed cognition: an inter- Economic and Industrial Democracy, https://doi. active, cognitive and social proposal of analysis. org/10.1177/0143831X19857791. RES n.º 28 (3, supl. 2) (2019) pp. 99-117. ISSN: 1578-2824 117