1. Meanings of ‘emotional labour’
The term ‘emotional labour’ is used in four basic meanings, as follows:
1.1 Emotional labour as product
Nicky James, in a stimulating essay dedicated to “emotional labour”, defines it as, “the work involved in dealing with other peoples’ feelings, a core component of which is the regulation of emotions” (James, 1989:15), whose “value lies in its contribution to the social reproduction of labour power and the social relations of production” (ib.:19). “Emotional labour” here essentially refers to the result (someone else’s emotion transformed by the production process), that is the expression is used in the same way as we say: “It’s a craft”, or “She did a really good job”.
During the meeting “Le donne e il lavoro di cura” the term (“emotional labour”) was used with a fairly broad meaning, referring to “care and service JOBS” tout court (this usage does not appear, however, in the written reports). Such jobs were defined by Jessica Ferrero as, “all those jobs that have human beings as their object... such as caring for an elderly person, looking after a child or taking care of a sick person”. Care is, “all aspects of caring, from the most basic material needs to psychological needs” (Coordinamento...,1990:7). This definition, like that of James, also refers to the object of the work (“the ‘valorization’ of the human being”, or even his “maintenance” (ib.:8).
According to these definitions, mothers are producers of emotional labour just like priests or teachers, trade unionists, the foreman, sport trainers and novelists...; Joan of Arc is included here among generals who, by encouraging their soldiers, motivate them to go on fighting.