Language and power in India's “new services” |
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| Institution: | 1. Div. of Marketing & International Business, College of Business (Nanyang Business School), Nanyang Technological University, S3-B2B-46, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798;2. Department of Marketing, Aalto University (School of Business), Runeberginkatu 14-16, 00100 Helsinki, Finland;3. Kedge Business School, France;1. Economics and Management School, Wuhan University, 299 Bayi Road, Wuhan 430072, China;2. Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster LA1 4YX, UK;3. School of Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China;4. China Europe International Business School, 699 Hongfeng Road, Shanghai 201206, China |
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| Abstract: | Language is at the heart of service interactions and a crucial element influencing the relationship between service provider and customer. As a specific form of symbolic capital, language can also be used to exclude and dominate. Our research looks at the role of language in shaping the power dynamic between service providers and customers in the Indian context. This study builds from extensive fieldwork conducted in the area of “new services”, following Indian gym trainers and coffee shop baristas as they interact with elite English-speaking clients. The findings detail how English operates as an invisible boundary in service settings, by excluding Indians who do not speak it with fluency. However, when used to develop expert knowledge, language also becomes an opportunity for lower middle class Indians to resist and invert the domination of the elite. |
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